New American Gladiators a Galactic Flop
I was stoked to see the new American Gladiator TV show debut last night. The original show was a tremendous success and we were promised the new show would not be like our “Grandma’s American Gladiators” by the new host Hulk Hogan. Hulk was right, it’s not and that’s a disappointment - it should be more like granny’s gladiators.
The two hour premiere was horrific at best, in my opinion. Why would the creators not spend the first hour explaining why the show came back, what’s new, what’s improved and take a chapter out of the American Idol book? Show the tryouts, the people who didn’t make it and why. Take the first hour to develop the characters of the new Gladiators - who they are, why they were chosen and what makes them worthy of gladiator status. Did they do anything in regards to character development? No. What a waste.
In the first event a female competitor is taken out by gladiator Tanji Johnson. A bit of foreshadowing of what was to come… Busted and broken would best describe how the show flowed. NPC competitor, Venus Ramos comes in as the replacement and goes onto victory. Along the way viewers are forced to listen to a boring announcer, a howling “wolf”, cheesy smack talking and pathetic editing.
Jamie Reed’s character “Fury” was the only one who showed us much from a gladiator status. At one point the announcer says, “Fury’s signature move” as she clamps her legs around a competitor on the rings. How can it be her signature move when we’ve never seen it before or been told about it before? If there was some character development to begin with - ie each gladiator’s strength, signature move, etc. perhaps it would be relevant.
I wanted to like the show but it was more painful to watch then the beating some of the competitors endured. My hope is for the women to make the most of this mainstream opportunity and do what they can with the exposure now. The door is closing fast on this show and I don’t see it lasting on the air for a second season.
While you may have not liked it, the ratings for Sunday night was quite satisfying to the NBC big wiggs. A 6.7/11 share with the coveted demographics will bode well for the show if it continues.
Just enjoy the show, and don’t concentrate on every little mistake. This is a free form reality based show, not a CSI episode.
Nice gimmick post. I am not alone in my comments. Let’s see how well the show does tonight and the following nights. Care to wager their ratings drop? I’d hope they would get high ratings for as much hype as the show received. Like I said I wanted to like it but the show was bad.
What was there to like about the show? Aside from the women there was nothing too like.
6.7% on average, really that’s good? I’m not sure that sounds like a very good number. I agree Isaac, I really like the show idea, but the delivery was off. I think the editing could have really built a connetcion to the show and it’s characters. American Idol, Biggest Loser etc. have an excellent model for getting the viewer involved. Get people involved from the VERY BEGINNING…and they’ll stay with the show. Show them the behind the scenes interviews, process to becoming a gladiator or making it as a competitor on the show, background on the gladiators and persona’s. Get the viewer more interested and they’ll stick around.
Also of note is the character development or lack thereof, make it even with women versus men on the character building. To me, and this is no offense to the men or the women of the show, the men had too much “character” and the women only started to show some of their character in episode 2.
I love that the show came back, I really like who they picked to be gladiators, I just wish it were all put together a bit more. I am not sure about others, but even though I know some of the characters, I felt somewhat an outsider to the show. I’m not sure how the general public will feel about it, I’ve heard rumblings from people that it was hard for them to “get into the show” as they really didn’t know much about it or the gladiators.
Let’s hope subsequent episodes are a bit better and bring us more. I really want this to take off, not only for the show, but for those athletes who put a lot into this opportunity. I would really be disappointed if things didn’t come to fruition for them, given the sacrifices and “beatings” they took.
For comparison purposes…Ratings week of 12/31/07 - 01/06/08
American Gladiators - NBC - 6.7
1 NBC NFL PLAYOFF GAME 2(S) - NBC - 15.0
2 NBC NFL PLAYOFF PRE-KICK2(S) - NBC - 13.8
3 NBC NFL PLAYOFF BRIDGE(S) - NBC - 13.6
4 AFC WILDCARD POST GAME(S) - CBS - 13.5
5 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES - ABC - 12.0
6 60 MINUTES - CBS - 11.6
7 LAW AND ORDER - NBC - 8.9
8 CSI - CBS - 8.5
9 DEAL OR NO DEAL 1/3(S) - NBC - 8.2
10 DEAL OR NO DEAL-WED NBC - 7.8
10 LAW AND ORDER:SVU - NBC - 7.8
Nice, choose the top 10 shows out of 120+ in the ratings block. American Gladiators, on BOTH nights now, did solid numbers, probably putting them in the top 20-25, which isnt bad. More important, the coveted 18 to 35 demographics went with the show, which is just as important as solid numbers.
