American Gladiators OAD 5/12/08

[WhiskeyTango]

They made some changes to current games, added some new ones, and introduced a couple of new gladiators. It still doesn't seem quite right to me, maybe it's because I grew up watching the original.

Anyway, the Elena chick reminded me a lot of Jo from Eureka. I was surprised she had that much trouble with the cargo net being a firefighter and all. They really need to fix the Eliminator. The rolling barrell didn't roll at all when they ran across it. The Travelator is too much at the end. It took the women almost 10 minutes to finish. And who's great idea was it to drop exhausted contestants into a deep pool. I could see the one girl yelling 'help me'. They need to bring back the old style with the 4 corridors with gladiators behind some of them at the end.

That Jet Ball that is 'all new' is just an updated version of Catapult. Overall the show seems too cartoonish. What was with the referee's little dance moves when asking the contenders if they were ready?

[DancnDude]

I know the show is so corny but I can't stop watching. That's what makes it great.

[Fleegle]

It's a huge guilty pleasure. I love this show :)

[busyba]

I applaud the courage and fortitude of the amputee, and he certainly held his own in the regular events, but how could he not know that he had ZERO chance at the eliminator? Jeez, at least go with the fake foot attachment so you don't get your hook caught in the cargo net.

He actually got a bit of an advantage, though, in the Wall event, because Wolf had to get closer than usual to pull him down by the waist because he obviously didn't want to be the guy who pulled someone's fake leg off on national tv. :)


The Vertigo event freaked me right the hell out, although I'll put up with it to watch the graceful Phoenix sway back and forth. :) Looking at the contenders not being able to reach the next pole, I wonder if jumping across would work or not?

[MasterOfPuppets]

I like the show.
I like the outfit that they gave to "Jet", although I'm not sure about the new hairdo.

I also suddenly find myself wanting directions to the nearest Rocketball court.

[busyba]

If I were a contender playing rocketball, I'd pretend to hit the button (and maybe even jump a little) in order to fake the gladiator into hitting his button at the wrong time.

[blogan]

I thought the Vertigo was kind of lame. No contact, and you know that the Gladiator is able to practice on that all the time. Why not just put up three of them or just make the second person race against the clock.

I did notice they shut off the travelator for the amputee. They should really just shut it off immediately after there's a winner so the other person can at least finish rather quickly.

[busyba]

I did notice they shut off the travelator for the amputee. They should really just shut it off immediately after there's a winner so the other person can at least finish rather quickly.

They shut it off also for the cute firefighter chick in the first hour. They generally let it run for a while to let the loser take a fair shot at it, but then slow it down or shut it off so the person can at least finish. It was like that often in the first season as well.


The tactic the Air Force major used, staying on the pivot of the see-saw until it was completely lowered, then using the momentum from running down the incline to get her quickly up the travelator was brilliant. You can fully expect every single contender from now on to do the same exact thing. They should name the tactic after her, like the Fosbury Flop. :)

[busyba]

Oh, and one other thing: Hellga... still useless. :down:

[Jebberwocky!]

did the winners from the first season become gladiators?

[Fleegle]

did the winners from the first season become gladiators?

Yes. The female winner is "Jet", and Evan, the Guy winner is "Rocket" due to his speed.

[SnakeEyes]

Still overproduced. I wish it felt more like a live show.

[MasterOfPuppets]

I enjoyed the lots of action for Crush.
Anything to get Crush on the air is good with me.
Lots of action for Venom as well, which is almost as good.

It does seem kind of funny that the only time Phoenix saw any action was to destroy the contestants at Vertigo.

They still need to bring back Breakthrough & Conquer.

I'd also like to see some of the old Gladiators brought back for some segments.
Bring back Malibu to suck uncontrollably at everything.

[busyba]

They still need to bring back Breakthrough & Conquer.
That's the football/sumo one, right? I could have sworn that in one of the early promos like a month ago that I saw a very quick flash of what looked like could have been the B part of B&C.

[LlamaLarry]

I enjoyed the lots of action for Crush.Crush is the hotness. I'd like to see more of Phoenix as I guess she replaced my other crush Siren, but at least she still kinda has red hair. ;)

[DLL66]

I applaud the courage and fortitude of the amputee, and he certainly held his own in the regular events, but how could he not know that he had ZERO chance at the eliminator? Jeez, at least go with the fake foot attachment so you don't get your hook caught in the cargo net.

He actually got a bit of an advantage, though, in the Wall event, because Wolf had to get closer than usual to pull him down by the waist because he obviously didn't want to be the guy who pulled someone's fake leg off on national tv. :)

I think it was the principle that he got the opprotunity that he was chosen for being on American Gladiator. Like you said, it his courage and the belief of competing.



I enjoyed the lots of action for Crush.
Anything to get Crush on the air is good with me.


