Author Topic: American Gladiators (Read 10022 times)

Mr. Armadillo · « **Reply #15 on:** October 02, 2007, 11:04:41 PM »

[quote name=\'Seth Thrasher\' post=\'165379\' date=\'Oct 2 2007, 09:04 PM\']
[quote name=\'weaklink75\' post=\'165360\' date=\'Oct 2 2007, 06:21 PM\']Hulk Hogan is close to signing as the host... (and I sorta like this move to a point...looks like they're going to try to go over the top cheesy like the original...) [/quote]

Assuming they try to mirror what made the original good as much as 2007 allows (and with the production company involved there's at least hope), they'd most likely go with a tandem hosting setup like the original series. As such, Hogan would probably fill the Csonka/Malosky/Nitro co-host position. As far as Adamle, last I heard he works at an NBC O&O station (forget which one), which at least might make it a bit easier to bring him on board should they go that route.
[/quote]
That would be the NBC in Chicago. Also, he's done a lot of work for NBC the last few years (according to Wiki, he's commentated for a couple Olympics, and was a sideline commentator for the XFL, among others). If he wants to, I'm sure they'd let him host the revival.

weaklink75 · « **Reply #16 on:** October 03, 2007, 04:07:34 PM »

Well it's official...but the press release worries me a bit-the Gladiators aren't supposed to be out and out "bad guys"-just the other team who are competitive but sportsmanlike. (The AG-like show "Knights and Warriors" did the "bad guy" theme- it can work, as I thought the show was underappreciated- but it's not AG's style).

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #17 on:** October 03, 2007, 04:19:51 PM »

[quote name=\'weaklink75\' post=\'165438\' date=\'Oct 3 2007, 04:07 PM\']
Well it's official...but the press release worries me a bit-the Gladiators aren't supposed to be out and out "bad guys"-just the other team who are competitive but sportsmanlike. [/quote]
There's only one reference to the Gladiators as "villainous", and that might just be press release hyperbole. The audience was always meant to root for the challengers and, by extension, against the Gladiators whose job it was to stop them. I'm not too worried about that part.

If you're going to be worried, be worried about who's hosting. Shows like this don't work when they're hosted by a "character" as opposed to a real person, and even though Hogan has been playing his character so long that it's second-nature to him, he's still going to be performing, not hosting. The show worked SO much better than its inferior knockoffs in part because the hosts treated it like a real sporting event. There's no real evidence that the Hulkster has any idea how to do that, and quotes like "Gladiator-mania is gonna be running wild, brother" do little to convince me.

weaklink75 · « **Reply #18 on:** October 03, 2007, 04:29:57 PM »

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'165440\' date=\'Oct 3 2007, 04:19 PM\']
[quote name=\'weaklink75\' post=\'165438\' date=\'Oct 3 2007, 04:07 PM\']
Well it's official...but the press release worries me a bit-the Gladiators aren't supposed to be out and out "bad guys"-just the other team who are competitive but sportsmanlike. [/quote]
There's only one reference to the Gladiators as "villainous", and that might just be press release hyperbole. The audience was always meant to root for the challengers and, by extension, against the Gladiators whose job it was to stop them. I'm not too worried about that part.

If you're going to be worried, be worried about who's hosting. Shows like this don't work when they're hosted by a "character" as opposed to a real person, and even though Hogan has been playing his character so long that it's second-nature to him, he's still going to be performing, not hosting. The show worked SO much better than its inferior knockoffs in part because the hosts treated it like a real sporting event. There's no real evidence that the Hulkster has any idea how to do that, and quotes like "Gladiator-mania is gonna be running wild, brother" do little to convince me.
[/quote]

True-but I think Hulk is going to be in the Larry Czonka role here and do color commentary- they'll hire someone to be the play-by-play guy (they wanted the "name" first). We won't know if this was a good choice or not until we actually see a show...it does looks like they are going more "over-the-top" than the original series however.

clemon79 · « **Reply #19 on:** October 03, 2007, 06:56:40 PM »

[quote name=\'weaklink75\' post=\'165441\' date=\'Oct 3 2007, 01:29 PM\']
True-but I think Hulk is going to be in the Larry Czonka role here and do color commentary- they'll hire someone to be the play-by-play guy (they wanted the "name" first).[/quote]
I direct you to Jesse "The Body" Ventura and The Grudge Match, as well as his XFL work, for examples of why this is still a VERY VERY bad idea.

