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"American Gladiators" (2008) More at IMDb Pro »

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20 out of 23 people found the following comment useful :-
Can't say yet which is better (except for the commercial breaks), 16 February 2008

Author: RickM41 from West Chester, Pa

I've watched a few, can't say yet whether it's better than the original or not, although America was due for a new version of this and it came at just the right time. There's one BIG black mark against the current version - the way they tease you with the next event and then cut to five minutes of commercials. Hey, this ain't Deal or No Deal (a big problem with that show also). That technique grows old real fast and is a tacky piece of trash the original didn't stoop to. It means we never watch this live, we watch on DVR so we can fast forward through the annoyance.

Announcers - I give a slight nod to the new show. The biggest pitfall here is to go too over the top too often, Hulk does that more than Adamle but the Hulker is also such a great screen presence. Ali does a nice and controlled job.

Contestants - I think I like it better when they didn't focus on the contestants so much (the original). While these competitors look good, there's too many interviews with contestants and family. What are they going to say, I think I'm going to lose?

Gladiators - Certainly looking fit, although I have a soft spot for Siren, Ice, Gold, Zap et al from the old crew. They were very tough but fair, this group is a tad too macho/nasty for me. Original is definitely better, although Crush is a looker as well as a battler and Helga is a cute twist.

Referee - I don't think anyone can replace Larry Thompson, he was The Man. The new guy is okay but no Larry Thompson.

Events - There's something hokey about the Gauntlet, they need to work on the rules or something. In the old one pinning contestants down was illegal, now everyone seems to do it. The Pyramid seems too stacked for the gladiators. The end of the Eliminator (the steep treadmill) is just too damn tough, I want to at least see these folks get to finish the event. Otherwise the new events are marginally better and presented much better, particularly Assault where the gladiator goes flying, that was a great idea. With all due respect to the contestant-lawyer who claimed she got sick from going into the water so many times, I'm sure the studio's lawyers (and doctors) are happier about these folks falling 15 feet into water than onto a wrestling mat.

Conclusion - A close call but for the commercial tease, where they can hopefully grow up and clean up.

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20 out of 31 people found the following comment useful :-
Nice follow up to the original, 9 January 2008

Author: Brownsbros3 from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

The new American Gladiators kicked off to a successful start on NBC. There was a lot I liked about it, and some stuff that I would change. The female Gladiators seem to need a lot more practice on the events than the men do. The men for the most part did well, but the females lost just about every time.

Hulk Hogan has never met a camera he didn't like, and I thought he did well. I don't know where some of this talk of him looking bored is coming from. I thought he did well interviewing the contestants. Laila doesn't have as much experience in front of the camera as Hulk, but I thought she held her own.

As for the Gladiators, Wolf is my early favorite, because he has shown the most personality. It helps that he wrestled professionally, and has prior experience in that department. Hopefully in time, the rest of the crew will come around. During the first season of the original version, that Gladiator crew didn't show much charisma, but in the later years they developed some.

I liked that they are varying up the events for the men and the women. Some of the episodes of the original would get boring, when you'd see the same thing four times. By seeing some events only twice, it to me, makes the show seem fresher.

As far as changes, there are two main ones that I would make. I don't like the nameless, faceless play-by-play announcer. I think the guy calling the action needs a more visible presence on the show. By doing the play-by-play in post production, whoever he is, does not seem to give it that personal touch like Mike Adamle did on the original. The guy I always pictured in the role if they ever did a Gladiators remake, was Joey Styles from ECW. I'd love to hear an "Oh My God!" after someone took a big hit, or had a big fall.

The other change is that the new Eliminator is way too long, and difficult. They are asking for trouble by requiring the contestants to swim underneath that wall of fire. I have a fear that one of these days someone is going to lose their breath and either drown or get barbecued. There is too much going up and down. I think they need to take a lesson from the original and make the transitions between the legs of the Eliminator smoother. This would hopefully lead to less contestants being completely out of gas before they are even half done.

