Here’s a comment box to discuss the season debut of American Gladiators today at 8:00PM ET on NBC.
Network: NBC
Airings: Mondays at 8:00PM ET
Host(s): Hulk Hogan and Leila Ali
Vote for how many stars you think the show deserves to the right, and then leave a comment!
American Gladiators is the ultimate televised extreme sports competition. Two men and two women face off against each other and the Gladiators in events of athletic prowess, skill, and determination. By the end of the regular events, each point the leader has equals a half-second lead in the final event: the Eliminator. Whoever crosses the finish line first wins and continues on through the tournament. The grand champions of the season wins $100,000 and a new car.
The first season admittedly had a lot of issues. They tried to reinvent the wheel a bit too much. They made some events too easy (see Power Ball and Hang Tough) or they made them far too hard and complex (see Assault and Eliminator). As season two news came in, we were told they made a lot of changes for the better, and it seems that they did.
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Here’s a comment box to discuss the season debut of Duel today at 9:00PM ET on ABC.
Network: ABC
Airings: Fridays at 9:00PM ET
Host(s): Mike Greenberg
Vote for how many stars you think the show deserves to the right, and then leave a comment!
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Tonight GSN debuts their new show Bingo America in just a bit minutes, and this might be interesting. Their site seems to not be working right now, so either there’s major issues on their end or a lot more people are downloading cards than they expected. But hey, you get to play along with the questions at the very least so that’s a plus. It’s a pretty decent show for the first 27 minutes before it drags to a halt in the end game, so just be warned. I’d love to hear your thoughts, as would GSN. Be sure to leave a comment, and also give your star rating (0 to 5) in the POST INFO box when you click on the story’s headline. Hope you like it.
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Network: GSN
Airings: Weekdays at 6:00PM ET, Tuesdays through Sundays at 10:00PM ET
Vote for how many stars you think the show deserves to the right, and then leave a comment!
Russian Roulette is the ultimate game of chance. Four contestants stand on “The Revolver” and on their own “Drop Zone”. A question is stated and the player in control chooses who to pass the question to (or they can answer it themselves in the final round). A right answer awards the challenged money while a wrong answer bankrupts a player and forces them to play “Russian Roulette” with however many drop zones are active for the question. When the handle is pulled, lights circle the set, and if a red light stops under the player’s feet, that person literally drops from the stage and is eliminated from the game. The sole survivor plays the Killer Questions and, potentially, one final game of “Russian Roulette” to win $100,000.
This is and was GSN’s quintessential game show and their only remote answer to the big money game show craze. It had it all: big money, amazing set, amazing soundtrack, fantastic host, tough trivia, and one of the best and most exciting end games on television. Honestly, there’s little to fault the show with other than a few production errors, especially in season two. The producers seemed to be very keen on making sure that players who chose not to gamble for $100,000 could have potentially won. It seems they often edited out the first hypothetical spin and threw in a second one to make sure they seemed like they made the right choice instead of losing out on six figures. The sound effects for the spin were completely screwed up for that season as well.
The only other larger issue was the questioning on the end game. They could just never seem to get it right. The five Killer Questions in 60 seconds seemed too easy, but the ten Killer Questions seemed too difficult to some. I really think six questions in the season one brainteaser format would have kept it a bit more original while making sure no one gets a three drop zone $100,000 spin. But that was a minor issue that barely made an impact in my eyes. Why’d the show disappear? Network politics and more. Hopefully with game shows fully back in the public eye some smart production company and network will bring this gem out and let it shine while there’s still a demand to see people fall through holes in the floor.
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Links
Clips and episodes of the show courtesy of creator Gunnar Wetterberg
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