Matt's right. AG got good when they dumped the stupid personas and treated it like the legitimate sporting event that it was.

Neumms · « **Reply #20 on:** October 03, 2007, 08:10:08 PM »

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'165455\' date=\'Oct 3 2007, 05:56 PM\']
I direct you to Jesse "The Body" Ventura and The Grudge Match, as well as his XFL work, for examples of why this is still a VERY VERY bad idea.
[/quote]

I direct you to Jesse "The Body" Ventura's work in the Minnesota governor's office, for examples of why that was a VERY VERY bad idea.

At least the Hulkster was good as Thunderlips.

NickS · « **Reply #21 on:** October 03, 2007, 08:49:27 PM »

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'165455\' date=\'Oct 3 2007, 05:56 PM\']
I direct you to ~~Jesse "The Body" Ventura and The Grudge Match, as well as his XFL work,~~ Joey "Sunshine" Theismann and his color commentary on AG and MNF for examples of why ~~this is still a VERY VERY bad idea.~~ it could be worse.
[/quote]

Fixed that for you.

clemon79 · « **Reply #22 on:** October 03, 2007, 08:52:28 PM »

[quote name=\'TeppanYaki\' post=\'165466\' date=\'Oct 3 2007, 05:49 PM\']
Fixed that for you.
[/quote]
Are you really telling me that Hulk Friggin' Hogan would be a better color man than Joe Theissman? Theissman sucks, I'm not denying you that, but c'mon.

parliboy · « **Reply #23 on:** October 04, 2007, 01:23:20 AM »

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'165467\' date=\'Oct 3 2007, 07:52 PM\']
Are you really telling me that Hulk Friggin' Hogan would be a better color man than Joe Theissman? Theissman sucks, I'm not denying you that, but c'mon. [/quote]
Depends. If Hogan goes into business for himself, as he is prone to do, than no. On the off chance he puts the show first, then yes. After all, Joe did such poor color that Mike Adamle was doing all of the on-screen work during that first half season.

clemon79 · « **Reply #24 on:** October 04, 2007, 01:58:31 AM »

[quote name=\'parliboy\' post=\'165492\' date=\'Oct 3 2007, 10:23 PM\']
On the off chance he puts the show first, then yes.
[/quote]
And we both know the odds of that happening.

Joe Mello · « **Reply #25 on:** October 19, 2007, 12:21:19 PM »

Bumped for relevant info: If you would like to attend a taping of American Gladaitors and live in or are planning to visit the Los Angeles area, go here: http://www.americangladiatorstickets.com/ The flash animation is amusing for all of about 10 seconds.

One thing that perplexes me is that they're doing the whole "human set" thing. I would think that you would actually want your crowd to be visible for this.

clemon79 · « **Reply #26 on:** October 19, 2007, 01:33:41 PM »

[quote name=\'Joe Mello\' post=\'167338\' date=\'Oct 19 2007, 09:21 AM\']
The flash animation is amusing for all of about 10 seconds.[/quote]
That might have been the most pansy-assed Joust I've ever seen.

Quote

One thing that perplexes me is that they're doing the whole "human set" thing. I would think that you would actually want your crowd to be visible for this.

Huh? The crowd will be visible just fine. What they don't want is the crowd overshadowing the game.

Mr. Armadillo · « **Reply #27 on:** October 19, 2007, 04:35:06 PM »

Oh dear...that music they're playing is the Season 5-7 theme. Aka, the point at which the original Glads jumped the shark.

MSTieScott · « **Reply #28 on:** October 19, 2007, 10:06:13 PM »

Heaven help me, I just requested tickets for both December 1 tapings out of overwhelming curiosity. The ticket request form says I was number 95.

--
Scott Robinson
(Hopes that they tape a full episode in one day and not just the same game over and over for multiple episodes. Especially if the game is Atlasphere.)

Joe Mello · « **Reply #29 on:** October 20, 2007, 11:21:57 AM »

[quote name=\'MSTieScott\' post=\'167391\' date=\'Oct 19 2007, 10:06 PM\'](Hopes that they tape a full episode in one day and not just the same game over and over for multiple episodes. Especially if the game is Atlasphere.)[/quote]
Is that what they originally did?