American Gladiators (1989 TV series)

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Template:Future television

1989 TV series or program

American Gladiators
The original American Gladiators logo. It is being placed on the NBC Web site to promote the 2008 revival.
Genre	Sports/Game Show
Created by	Dan Carr John Ferraro
Directed by	Bob Levy
Starring	Mike Adamle (1989 - 1996) Joe Theismann (1989) Todd Christensen (1990) Larry Csonka (1990 - 1993) Lisa Malosky (1993 - 1995) Danny Lee Clark (1995 - 1996) Hulk Hogan (2008 - present) Laila Ali (2008 - present)
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	7
No. of episodes	139
Production
Producers	Trans World International (1989 - 1992) Four Point Entertainment (1989 - 1996) MGM Television (2008 - present)
Production locations	Universal Studios Hollywood (1989 - 1991) CBS Studios (1991 - 1996) Sony Pictures Studios (2008 - present)
Camera setup	Multicamera setup
Running time	60mins (inc. comms)
Original release
Network	first-run syndication (1989 - 1996) NBC (2008 - present)
Release	September 16, 1989 - May 11, 1996 (Original Version) – January 6, 2008 - present (Revival Version)
Related
Battle Dome

American Gladiators is a competition TV show. The premise of the show is to match contestants against each other, as well as against the show's own "Gladiators" in contests of strength and agility.

The original American Gladiators first ran originally in weekly syndication from September 16, 1989 to May 11, 1996.

The show was taped at Universal Studios Hollywood until 1991, then moved to Gladiator Arena for the rest of its initial run. The National Indoor Arena, home to the UK version, hosted the International Gladiators competitions. The 2008 revival will be taped at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California.

The series, a co-production of Trans World International and Four Point Entertainment, was distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Television.

An effort to launch a live American Gladiators show on the Las Vegas Strip became mired in a securities fraud prosecution.

NBC's revival of American Gladiators is scheduled to premiere on Sunday January 6, 2008, and will then move to Mondays at 8:00 ET/PT.

Format

American Gladiators was conducted in a tournament style format. Up until season six, two tournaments were conducted each season.

In the first two seasons, 20 contenders (ten of each gender) in each half-season tournament were chosen from a nationwide contestant pool based on tests of strength and agility, with several alternates chosen in case a contender could not continue due to injury. Two contenders of each gender competed on each episode. Five preliminary round matchups were played with the winners automatically advancing to the quarterfinal round, along with the three highest scoring losers. Any alternates from that point on came from the previous round's losers.

The tournament then became single elimination, with the last two contenders standing meeting in the half-season final. The winners of each half received a cash prize and advanced to the Grand Championship at the end of the season, with more money and a new car available for the winner. The runners-up in the Grand Championship received a smaller cash prize.

In season three, 24 contenders in each half competed, and there was only one wild card spot, open to the highest scoring quarterfinal loser. Season four followed a similar format. Season five did away with the wild card altogether, with 16 contenders in each half competing, and the winners seeded 1-8 depending on their performance in the preliminaries.

In seasons six and seven, the tournament was spread out over the season, with no halves. The events were referred to as "rounds" due to more than one game being played per round. 3 games per show are played by both males and females and 3 are split between the males and females, two in one round. In split rounds, the men went first, then the women. Including the Eliminator, 10 events appeared in each episode, and the lineup of single and split rounds changed during the season. The sole exception to this format was in the semi-finals & Grand Championship; each round was a single event.

Also, there are no quarterfinal rounds; the top 4 highest scoring contenders would advance to the semi-finals.

AG 2008 (Season 1)

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When ESPN Classic launched reruns of the original series, ESPN.com had an online chat session with Dan Clark. In the chat, it was revealed that MGM Television was in the planning stages of a revival of the show. After discussions with MGM, NBC confirmed a revival in August 2007. The show will be produced by Reveille Productions and MGM Television. The show is slated for a mid-season debut. Shortly thereafter, NBC announced a casting call on their website. Professional wrestler Hulk Hogan and boxer Laila Ali will host the new series.

On November 22, 2007, the first ad for the revival aired during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, revealing eight of the new Gladiators.