I love Crush!!!!! She is hawt!!!

[Amnesia]

I'd like to see more of Phoenix as I guess she replaced my other crush Siren (...)Siren's still there.

The female gladiators are:
Jet (http://www.nbc.com/American_Gladiators/bios/jet.shtml)
Crush (http://www.nbc.com/American_Gladiators/bios/crush.shtml)
Hellga (http://www.nbc.com/American_Gladiators/bios/hellga.shtml)
Phoenix (http://www.nbc.com/American_Gladiators/bios/phoenix.shtml)
Siren (http://www.nbc.com/American_Gladiators/bios/siren.shtml)
Venom (http://www.nbc.com/American_Gladiators/bios/venom.shtml)

[LlamaLarry]

Siren's still there.Sweet, was she not on the opening episode or did I miss it (stupid posting on TCF while watching TV bad habit)? That was a pretty unflattering bio pic of her on NBC; I'll have to check out the rest of the gallery when they wife is away tomorrow. ;)

[mattack]

They shut it off also for the cute firefighter chick in the first hour. They generally let it run for a while to let the loser take a fair shot at it, but then slow it down or shut it off so the person can at least finish. It was like that often in the first season as well.

I had only noticed it for the amputee. (This time, I FFed through basically EVERYTHING that wasn't actual gameplay, though it's not exactly relevant in noticing this.)

It was also interesting editing that they went from ~3 minutes to ~9 minutes in for one set of women on the final challenge at the travellator. I hadn't noticed it ever taking anybody else that long.

The guy going against the amputee really was between a rock and a hard place... If he wins, people will think "big deal". If he loses, people would think he's a bigger loser.

[mattack]

Yes. The female winner is "Jet", and Evan, the Guy winner is "Rocket" due to his speed.

I probably missed this due to FFing through non-competition moments.. but did they actually explain this?

Since they only refer to the others as their character names, I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't actually explain this.

[Amnesia]

Yes, they identified Jet and Rocket as being the winning competitors from the previous season...

[MasterOfPuppets]

That's the football/sumo one, right? I could have sworn that in one of the early promos like a month ago that I saw a very quick flash of what looked like could have been the B part of B&C.

Yeah, that's it.
Can't argue with this (http://youtube.com/watch?v=un1O6ZaZdJc).

[fmowry]

Crush is the hotness. I'd like to see more of Phoenix as I guess she replaced my other crush Siren, but at least she still kinda has red hair. ;)

There was a story on Crush on ESPN's E:60 show yesterday I think. I remember her from the Oxygen chick MMA show Fight Girls. She's a top rated MMA fighter.

Frank

[IJustLikeTivo]

They still need to bring back Breakthrough & Conquer.


And lose pyramid which no one ever wins. ( well nearly no one )

[WhiskeyTango]

Oh, and one other thing: Hellga... still useless. :down:

Understatement of the year. She's the biggest one by far and her best event is Assault where she never even comes into contact with the contestants. She's too slow for Powerball so she just stands near the center pod and I don't think she knows what to do in the Gauntlet. She's too busy throwing little punches instead of just pushing the people back like an NFL lineman.

[busyba]

Yeah, that's it.
Can't argue with this (http://youtube.com/watch?v=un1O6ZaZdJc).

:eek: OH SNAP!!! :eek:

That was a sweet move.

[busyba]

And lose pyramid which no one ever wins. ( well nearly no one )

I think the only time someone made it to the top was when the gladiator got over-agressive and the contender ducked and the G just flew over him and landed down at the base.

I don't understand why the contenders don't take a more agressive tack in pyramid. All they seem to do is try to evade, which is a losing strategy since the gladiator has a clear advantage from having the high ground. I'd think a winning strategy would be to try to first neutralize the gladiator somehow. Once you get close, you should be able to just reach out and grab the ankles and pull the guy down. That should give you a few seconds to get past the gladiator and put some distance in between you.

[busyba]

Understatement of the year. She's the biggest one by far and her best event is Assault where she never even comes into contact with the contestants. She's too slow for Powerball so she just stands near the center pod and I don't think she knows what to do in the Gauntlet. She's too busy throwing little punches instead of just pushing the people back like an NFL lineman.

Gauntlet is the only thing besides Assault that she's even remotely suited for since she's essentially a wall.

The funniest thing I ever saw was in season 1 when Hellga was playing centerfield in powerball and the other two gladiators got their signals crossed and double teamed one contender, and the other contender practically walked right past her to score in the center pod.

Hellga is teh suxx0r. :)


I'd pay cash money to watch her try to do Vertigo. :D

[WhiskeyTango]

I just read that Gina Carrano, aka Crush, is still fighting in MMA and may end up on the new CBS show EliteXC fighting for the women's title later this year.

