21 Responses

1. "Game Show Man" Joe Van Ginkel

   1

   January 9th, 2008 at 5:10 pm

   To me, Crush isn’t even just Crush.

   To me, she’s still Gina Carano, the queen of women’s MMA.

2. David

   2

   January 9th, 2008 at 5:11 pm

   Hellga really hasn’t done many games yet except Gauntlet….so I really can’t get a read on her-but the pigtails are a nice touch. Fury seems to be the all-around Gladiator; good at pretty much all games. Crush is a really good Jouster (and yes, extremely hot). Siren and Stealth are OK-nothing to make them standout so far, but not a lot of negatives. Venom is a little annoying to me for some reason. Of the men, Wolf is definately the standout. I now realize why Titan never got any airtime in the original (he was a backup for the last couple of seasons)- he’s annoying. The others are OK.

   As to the finetuning, cut down on the talktime and add a 5th event before the Eliminator-the game in the original series I’d love to see them add is Swingshot.

3. Tim

   3

   January 9th, 2008 at 7:11 pm

   I like Crush, too. She was my favorite from the beginning. Of the guys, I like Wolf and Toa.

   To make the game better (fine-tune), I would recommend axing the DOND cliffhanger to commercial tease. Just give us a “… and up next, Powerball.” Instead of the “3…2…1… Commercial”. Does that really work in a format like this?

   I read of heard somewhere that swingshot was one of the most punishing events they ever had. There was more, but I can’t remember what they said in the interview. From what I remember, I think the Gladiators hated it.

4. Marc Power

   4

   January 9th, 2008 at 8:12 pm

   no favorite gladiators yet, but Helga has my favorite name, unlike the names of the past which sound like kid-friendly superheroes Helga sounds like a sweedish warlord or something.

5. Ken C.

   5

   January 9th, 2008 at 8:19 pm

   I agree with Tim that the cliffhanger commercial cuts have got to go.

   I always though that it would be Siren that would be declared the hot female Gladiator. But Yeah!! I got a crush on “Crush”.

   I wish Titan was a little but like Tower and Laser (Google original AG)

   But I’m happy to see guys like Wolf and Toa embrace their Glad personas and to see that Hogan’s has been kept to a minimum.

   I only wish they emulated a bit more AG and a bit less UK Gladiators. Nevertheless, I lovin’ it.

6. Pat

   6

   January 9th, 2008 at 9:38 pm

   Wolf looks like he’s perfectly in character. The whole hair thing and then the howl. The last one looked kinda like the wrestler Sabu, and had the howl over the loud speakers. And Crush is…….. what I’m thinking is a little R-rater lol. haha

7. Pat

   7

   January 9th, 2008 at 9:45 pm

   By the way, can Sliverman please tell me about the finale? I don’t mind if Hogan and Wolf come to my house. I can get an autograph……. and good exercise by running away from getting my ass handed to me

8. Intelligentfan777

   8

   January 9th, 2008 at 9:51 pm

   Yeah, I certainly wouldn’t want to get big-booted, and then leg dropped by Hulk…Even today, at his age! I’d the autograph, picture, then…..the Hell out of there! :p

   Anyway, Crush………..By God, I want her! Fury is my fave on the Men’s side right now. Also, playing some of the classic events over water is a really nice touch in my opinion.

9. Darren

   9

   January 10th, 2008 at 12:38 am

   Hmm. Fury is one of the female glads (as in the Three Furies). Mayhem, maybe?

   Yay, more new events. It’s good to see some of the old ones, just for continuity, but surely in all this time someone’s had some fresh ideas. Let’s see them. Oh, but where are they going to put them? The set seems pretty crowded already.

   My take on the weird men/”normal” women is that the female athletes may still have to work hard to be taken seriously in general, and therefore don’t feel as able to be outlandish? The guys can, y’know, bay at the spotlights and get away with that.

10. Rick M.

    10

    January 10th, 2008 at 1:46 am

    The only Gladiator I have an issue with is Militia. Could they at least have gotten someone who could swing on a ring set above a pool more than five seconds without injuring themselves in the pilot episode? Other than that, and the fact they really need more than four events in one show, I really like this new AG. That’s my two cents anyways.

11. Ben

    11

    January 10th, 2008 at 4:07 am

    My Observations:
    I have to say that I was less than impressed with the new AG. I will give it some time, but they definitely need to add more games (I was never a fan of Hang Tough).
    I know it’s been done, because they put it in the commercials, but I don’t see how Assault could ever be won.
    Earthquake is a neat game to “replace” Breakthrough and Conquer, but why not do it over the water like the other “combat” games?
    If I could suggest one game to add, it would be the Pole-Axe from UK Gladiators. The race to the top and the fall to the bottom for the loser was exciting.
    It scared me that Laila Ali sounded more manly than most of the male contenders.
    I’m already tired of Wolf howling.
    There are no fading jump shots in Powerball.
    Finally, The head start in the Eliminator Seems to be unnecessary because by the time the contenders get to the travelator, they’re so exhausted that anyone could catch up.
    Like I said, I’ll give it a fair shot before I totally write it off (I gave Wild-n-Out 5 episodes before I trashed it). I’m a fan of the original, and based on my first impressions, the ball pit doesn’t seem like such a bad idea now.
    BTW, if I had to pick my favorite new Glads, for the men it would be Toa (just because I’m an honorary Samoan), and for the ladies, Fury.