Gladiators - Female:
Blast - Reserve (Jennifer Barry)
Crush (Gina Carano)
Fury (Jamie Reed)
Helga (Robin Coleman)
Siren (Valerie Waugaman)
Stealth (Tanji Johnson)
Venom (Beth Horn)

Gladiators - Male:
Hammer - Reserve (Michael Briehler)
Justice (Jesse Smith)
Mayhem (William Romeo)
Militia (Alexander Castro)
Titan (Mike O'Hearn)
Toa (Tanoai Reed)
Wolf (Dan Yates)

Classic events that will be featured include: Powerball, The Wall, The Joust, Hang Tough, Assault, Pyramid, Gauntlet, and The Eliminator. Certain events, such as The Wall, Hang Touch, The Eliminator, Assault and The Joust now incorporate water into the event. Classic UK event, Hit & Run, which also incorporates water, will be added. Another event, Earthquake, will make its debut this season.

Season 8 is scheduled to premiere on Sunday, January 6th, 2008 at 9 PM Eastern time, with two episodes airing on that night before the show moves to its regular time slot of 8 PM Mondays.

Grand Prizes

Seasons 1-3: $10,000 for winning the half-season finals, another $10,000 & a new car for winning the Grand Championship. Half-Season & Grand Championship runners-up won $5000 & a vacation. In the first half of season one, it was said that winners would have a chance to become Gladiators, however it never happened, and was done away with for the second half of the season.

Seasons 4-5: $10,000 for winning the half-season finals, $15,000 (& a new car ) for the Grand Championship. Half-Season runners-up won $5000, Grand Championship runners-up won $10,000 (& a vacation ).

Seasons 6-7: $2500 for winning a preliminary round, $10,000 for winning a semi-final round, total of $30,000 for the Grand Championship.

Events

Main article: American Gladiators events

In each episode, the contenders competed in a series of events, the number of which varied from six to eight depending on the season. Most of the events tested the contenders' physical abilities against the superior size and strength of the Gladiators, who were mostly pro or amateur bodybuilders and former football players. In most events, the contenders were not directly pitted against each other, but against the Gladiators. In each event, the contenders earned points based on their performance.

Originally, the points in each event were given on a 5 and 10 point scale, with 100 points usually the maximum in every event (except for Powerball). After the first half of the first season, they were given on a one-point scale.

Starting with the fourth season, the final event before The Eliminator, was labeled "Crunch Time", and was played for more points.

Many events were added and removed from the program's roster, with only five of the original events surviving the program's initial run on American television.

List of events:

Assault*
Powerball*
Breakthrough and Conquer*
Joust*
Human Cannonball
The Wall*
Atlasphere
Hang Tough
Swingshot
The Maze
Sky Track
Gauntlet
Pyramid
Tug-O-War
Whiplash
Snapback
The Eliminator

*Assault, the Joust, Breakthrough and Conquer, Powerball, and The Wall were the only events to be played on all seven seasons of the original show. However, The Wall didn't make its first appearance until the second half of the first season. In the MGM press release announcing the 2008 revival, The Wall, Joust, and Hang Tough were listed as games which will definitely be on the 2008 version. An audience member from the December 1st taping confirmed that Assault will also be on the 2008 version.

Visual makeovers

During the first half of the first season, the show's set resembled that of an ancient Roman gladiatorial arena (only with the walls being dark gray), with the stands raised high above the ground. For the second half, the show's set was changed into the more familiar sports-style arena. The hooded figures that officiated the games were replaced by veteran NFL referee Bob McElwee, who wore a red tracksuit with the show logo, and McElwee would often speak on camera to announce infractions during the game.

Starting in Season 2, until the final season, Season 7, the new referee, former Pacific 10 football referee Larry Thompson, wore the traditional zebra-striped shirt, and would also announce infractions.

During season four, other assistant officials in zebra-striped shirts, referred by Mike Adamle as game judges, were added. Often, the game judges were used at the start of the Eliminator and past the zip line, but officials would assist Thompson during the match.

In season five, the show received a massive makeover, including a change in logo (a more angular and three-dimensional look), a change in color scheme (from red, white, and blue to silver and scarlet), the use of two video screens (sponsored by Slim Jim, referred to as the "SlimJim Superscreen", used in seasons six & seven), and music played during the introduction of each event from this season to the end of the series run (which also was used during the International versions, only in the International versions, music was played while the event was actually played, as the show was directly from the British version), the music being played being from the American Gladiators: The Music soundtrack (only with no gladiator or announcer voices). Both the 18 track soundtrack and the 21 track soundtrack music was used.

However, the most notable change was the change of the opening theme, which was a rock remix of the original theme.

Both themes were composed by Bill Condi and both became popular themes, though the second theme was featured on the American Gladiators: The Music soundtrack. The event music was composed and performed by Dan Miter and the Steele Penny Band.

