American Gladiators (1989 TV series)

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American Gladiators
The first American Gladiators logo, from 1989–1993
Genre	Sports/Game Show
Created by	Dan Carr John Ferraro
Directed by	Bob Levy
Presented by	Mike Adamle (1989–1996) with Joe Theismann (1989) Todd Christensen (1990) Larry Csonka (1990–1993) Lisa Malosky (1993–1995) Danny Lee Clark (1995–1996)
Narrated by	Joe Theismann (1989) John Harlan (1990–1993)
Theme music composer	Bill Conti
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	7
No. of episodes	139[1]
Production
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	60 minutes
Production companies	Trans World International (1989–1992) (seasons 1–3) Four Point Entertainment The Samuel Goldwyn Company
Distributor	Samuel Goldwyn Television
Release
Original network	Syndication
Picture format	480i (SDTV)
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	September 9, 1989 (1989-09-09)[2] – May 11, 1996 (1996-05-11)
Chronology
Followed by	American Gladiators (2008)
Related shows	Battle Dome

American Gladiators is an American competition television program that aired weekly in syndication from September 1989 to May 1996. The series matched a cast of amateur athletes against each other, as well as against the show's own "gladiators", in contests of strength and agility.

The concept was originally created in 1982 by Johnny C. Ferraro and Dan Carr. Carr gathered the Gladiators and hosted the show, and Ferraro financed and produced the original competition at Erie Tech High School in Erie, Pennsylvania so Ferraro could have the event on film as to shop the new creation. In 1983 Ferraro financed, developed and packaged the American Gladiators as a movie project. In 1984 Carr sold his interest in a literary purchase to Flor-Jon Films. Ferraro had been the main driving force behind the American Gladiators brand since 1982. In 1987, Flor-Jon Films then licensed the unscripted rights to The Samuel Goldwyn Company (now part of MGM). Ferraro is the sole creator of the 1994 kids' version of the series, Gladiators 2000.

Flor-Jon Films, Inc and the Samuel Goldwyn Co in 1993 granted a license to Chariot Entertainment in an effort to launch a live American Gladiators show on the Las Vegas Strip, but the president of Chariot became mired in a securities fraud prosecution, through no fault of Flor-Jon Films or The Samuel Goldwyn Co, and the live show went unrealized.^[3] Episodes from the original series were played on ESPN Classic from 2007 to 2009. Several episodes are available for download on Apple's iTunes Service. The streaming service Pluto TV, has all episodes on demand as well as a live channel showing reruns from all 7 seasons, in the United States.

MGM Television, the successor company to the Samuel Goldwyn Company, during the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike, sold to NBC a prime-time revival that was closer to the British version than the American, with hosts Hulk Hogan and Lalia Ali, and Van Earl Wright the play-by-play voice. That version lasted two seasons.

In August 2018, MGM Television, with Ferraro and actors Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, announced plans to bring American Gladiators back again for the 2019–20 season, the 30th anniversary of the franchise's television debut.^{[needs update]}

Competition[]

American Gladiators featured four competitors, two men and two women, in most episodes. The players, referred to throughout the series as "contenders", faced off in a series of physical games against each other and against a cast of costumed athletes looking to prevent them from succeeding (the titular "Gladiators"). Each match was part of an overall tournament.

When the series premiered in the fall of 1989, ten men and ten women were selected to participate with several more chosen to be alternates in case one or more of the contenders had to withdraw due to injury. The tournament was spread out over the course of thirteen episodes and consisted of a preliminary round of completion followed by a quarterfinal round, a semifinal round, and finally a championship match to close out the tournament.

The preliminary round consisted of the ten selected contenders for each bracket competing against each other. The five men and five women who won their respective matches automatically received spots in the quarterfinal round of the tournament. To ensure that the quarterfinal round started with a field of eight competitors, the three highest scoring contenders who did not win their matches on each side were given spots in the quarterfinals as well. Any contenders that were eliminated from this point forward became alternates in case of any injury.

Once the quarterfinals began, the tournament became a single-elimination affair. Reaching the semifinal round guaranteed a contender would leave with no less than $2,500 in cash. The tournament runner-up would receive $5,000, while the winner was to receive $10,000.

The initial idea was that the winner of each thirteen-week tournament would join the crew of Gladiators for the next tournament. However, due to the initial popularity of the series, the producers decided to go in a different direction. A second tournament, consisting of ten more men and ten more women, was conceived and began airing in early 1990 with the same rules as before. Once the champions of that tournament were crowned, they would face off with the winners of the 1989 tournament in one final match called the Grand Championship to close out the season. The winners of that match would be the season’s overall winner and receive additional prizes, and the plan to have the champions become Gladiators was done away with.

