I feel like this has been the case since I started watching (midway through season 4). Has it really changed? I guess we could do a minute-by-minute analysis of previous season’s episodes vs this seasons and see what percent was spent in inspirational stories vs watching the action, but I honestly haven’t noticed a difference.
That said, the qualifying rounds are definitely the least essential and least interesting…
Just finished watching the Atlanta prelims.
I don’t have the means to do a minute-by-minute comparison, of course, but it certainly seems like the backstories are even more tedious than they were last year. It routinely reaches the point where I’m like, all right, I get it, you flippin’ overcame get your butt out there already!
But in all honesty…that much is forgivable. Mostly. It eats up way too much time, granted, but at least it doesn’t get in the way of the actual run. What DOES get in the way are the umpteen bazillion CROWD SHOTS. Even worse when they spew out repetitive nonsense like “You got this, baby, you got this!” and “Stay relaxed!” If that’s me on the course, I’m like, dude, shut the hell up, I’m working here! Let’s not forget the fan sections with their astonishingly professional-quality designs (both sings and t-shirts), which guarantees that the camera will be cutting to them absolutely freaking constantly. In all, I’m starting to get the feeling that the athlete is the least important person out there.
A notion strongly reinforced by the fact that we hardly get to see the good ones. Remember when if someone finished, we saw it? remember when they did that 30th place hot seat thing and it was a big deal who made it through to Cityfinals? This week…yes, I counted…nineteen finish runs weren’t shown, and fourteen of them didn’t even get a 3WA! And these weren’t all flashes in the pan or flukes, either: Travis Rosen and Jo Jo Bynum were among them.
Which…I guess this is as good a time as any to bring this up again…would make byes a great idea. After a certain amount of success, automatic pass to Cityfinals. And once they get really good, Stage 1. I mean, if NBC doesn’t give a damn about Rosen beating the qualifying course, why should we?
Travis Rosen must have impregnated a producer’s wife or something. His runs haven’t been shown in years, getting consistently "while we were away"ed.
I remember noticing this and wanting to point it out (but I keep forgetting) two seasons ago, and he hasn’t been shown live since. So maybe three seasons since he’s been shown.
Nothing really special this week. Meagan Martin made it through, as pretty much everyone hoped she would, Lorin Ball had an impressive time, and the rest was just waving through the veterans and choking up over terminal illnesses.
In fact, that’s the pattern I’m starting to see with these qualifying eps. The show’s been around long enough that there are a whole lot of competitors who are really, really good, and whose lives are mundane (or at least tragedy-free) enough that being really, really good is the only good story they have. Before this wasn’t a problem when you had guys quitting after two or three seasons because the money just wasn’t there. But now there’s this new crop that’s not only dedicated fit and driven, but can actually make a decent living off of it (usually by running a training gym or something similar). And ever year it just gets bigger.
So in regards to bumrushing 80% of the finishers, it sucks, yes, but…well, given that this is a reality TV program, I don’t see that NBC has any choice here. If there’s anything that reality TV despises…completely, utterly despises…it’s someone with just too much natural ability. In professional sports, natural ability is not only highly desirable but an outright requirement (not the ONLY requirement, of course, but definitely a requirement). In reality TV, all it reaps are boos, obscenely high expectations, backlashes, and the inevitable “thought (s)he was safe” crap that seals the contestant’s fate. Other than Kristi Yamaguchi, can you name one runaway favorite that actually won?
Of course, ANW doesn’t have any voting, which limits this effect somewhat, but don’t expect anyone with any real chance of winning it all to get any serious airtime until at least Stage 1. I mean, look at who got 3WA’d: Nicholas Coolridge, Travis Rosen, Jojo Bynum, Brian Arnold, Ian Dory. It’s a good thing we have things like Team Ninja Warrior, otherwise we’d never get to see how good they are!
I enjoyed this episode quite a bit. Maybe the human interest stories were actually interesting? I mean, that guy with one leg, holy crap.
It seemed like a lot of fit and athletic people couldn’t figure out how to get the ring to swing enough, and failed to jump to the second ring. Must be one of those things that looks easier than it is.
Several promising female competitors, but again only one female qualifier.
[quote=“DKW, post:112, topic:694839”]
Anyone beside me catch the American Ninja Warrior All-Star Special? Well, I haven’t seen anything about this, so I figured I’d cover it."
I watched it. Pretty good write up. Overall, I’m with you, this wasn’t as interesting as other versions.