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1 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
A fun show to watch, 6 July 2008

Author: McHernet (mchernet15@gmail.com) from United States

Contestants from all over the nation are put through various challenges most of which include them facing the gigantic and fierce gladiators.

The thing about this show is that you feel for and sympathize with the contestants, and you will unknowingly find yourself hating the gladiators and picturing them as villains.

The hosts of the show themselves are huge, Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali, one a legendary wrestler and the other a female boxer.

Let's hope NBC doesn't cancel American Gladiators after a couple of seasons.

Overall, this is a fun and clean show to watch for the whole family, and is definitely worth a look.

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1 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Good except..., 19 May 2008

Author: KidMedik from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

...is there a remote possibility that they could hire a competent AV crew? The audio/visual synch has sucked both times it's air this season. The people's mouths move and the words come about a second and a half later. It's like watching an poorly dubbed Godzilla movie.

On the plus side, AG continues to provide excellent relief from the obviously scripted, ridiculous "reality" TV like "The Apprentice," "The Bachelor," and the morally bankrupt (and thankfully cancelled) "My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad" (way to teach our kids to respect their elders).

It's great to see old events from the original series come back in updated forms, like Skytrack and Vertigo, and see events like Hang Tough, The Wall and The Eliminator get overhauls from last season to make them even harder and more challenging.

As for the Gladiators...they are GREAT! Instead of the stoic, bland Gladiators of the original show, we see Gladiators with personality. Wolf is always entertaining, and Titan is such a great sport, while still being a tough contender. The women, of course, all look just as great, but also have the personality and jokes to back up the looks and athletic competitiveness. Phoenix is awesome, and it's great to see the final result of last season's winners, Jet and Rocket.

Now, if they could just fix that AV problem, it would be good for 10 out of 10.

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0 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Absolute Disgrace to the Gladiator Name, 1 September 2008

Author: NotoriousA_R_T_Spigel from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I cannot believe that a show as great and legendary as American Gladiators can be dragged so low. American Gladiators is supposed to stand for action, patriotism, sport. This disgrace of American "Gladiators" has interviews, scripts, terrible trash talking (I mean, if you're going to talk trash, at least be funny!) and themed shows. This is NOT what the Classic American Gladiators is supposed to be about. It's about going against America's toughest weekend warriors, who don't make themselves look like idiots.

Gladiator Arena is supposed to be run by Gladiators who were mammoth sized men and women, not your average people like me and you who one day decided to get off the couch and go to a tryout.

And I'm not just on about the Gladiators being small, but some of them have not so good backgrounds. The legendary Gladiators were people who the kids could look up to. They always encouraged the younger viewers to be all they could be, shoot for the top, be the best. This show has none of that. Some of the "Gladiators" were formerly strippers and porn stars, yeah, I'd like my kids (if I ever have them) to look up to these people.

Some of the Events aren't about skill or strength! What is Rocketball testing? No muscle at all is tested. What's the deal with Vertigo, it's pointless! Sky Track is a complete tosser! Where in the hell is Breakthrough and Conquer!? Why aren't there 5 Gladiators in Gauntlet? Basically the contenders have a free run if they make it past the fourth Gladiator. 4 Gladiators wouldn't't be so bad if the Contenders got 20 seconds to do the Event like in the past. DO AWAY WITH RECAP, AND LET'S SEE ACTION!!! Maybe we wouldn't;t have to watch a recap if they'd simply CUT OUT THE INTERVIEWS! I don't care about the Contenders' personal background and life story! While the negative comments above may make it seem like I hate the show completely, I did give it 4 stars. Some of the Gladiators like Titan, Phoenix, Toa, and Venom are people who younger viewers can look up to, and good competitors. They have good sportsmanship and were never strippers or porn stars.

The show on the other hand does have decent action, and when I say decent, I mean action that's the lowest form of decent without being bad. This "American Gladiators" will NEVER have HARDCORE action like it's FANTASTIC predecessor. These bucks can't hold a match stick to the REAL American Gladiators. This show has NOTHING on the Classic version.

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