# American Gladiators to return? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 10, 2007, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gladiators-to-return/415162 "2007-08-10T18:38:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gladiators-to-return/415162/21 "2007-08-11T22:30:42Z")
I used to love this show too. I think it was our FOX affiliate that used to play it every Saturday night around 11 or 11:30. Past our bedtimes, at any rate, but we stayed up to watch it. Ice was my favorite. I don’t know what it is about her, but when I catch the re-runs on ESPN Classic, she is _still_ my favorite. There was a male gladiator whose name started with T. It wasn’t Turbo, though. I loved him, too. What was his name? Grrr. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gladiators-to-return/415162/22 "2007-08-11T22:32:39Z")
[QUOTE=pepperlandgirl] There was a male gladiator whose name started with T. It wasn’t Turbo, though. I loved him, too. What was his name? Grrr. [/QUOTE] Tower? Titan? Thunder? Tank? Thor? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gladiators-to-return/415162/23 "2007-08-11T22:43:13Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] Tower? Titan? Thunder? Tank? Thor? [/QUOTE] Tiffany? No, it couldn’t have been Thor. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gladiators-to-return/415162/24 "2007-08-11T22:53:49Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] Tower? Titan? Thunder? Tank? Thor? [/QUOTE] I think it must have been Titan because I know he was competing when Turbo was. I know for sure it wasn’t Thunder, and Tower, according to go my google search, has pretty long, blond hair. The person I’m thinking of definitely didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gladiators-to-return/415162/25 "2007-08-11T23:01:19Z")
[QUOTE=pepperlandgirl] Tower, according to go my google search, has pretty long, blond hair. [/QUOTE] No, Malibu had the long blond hair. Tower was a brunette. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gladiators-to-return/415162/26 "2007-08-11T23:02:56Z")
Google has let me down once again. Then yeah, it could have been Tower, because the person I’m thinking of definitely was a brunette. And he was cute. ---
**Author:** ![aktep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@aktep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aktep)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gladiators-to-return/415162/27 "2007-08-11T23:13:39Z")
[QUOTE=Hal Briston] Huh? “…on NBC after NFL football”? Hope you’ve either got DVR or you’re ok with staying up late. The only NFL football on NBC is the Sunday night game, which usually wraps up around 11:30pm or so. [/QUOTE] The first time around, it used to air here after Saturday Night Live, so this sounds positively early to me. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gladiators-to-return/415162/28 "2007-08-11T23:42:16Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] Battledome tried to combine AG with professional wrestling. Rather than just doing the psedo-athletic competition, the “Warriors” and their managers had ongoing backstage drama as well as competition amognst themselves to be the Top Warrior or something. It lasted a couple of seasons but, again, was done in by erratic scheduling. I liked it. [/QUOTE] Same here. Back in 2001 I had just started a job that had me working until about 2 a.m. five days a week, and Battledome was on right when I got home on Saturdays. It was a lot of fun; I was sorry it got cancelled. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2007, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gladiators-to-return/415162/29 "2007-08-12T01:02:42Z")
[QUOTE=pepperlandgirl] Google has let me down once again. Then yeah, it could have been Tower, because the person I’m thinking of definitely was a brunette. And he was cute. [/QUOTE] [Tower](http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d123/chrisluke/tower.jpg) [Malibu](http://www.autographedtoyou.com/celebpics/deron_mcbee2.jpg) (I hate that much hair on a man) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Hildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Johnny\_Hildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Hildo)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2007, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gladiators-to-return/415162/30 "2007-08-12T05:39:42Z")
Humanity weeps. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2007, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gladiators-to-return/415162/31 "2007-08-12T06:01:29Z")
Assuming this is all true, I would like to second that Assault could come back, and that would be ok by me. Powerball has to be in right? I guess Joust would have to be in as well… ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2007, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gladiators-to-return/415162/32 "2007-08-12T15:23:03Z")
I (think) I remember an episode where the contestant was this huge Germanic pale guy, and the gladiators were actually having a tough time with him. I always liked the ones where it looked like the contestants had a chance to win. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2007, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gladiators-to-return/415162/33 "2007-08-12T16:14:37Z")
[QUOTE=Love Rhombus] I (think) I remember an episode where the contestant was this huge Germanic pale guy, and the gladiators were actually having a tough time with him. I always liked the ones where it looked like the contestants had a chance to win. [/QUOTE] On the women’s side, there were a few contestants that simply toasted the gladiators. The gladiators were pretty big and strong, but the difference between them and natural athletes who’ve competed in contact sports was pretty clear. The main problem was the gladiators were slow, they relied on strength. With big contestants, they didn’t even have that. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2007, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gladiators-to-return/415162/34 "2007-08-12T18:17:54Z")
I wasn’t a fanatic about it, but I did enjoy the show. My wife and I once visited a place outside of Pittsburgh (I think the town was called Canonsburg?) called the “Challenge Center” where we did an American Gladiators-style Joust and Challenge Course. That was a lot of fun. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gladiators-to-return/415162/35 "2007-08-24T03:07:58Z")
[Digg.com](http://Digg.com) Links to this [Variety.com](http://Variety.com) article. [http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117970702.html?categoryid=14&cs=1](http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117970702.html?categoryid=14&cs=1) The Article CONFIRMS NBC has Gladiators as a Midseason property. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gladiators-to-return/415162/36 "2007-08-24T03:16:16Z")
Maybe if this does well, NBC could try to resurrect its other old franchises- like _Battle of the Network Stars_! Now that I’d like to see. (NBC did do it as a one-shot special a couple years ago, but changed the definition from “Battle of stars from all three networks” to “Battle of stars from the NBC network.”) ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gladiators-to-return/415162/37 "2007-08-24T03:18:54Z")
I liked AG because some of the events looked like fun. Especially the upside-down slot car race where the contestants were the slot cars. That looked like a blast. The one where you had to sink the balls in the baskets while the Glads tried to block the shots looked like fun, too. As did Joust. OTOH, running across the rotating cylinder, I could just feel my ankles cracking as my feet flew out from under me. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gladiators-to-return/415162/38 "2007-08-24T12:15:43Z")
Man, I have always wished you and your buddies could just rent out the facilities for a day. I totally thought the games looked hysterically FUN. I’d love you be able to race my freinds upside down on a velcro strip or shoot tennis balls at each other! ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gladiators-to-return/415162/39 "2007-08-24T16:52:41Z")
More American Gladiators would be great. I always wanted to fire those air cannons. But I don’t want a reality show beyond the actual games. I don’t need to see behind the scenes, I don’t need to see them at home and out partying. Ok? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gladiators-to-return/415162/40 "2007-08-24T17:21:46Z")
[QUOTE=Meeko] [Digg.com](http://Digg.com) Links to this [Variety.com](http://Variety.com) article. [/QUOTE] Man, I fucking hate Variety. How can that shit be useful writing to the people who are even in the entertainment industry, let alone us regular folks? But more Gladiators is good news. Gladiators with reality TV behind-the-scenes drama is not. I’m excited, but I’m worried. And Nitro better be involved! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gladiators-to-return/415162.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gladiators-to-return/415162.md?page=3)