# American Gladiator 1/6



## MitchO (Nov 7, 2003)

Well so far we're 20 minutes in, and the play by play announcer is awful, Layla Ali is barely used, and they did the annoying "commercial cut for tension" between the Women's Joust.

This needs work.


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## SnakeEyes (Dec 26, 2000)

I don't like the overproduction of it. The tight, closeup shots during Powerball don't let you get a feel for things. It needs to feel more like a live event. I hate the camera changes every 2 seconds. Hang Tough needs a few more rows of rings.

The second womens Joust was great. The Mens powerball was good but as I said earlier, don't like the camera work.

I'll keep watching though.


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## SnakeEyes (Dec 26, 2000)

Oh, I like Earthquake. Cool event.


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## berkchops516 (Dec 5, 2005)

This bridge event is really dumb. Where is Assault!?! I want to see someone get hit with the tennis ball gun!


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## Kamakzie (Jan 8, 2004)

Writers and the studios needs to get this strike settled... Some of the events are interesting but I see this show being short lived unless it goes syndicated.


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## SnakeEyes (Dec 26, 2000)

Blame the UK for Hit and Run. It's one of their old events. Directors/Producers like it because of the near miss, dodging, having to play cat and mouse and whatnot.


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## EVizzle (Feb 13, 2005)

this is the WORST television I have seen in my life!!!

I prefer the XFL!


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## wilson_uo (Mar 5, 2003)

berkchops516 said:


> This bridge event is really dumb. Where is Assault!?! I want to see someone get hit with the tennis ball gun!


Thats the one event i wanna see too. I sure hope they bring it back, but they should up the ante and use lacrosse balls.

For those that don't know, lacrosse balls are a very dense rubber compound.


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## Kamakzie (Jan 8, 2004)

Wow Venus with the comeback of the century... lol


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## EVizzle (Feb 13, 2005)

I take back everything bad I ever said about this show! The eliminator was HILARIOUS!


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## latenight (May 5, 2005)

There is definitely an "Assault" at some point. It was in one of the previews.


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

Even in the original, they had a rotation of events, where not every event was done on every show.

The play by play/narration is horrid. Someone call up Mike Adamle and get him back... or at the very least, get Nitro (from the original series) to do it. And Hogan needs to ratchet it back... he need to do like Czonka did in the original series, be the buddy-buddy sideline reporter, not the wrestling Hulk.

This is an EXCELLENT "TiVo" show. Record it, then zip through most of it watching just the events, not any of the extra stuff.


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## bigrig (Jul 1, 2004)

They shouldn't talk to the contenders or the stupid gladiators. Ninja Warrior is way better!


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## Odds Bodkins (Jun 7, 2006)

Someone PLEASE come and take Mike Adamle away from Chicago news!

WOOOOOOOOOOOO!


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## zaknafein (Jul 17, 2001)

Another quality set of prime time television, brought to you by the people behind the XFL.

How heartless are these people? A contestant is clearly injured, yet they allow the event to continue before she gets medical attention?

The two women looked like they nearly killed themselves on the eliminator. The girl who "won" looked to be in excruciating pain, and Hulk just keeps asking her inane questions.

I'm embarassed to even have watched that trainwreck.


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## SnakeEyes (Dec 26, 2000)

LoadStar said:


> Even in the original, they had a rotation of events, where not every event was done on every show.
> 
> The play by play/narration is horrid. Someone call up Mike Adamle and get him back... or at the very least, get Nitro (from the original series) to do it. And Hogan needs to ratchet it back... he need to do like Czonka did in the original series, be the buddy-buddy sideline reporter, not the wrestling Hulk.
> 
> This is an EXCELLENT "TiVo" show. Record it, then zip through most of it watching just the events, not any of the extra stuff.


Some of the narration I have liked but it doesn't feel like a live event. You can tell it was dubbed in later. Don't like that. Definetly a good TiVo show but I am enjoying it enough to watch it as it airs on a Monday night.


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## SnakeEyes (Dec 26, 2000)

I'm in for tomorrow, that was a fun two hours.


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## kdmorse (Jan 29, 2001)

Is it my imagination, or is it faster to just fall off the barrel roll, and make a run for it?

-Ken


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

I can't decide if I liked it or not. It was nice to have Gina Carano who plays Crush for some eye candy. 

It definitely felt like the gladiators needed more practice. 

I must say powerball and earthquake were my favorite events and hopefully they will bring back 1st and 10. 

Watching powerball with the NY firefighter I thought it might be interesting to have an episode where the players are teamed up against the gladiators. For example in powerball, the players would take turns blocking for each other.


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## Agent86 (Jan 18, 2002)

kdmorse said:


> Is it my imagination, or is it faster to just fall off the barrel roll, and make a run for it?