From then on through the next four seasons, the tournament format remained largely unchanged. The second season format remained the same as the previous season's format, with twenty contenders starting out and the field eventually whittled down to the male and female winners of each half season, with the Grand Championship to close the season.

In seasons three and four, the field competitors increased to 48 and the tournament format was adjusted. Six preliminary round matches were played and the winners of those matches automatically advanced to the quarterfinals. The winners of the three quarterfinal matches advanced to the semifinals, along with the highest scoring non-winner. The semifinals and finals went on as before with the winners of the half-season tournaments meeting in the Grand Championship.

For season five, the tournament format was revamped again. A total of thirty-two men and women were selected to compete, with eight men and eight women chosen for each half-season tournament. The preliminary rounds were played for seeding purposes rather than to advance into the quarterfinals, with the eight contenders on each side ranked in order of how they performed in their initial matches. Once seeded, the tournament continued as it had in previous years, with the main difference being that there was no longer a need for wild card berths.

In seasons six and seven, the tournament format was changed to resemble the format used on the British Gladiators series at the time. The object for the contenders was to not only win their respective matches, for which they would be awarded $2,500 in cash for doing so, but to win with a high enough score to rank in the top four for the season; this resulted in the series abandoning the half-season tournament format. Once all the matches were completed, the four highest scoring men and the four highest scoring women advanced to the season semifinals, with the winners of those matches competing for $25,000 in the Grand Championship. In season seven, the Grand Championship was only played for $20,000, but the winner received an automatic berth to represent the United States in the second International Gladiators tournament which comprised the second half of the season.

During the first half of the first season, the show's set resembled that of an ancient Roman gladiatorial arena, with the stands raised high above the ground. For the second half, the show's set was changed into a modern indoor sports arena style. An onscreen clock was added in the second half of the season, which allowed viewers to see how much time a contender had left to complete an event.

The hooded figures that officiated the games were replaced by veteran NFL referee Bob McElwee (No. 95). Starting in Season 2, former Pacific-10 football referee Larry Thompson became the referee. In case of ruling explanations, a host would interview the referee for an explanation.

Production base[]

The first two seasons were recorded on a soundstage at Universal Studios Hollywood. Beginning with the third season and continuing for the rest of the run, the show relocated production to the CBS Studio Center in Studio City, Los Angeles. The studio used to tape the show was referred to on air as “Gladiator Arena”.

Events[]

In each episode, the contenders competed in a series of events. Six to eight events were played per show, varying from season to season. Most of the events tested the contenders' physical abilities against the superior size and strength of the Gladiators, who were mostly pro or amateur bodybuilders and former football players. In most events, the contenders were not directly pitted against each other, but against the Gladiators. In each event, the contenders earned points based on their performance. In the first half of season one, the points in each event were given in minimum 5-point increments, with 100 points usually the maximum in every event. After the first half of the first season, single point increments were used.

Some events had objectives where each contender had to perform a certain task against the Gladiator, while the Gladiator was trying to do the same thing to them (such as attempting to knock each other off the platforms in Joust). In these types of events, where a clear winner could emerge, contenders were usually awarded ten points for defeating the Gladiator and five points if the event was a draw. No points were awarded to the contender if the Gladiator won.

Other events had no maximum score, with the objective being to perform a task as many times as possible (such as scoring goals in Powerball) within the set time limit for the event. Points in this case would be awarded based on how many times the contender accomplished the objective during the event.

Starting with the fourth season, the final event before The Eliminator, was labeled "Crunch Time", and was played for more points.

Season six used a format in which events were referred to as "rounds" due to more than one game played per round. Three games per show were played by both males and females and three were split between the males and females, two each in a round. In split rounds the men went first. Including the Eliminator, ten events appeared in each episode, and the lineup of single and split rounds changed during the season. The sole exception to this format was in the semi-finals and grand championship, in which each round was a single event.