12. David Howell

    12

    January 10th, 2008 at 6:49 am

    AG seems to be about four or five tweaks from greatness.

    So was Duel, in my opinion.

    The difference is that AG’s weaknesses aren’t as crippling and it has brand recognition, so it’s actually going to get a season two to make those tweaks. Let’s hope they make the right ones.

13. Greg

    13

    January 10th, 2008 at 7:19 am

    If they’re going to finetune AG next season, they should bring back Mike Adamle.

    PLEASE get rid of Hulk Hogan!

14. Jackson

    14

    January 10th, 2008 at 1:03 pm

    Fine tuning better mean less talk and more events.

15. Intelligentfan777

    15

    January 10th, 2008 at 7:55 pm

    LOL

    My bad. I MEANT Mayhem on the Men’s side! :p

    Sorry about that.

16. Brad

    16

    January 10th, 2008 at 11:02 pm

    If they get some ‘new’ games after they fix Assault, I’ve compiled a list of decent games they should at least try:

    - Human Cannonball
    - Atlasphere
    - Pole-Axe (from UK Version)
    - Vertigo (UK)
    - Tightrope (UK)

    Also, Earthquake’s concept mixed either with Whiplash or Sumo Ball (UK) could make an interesting game, IMO. Overall, more games involving people splashing into the pool consistantly would work for me.

17. Eric

    17

    January 11th, 2008 at 1:15 am

    Watched the 1st 3 episodes online Here’s what I think
    1. The breaks are too much. They are fitting only 5 events in a time that used to fit 7.
    2. Van Earl Right is great as play by play. Add an Ex-Glad and or an ex-contender as a color commentator
    3. I think they should stop a competition in event of an injury like in powerball.
    4. The eliminator does need some work. Get rid of the fire in the pool for 1.
    5. Hosts: Laila Ali: knowing that this is her first real hosting gig she did great. Hulk looked too much like he was trying to capture his old glory.
    6.The pool takes nothing away as far as concepts of the games (Joust, Hang Tough and Wall.)
    7. As for the pts being 1/2 second in time that goes back to the 2nd season I believe when the Eliminator actually was worth points towards your total score.
    8. Add some new and old events.

18. Marc

    18

    January 12th, 2008 at 6:00 pm

    I’d do something about the tournament format. The way it is now, a contender can win his first-round match but still not make it to the semifinals because his Eliminator time isn’t in the top four. What’s wrong with having all six first-round winners PLUS two wild cards (the two fastest runners-up) advance?

19. Ryan

    19

    January 13th, 2008 at 3:42 pm

    OK, I think that so far, I’ll have to go with the majority and pick Crush on the women’s side.

    On the men’s side, however, it’s a toss-up between Toa and Justice.

20. captparis1

    20

    January 13th, 2008 at 7:45 pm

    Why don’t the hosts mention, the winner gets $25,000 for winning the game? Especially, if there is little chance of coming back to doulbe their money twice (the famed $100K)in the torney’s final stages.

21. glenn

    21

    January 14th, 2008 at 3:43 pm

    Like it…it also double boons NBC because it serves as a lead in to USA (another NBC channel) and Monday Night Raw. Good placement.

    The good:

    The ladies are the right mix of athlete and beauty. Crush is legit and the others except for Hellga (who looks like she can barely move) have some legitness to me. Not like the original gladiators were all look and no cook (blaze could kick anyone’s ass) but they went away from looks and really did make them more athletic.

    Van Earl Wright works as a V/O host…much better than my nightmare of hogan doing PBP.

    Earthquake is a good new event although using the supports for leverage/matadoring a charging opponent should NOT be allowed.

    Wolf and Toa are the Gemini and Laser of their day. There’s a but here but that will come in the bad.

    Nice concept making the eliminator 100% on the contender’s ability. In the original the gladiators were kinda thrown in.

    The Bad:

    Hit and Run: An insignifigant part of the original eliminator made into a full scale event at best…a rehash of a Dog Eat Dog stunt at worse.

    The pyramid being a part of the eliminator smacks of small set size and cheapness.

    Wider cylinders and jump shots in powerball = BAD IDEA Dasher boards are dangerous (rather than just having an out of bounds line in the original) but they are more fair.

    Assault got WAY too gimmicky, although it always the least athletic most gimmicky event…it reminds me of season 1’s assault with the fake trees and the sand trap.

    You cant swing 2 rings without tearing a bicep…can someone call militia malibu v 2.0!

    the prerecorded taunts for the joust were dumb, but the crowd liked them.

    The Ugly:

    Waiting for someone to drown or get roasted with the underwater pool crawl. As shown in the pilot, it took away way too much strength from the contenders at the very start of the event…it should be later or made easier. A good idea that just doesnt work.

    The male gladiators are more style than substance…yet especially with hulks commentary, the mens events are supposed to be the more serious WTF.

    Someone get titan and the Booker T wannabe out of there!

    Hogan…ug…still thinks he’s the hulkster after all these years…it would be sad if it wasnt so pathetic. Just do with Ali and the voice over host.

    BAD camera angles and commercial cuts.

    So on the whole…despite all my negatives i give it a solid B.

    The mens side needs to be cleaned up (especally with some of the matchups, having the AG reject all but cuss out the new gladiators was retarded.)

    The womens side is going well…glad they got a season 2…I think it can work.

    So ditch hogan…less WWE wannabe stuff (which is what doomed the original series) on the mens side and dont WWE up the women’s side.

    good job…not at all what i feared