A Final Bow for the Gladiators?
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Prime Time, Reality, NBC, Editorial,
In my estimation, NBC has always been something of a ride-it-till-the-wheels-fall-off kind of network. Habitually in fourth place behind all the other major networks, the channel is always striving for a first-place hit. For a brief moment in the winter of the writers’ strike, NBC found television gold in the form of a re-make.
More than twelve million tuned in for the January premiere of the first season of the re-vamped American Gladiators and NBC suddenly had a hit on its hands. Instead of playing it cool or playing it safe, the network went full steam ahead into a second season. Way back in April, before season two’s May premiere, NBC announced tentative plans to bring the show back in the summer of 2009 for yet a third season.
But now the second season of the show has arrived, has been aired and has ended. Will NBC still bring this brutal physical reality competition back for another turn in the TV spotlight?
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Debut Review: American Gladiators
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Prime Time, Reality, NBC, Renewals,
Zap. Nitro. Lace. Gemini. I’m not just being random here, I’m naming the original American Gladiators. For those of us whose memories stretch back that far, American Gladiators was a great show to watch - and it‘s even better to remember. Original, inspiring and chock-full of muscle-bound beauty, Gladiators ran from 1989 to 1996 and won viewers from a wide range of demographics. Young, old, scrawny or buff, everyone likes to see a single contestant best all the power that strength has to offer.
But I have to make a confession: when I heard NBC was bringing this one back, I rolled my eyes and made a crack about this network’s sheer desperation to find programming. (Frankly, I stand by and maintain I’m not far from wrong. We are talking, after all, about the network which brought back Bionic Woman and Knight Rider…I mean, come on).
But I was wrong. There, I said it. I’ll give this one - just this one - to NBC. It was a good idea to bring back American Gladiators, and after Sunday night’s two-hour debut I’m already hooked. Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali are the perfect hosts, both personable and professionally known for their musculature, and the new gladiators are just as ripped and menacing as the former muscle-bound group who once sent challengers toppling.
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