I guess you could call this a re-reboot, but American Gladiators is getting rebooted for a second time. The show initially made its return in 2008 for two seasons, but fell off the schedule despite a strong debut.
The new American Gladiators has been inspired by NBC’s summer success with American Ninja Warrior, and has been called “a little darker, more intense, more series” by executive producer Arthur Smith. Smith also called the reboot “post-apocalyptic”, and said that it adds elements from The Hunger Games and mixed martial arts.
When you look at all that…is this reboot going to resemble American Gladiators at all, or is it just going to have the same name? From what Brown is describing, this seems like some sort of athletic reality show that has “American Gladiators” slapped onto it. A sportsy, fighting-based version of the Hunger Games really isn’t American Gladiators at all, which was billed as a competition between “regular people” and the massively built Gladiators. This just seems like an attempt to continue to cash in on a nostalgia trip without really capturing the original spirit of what you’re trying to convince people you’re paying tribute to.
[TV Guide]
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About Joe Lucia
I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.