American Gladiators (2008 TV series)

Did You Know?

• The referee Al Kaplon can also be seen as the referee in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.
• In Season 1, the grand prize included the right to become a Gladiator for Season 2.

Format

The 2008 revival of American Gladiators had two seasons with different contestant pools. The first season featured 24 contenders, split evenly between 12 men and 12 women, while the second season expanded to 40 contenders, again with an equal split of 20 men and 20 women. Each episode pitted two men and two women against the Gladiators in separate gender-based tournaments. Contenders competed in a series of events to accumulate points before the final obstacle course, the Eliminator. Every point of difference between two contenders gave the leader a half-second head start, or added a half-second penalty to the trailing competitor.

The number of events per episode varied by season and round. In season one, preliminary matches had four events plus the Eliminator, while semifinals and finals had five events plus the Eliminator. For season two, the first two preliminary matches also used four events plus the Eliminator, but all other rounds increased to six events plus the Eliminator. Episodes that ran 90 minutes showed every event in full; 60-minute episodes condensed two events per gender into brief recap segments, with the full versions available on NBC’s website.

Advancement rules differed between seasons. In season one, the four men and four women who won their preliminary matches with the fastest Eliminator times moved to the semifinals. The winners of the two semifinal matches then faced off in the finals. In season two, the top six contenders of each gender advanced to the semifinals. After three semifinal matches, the two winning contenders per gender with the fastest Eliminator times competed in the finals.

The grand prize for season one was $100,000, a 2008 Toyota Sequoia, and the opportunity to become a Gladiator for the following season. Season two kept the same cash prize and vehicle, but did not explicitly offer the chance to join the Gladiator roster.

History

In August 2007, NBC confirmed a revival of the show was in the works with Reveille Productions and MGM Television, aiming for a mid-season launch. This came after talks with MGM. NBC soon posted a casting call on its website, and the first commercial for the revival appeared during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 22, 2007. Some observers have suggested the revival was a response to the looming WGA strike, which was already happening when the show premiered, but this link is not proven. The series debuted on Sunday, January 6, 2008, drawing an average of 12 million viewers for its two-hour premiere. For the rest of season one, episodes aired on Mondays at 8:00 PM ET/PT, except the finale, which aired Sunday, February 17, 2008, at 7:00 PM ET/PT. Season two began on May 12, 2008, with another two-hour episode, and its two-hour finale aired on August 4, 2008, at 8:00 PM ET/PT. Unlike season one's finale, which was entirely the finals, season two's finale included the third semifinal round before the finals. A third season with new episodes and cast members was planned for summer 2009, but NBC canceled those plans in March. As of August 2018, rights holder MGM was developing another revival, with Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg as executive producers. Additionally, The Hollywood Reporter noted that Johnny Ferraro plans a second revival, following the success of the BBC's revived British version.

Syndication

The 2008 revival of American Gladiators first aired on Telemundo Puerto Rico in August 2008, with season one showing Sundays at 8 pm. That same September, it debuted on Sky1 in the UK on Tuesday afternoons. Sky1 later broadcast season two on Saturday evenings in April 2009. Australian viewers could catch the show starting November 4, 2009, on Seven's digital channel 7Two, airing Wednesdays at 7:30 pm. In Spain, the first season was dubbed and broadcast as Gladiadores s.XXI on Cuatro. Currently, both the 2008 series and the original run are available on Hulu, and a dedicated channel on Pluto TV also airs the show.

Events

The revival of American Gladiators had ten events in its first season, with the Eliminator included, and seven more were added for season two. In the Assault event from season one, a contender starts a course while holding a ball meant for a slingshot at the first station. The second station features a turret that rotates, which the contender must spin into place and then load by hand. At the third station, there is a sand pit containing a hidden arrow, which the contender must find for the crossbow at station four. A smokescreen is provided at station three to help the contender move to station four without being seen. The fifth station requires the contender to throw three balls at a target; hitting any part of the target earns ten points. Striking the target or pressing a button at the end of the course sets off pyrotechnics on the Gladiator’s platform, and the Gladiator is then yanked off by a pulley and harness system, flying across the arena and into a water tank. If time expires or a ball fired by the Gladiator hits the contender before the target is struck, the contender gets one point for each station already finished. In season two, the turret no longer moves from side to side, and a bazooka replaces the third station. Contenders no longer need to dig in the sand for an arrow or load any weapon except the slingshot. Also, if a Gladiator’s ball bounces off the floor before hitting the contender, the hit does not count. Atlasphere returned in season two, having last appeared in season five of the original series from 1993 to 1994. This version includes elements from the original: competitors start on ramps, just like in seasons three and four of the earlier show, and each contender must roll their sphere directly over sensors in the middle of the pod to trigger a steam blast and earn two points.