During the final season, three more things changed. The logo changed completely from its gem shaped logo to the metallic "AG" logo, with the A on top of the G to form a diamond shape (this is also when the announcers used the acronym "AG" to identify the show on a regular basis, as the previous two seasons only found it being used sparingly), and the opening featured each gladiator in a pose to show off their physiques, only with little clothing on. The logo for Season 7 was based on the British "Gladiators" "G" logo. Finally, the set was changed in where one of the audience stands was completely taken out, replaced by a huge "AG" logo in the center of that side that also housed the steps into the arena, giving the appearance of a bigger arena.

List of Gladiators

The following is a list of Gladiators who competed on the original TV series. For a list of some of the Gladiators who competed at the live shows in Orlando, Florida, see the AG Gladiators Zone page.

Original six Gladiators

Malibu (Deron McBee): competed in 1989 only
Lace (Marisa Pare): competed from 1989-1992
Gemini (Michael Horton): competed from 1989-1992
Zap (Raye Hollitt): competed from 1989-1990, returned from 1991 to 1995
Nitro (Dan Clark): competed from 1989-1992, returned from 1994-95, color commentator during show's final season in its first run.
Sunny (Cheryl Barldinger): competed in 1989 only, injured in semifinal round and never returned

Debuted during season one

Blaze (Sha-ri Pendleton): competed from 1990-1992
Bronco (Robert Bruce Campbell):competed in one episode in 1989 as an injury replacement for Malibu, was never seen again
Gold (Tonya Knight): competed from 1990-1992
Laser (Jim Starr): competed from 1990-1996, only Gladiator to appear on all seven seasons of the show
Jade: competed in final episode of first half of season one as injury replacement for Sunny, never seen afterwards
Titan (David Nelson): competed in 1990 only

Debuted during season two

Diamond (Erika Andersch): competed from 1990-1993
Ice (Lori Fetrick): competed from 1990-1992 and again from 1993-1996
Thunder (Billy Smith): competed from 1990-1992
Turbo (Galen Tomlinson): competed from 1990-1996

Debuted during season three

Storm (Debbie Clark): debuted in 1991 as an injury replacement for Gold, competed until 1993
Tower (Steve Henneberry): debuted in 1991 as an injury replacement for Turbo, competed until 1994
Viper (Chuck Berlinger): debuted at 1992 Grand Championship, competed until end of 1992-1993 season

Debuted during season four

Atlas (Philip Poteat): competed in 1992-93 season only
Cyclone (Barry Turner): competed in first half of 1992-93 season, injured arm and didn't return
Elektra (Salina Bartunek): competed from 1992-1994, sparingly after breaking nose in 1993 Grand Championship
Lace #2 (Natalie Lennox): competed in 1992-1993 season only
Havoc: competed sporadically in 1992-93 and 1993-94 seasons
Sabre (Lynn "Red" Williams): competed from 1992-1996
Siren (Shelley Beattie): competed from 1992-1996, was only deaf Gladiator
Sky (Shirley Eson): competed from 1992-1996

Debuted during season five

Dallas (Shannon Hall): competed from second half of this season until 1995, returned with Zap to compete in alumni show in the final season
Hawk (Lee Reherman): competed from 1993-1996
Jazz (Victoria Gay): competed from 1993-1996
Rebel (Mark Tucker): competed in 1993-94 season only
Tank (Ed Radcliffe): debuted as an injury replacement in season five, also appeared in three episodes in season six

Debuted during season six

Thor (Michael O'Hearn): never competed on TV, better known as Michael O'Dell on Battle Dome. Will be a Gladiator for the 2008 revival, under the name of Titan.

Grand Champions

Season	Men's Champion	Women's Champion
1	Brian Hutson	Bridget Venturi
2	Craig Branham	Dorann Cumberbatch
3	Mark Ortega*	Kathy Mollica
4	Clifton Miller	Cheryl Wilson
5	Wesley Berry	Peggy Odita
6	Kyler Storm	Adrienne Sullivan
7	Pat Csizmazia	Tiziana Sorge

NOTE: Season Three's Men's Grand Championship was decided by a video review after eventual champion Mark Ortega and Joe Mauro finished the Eliminator in an apparent dead heat. Ortega was declared the winner because he was ruled to have crossed the finish line at 48.86 seconds versus Mauro's 48.88 seconds, in the show's most dramatic finish.

Hosts and other personalities

Hosts

Joe Theismann and Mike Adamle (1989)
Michael Adamle and Todd Christensen (1990)
Mike Adamle and Larry Csonka (1990-1993)
Mike Adamle and Lisa Malosky (1993-1995)
Mike Adamle and Dan "Nitro" Clark (1995-1996)
Mike Adamle and John Fashanu (International Gladiators 1)
Mike Adamle, Ulrika Jonsson and Kimberley Joseph (International Gladiators 2)
Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali (2008 Revival)

Officials

An official dressed in a hooded black robe was used for the first series in 1989. Starting with the second half of the first season, veteran football referees began officiating the show.