That's what I thought too. My guess is someone is up there to enforce you using it.

Even if that were the case, I'd get on and fall off as soon as it rolled half way around. Not only would it be faster, but you wouldn't be all dizzy from spinning around the thing.

I would also take one crank and drop from the handbike that follows. It would be way faster to climb the latticework then deal with that.

Even if their is an off-screen time penalty that we don't see, the energy you'd save on both of those would be easily pay off in climbing the pyramid and the treadmill climb if what we saw today holds true.


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## VegasVic (Nov 22, 2002)

Another primetime NBC gem.


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

kdmorse said:


> Is it my imagination, or is it faster to just fall off the barrel roll, and make a run for it?
> 
> -Ken


I wondered the same thing about the hand bike. Is there a penalty if they just jump down and climb up the other side?

As for the play-by-play guy, it sounds like Van Earl Wright. Anyone know if that's him? He's way too over the top.


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## kdmorse (Jan 29, 2001)

The hand bike didn't seem to be as big of a difference. The guys that fell, and then climbed back up really didn't seem to come out significantly ahead. (Although I may have overlooked it happening). But the guy that took one roll on the barrel, fell, and ran got way, way ahead of the guy still spinning lazily down the ramp.

And did they not show the contestants how to use the Assault course???

-Ken


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

Good:
1) Laila Ali. She was the least over the top part of the show, so she was a refreshing change.
2) The Wall. They actually reverted back to the way The Wall was originally played; in later episodes of the original run they did some weird variant where the contestants were side-by-side with the gladiators, if I recall correctly. I like this way better... it's simple, and it works.
3) Pyramid. Also mostly unchanged from the original run; they added the 'scoring level' which helps because it is a rather tough game to score in.
4) Joust. Unchanged except for the addition of the water, which I kind of like.

Unsure:
1) Earthquake: could be cool, I suppose. Seems similar in play to the Conquer round of Breakthrough and Conquer, or perhaps a little bit of Whiplash.
2) Hit and Run: seems somewhat tedious to just watch them running back and forth.
3) Referee: Just do the "Contestants, READY... Gladators, READY..." then blow the whistle already. The over-annunciating "Contestants, ARE YOU ready???" was lame. Larry Thompson in the original run did it best, just do what he did.
4) Eliminator: it should be hard, but it seems a little TOO hard. It's supposed to be a game show, let them at least enjoy the moment at the end without feeling like they're going to pass out.

Bad:
1) Powerball: the walls around the play surface need to go, or at least move further out so that there is an "out of bounds" area.
2) Assault: not showing the contestants how to use the weapons was really, really lame. Making the contestants dig in the sand on one stage to find the artillery for another is even worse. 
3) Narrarator: He must go. Nothing redeemable about it. Awful, awful, awful.
4) Hulk Hogan: as I said, TONE IT DOWN dude. You aren't on WWE, and we know you can be a nice enough dude from your reality show.
5) Over-the-top Gladiators (Wolf, specifically).


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## mtnagel (Nov 15, 2003)

Was it in HD for everyone? Someone in the Season Pass Alerts forum said it was. Mine was in SD 

Anyway, I'm not quite all the way through, but I enjoyed it. Like someone said, you can get through pretty fast just by watching the events. I'll keep watching.


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## minorthr (Nov 24, 2001)

The gladiators need practice. Helga needs to go, the one event she should be good at she is to slow for. 

The assault was bad, I do not remember the contestants having to load the weapons and the sand thing was stupid. 

The bridge event needs to go as well. All you have to do is crawl and the bags swing over you. The one girl showed that till she decided to be stupid and stand up then she got knocked off.


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## doom1701 (May 15, 2001)

I turned it on just in time for the women's eliminator--that was terrible. I was amazed that neither of them gave up, and at the end they both looked like they were in extreme pain. Get rid of the water pit and the barrel roll and it would become more a competition of endurance and speed, and not of how many steroids you've been taking.

The play by play as well as what little I saw of Hogan were really, really bad, though. Maybe it was just the few minutes I saw, but the play by play guy didn't seem to have a clue--"They're climbing the net. They're still climbing the net. They're climbing the net." Yeah, I get that--I'm watching the same thing you are.


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## ElJay (Apr 6, 2005)

I've never done so much fast forwarding in my life... I liked the original version of the show as a kid, but I agree with others that this is "overproduced." There's too much clever lighting for its own good. I care nothing about the back story of the contestants or their chats with the hosts. All of the water under the events gives me flashbacks to "Dog Eat Dog" (I wonder if it's being filmed at the same location.)