There were four lineups used during the season:

Lineup	Event 1	Event 2	Event 3	Event 4	Event 5	Event 6
1	Pyramid	Hang Tough/Assault	Joust/Whiplash	Gauntlet/Tug O War	Snapback	Powerball
2	Swingshot	Assault/Breakthrough & Conquer	Whiplash/Tug O War	Snapback	Pyramid	Joust/Gauntlet
3	Powerball	Whiplash/Hang Tough	Skytrack	Swingshot	Assault/Breakthrough & Conquer	Joust/Gauntlet
4	Swingshot	Tug O War/Whiplash	The Wall	Hang Tough/Assault	Powerball	Breakthrough & Conquer/Gauntlet

The Eliminator was the final event played in each episode, and determined which contender would win that day's competition. The contenders competed side-by-side to complete a large obstacle course as quickly as they could. In the first two seasons, the Eliminator had a time limit, and both contenders started the course at the same time. Contenders scored points for every second left on the clock when they finished the course; the contender with the highest final score won the day's competition. Beginning in season 3, the contender in the lead was given a head start with each point they led by worth a half-second; the first contender to cross the finish line won.

Of the events that debuted in the show's first season, only six lasted the entire original run on American television: Breakthrough and Conquer, The Wall, Joust, Assault, Powerball, and the Eliminator, although The Wall did not debut until the second half of the first season.

List of gladiators[]

Gladiator	Name	Debut season	Years active	Notes
Malibu	Deron McBee	1	1989	Reprised his role as Malibu on Tosh.0.
Lace	Marisa Pare	1	1989–1992	Absent for most of 1991–92 season due to an injury.
Zap	Raye Hollitt	1	1989–1990, 1991–1995	Absent for entire 1990–91 season while on maternity leave.
Gemini	Michael M. Horton	1	1989–1992	Before his Gladiator career, Gemini was a losing contestant on the Bob Eubanks-hosted revival of Card Sharks, and on Press Your Luck.
Nitro	Dan Clark	1	1989–1992, 1994–1995	Color commentator during show's final season (1995–1996) and coordinating producer of the 2008 revival
Sunny	Cheryl Baldinger	1	1989	Injured during semifinal round and did not return.
Blaze	Sha-Ri Pendleton	1	1990–1992
Bronco	Ritch Finnegan	1	1989	Appeared as a replacement on one episode following an injury to Malibu.
Gold	Tonya Knight	1	1990–1992	Absent for part of 1991–92 season due to an injury.
Laser	Jim Starr	1	1990–1996	Only gladiator to appear in all seven seasons of the series.
Jade	Unknown	1	1990	Appeared as a replacement on one episode following an injury to Sunny.
Titan	David Nelson	1	1990	Fired after charging referee Bob McElwee during second half season.
Diamond	Erika Andersch	2	1990–1993	Appeared in 1991–92 season as an injury replacement for Lace.
Ice	Lori Fetrick	2	1990–1992, 1993–1996
Thunder	Billy Smith	2	1990–1992	Died in August 2021.[4]
Turbo	Galen Tomlinson	2	1990–1996	Absent for most of 1991–92 season due to an injury.
Storm	Debbie Clark	3	1991–1993	Appeared as a replacement following an injury to Gold, continued to appear as a regular gladiator until 1993
Tower	Steve Henneberry	3	1991–1994	Appeared as a replacement following an injury to Turbo, continued to appear as a regular gladiator until 1994
Viper	Scott Berlinger	3	1992–1993	Debuted during 1992 Grand Championship, became regular gladiator the following year
Atlas	Philip Poteat	4	1992–1993	Appeared during the World Challenge of Champions. Died on August 30, 2017.
Cyclone	Barry Turner	4	1992–1993	Injured during preliminary rounds of Season 4 and did not return
Elektra	Salina Bartunek	4	1992–1994	Appeared sparingly following an injury during the 1992–1993 grand championship
Lace	Natalie Lennox	4	1992–1993	Appeared on only two episodes and during the World Challenge of Champions.
Havoc	George King	4	1992–1993	Appeared sparingly
Sabre	Lynn Williams	4	1992–1996
Siren	Shelley Beattie	4	1992–1996	Only deaf gladiator, died in 2008
Sky	Shirley Eson-Korito	4	1992–1996
Dallas	Shannon Hall	5	1993–1995
Hawk	Lee Reherman	5	1993–1996	Died on February 29, 2016
Jazz	Victoria Gay	5	1993–1996
Rebel	Mark Tucker	5	1993–1994
Tank	Ed Radcliffe	5	1993–1994	Appeared as a replacement following an injury to Laser, appearing on three episodes

Production[]

Segments[]

Throughout the series, American Gladiators had several regular segments that were not related to the competition of the day. These segments were used to allow the audience to get to know the Gladiators or to highlight some of the best moments of past competitions.