During the 1992-93 season game judges were mentioned and posted on the show's credits.

Referees

Bob McElwee (1990)
Larry Thompson (1990-1996)

Game Judges

Bob Wucetich (1992-96)
Jeff Nathanson (1992-93)
Fred Gallagher (1993-96)
Jim Marcione (1993-96)

Announcers

Joe Theismann (1989)
John Harlan (1990-1993)

Special Shows

Like some other game shows, American Gladiators had their own theme shows. Some shows featured celebrities competing against each other (like castmembers from Baywatch and Superman portrayer Dean Cain, as well as host Mike Adamle & Character Actors Such as John C. McGinley), but other theme shows were present. Examples:

Alumni Shows

There were three alumni shows conducted during the course of AG. The first occurred in the second season, and featured competitors from the show's first season. Contenders Lucian Anderson and Cheryl Ann Silich emerged victorious, beating out Terry Moore and Aimee Ross, respectively.

Season six saw a second alumni show, with the six Grand Champions since the show moved into Gladiator Arena competing against each other. Wesley "Two Scoops" Berry and Peggy Odita, the season five Grand Champions, won.

Season seven's alumni show, dubbed as the "Battle of the Best", pitted season five grand champions Wesley "Two Scoops" Berry and Peggy Odita against season six grand champions Kyler Storm and Adrienne Sullivan, respectively, with the season five champions prevailing yet again. In an unrelated show, former Gladiators Zap and Dallas, who left the show the previous year, faced off against each other, with Dallas beating Zap.

Pro Football Challenge of Champions

In seasons three and four, AG conducted a show where current and former NFL players competed against each other in an elimination-style format. Six players competed, with the competition whittled down to four after the first two events, and then two for the Eliminator. Charles White won both competitions, both times erasing a deficit in the Eliminator.

The NFL players would compete head-to-head with the male Gladiators, however, only faced the female Gladiators in non-contact events. The women faced the NFL players in events such as "Assault" as well as the penalty pit and the gauntlet during "The Eliminator."

Gold Medal Challenge of Champions

In Season 5 in 1993, this Special Edition of American Gladiators consisted of former Olympic Gold Medalists competing. The males featured were 1984 Gold Downhill Skiing medalist Bill Johnson, 1988 Bronze Basketball medalist Danny Manning, and 1984 Gold Boxing medalist Tyrell Biggs. The females featured were 1976 Silver Basketball medalist Nancy Lieberman, 1984 Silver & Gold and 1988 Gold Track & Field medalist Alice Brown, and 1992 Gold & Silver Speed Skating medalist Cathy Turner. Cathy Turner and Bill Johnson won the competition and $10,000 prizes.

International Challenge

A precursor to International Gladiators, this tournament aired in season four and featured contestants from all over the world. Among the contenders was season five champion Peggy Odita, who was representing Nigeria and who won the women's competition.

Armed Forces Challenge of Champions

In seasons five and six, contenders from each of the four branches of the military (men and women in season five, men only in season six) faced off against each other, with the two highest scoring branches facing off in the Eliminator. The Marines won both competitions. Captain Myles Bly Mire, an AG alumni, was later involved with the capture of Saddam Hussein's nephew.

NYPD vs. LAPD

Conducted in season six, featuring officers from both police departments in competition. One of the female officers, the LAPD's Angela Shepard, was a season three contender who did not advance past the preliminaries (due to an injury she suffered during the Eliminator).

USC vs. Notre Dame

In season six, this contest pitted two USC alumni - one of which included two-time AG contestant Charles White - against two Notre Dame alumni. USC prevailed in this competition.

Segments

Gladiator Moments (Season 3): Gladiators reflect and talk about their favorite moments of the first two seasons of American Gladiators.

Ask a Gladiator (Seasons 3 and 4): Fans write to their favorite American Gladiator asking them questions.

Csonka's Zonks (Season 4): Brief array of clips featuring the funniest moments of the show which includes mostly of hits, tackles, and tumbles of the contenders and Gladiators.

30 Seconds With: (Season 5): Gladiators are asked a number of fill-in-the-blank questions.

Other Ventures

The American Gladiators had a dinner show in Orlando Florida. This dinner show showed many of the "main" gladiators. Ice, Sky, Hawk, Gemini, and others. The events included The Wall, Breakthrough and Conquer, Assault, Whiplash, the Eliminator and others.