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## TonyTheTiger (Dec 22, 2006)

It seems like they modeled Wolf on the (original) British version of this show. There was a character like him back then and he was the "bad boy" of the gladiators - always bending the rules and playing on the edge of fairness. I wonder if they're planning to make this guy out to be a little rogue for the cameras?

Also, was it just me or in this age of fitness, does the physical gap between the gladiators and the contestants seem smaller than before? Especially with the females.


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## danplaysbass (Jul 19, 2004)

Wow. That eliminator was tough! After the cargo net they were so wiped most couldn't get up the pyramid and forget about the reverse treadmill. Even the guys had trouble with that.

Did anybody catch Hulk Hogan's comment in the beginning. It was something like "Now that the ladies are finished things will really heat up!" My wife and I laughed at that. Old School...


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## TonyTheTiger (Dec 22, 2006)

Interesting. Not sure if I should spoilerize this or not, so I will to be safe...



Spoiler



Only one gladiator is in all 12 episodes according to IMDB. Toa is showing as being in all 12 whereas all the others are only in 5.


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## Jebberwocky! (Apr 16, 2005)

zaknafein said:


> How heartless are these people? A contestant is clearly injured, yet they allow the event to continue before she gets medical attention?


Did we watch the same show? 

No one was in danger of dying here, it looked to me like an ACL type injury. It's contest, much like a sporting event, you don't stop the action becuase someone gets hurt unless they are in danger.

Tough for her though, to go through all that and get injured at the start.


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## brnscofrnld (Mar 30, 2005)

danplaysbass said:


> Wow. That eliminator was tough! After the cargo net they were so wiped most couldn't get up the pyramid and forget about the reverse treadmill. Even the guys had trouble with that.
> 
> Did anybody catch Hulk Hogan's comment in the beginning. It was something like "Now that the ladies are finished things will really heat up!" My wife and I laughed at that. Old School...


I kinda like the Reverse treadmill at the end. It becomes a nice equalizer for someone who has a good head start.

If I remember correctly, the reverse treadmill was at the beginning of the original gladiators' eliminator and most contestants just sprinted up with no problems.


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## cheesesteak (Jul 24, 2003)

Kamakzie said:


> Wow Venus with the comeback of the century... lol


I was cracking up when she made her comeback and the other woman was stuck on the ramp like roadkill.


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## cheesesteak (Jul 24, 2003)

LoadStar said:


> This is an EXCELLENT "TiVo" show. Record it, then zip through most of it watching just the events, not any of the extra stuff.


I quickly learned to FFWD through all the dialog. And only watch the events. I don't really care if the contestants won Mom of the Year or help the crippled orphans on Uranus.

Hellga ain't nothin'.


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## TonyTheTiger (Dec 22, 2006)

brnscofrnld said:


> I kinda like the Reverse treadmill at the end. It becomes a nice equalizer for someone who has a good head start.
> 
> If I remember correctly, the reverse treadmill was at the beginning of the original gladiators' eliminator and most contestants just sprinted up with no problems.


It was always last on the Brit version of the show and that happened many times, making it a lot better to watch.


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## kdelande (Dec 17, 2001)

My thoughts:

Nice diversion but boy this would have been nice a few weeks ago before some regular shows start to come back (Desp. Housewives, Prison Break, etc.)

Definitely overproduced, the quick camera jumps make it much more difficult to see what's going on and if I didn't have the timer at the bottom for things like Powerball, I'd sweat they cut out some of the game running times with edits which takes out some of the enjoyment.

I heard a lot about Hellga (got to love the double l) before the show and the pics certainly made her look like a bad ass. Wow, so lame though. She couldn't get out of her own way on most of the few events she even participated in. Very over hyped.

The bridge event is lame, I couldn't believe most of the competitors kept standing up so much, only to get slammed. And 1 or 2 made comments like, "I didn't know the bags were going to be that heavy!" Really? Because they made it a point to tell the audience enough that they were 100lbs, I would have thought they'd tell you that too.

Man, the final challenge is definately ramped up from the original run. That reverse treadmill is a killer at the end. I miss them having to guess at a gate and get slammed by a gladiator at the end.

KD


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## stalemate (Aug 21, 2005)

It isn't really a reverse treadmill is it? It is a regular treadmill.


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## mrowe8 (Dec 29, 2004)

kdelande said:


> Man, the final challenge is definately ramped up from the original run. That reverse treadmill is a killer at the end. I miss them having to guess at a gate and get slammed by a gladiator at the end.
> 
> KD


I forgot about the gate at the end with the gladiator. They totally need to add that back in. That was awesome.


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## cwoody222 (Nov 13, 1999)

kdelande said:


> Nice diversion but boy this would have been nice a few weeks ago before some regular shows start to come back (Desp. Housewives, Prison Break, etc.)