Now this is interesting. And my immediate thought is, well duh. At the end of last season with two 4 stage completions and more through stage 1 than ever, I figured they were going to do something to up the difficulty level on the obstacles, especially the Finals stages. So they pull out an event qualifier competition to calibrate the elite performance so they can judge the changes better. Awesome.
That’s pretty wild. Up is harder than down, and several figured how to speed up by taking long reaches. Good job to all. Jessie Graf had a respectable showing.
This was just unbelievable. Swinging 14 feet by hands and grabbing a 2 inch ledge? Wow.
Okay, what the hell does “3WA” mean?
Yes, this one definitely needs a calibration, and they found it. The other option is to spread the rungs further so you jump higher. That’s probably the more sensible way to shake it up. Already the elite will skip rungs, make that more the regular distance.
Thing is, 11 seemed great except the guys were hitting 20+.
Just how far can one jump from a trampoline?
This one was also amazing. 19 feet high?
What is a reasonable size increase that isn’t too small to be tedious but isn’t so large as to hit everyone at the same time? You’re incrementally making it larger, going up a foot first, then using 6 inches, then going to 3 inches for two increments. Makes sense to me. If everyone is clearing pretty easy at 18’ 6", then go up 6", but if it’s in the struggle zone, use 3 inch increments.
I find this acceptable. Caldiero is the first champion.
Who could have guessed they’d have needed a longer course?
They didn’t describe the selection process for the events, but each competitor only got one event, so I suspect they invited folks to pick their best event and then sorted from there. Or something. The idea wasn’t really to establish an overall champion for each event, despite how it was presented. The real purpose was to calibrate difficulty levels on elite performers so they can make changes to the courses to make it interesting again, and drop the number who complete each stage of the finals, as well as increase the qualifiers a bit.
Max - My position is, I’m perfectly fine with giving the spotlight to human interest contestants as long as the hosts treat them the same as everyone else. No oh-so-inspirational, no you-can-really-see-the-courage. I can decide for myself how moved I am, dammit. Frankly, the story for me this year is Geoff Britten, and it’d be an incredible joy (and of course sweet, sweet justice) if he took the million this time around.
I think the main difference between Fly Wheels and, say, Cycle Road is that disk they put inside so that the competitors couldn’t wrap their hands around it. That makes a big difference. Remember what a pain Cannonball Alley was the first time?
Can’t say I’m surprised that Martin was the only female qualifier. Seriously (and yes, I realize this is one of those things I’ve said before), how many good ones are there? Martin, Jessie Graff, Kacy Catanzaro, Michelle Warnky, and…Jennifer Tavernier. Maybe. Who else? I guess Natalie Duran if you want a darkhorse, and then the pickings get really slim. Don’t get me wrong, it’s very impressive what they’ve accomplished (I cannot overstate the significance that they’re doing the exact same things as the men every time), but it’s going to be some time before the female contingent makes any real noise.
Irishman - 3WA = “While We Were Away”. Those runs which NBC didn’t give enough of a crap to actually show, but still felt the need to acknowledge their existence for some reason. I thought it was long enough that this would’ve been self-evident, but I guess not. Hmm…how about “highlighted”? Or “zapped”? “Flashed”, maybe? Not entirely comfortable with any of these yet, so I guess I’ll play it by ear for now.
Another week in which the highlight is a gut-wrenching performance from a one-legged athlete.
Splitsville for Kacy and Brent? Say it isn’t so!!! But unless either of them return to their previous form, I don’t think we need to keep hearing so much about them, mmkay?
Sad to see Sam Sann go out. I won’t object if he gets a wildcard, although doesn’t he always just fall off on the second obstacle of stage one?
So… what about Isaac Caldiero? Is he not competing at all this year? Will he be running next week, and they just didn’t bother mentioning it?
sigh
Same royal couple, now with less couple-iness.
This was a pretty lackluster episode. Plenty of letdowns, and the overall quality of the field was pretty low; six of the qualifiers didn’t even clear the 4th task (which didn’t look especially tough to me). I was actually a little worried about Log Runner…it looked like a multitude of injuries waiting to happen (I winced a bit when I saw someone slam his shin directly into one of the logs)…but luckily no one was seriously hurt.
The only real highlight was Artis Thompson III. I’ve rarely seen that level of pure, diehard, eternal determination before. Definitely worthy of the Pom Wonderful Run of the Night (although it didn’t really have much competition). Of course, this is the kind of contestant Iseman and Gbajabiamila absolutely love because they can scream their heads off for what seems like hours. Honestly, I’m starting to think that’s where all the love for Kacy Catanzaro really came from as well.