[Neenahboy]

(apologies for the transitionless random thoughts below :o )

I don't understand why every competitor can't finish Gauntlet in 30 seconds. Why don't they just take the gladiators out at the knees and juke past them?

The first thing I said when I saw the amputee was, "If he chooses the hook prosthetic, he's f***ed on the cargo net in the Eliminator." What a stupid move.

Holy crap, I forgot how fast Evan (Rocket) was. Gerry seemed to be flying up the Wall, and he still got caught.

Somehow I can't see Jet faring well as a gladiator. She let one just walk right past her on Gauntlet, then she was having a TON of trouble throwing the other one to the mat on Pyramid.

I can't believe nobody's mentioned the NBC camera guy almost getting taken out by the bazooka. :D

I was expecting a more varied lineup of gladiators. Venom and Justice, Venom and Justice, we get it already!

Finally, it's unfortunate that the camera work still relies heavily on the close-up.

[busyba]

I can't believe nobody's mentioned the NBC camera guy almost getting taken out by the bazooka. :D
I forgot about that! Backwards bazooka... that's straight out of a Pauly Shore movie or something. :D

Speaking of Assault, they went back to the drawing board with that one and made it a lot less complicated, and that's a good thing.

I don't understand why every competitor can't finish Gauntlet in 30 seconds. Why don't they just take the gladiators out at the knees and juke past them?
Ignoring for the moment that going for their knees can risk seriously inguring the gladiator, that's still not a good move since the gladiator can sprawl and then you're on the ground and he's on top of you.

Finally, it's unfortunate that the camera work still relies heavily on the close-up.
In some situations, with some of the female participants, it's actually quite fortunate, but I agree with you in principle. ;)

[MasterOfPuppets]

I don't understand why the contenders don't take a more agressive tack in pyramid. All they seem to do is try to evade, which is a losing strategy since the gladiator has a clear advantage from having the high ground. I'd think a winning strategy would be to try to first neutralize the gladiator somehow. Once you get close, you should be able to just reach out and grab the ankles and pull the guy down. That should give you a few seconds to get past the gladiator and put some distance in between you.

I agree that the contestants need to go more for fight than flight on the Pyramid. I'm still waiting for a Gladiator to be flipped over someone's back, tumbling down the Pyramid.

I almost forgot about the backwards bazooka shot, that was some funny stuff.

The main problem I see with Jet right now is that she's too nice, and too timid right now. She needs to go out there wanting to lay someone out. She sucked at...ummm...that game where you run around trying to put the balls into the cylinders without being tackled.

If Crush is on EliteXC, I'm there.
Yeah, I was already there for Kimbo Slice, but I'd be extra there for Crush. :p

[Jebberwocky!]

I agree that the contestants need to go more for fight than flight on the Pyramid. I'm still waiting for a Gladiator to be flipped over someone's back, tumbling down the Pyramid.

I would try to grab their arm and toss them over my head and then waltz to the top. Sounds easy but I'm sure it is not ;)

I think someone with Judo experience in using the opponents momentum against them would work best.

[mattack]

I don't understand why the contenders don't take a more agressive tack in pyramid. All they seem to do is try to evade, which is a losing strategy since the gladiator has a clear advantage from having the high ground. I'd think a winning strategy would be to try to first neutralize the gladiator somehow. Once you get close, you should be able to just reach out and grab the ankles and pull the guy down. That should give you a few seconds to get past the gladiator and put some distance in between you.

I'm certainly not an expert on this show, not having watched the original (at least not more than a few mins)... but from the way people act, it seems to me like the gladiators, and I would suspect the contestants, have specific rules about how rough they're allowed to get.

I admittedly can't think of an example, but even outside of the ones that have a specific 'zone' for the gladiator (go down the 'tube' one past the 3-4 gladiators), once the contestant gets a little ways away, the gladiator seems to often stop trying.. Plus, even on ones like the rings one, the gladiators aren't twisting and turning as hard as they can to get the other guy to fall when they have their legs wrapped around them..

i.e. I'm not saying it's fixed, I think they have fairly strict limits (for player & gladiator) about how hard they can attack the other guy.

[fmowry]

.

If Crush is on EliteXC, I'm there.
Yeah, I was already there for Kimbo Slice, but I'd be extra there for Crush. :p

I believe it's the show that was being promoed on Survivor finale. It'll be on network TV which is good (but surprising).

Frank

[classicX]

Crush (Gina Carano) will be on Elite XC on May 31st, 9 PM on CBS.


Is it just me, or do the pictures on the American Gladiator site not do her justice? I think she's a lot prettier then she looks in that gallery. The picture they have on the Elite XC homepage is much better!

She's a top MMA fighter - that explains a lot. She is a beast on joust.

[Amnesia]

Is it just me, or do the pictures on the American Gladiator site not do her justice? No, no, Justice is the 6'8" guy...