Uh, don't get too excited. Yesterday's Desperate Housewives was the last one produced before the strike. No more for awhile...

I enjoyed it! Really made me feel like a kid again when I'd watch the original. I'm in!


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## danplaysbass (Jul 19, 2004)

stalemate said:


> It isn't really a reverse treadmill is it? It is a regular treadmill.


Ya, I guess you're right. So, the steeply inclined treadmill it is. What did they call it?

So was the British version of this show called "British Gladiator"? Thats doesn't sound so cool...


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

danplaysbass said:


> Ya, I guess you're right. So, the steeply inclined treadmill it is. What did they call it?
> 
> So was the British version of this show called "British Gladiator"? Thats doesn't sound so cool...


"The Travelator"


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## doom1701 (May 15, 2001)

So, based on Wiki, it looks like Atlasphere won't be making a return? That was my favorite game


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## Kamakzie (Jan 8, 2004)

danplaysbass said:


> Ya, I guess you're right. So, the steeply inclined treadmill it is. What did they call it?


The Ivan Drago treadmill...


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## SnakeEyes (Dec 26, 2000)

minorthr said:


> The gladiators need practice. Helga needs to go, the one event she should be good at she is to slow for.
> 
> The assault was bad, I do not remember the contestants having to load the weapons and the sand thing was stupid.
> 
> The bridge event needs to go as well. All you have to do is crawl and the bags swing over you. The one girl showed that till she decided to be stupid and stand up then she got knocked off.


Crawling = slower to score. The event was done for years in the UK and elsewhere. As contenders get used to it, crawling will not keep you competitive.


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## TonyTheTiger (Dec 22, 2006)

danplaysbass said:


> Ya, I guess you're right. So, the steeply inclined treadmill it is. What did they call it?
> 
> So was the British version of this show called "British Gladiator"? Thats doesn't sound so cool...


No, it was simply called "Gladiators". We Brits are usually secure enough in our nationality not to have to mention it every chance we get!


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## SnakeEyes (Dec 26, 2000)

minorthr said:


> The gladiators need practice. Helga needs to go, the one event she should be good at she is to slow for.
> 
> The assault was bad, I do not remember the contestants having to load the weapons and the sand thing was stupid.
> 
> The bridge event needs to go as well. All you have to do is crawl and the bags swing over you. The one girl showed that till she decided to be stupid and stand up then she got knocked off.


I agree with you on assault. Definitely on the sandtrap but not so much on loading their own weapons. It makes them a little more vulnerable and balances out the event.

I disagree on Hellga. She should be good in events such as Joust and Earthquake. Each Gladiator will have their best and worst. Gemini was a great Gladiator but he was terrible in Hang Tough.


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## SnakeEyes (Dec 26, 2000)

ElJay said:


> I've never done so much fast forwarding in my life... I liked the original version of the show as a kid, but I agree with others that this is "overproduced." There's too much clever lighting for its own good. I care nothing about the back story of the contestants or their chats with the hosts. All of the water under the events gives me flashbacks to "Dog Eat Dog" (I wonder if it's being filmed at the same location.)


That's pretty much how I watch the old series now too, on fast forward. Lot of talking and interviews and whatnot.


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## SnakeEyes (Dec 26, 2000)

TonyTheTiger said:


> It seems like they modeled Wolf on the (original) British version of this show. There was a character like him back then and he was the "bad boy" of the gladiators - always bending the rules and playing on the edge of fairness. I wonder if they're planning to make this guy out to be a little rogue for the cameras?
> 
> Also, was it just me or in this age of fitness, does the physical gap between the gladiators and the contestants seem smaller than before? Especially with the females.


Yep seems like they did. Though we also had a Gladiator like Wolf, Nitro. 

The Gladiators were more likely on steroids back then which would lead to a wider gap.


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## SnakeEyes (Dec 26, 2000)

brnscofrnld said:


> I kinda like the Reverse treadmill at the end. It becomes a nice equalizer for someone who has a good head start.
> 
> If I remember correctly, the reverse treadmill was at the beginning of the original gladiators' eliminator and most contestants just sprinted up with no problems.


It moved throughout the series. I'd have to go back and look but I believe it was also less steep.


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## IJustLikeTivo (Oct 3, 2001)

kdmorse said:


> Is it my imagination, or is it faster to just fall off the barrel roll, and make a run for it?
> 
> -Ken


Same for the arm bike.


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## TAsunder (Aug 6, 2003)

Did Crush / Gina carano completely transform her body for this? She looks a lot thicker than I remember. Still quite beautiful though.

They still didn't change the fundamental flaw with this show... all the early events are borderline meaningless considering how little advantage you get in the final event from even completely dominating.