Speaking of which, I’m at a loss to explain her tumble. All right, cards on the table (why yes, I do follow Moviebob religiously, why do you ask? 
): She’s short and not particularly explosive, which will always limit what she can accomplish, but she’s absolutely fearless and has a ton of heart. I can understand going out in 1st round qualifying (crap happens; ask David Rodriguez or J.J. Woods), but twice in a row? And on an agility obstacle, the kind task she used to excel at? Something’s messed up with her. I’m guessing that all the pressure and hype are just too much, especially someone who, athletically, really isn’t that great (Jessie Graff is the real stud in that department, with Meagan Martin or Jennifer Tavernier a close second). It wouldn’t surprise me very much if NBC gave her another wildcard…they’ve simply sunk too much into her to deny her now…but in all likelihood it’s only going to result in another early exit (I have no confidence that she’ll figure out Jumping Spider).
And of course, her run was one of the two now on YouTube. Sheesh. (AT3 didn’t even get the nod!) Before I would’ve called it shameless Justin Bieber-ian hype, but now it looks like outright cruelty. Reality TV is supposed to emphasize the positive, dammit!
Honestly, the best thing for her would be to give up this nonsense and find a sport where one tiny slipup doesn’t mean she sees no action for a whole damn year. Or become a trainer. That seems to be where the real money is, and who’d say no to her?
Brent Steffensen? No idea. He just looked uncomfortable out there, like he was fighting every obstacle. He’ll get another shot, but it looks doubtful he’ll get to Stage 1 under his own power. That’s all I really got right now.
Ellis Dee - Seriously, why do you need to point this out over and over? Sometimes the network backs the wrong horse. Hell, this is far from NBC’s worst example; remember that huge multi-year deal with then-football juggernaut Notre Dame? It’s been seven seasons, and there have been enough wipeouts that I can’t make a big deal out of any of them anymore. (Oh yeah, Lance Pekus, that’s another one.)
His fall seemed more like a fluke to me. He earned his way to Vegas last year.
That was impressive. I mean, he’s got to hold onto the log and can’t wrap his legs around to “lock in”. Still managed to hold it until close to the end and even when he flared off managed not to drag his foot. That was awesome. I think the lack of leg might have helped in that respect (less momentum pulling off), but it hurt him on the ring swing where he couldn’t get enough momentum.
Ackbar made a comment about one of the competitors fairly early that I though applied to a lot more. They tended to hold the L’s in their arms, which means they were actually damping the momentum they were building by fighting themselves, and thus couldn’t get a good swing built up.
It was a little murky to me for a while. WWWA - 3WA. Got it. On the Voice threads, we’ve called it “montaged”, as they were in the motage reel.
Watched the AT3 run unmuted. The announcers actually didn’t get incredibly in a lather over it; if anything, they were a little more respectful than usual. The most amazing thing was that he actually had a fairly good shot of qualifying; just a little more coordination and he would’ve nailed Tire Swing easily.
Wildcard? I say he deserves it, but it’s probably 50/50 at this point. The last thing NBC wants is, after building him us as this inspirational feel-good story, to have reality catch up to him in Stage 1. They’d need to have a lot of faith in him to give him the nod.
Man, I am so ready for Cityfinals. It’s looking like they’re going to show the good ones only when they have absolutely no choice.
Does AT3 mean the one-legged guy?
I doubt the one-legged guy (either of them) gets a wildcard, if only because they literally have no chance on the jumping spider.
AT3 was the second one-legged guy, from Oklahoma City, the one competing with a prosthesis.
Wouldn’t shock me if they got wildcards. Frankly, they earned it. Worst case, they fall in the water. I don’t think AT3’s chances on the jumping spider are literal zero.
Yeah, AT3 = Artis Thompson III. I mentioned that the first time.
I’d like to talk about the female contingent a little more, because that’s pretty much the only thing I really care about before Cityfinals and Kacy Catanzaro is still getting so much attention.
Okay, the thing about the prelims are that 1. there are no time limits, and 2. it’s not strictly necessary to reach the end to advance. This setup is tailor-made for the women, which it’s why it’s so important for them to do well here. Stage 1 is pretty much the end of the line, as none of them are fast or powerful enough to get through in the allotted time. (This could change in the future, and I will be jumping and cheering with everyone else if it does, but for now that milestone still looks a bit out of reach.)