Popular culture

This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. Please relocate any relevant information into other sections or articles. (October 2007)

In the Venture Brothers episode "I Know Why the Caged Bird Kills", Dr. Venture and Brock tell Hank and Dean that the woman claiming to be the boys mother is really Myra Brandish, formerly "Powerkat" on American Gladiators, but was put into an insane asylum once the show ended. There she became obsessed with Dr. Venture.
The show was featured in the fourth season premiere of Family Matters, which aired September 18, 1992. The episode, titled "Surely You Joust", saw Carl and Urkel compete to settle a score. (The story line was that Sabre was Waldo's cousin, and he set the whole thing up). The Joust, Wall, and Eliminator were featured (the only difference being the Eliminator course was missing the wall prior to the gauntlet, for reasons never explained). The stipulation was that if Urkel lost, he would never be allowed back in the Winslow family house. If Carl lost, he would have to apologize to Urkel for the incident which led to them being there in the first place (which involved both of them being electrocuted and falling off the roof in a household mishap). They finished the Eliminator in a dead heat to finish with overall tie scores, but resolved their differences at the finish line in order to avoid doing the whole course again to break the tie. In addition to Sabre, Turbo, Siren, and Elektra all appeared in the episode, as well as Mike Adamle and Larry Csonka.
On The Simpsons, Luann Van Houten dates a fictional American Gladiator who goes by the name Pyro. Pyro is seen using the Atlasphere as his personal means of transportation. They later break up when Pyro discovers Luann is cheating on him with his best friend and co-worker Gyro.
Nitro and Ice appeared on the sitcom Ellen (episode 19 season 2). Adam wants to audition for American Gladiators, but Ellen makes it through and goes on a date with Nitro.
Season 2 men's runner-up, first half champion Rico Constantino, went on to become well-known as a professional wrestler in WWE, under the name of "Rico." Tony Halme, known in the then WWF as Ludvig Borga, was a Gladiator on the Finnish version.
Season Three's Second Half runner up, Darryl Gholar, also competed on Battle Dome, falling in the first season final.
A short segment of the feature film Hot Shots! Part Deux parodies/pays homage to the show; Siren and Zap were the Gladiators with cameos in this segment.
In the movie Tommy Boy Chris Farley's character appears on the TV screen in a restaurant. The waitress asks the customers if they want to watch him or American Gladiators and they choose Gladiators.
Three Gladiators have appeared as game show contestants (outside of theme weeks on certain shows). Michael "Gemini" Horton was a contestant on Press Your Luck in the 1980s; Dan "Nitro" Clark appeared with his family on Family Feud as normal contestants while Gladiators was in production; and Lynn "Red" Williams, who portrayed Sabre, appeared on Street Smarts in the 2000s, competing under his Gladiator name.
On an episode of Beavis and Butt-head, the two main characters are talking to Daria about their mud wrestling stunt. Butt-head replies, "We're going to be cool like the American Gladiators."
In an episode of Boston Common, Tasha King (Tasha Smith) punches out a man after he started beating up on Boyd Pritchett (Anthony Clark). Bobby (Zach Galifianakis) is standing nearby, commenting, "Dude, I think that's Blaze from American Gladiators".
In the Seinfeld episode, "The Little Jerry", when Jerry (himself) tells Kramer (Michael Richards) what cockfighting really is, Kramer responds, "I thought they wore boxing gloves and helmets - you know, like American Gladiators."
In summer 2007, Dan "Nitro" Clark was a contestant on the CMT show "Ty Murray's Celebrity Bull Riding Challenge."

International versions

Gladiadores Americanos in Latin America.
Gladiators in Australia
Gladiators in the United Kingdom (1992-2000)
Gladiaattorit in Finland
International Gladiators in Germany (1995 on Sat.1)
Gladiatorerna in Sweden
Gladiatorerne in Denmark
South African Gladiators
Gekitotsu Americane Kin-niku Battle (TV Tokyo,Japan)
BANG! BANG! BANG! (Fuji Television,Japan)

References

"NBC Slots 'Medium,' Firms Up Schedule". Zap2It. 2007-12-07. Retrieved 2007-12-07. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
"Wrestling Legend Hulk Hogan To Host The Return Of Popular Competition Series "American Gladiators" Coming To NBC Midseason". Sports Features Communications. 2007-10-03. Retrieved 2007-10-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
"Laila Ali and Hulk Hogan are confirmed as new presenters of American Gladiators". Gladiators Zone. 2007-10-31. Retrieved 2007-10-31. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
http://mgm.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=445

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