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## SnakeEyes (Dec 26, 2000)

doom1701 said:


> So, based on Wiki, it looks like Atlasphere won't be making a return? That was my favorite game


Correct. I wasn't a fan of it anyway. I prefer the physical contact contests.


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

How about that huge Gladiator in the Joust screwing up both times by stepping on the opponent's platform. In fact, I wondered if he did it the second time just to be fair, since he seemed to do it within the first couple of seconds. And it makes sense if that were the case, since I'll bet both of them knew that was going to happen, but then the contender started beating his chest like he was a badass, and the Gladiator shoved him off the platform into the water because of it.


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

With regard to the bridge challenge (Hit and Run), I thought the NYFD guy did a great job showing how it was supposed to work. I think he got 10 points and he was upright most of the time, just strategically stopping and starting as necessary.


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## SnakeEyes (Dec 26, 2000)

DevdogAZ said:


> How about that huge Gladiator in the Joust screwing up both times by stepping on the opponent's platform. In fact, I wondered if he did it the second time just to be fair, since he seemed to do it within the first couple of seconds. And it makes sense if that were the case, since I'll bet both of them knew that was going to happen, but then the contender started beating his chest like he was a badass, and the Gladiator shoved him off the platform into the water because of it.


Gladiators stepping across the platform happened. Sometimes it happened twice in the same show. I don't think there was any "fairness" going on. Being shoved off afterwards reminds me of stuff Nitro used to do and Wolf in the UK


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

SnakeEyes said:


> Gladiators stepping across the platform happened. Sometimes it happened twice in the same show. I don't think there was any "fairness" going on. Being shoved off afterwards reminds me of stuff Nitro used to do and Wolf in the UK


It's possible it wasn't planned, but if I'm a Gladiator and just lost a Joust by stepping on the opponent's platform, I think I'm going to try harder not to do it in the second match, rather than do it in the first 5 seconds.


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## TAsunder (Aug 6, 2003)

DevdogAZ said:


> It's possible it wasn't planned, but if I'm a Gladiator and just lost a Joust by stepping on the opponent's platform, I think I'm going to try harder not to do it in the second match, rather than do it in the first 5 seconds.


Especially if you spend 10-15 seconds before the second match looking at the platform to make sure you are standing in an ok place.


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## nataylor (Apr 26, 2000)

DevdogAZ said:


> With regard to the bridge challenge (Hit and Run), I thought the NYFD guy did a great job showing how it was supposed to work. I think he got 10 points and he was upright most of the time, just strategically stopping and starting as necessary.


Yup. And apparently, you're not allowed to crawl. One of the women in the second half got knocked off after she went from crawling to standing, and you could hear the ref yelling "On your feet! On your feet!"


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## Kamakzie (Jan 8, 2004)

For those interested Crush used to be an ultimate fighter.. Here is a picture of her weighing in before a fight.










her punching some chick










And just a hot pic


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## SnakeEyes (Dec 26, 2000)

LoadStar said:


> Unsure:
> 3) Referee: Just do the "Contestants, READY... Gladators, READY..." then blow the whistle already. The over-annunciating "Contestants, ARE YOU ready???" was lame. Larry Thompson in the original run did it best, just do what he did.


I read somewhere Larry Thompson pulled a Michael Buffer with that exact phrasing.


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## DreadPirateRob (Nov 12, 2002)

If there was ever a show made for Tivo, this was it. It would have been completely unwatchable if not. I think the play-by-play was Van Earl Wright, and he was terrible. Hulk was terrible in the few nano-seconds that I watched of him.

But man, the Eliminator is brutal. The competitors were all in very good shape, and it just about ruined each one of them.


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## cwoody222 (Nov 13, 1999)

It's weird, today I found out that pretty much all my close group of friends watched this... all separate.

That never happens.

We got gays and straights, girls and guys and age ranges from mid-20's to early-30s and all of us watched (and liked!) this last night.

Guess it really struck a cord with our (slightly the same) age group. Or we were all just hungover on Sunday night and desperate for some new TV...


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## Dssturbo1 (Feb 23, 2005)

the ref was FAT. jeez they need laila ali to be the ref not a commentator.


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## TAsunder (Aug 6, 2003)

Dssturbo1 said:


> the ref was FAT. jeez they need laila ali to be the ref not a commentator.


I got a really strong roller derby vibe from that guy. With a pinch of chris farley's motivational speaker character.


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## SnakeEyes (Dec 26, 2000)

Dodgeball ref.


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## cwoody222 (Nov 13, 1999)

mtnagel said:


> Was it in HD for everyone? Someone in the Season Pass Alerts forum said it was. Mine was in SD


Not sure about Sunday (I had to record in SD due to conflicts) but Monday's is HD for me. I didn't expect that.