Of course, the same is true for most of the men, but the difference is that it’s not considered a big deal for them. When a 48-year-old dad runs for the honor of his sick daughter, he’s made his mark just by showing up. When an amputee musters the courage to tackle the course, every moment he’s not crashing down in defeat is a triumph. Nobody expects them to do any more than that. And of course, on the opposite end are the established big names who really don’t need to run the damn bunny slope again but rules is rules, so they either gun for the top time (I read somewhere that it’s actually worth money…couldn’t find any specifics) or cruise. In neither case is getting to Stage 1 an issue. For the very best women, it’s a battle to get through prelims, and nothing is ever guaranteed. There’s plenty of drama in who’s the best, who’s going to get the farthest in Cityfinals, who can handle the new obstacles.
Now, there are wildcards, and since a certain number of them are reserved for the women, this means that pretty much everyone who should be in Stage 1 will be. The problem is that this means two quick exits instead of one, and she won’t make any kind of mark. (If she fails in the first prelim, gets a wildcard, and then completes Stage 1, that’s going to rock the nation…not to mention generate a ton of raging controversy…but that just isn’t in the realm of reality.) So getting to Cityfinals matters, doing well in Cityfinals matters, and finishing Cityfinals means a lot.
Which is why I don’t begrudge the hype Catanzaro has gotten. She completed a Cityfinals. That’s HUGE. And it wasn’t that long ago, either. If that’s still all she’s got three years from now, yeah, one-hit wonder, has-been, whatever. At present, it’s still recent enough to matter.
And while I’m at it, who exactly is there who’s outdone her? Jessie Graff is the only other woman who made it through Cityfinals, and she went out on the ninth obstacle…once. (It was a tougher course, but not enormously.) Meagan Martin’s Cityfinals record has been, to put it mildly, lackluster. Of course, both made it as far as the Warped Wall in Stage 1, and that’s good, but not the kind of landmark achievement you use to promote the wonder and glory of the event.
Speaking of which, too bad for Jennifer Tavernier. She would’ve qualified were it not for ONE bad decision on I-Beam Cross. So she’ll get her free pass and, barring an absolute miracle, go out early and become a footnote to 2016.
So, as to who’s the top dog among the females, I say that’s a battle that’s still being fought. It could be settled this year. I’d be very glad if it was. But it’s not going to be Tavernier, it’s not going to be Tiana Webberley, it’s not going to be Brittany Reid, it’s not going to be Kirsti Pratt, and it’s definitely not going to be any of those inspirational moms or cancer survivors or youth club leaders. And that narrows down Catanzaro’s competition a hell of a lot.
P.S. Really, really, reeeeealllly hoping like hell that Michelle Warnky can pull it together in Philadelphia. That Wall Drop looks insane.
To my mind, Graff is the clear #1 woman, with Martin holding onto the #2 spot just ahead of a group of promising looking newcomers.
That said, I don’t really see any woman completing stage 1 for two reasons: First, the clock, but second, there isn’t enough room at the warped wall in stage 1. I don’t see a woman making it up the wall with no run-up.
Agreed
Hard to say. Of course, the obstacles on stage 1 change each year. I’m quite confident that if Jessie Graff really wanted to do nothing other than devote herself to making it up the short-run-up wall, she could master it. But is that the best way to focus one’s training, given that there’s no guarantee it will even be there this year?
Off the top of my head I’d say there’s maybe one chance in six that a woman will complete stage 1 this year.
That was a pretty entertaining episode. Most of the big guns (Joe M, Geoff B) made it through, but didn’t make it look easy. The two new obstacles (wall drop and rolling thunder) were both interesting and fun to watch. People bouncing off the trampoline in slow motion was moderately hilarious, and it’s always fun to have a brutally difficult obstacle that pushes even the experts to their limits.
And four women making it to city finals is certainly something, even if none of them made it to the wall and three of them were numbers 28, 29 and 30.
Also, there was an old guy.
Two weeks until the next episode? BUT I WANT IT NOW!!!
And… where is Isaac Caldiero? Is he automatically wild-carded through to Mt. M? Or does he no longer get to compete, having already won $1M?
Just getting started on Philly now so haven’t read this week’s comments yet, so forgive me if I repeat.
Why all the t-shirts and nicknames this season? Yes, there have been some in past seasons but it seems like this year every contestant has a brand. I am not impressed. It just reinforces that this has become more about making a canned package for NBC than it is about the athletics.
Also, Matt and Akbar shout ALL of their comments. Did they always do that?
ETA Mr. Tenacious just told me it was so loud (volume set slightly lower than usual), he can’t be in the room with me. And he used to like this show. Did we just get old or is it really worse?