• Gladiator Moments (Season 3): Gladiators reflect and talk about their favorite moments of the first two seasons of American Gladiators.
• Ask a Gladiator (Seasons 3 and 4): Fans write to their favorite American Gladiator asking them questions.
• Csonka's Zonks (Season 4): Brief array of clips featuring the funniest moments of the show which includes mostly hits, tackles, and tumbles of the contenders and Gladiators.
• 30 Seconds With: (Season 5 on): Gladiators are asked a number of fill-in-the-blank questions. In the final season the questions were taken away and it was just the gladiators talking about a random topic.

Production notes[]

The show was taped at Universal Studios Hollywood until 1991, then moved to Gladiator Arena (Studio 3) at CBS Studio Center in Studio City for the rest of its initial run. The National Indoor Arena, home to the UK version, hosted the International Gladiators competitions.

The series, a co-production of Trans World International and Four Point Entertainment, was distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Television.

The original Pilot was hosted by Fran Tarkenton and Tim Wrightman.^[5]

The first 13 episodes were recorded, from July 24 to August 5 of 1989. The remaining 13 episodes of the first season began production on January 9, 1990.^[6] The entire 26 episode second season was recorded in five weeks from June to July 1990.^[7][8]

Prizes[]

During the first half of season one, the intention was to reward the winners by promoting them to the role of American Gladiators, but that reward was never implemented and was abandoned after the first half of the first season.

The show awarded cash prizes depending on how far the contenders advanced. For the first five seasons, $10,000 cash was awarded for winning the half-season finals. Runners-up in these finals were guaranteed $5,000. Contenders that lost in the semi-final rounds were guaranteed $2,500 for advancing that far. Grand Champions received $15,000 more, while the runners up won $10,000 more. In the first two seasons a new 1990 or 1991 Chevrolet automobile of the Grand Champion's choice, worth up to $20,000 (selections included Lumina, Lumina APV, Cavalier, Metro, Tracker, Storm, C/K pickup, Caprice, Suburban, Camaro, Beretta, Blazer, etc.), were awarded to the Grand Champions. In season 3, a 1992 Chevrolet S-10 Blazer and in season 4 a 1993 Suzuki Sidekick was awarded to the Grand Champion, and the runner up received a Club Med vacation. The runner up prize was eliminated in the fifth season.

To coincide with the change in tournament structure in Season Six, contenders won $2,500 for winning matches in the preliminary rounds and $10,000 in the semi-final rounds. $15,000 was given for winning the Grand Championship in season six, while $10,000 and a guaranteed berth in International Gladiators 2 was given for the seventh season.

Hosts and other personalities[]

Joe Theismann and Mike Adamle co-hosted American Gladiators during the first half of the first season, with Theismann presiding over the proceedings and Adamle serving more of an analyst's role. After Theismann left the series, Adamle became the lead commentator and remained in that role for the remainder of the series. Todd Christensen initially was Adamle's replacement as analyst, with Larry Csonka joining the series at the beginning of season two in 1990. Csonka was replaced by Lisa Malosky following the fourth season, and she held the analyst position for seasons five and six. Danny Lee Clark, who spent the first three seasons and most of season six on the show as Gladiator Nitro, became co-host for the final season and was credited on air as Dan "Nitro" Clark.

Adamle also hosted both seasons of International Gladiators and was joined by John Fashanu in season one and Ulrika Jonsson and Kimberley Joseph in season two.

A referee wearing an executioner costume appeared during the first half of the first season (portrayed by former football player Jeff Benson). Then-NFL referee Bob McElwee became the referee for the second half of season one. Larry Thompson (a former Pacific-10 Football referee) took over for season two in 1990 and remained until the series ended in 1996. The referees were assisted by several game judges, including Bob Wucetich, Fred Gallagher and Jim Marcione.

Theismann also was the announcer of the first season and was replaced by John Harlan in 1990, who remained with the show through the 1992–1993 season. There was no announcer after that, although Adamle introduced the Gladiators in the final season.

International broadcasts[]

American Gladiators was broadcast in the UK by ITV as part of their Night Time slot starting on September 1 1990.^[9] In 1992, ITV debuted their own version called Gladiators and in doing so became the first country to adapt American Gladiators.

Other ventures[]

Reruns[]

USA Network was the first network to air reruns of American Gladiators. In 1992, USA began airing episodes daily in the late afternoon following its game show rerun lineup and preceding Cartoon Express, and later moved the episodes to air as part of its mid-morning lineup. The network initially had rights to the first three seasons and picked up rights to the fourth when it finished airing in 1993, but did not pick up any additional seasons beyond that. USA aired reruns through at least 1996, just as the show ended its original run.