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## TIVO_GUY_HERE (Jul 10, 2000)

Another great show if you have a DVR, some for FF, but mostly for still shots.


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## FilmCritic3000 (Oct 29, 2004)

TAsunder said:


> I got a really strong roller derby vibe from that guy. With a pinch of chris farley's motivational speaker character.


I love this forum. Great minds think alike. 

That's exactly who the ref reminded me of...Matt Foley.

"You contenders and gladiators better be ready...or else you'll be living in a van down by the river!"


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## MisterBubble (Oct 30, 2005)

FilmCritic3000 said:


> I love this forum. Great minds think alike.
> 
> That's exactly who the ref reminded me of...Matt Foley.
> 
> "You contenders and gladiators better be ready...or else you'll be living in a van down by the river!"


Ha ha!!! And I think he borrowed his ref outfit from that "No Bingo!" guy from National Bingo Night. They are about the same size as well.

I enjoyed the show - it's a fun diversion from all the reruns. But I don't get all the commentator hate. I thought he did an OK job. But then again, I only sporadically watched the original, so maybe I'm not seeing the difference. I thought he was corny enough but not too over-the-top. (after contestant falls in the water) "Our Marine has just joined the Navy!" You gotta admit that one was clever.


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## stalemate (Aug 21, 2005)

minorthr said:


> The bridge event needs to go as well. All you have to do is crawl and the bags swing over you. The one girl showed that till she decided to be stupid and stand up then she got knocked off.


If you listen closely, just before she stands up and gets clobbered you can hear the ref yelling "On your feet!" twice.


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## stalemate (Aug 21, 2005)

Kamakzie said:


> For those interested Crush used to be an ultimate fighter.. Here is a picture of her weighing in before a fight.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


IBIMB.

s


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## brnscofrnld (Mar 30, 2005)

Nice find Kamakzie. If you google Gina Carano you can find some nice pics, including Maxim.

As for Atlasphere, they really needed to bring that one back. My guess is that the stage that they have for the show isn't large enough to accommodate all the cages rolling around.

The eliminator def needs to have the gladiators hiding behind the doors, that was a classic part of the event.

Does anyone remember seeing on the classic Gladiator some contestants just flying through that part of the course with the hand bikes? Some of them wouldn't even hesitate and zip right across.

And did anyone mention Crush is hot?


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

LoadStar said:


> This is an EXCELLENT "TiVo" show. Record it, then zip through most of it watching just the events, not any of the extra stuff.


Yeah, though I made fun of this, I actually recorded it.. I've only watched around 1/3 of the 2 hour show though. So far I was obviously skipping commercials, and watching the non-event part at 1.5x with sound.. I may skim through even more of the non-event stuff.

I never really watched the original, thought it was dumb... but maybe that's because I didn't want to bother videotaping it and recording it so I could easily FF through the commercials/fluff.

Basically -- what I've seen so far is vaguely entertaining, which is actually a big compliment compared to what I expected. (I recorded it because it was something new, plus I wanted to give it at least one shot.)


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

LoadStar said:


> This is an EXCELLENT "TiVo" show. Record it, then zip through most of it watching just the events, not any of the extra stuff.


No kidding, I went through Monday's 1 hour show in 15 minutes.

That's a whole lot of filler goin on!


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

Kamakzie said:


> For those interested Crush used to be an ultimate fighter..


I'd love to be in her guard and let her transition into a triangle, ifyouknowwhatImean!


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## mtnagel (Nov 15, 2003)

cwoody222 said:


> Not sure about Sunday (I had to record in SD due to conflicts) but Monday's is HD for me. I didn't expect that.


Thanks. Mine wasn't in HD on Sunday, but was on Monday.


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## cheesesteak (Jul 24, 2003)

They need to get rid of the hand bike, at least for the women. It's faster to just fall into the pit and climb out. There doesn't seem to be a penalty for not making it all the way across.


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## Weezoh (May 9, 2002)

it kind of seemed to me that the hand bike needed oil or something - most of the time it seemed like they were really wrenching it and it was stuttering. I don't remember the old show being like that.


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## SnakeEyes (Dec 26, 2000)

The penalty seems to be having to climb the tower after falling. It will eat time.

And the hand bike wrenching and stuttering is simply from contenders not knowing how to do it properly. It happened in the old series.


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## doom1701 (May 15, 2001)

I dug up some Youtube videos of the Eliminator from the original series, and noticed a few differences that really made it better:

1. It seemed a LOT shorter. I found myself fast forwarding through chunks of the new Eliminator just because it went on forever--most likely because the swim tires them out so much.
2. They at least made you feel like the Gladiators were part of the contest, by putting the Gladiators in the "penalty pits" to keep people there if they fell off the hand bike or rolling bridge. The Gladiators were basically no more than filler, since the contestant just waited for the whistle--but it made it seem more like part of the show.
3. The "obstacles" seemed to be arranged in a way to highlight speed and agility, and not pure endurance like on the new show.


