In a recent post about the American Gladiators reruns airing on ESPN Classic, I made a passing reference to Malibu, the goldilocked "beach bum" Gladiator who only lasted one season on the show.
I don't think it was necessarily sucking like a black hole of athleticism in every single event--notably losing to guys 40 pounds lighter than him in Breakthrough and Conquer--that got him canned.
No, I think it was stuff like this:
NERD ALERT: I also remember and relish this man (real name: Deron McBee) for his role as "Warrior" in the instructional video for the shameless "D&D as a board game" knockoff that was DragonStrike. And sweet Steve Nash, the whole damn thing is on YouTube. ("Cleric, use your MAGIC!") Thank me later.
Showing posts with label American Gladiators. Show all posts
Showing posts with label American Gladiators. Show all posts
Friday, April 13, 2007
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Gladiators on ESPN Classic: Contenders Ready?
Just when I think stuff like the Michael Bay Transformers movie threatens to neuralize the best parts of my childhood, ESPN Classic begins airing reruns of American Gladiators.
AG was the quintessential American game show--average Joes and Janes risking life and limb for a modest cash prize. I still maintain that, despite (or perhaps because of) its circus-like atmosphere, it is the most realistic game show ever produced.
It was also the most forgiving, which might be strange to say about a show that forced contestants to scramble up a rock wall while being chased by a freakish Adonis twice their size. But if I'm going to lose a shot at 10K, I'd rather it be because I nearly got my head taken off fighting some dude named "Turbo" with a giant Q-Tip than because I lost some octogenarian's putting contest.
Classic has made the somewhat disappointing decision to air AG from the very beginning, when everything was in the awkward feeling-out stage: back when Joust took place on a single narrow platform, when Joe Theismann was the Tango to Mike Adamle's Cash, when people like this dude haunted the Gladiator "locker room" (where they eventually did put a camera to help advance the show's narrative, mostly involving a Gladiator snarling and launching spittle like in a pro wrestling interview).
It's still worth watching if you've got Classic (7 PM weekdays, 9 AM weekends), and it will only get better when they reach the episodes where AG really started hitting its stride--the deadly-serious color commentary of Larry Csonka, the dream team of Nitro and Laser, and (good God) the terrifying hamster-ball demolition derby called Atlasphere.
Unfortunately, there's no good video of the 'Sphere, so here's some footage of my other personal favorite: Breakthrough and Conquer. The testosterone meter is off the charts here--Quick! Score a touchdown! Done? Good. NOW WRESTLE THIS GUY!
AG was the quintessential American game show--average Joes and Janes risking life and limb for a modest cash prize. I still maintain that, despite (or perhaps because of) its circus-like atmosphere, it is the most realistic game show ever produced.
It was also the most forgiving, which might be strange to say about a show that forced contestants to scramble up a rock wall while being chased by a freakish Adonis twice their size. But if I'm going to lose a shot at 10K, I'd rather it be because I nearly got my head taken off fighting some dude named "Turbo" with a giant Q-Tip than because I lost some octogenarian's putting contest.
Classic has made the somewhat disappointing decision to air AG from the very beginning, when everything was in the awkward feeling-out stage: back when Joust took place on a single narrow platform, when Joe Theismann was the Tango to Mike Adamle's Cash, when people like this dude haunted the Gladiator "locker room" (where they eventually did put a camera to help advance the show's narrative, mostly involving a Gladiator snarling and launching spittle like in a pro wrestling interview).
It's still worth watching if you've got Classic (7 PM weekdays, 9 AM weekends), and it will only get better when they reach the episodes where AG really started hitting its stride--the deadly-serious color commentary of Larry Csonka, the dream team of Nitro and Laser, and (good God) the terrifying hamster-ball demolition derby called Atlasphere.
Unfortunately, there's no good video of the 'Sphere, so here's some footage of my other personal favorite: Breakthrough and Conquer. The testosterone meter is off the charts here--Quick! Score a touchdown! Done? Good. NOW WRESTLE THIS GUY!
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