Spike TV purchased a rerun package they began airing during their last days as The National Network in 2002. Originally airing weekday afternoons and late night Saturdays, Spike eventually scaled back the reruns to the late Saturday airing and then dropped them in 2003. Spike was only given rights to seasons two through four in their entirety, special episodes from seasons five and six, season seven in its entirety, and both editions of International Gladiators in their entirety.

In 2007, ESPN added the entire original series to ESPN Classic's lineup. This meant that the non-specials from seasons five and six saw their first airings since their respective seasons and the first season, including the episodes under the original format, would be seen for the first time since USA carried the series. ESPN Classic briefly pulled the original American Gladiators series from its lineup shortly after a revival premiered in 2008, but returned it after the revival concluded. ESPN permanently removed the show from ESPN Classic in 2009.

In 2017, after an absence from television lasting several years, American Gladiators reruns returned to the air with the launch of the Sinclair Broadcast Group's action-themed broadcast network Charge!. Edited reruns of the UK Gladiators series were also added. As of 2020, both shows are no longer on the Charge! schedule.

As of April 2018, SI TV (Sports Illustrated TV) has added the original series to their premium channel add on for Amazon Prime.

In October 2019, a channel dedicated to the original show, as well as the 2008 revival was added to Pluto TV on channel 136. Episodes span the entire run of both shows, with only the International Gladiators episodes absent.

Home media[]

On July 14, 2009 Shout! Factory released The Battle Begins, featuring commentary from the Lazer, Zap, and Nitro, and an interview with Billy Wirth. This DVD only has the last 14 episodes of season one (the mid-season recap, and the second half of season one).

Soundtrack[]

American Gladiators: The Music
Soundtrack album by Dan Milner, Bill Conti
Released	March 3, 1993 (1993-03-03)
Length	38:19
Label	Sandstone Music

In 1993, American Gladiators: The Music was released by DCC Compact Classics/Sandstone Music, featuring songs used on the show, Dan Milner's music for the games and the opening and closing themes by Bill Conti.

American Gladiators: The Music

No.	Title	Length
1.	"American Gladiators Introduction" (Featuring Mike Adamle)	0:28
2.	"American Gladiators Opening"	0:27
3.	"We Will Rock You–Queen"	1:45
4.	"Joust"	2:14
5.	"Rock and Roll (Part II)–Gary Glitter"	2:46
6.	"Gauntlet"	1:53
7.	"Jump–The Movement"	1:51
8.	"Eliminator"	2:01
9.	"Tuff Enuff–The Fabulous Thunderbirds"	3:07
10.	"Tug-O-War"	1:59
11.	"Hit Me with Your Best Shot–Pat Benatar"	2:47
12.	"Whiplash"	1:04
13.	"Breakthrough and Conquer"	1:14
14.	"Oh Yeah–Yello"	3:04
15.	"Assault"	2:02
16.	"The Warrior–Scandal"	3:45
17.	"Hang Tough"	1:58
18.	"Atlasphere"	0:27
19.	"Swingshot"	2:12
20.	"Powerball" (Featuring Mike Adamle)	0:32
21.	"American Gladiators Theme"	0:43

American Gladiators Orlando Live![]

In 1995, American Gladiators performed a dinner show in Orlando, Florida.^[10] This dinner show featured Dallas, Hawk, Ice, Jazz, Nitro, Sabre, Siren, Sky, Tower, and Turbo from the TV show along with the new Gladiators Apache, Cobra, Electra, Flame, Flash, Jade, Quake, Rage, Raven, Tank, Thor, Tigra, Titan, Viper. The events included The Wall, Breakthrough and Conquer, Assault, Whiplash, the Eliminator and others.

Other versions[]

Gladiators 2000[]

A kids version of the show called Gladiators 2000 (also known as G2) hosted by Ryan Seacrest and Maria Sansone (later Valerie Rae Miller in season 2) aired from September 9, 1994 until May 5, 1996.

2008 revival[]

A revival of American Gladiators hosted by Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali aired on NBC from January 6 until August 4, 2008.

See also[]

• Gladiators (television franchise)
• American Gladiators (2008 TV series), the 2008 revival
• American Gladiators 1992 video game
• Gladiators 2000, a spinoff of AG for children
• Nickelodeon Guts, a children's athletic competition program
• My Family's Got Guts, the 2008 revival of GUTS
• Jeux Sans Frontières

References[]

External links[]

• American Gladiators at IMDb