American Gladiators
So did we all watch American Gladiators last night? Thoughts? Opinions? Outrage?
Once it got past the first, oh, 7 minutes, I thought it was great. Those first few minutes were what I feared they would turn American Gladiators into: A reality show with detailed backstories on all of the contestants, and waaaay to much professional wrestling influence on the gladiators' personalities. After they got interviews, light shows, and nonsense about "I used to love American Gladiators! And now I'm here!" out of the way and got down to the real competition, it worked really well. Would I give up Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali for Mike Adamle and Larry Csonka? Of course. They made you feel like you were watching a serious athletic competition. But you can't have everything. It was still thrilling to watch David beat Goliath.
Aside from Wolf and Toa, the gladiators didn't ham it up too much. Wolf and Toa do enough for everyone. As long as they can get Toa to shut up and give the contestants fewer opportunities to speak (and "trash talk") we should be in for a great show.
How about the events?
Eliminator: Better than ever. Instead of letting the contestants run up the treadmills at the start, they save them for last when the poor people are exhausted. This event is now an experiment in torture.
Hit & Run: Poor imitation of old the Eliminator section where Gladiators threw medicine balls at a contestant on a balance beam. This time they run across a bridge, and can easily duck.
Pyramid: A new game. Looks good. Although it looks hard to run and jump on all that gummy foam padding.
Powerball: A female contestant got injured in the first 30 seconds, so we should be in for just as many injuries as usual.
Hang Tough: Militia made some stupid moves and supposedly injured himself. I think he just quit. Wolf brought it, gladiator-style, yanking that poor sucker off the rings.
Gauntlet: Never my favorite, and still not the best.
Joust: Awesome as always.
Atlasphere: Where the hell is Atlasphere? They have to be crazy not to include it! RIP, Atlasphere.
Once it got past the first, oh, 7 minutes, I thought it was great. Those first few minutes were what I feared they would turn American Gladiators into: A reality show with detailed backstories on all of the contestants, and waaaay to much professional wrestling influence on the gladiators' personalities. After they got interviews, light shows, and nonsense about "I used to love American Gladiators! And now I'm here!" out of the way and got down to the real competition, it worked really well. Would I give up Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali for Mike Adamle and Larry Csonka? Of course. They made you feel like you were watching a serious athletic competition. But you can't have everything. It was still thrilling to watch David beat Goliath.
Aside from Wolf and Toa, the gladiators didn't ham it up too much. Wolf and Toa do enough for everyone. As long as they can get Toa to shut up and give the contestants fewer opportunities to speak (and "trash talk") we should be in for a great show.
How about the events?
Eliminator: Better than ever. Instead of letting the contestants run up the treadmills at the start, they save them for last when the poor people are exhausted. This event is now an experiment in torture.
Hit & Run: Poor imitation of old the Eliminator section where Gladiators threw medicine balls at a contestant on a balance beam. This time they run across a bridge, and can easily duck.
Pyramid: A new game. Looks good. Although it looks hard to run and jump on all that gummy foam padding.
Powerball: A female contestant got injured in the first 30 seconds, so we should be in for just as many injuries as usual.
Hang Tough: Militia made some stupid moves and supposedly injured himself. I think he just quit. Wolf brought it, gladiator-style, yanking that poor sucker off the rings.
Gauntlet: Never my favorite, and still not the best.
Joust: Awesome as always.
Atlasphere: Where the hell is Atlasphere? They have to be crazy not to include it! RIP, Atlasphere.