The Massive Image
- American Gladiators is making a comeback on Amazon.
- The sequence options Contenders dealing with off in opposition to Gladiators in intense athletic challenges, culminating in The Eliminator impediment course.
- A basic of Nineties syndicated TV, the unique sequence ran from 1989 to 1996.
Pull that leotard out of the closet and dirt off your large Q-tip, as a result of American Gladiators is again. The basic athletic competitors sequence from the Nineties is headed for a revival at Amazon. Deadline studies that the sequence is now casting rivals and Gladiators.
The sequence shall be one in all a variety of unscripted packages that Amazon is launching on its Prime Video streaming service. Says Lauren Anderson, head of Model and Content material Innovation at Amazon MGM Studios, “Gladiators is a permanent, bodily problem format that continues to interact households all over the world. We look ahead to delighting our international Prime Video prospects with each reimagined and nostalgic parts that remember the most effective of the unique sequence.” Johnny C. Ferraro, who co-created American Gladiators again in 1982, will government produce the sequence. It’s the newest revival of the property, which initially left the airwaves in 1996; a 1994-1996 kid-aimed model, Gladiators 2000, was hosted by Ryan Seacrest, whereas Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali hosted a two-season-long revival sequence on Fox in 2008. The present had a variety of worldwide variations: Gladiators, the British incarnation of the sequence, has just lately been efficiently revived.
What’s ‘American Gladiators’?
First airing in syndication in 1989, American Gladiators pitted two male and two feminine contestants (dubbed “Contenders”) in opposition to the present’s “Gladiators,” an assortment of athletes and bodybuilders with superhero-like costumes, and stage names like Siren, Laser, Nitro, and Zap. The Contenders needed to compete in a wide range of offbeat athletic competitions like Atlasphere (a duel with human-sized hamster balls), Joust (a close-quarters battle on an elevated platform with pugil sticks), and Assault (a battle with Nerf-style weapons). The Gladiators would try to impede the Contenders from finishing the occasions. Every episode culminated in The Eliminator, a treacherous impediment course; factors collected within the earlier occasions would give the chief a head begin. Winners of particular person episodes would then transfer on to a match spherical that concluded every season. Over the course of the sequence, American Gladiators was hosted by a variety of sports activities personalities, together with Joe Theismann, Mike Adamle, and Larry Csonka.
Current years have seen a renewal of curiosity within the property. Final yr, ESPN aired The American Gladiators Documentary as a part of its 30 for 30 sequence, whereas Netflix adopted go well with with the two-part Muscular tissues & Mayhem: An Unauthorized Story of American Gladiators.
Amazon’s American Gladiators revival has not but set a launch date. Keep tuned to Collider for future updates.