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## MasterOfPuppets (Jul 12, 2005)

I liked it.
I agree, the play-by-play guy sucks. They need to change it back to the old style with a play-by-play and a color style setup.
Don't like Hit & Run...I'd much rather see the old Breakthrough & Conquer, or the hamster ball game.
Crush is a hottie.
Can't look at Wolf and not have a flashback to Dodgeball, but the guy does bring it.
Kind of weird that Helga gets so much hype and then competes in one event (that I remember) during the entire 2 hours.


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## nataylor (Apr 26, 2000)

I think the problem with the current Eliminator is the order of events. In the old one, I think they did the treadmill and then the handbike first. That way their legs and upper body were fresh for those obstacles. Now, they've already done a bunch of swimming and climbing by the time they get to those and they're probably pretty worn out.


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## MasterOfPuppets (Jul 12, 2005)

nataylor said:


> I think the problem with the current Eliminator is the order of events. In the old one, I think they did the treadmill and then the handbike first. That way their legs and upper body were fresh for those obstacles. Now, they've already done a bunch of swimming and climbing by the time they get to those and they're probably pretty worn out.


I like the way it's set up now.
Make them struggle.
I'm not the one running through it.


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

I don't think the swim in the current Eliminator is making anyone very tired. It's only about 20 yards. But climbing that cargo rope right after it is definitely a killer.

I wonder if there's a rule about diving into the water vs. jumping in feet first. It seems that if they'd dive and just use that momentum to go under the fire, they'd get through the swim much faster, but I guess that might be pretty dangerous.


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## MasterOfPuppets (Jul 12, 2005)

DevdogAZ said:


> I don't think the swim in the current Eliminator is making anyone very tired. It's only about 20 yards. But climbing that cargo rope right after it is definitely a killer.
> 
> I wonder if there's a rule about diving into the water vs. jumping in feet first. It seems that if they'd dive and just use that momentum to go under the fire, they'd get through the swim much faster, but I guess that might be pretty dangerous.


I dunno, that lady that busted herself open on a bar under the fire may disagree. 

I'm still waiting for someone to somehow land in the fire.


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

MasterOfPuppets said:


> I dunno, that lady that busted herself open on a bar under the fire may disagree.


Well, she didn't dive from the top. In fact, she came up for another breath before trying to go under when she hit her head. But that's a different issue. Assuming you don't hit your head on the bottom, you'd have no problem being deep enough to miss that bar if you dove from the top.


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## nataylor (Apr 26, 2000)

When I first saw the fire, I thought it looked pretty dangerous. Then I saw they have plexiglass udner it so you can't come up for air in the fire.


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## JFriday (Mar 20, 2002)

DevdogAZ said:


> I don't think the swim in the current Eliminator is making anyone very tired. It's only about 20 yards. But climbing that cargo rope right after it is definitely a killer.
> 
> I wonder if there's a rule about diving into the water vs. jumping in feet first. It seems that if they'd dive and just use that momentum to go under the fire, they'd get through the swim much faster, but I guess that might be pretty dangerous.


I also think the handbike (is that what it's called) really tires out the upper body. It would seem easier to just fall off and climb up the tower, it also seems that would be a faster way of getting across.


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

JFriday said:


> I also think the handbike (is that what it's called) really tires out the upper body. It would seem easier to just fall off and climb up the tower, it also seems that would be a faster way of getting across.


You must have missed the earlier discussion. The reason we're talking about what makes the players tired is precisely because of the fact that they had trouble with the hand bike, while in the old version of the show they seemed to cruise through that part of it.


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## JFriday (Mar 20, 2002)

Ground and pound.


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## JFriday (Mar 20, 2002)

DevdogAZ said:


> You must have missed the earlier discussion. The reason we're talking about what makes the players tired is precisely because of the fact that they had trouble with the hand bike, while in the old version of the show they seemed to cruise through that part of it.


Yup I read this thread last night and came in and posted without reading the morning posts. Oops.


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

MasterOfPuppets said:


> Kind of weird that Helga gets so much hype and then competes in one event (that I remember) during the entire 2 hours.


Helga is useless. It seems like they only have her for her giant boobs. I doubt she could even effectively compete in anything besides Gauntlet.


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

DevdogAZ said:


> I wonder if there's a rule about diving into the water vs. jumping in feet first. It seems that if they'd dive and just use that momentum to go under the fire, they'd get through the swim much faster, but I guess that might be pretty dangerous.