Next Mondays numbers will matter, as it will show whether the show loses its audience or gains some.
And there you have it, Yogi, the man in the know breaks it down for us….but still you must admit, not the best first episode.
[…] Posted on 22:20 January 14th, 2008 by MESO-Rx The current cast of the American Gladiators television show agreed to be tested for anabolic steroids at any time by the shows producers at NBC. According to the Broadcast & Cable website, they were required to sign a statement that they did not use steroids as part of their employment contract. The anti-steroid clause was included in contracts for all 12 new American Gladiators: Justice (Jesse Smith), Mayhem (William Romeo), Militia (Alex Castro), Titan (Mike O’Hearn), Wolf (Don Yates), Toa (Tanoai Reed), Crush (Gina Carano), Fury (Jaime Kovac), Hellga (Robin Coleman), Siren (Valerie Waugaman), Stealth (Tanji Johnson), and Venom (Beth Horn). Details of the steroid-testing program have not been revealed. Will results be publicly reported? Will American Gladiators who fail the steroid test be kicked off the show? The original cast of American Gladiators was also tested for steroids. According to Dan ‘Nitro’ Clark: They tested us for steroids one year, I think just to say that they’d done it. But nobody ever told us what those results were. According to Raye Hollitt aka Zap, the steroid testing did nothing to prevent widespread drug use among cast members (particularly painkillers): There was a lot of drugs. It was a free-for-all: Vicodin, Percocet. Half the Gladiators were on something for pain. You had to perform, especially on tour. And then you end up sleeping around. I had to go to rehab to get off the Vicodin. Most likely the intent of the steroid-testing clause included in the contracts of the current cast members is public relations purposes. NBC is desperately in need of a huge hit in face of the loss of Sunday Night Football and the Writer’s Guild of America strike. And in spite of harshly negative reviews from insiders, American Gladiators had huge debut exceeding all internal projections for audience viewership and has already been renewed for a second season! […]
When I first heard about the return of “American Gladiators”, I was excited. Yes, I watched the original and while it was cheesy at times, it was also fun and it also showed athletic comeptition and it fact was a lot of fun and deep down was about heart and strong, fierce atheltic comeptition.
Fast forward to this version, which to me takes the worst of the final seasons of the original and makes it significantly worse! The show is unnecessesarily noisy and over the top, the male gladiators are obnoxious-the women are okay, that is why I watch the show, lol-and the commentary is banal and stupid. The next intelligent thing Laila Ali and Terry “Hulk” Hogan say will be the FIRST intelligent thing they say. I can’t even listen to their inane chatter without reaching for the mute button.
In sum, ratings aside, the new “American Gladiators” is a total disgrace and I hope that the women use this to gain some notariety because this will not be something they will want on their cv’s .
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I liked it. And the finale had pretty good ratings if I remember? Of course, the New Gladiator women are much better (looking) than the old…and just as tough and fiece…except for Jazz of old…holly cow was she bad!
I think the show needed to be over the top. I think Hulk Hogan and Miss Ali are not that bad…and their lack of talent as hosts makes it even better…. keep the cheese on…
But Butt kickin’s were great… and this show WILL continue! Looking forward to season 2
American Gladiators is a joke. And Mike O Hearn says he doesn’t use steroids, but its clear he does…or uses growth hormone. I hope they do test these guys for roid use…just like John Cena and Batista in WWF need to be also. I’ve noticed most wrestlers have been losing their size fast as Vince McMahon hasfinally started implementing a drug-testing policy…the exception being Cena and Batista…their big $$$ draws. Same with AG…its all about the $$$
Joe Campbell , you’re wrong, Mike O’Hearn is not using steroids or any other illegal stuff…
And I loved the show! Can”t wait till next season!