I was thinking the same thing. Maybe there's a rule against diving because it seems to me that the water isn't really deep enough to be safe for head-first diving from the height that they're jumping from.

But yeah, I would think a nice 45-degreee dive would have them sail right under the fire and they'd come up on the other side with little effort.


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

If I hear Hulk say "brother" one more time...

"Hey, brother, how hard was it to get through the eliminator, brother.
You look exhausted, brother. I can't imagen how tough that must have been, brother."

Other than that, I like this show.


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

steve614 said:


> If I hear Hulk say "brother" one more time...
> 
> "Hey, brother, how hard was it to get through the eliminator, brother.
> You look exhausted, brother. I can't imagen how tough that must have been, brother."
> ...


I've watched all the relevant moments of all the episodes aired thus far and I have yet to hear a single word out of his mouth.


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## PJO1966 (Mar 5, 2002)

steve614 said:


> If I hear Hulk say "brother" one more time...
> 
> "Hey, brother, how hard was it to get through the eliminator, brother.
> You look exhausted, brother. I can't imagen how tough that must have been, brother."
> ...


I was coming in to post exactly the same thing. That should be a drinking game.

Actually, Hogan should go and let Ali take over. She's great. I loved how she was putting Mr. "14 years" in his place. She should have knocked him out.

I couldn't believe the upper body strength Marine Mom showed on the rings. That was pretty incredible. She did remind me of a character Stephnie Weir would do on MadTV, though.


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## Fl_Gulfer (May 27, 2005)

I didn't think it could be as bad as the old series, boy was I wrong.


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## doom1701 (May 15, 2001)

PJO1966 said:


> I was coming in to post exactly the same thing. That should be a drinking game.
> 
> Actually, Hogan should go and let Ali take over. She's great. I loved how she was putting Mr. "14 years" in his place. She should have knocked him out.
> 
> I couldn't believe the upper body strength Marine Mom showed on the rings. That was pretty incredible. She did remind me of a character Stephnie Weir would do on MadTV, though.


The other woman on the rings was no slouch either--she avoided the gladiator by rotating herself upwards completely out of the way.


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

busyba said:


> But yeah, I would think a nice 45-degreee dive would have them sail right under the fire and they'd come up on the other side with little effort.


I think that in addition to the pool not being deep enough for diving, the fire apparatus is not far enough away if they were to really try to dive "out" to get some momentum. Thus, they'd have to dive straight down, which wouldn't really help them much and would be much more dangerous.


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## PJO1966 (Mar 5, 2002)

doom1701 said:


> The other woman on the rings was no slouch either--she avoided the gladiator by rotating herself upwards completely out of the way.


Yeah, that was pretty cool.


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## jerobi (Sep 28, 2000)

I actually prefer Hulk to Ali, given that very limited choice. Hulk at least knows how to try and talk in front of a crowd. Ali seems to stumble over her comments.

I think the show is doing okay for what it is. The gladiators are mostly decent picks in that strong-with-fake-persona category. I'm glad they left a lot of the games alone but they need to bring back the faster weapons for Assault and scale the eliminator back i length to make the pre-eliminator point scoring even remotely relevant to the finish. I expect the latter contestants to just skip the hand bike and climb that ladder to advance.

Oh, and I miss the "pick a lane" finish line where they burst through the paper to find either a gladiator with a shield or nothing at all. Do you think they cut that out because it was too dangerous?


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## PJO1966 (Mar 5, 2002)

jerobi said:


> I actually prefer Hulk to Ali, given that very limited choice. Hulk at least knows how to try and talk in front of a crowd. Ali seems to stumble over her comments.
> 
> I think the show is doing okay for what it is. The gladiators are mostly decent picks in that strong-with-fake-persona category. I'm glad they left a lot of the games alone but they need to bring back the faster weapons for Assault and scale the eliminator back i length to make the pre-eliminator point scoring even remotely relevant to the finish. I expect the latter contestants to just skip the hand bike and climb that ladder to advance.
> 
> Oh, and I miss the "pick a lane" finish line where they burst through the paper to find either a gladiator with a shield or nothing at all. Do you think they cut that out because it was too dangerous?


Judging by how exhausted the challengers seem by the end of The Eliminator, I don't think anyone would get past them. A couple of them barely had the energey to break through the bill wall of cushions at the end.


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## Einselen (Apr 25, 2006)

PJO1966 said:


> Judging by how exhausted the challengers seem by the end of The Eliminator, I don't think anyone would get past them. A couple of them barely had the energey to break through the bill wall of cushions at the end.


They could then at least do where the Galdiators throw the big ball at them in the lane or the gladiators controlling the mechanism that does the bags swinging in the lane (almost like the bridge competition)


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