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The winner of the final match won $10,000, while the runner-up received $5,000. Initially, the idea for American Gladiators was for the championship winning contenders to become part of the cast of Gladiators for subsequent competitions, a concept that was later adopted for the 2008 sequel series.
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Tournament format
American Gladiatorsran on television from 1989–1996, and was conducted in a tournament style format. In the first two seasons, two tournaments were held in each season. Twenty contenders (ten of each gender) in each half-season tournament were chosen from a nationwide contestant pool based on tests of strength and agility, with several alternates chosen in case a contender could not continue due to injury. Two contenders of each gender competed on each episode. Five preliminary round matchups...
Events
1. Main article: 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 poi...
Segments
Throughout the series, American Gladiatorshad 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. 1. Gladiator Moments (Season 3): Gladiators reflect and talk about their favorite moments of the first two seasons of American Gladiators. 2. Ask a Gladiator (Seasons 3 and 4): Fans write to their favorite American Gladiator asking t...
Production notes
The show was taped at Universal Studios Hollywood until 1991, then moved to Gladiator Arena for the rest of its initial run. The National Indoor Arena, home to the UK version, hosted the International Gladiatorscompetitions. The series, a co-production of Trans World International and Four Point Entertainment, was distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Television.
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 gu...
Like some other game shows, American Gladiators had themed shows. Some shows featured celebrities competing against each other (like castmembers from Baywatch and Superman portrayer Dean Cain, as well as host Mike Adamle & character actors such as a pre-Scrubs John C. McGinley).
Ties to professional wrestling
Like wrestling, American Gladiators is considered a form of sports entertainment, with the primary difference in that American Gladiators, unlike wrestling, is not pre-scripted. There have been several crossovers between the show and wrestling itself. The most obvious ties to wrestling is the 2008 revival which is co-hosted by professional wrestler Hulk Hogan. The season 2 men's runner-up, first half champion Rico Constantino, went on to become well known as a wrestler in WWE, under the name...
International versions
The American Gladiators format gained popularity all over the world. Several other countries created spin-offs based on the American Gladiatorsconcept, including Finland, the UK, Australia, South Africa, Lebanon and more. American Gladiators was also translated and rebroadcast in Latin America under the name Gladiadores Americanos. It was also shown in Japan as Gekitotsu Americane Kin-niku Battle. Japan also had a show called BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!, which had some American Gladiators element...
Reruns
Reruns of the series have been syndicated since 1992 but have not been seen since 2009. The USA Network was the first network to rebroadcast episodes of American Gladiators, obtaining the rights to the first three seasons in 1992. USA aired the reruns daily for over four years, and added the fourth season to their package when it was completed in 1993. USA stopped airing American Gladiatorssometime in 1996, after the series came to a close in first-run, and did not add any episodes from the r...
Gladiators 2000 - also known as "G2", this was a short-lived, kid-friendly spinoff that had traditional games with the additional twists of trivia questions thrown in for educational entertainment hosted by future American Idol star Ryan Seacrest and was co-hosted by Maria Sansone in season 1, followed by Valarie Rae Miller in season 2 also ran in ...
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Awards won by Season 5 - complete list of Season 5 Awards - including nominations.
American Gladiators: Created by John Ferraro. With Mike Adamle, Jim Starr, Raye Hollitt, Larry Thompson. The teams compete in such events as Power Ball, Assault, The Wall and Hang Tough. The Eliminator round decides the winner of the tournament.
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- 1989-01-01
- Action, Game-Show, Sport
- 60
Sep 1, 1993 · Season 5. 1993 - 1994. In this challenging game show, four contestants were pitted each week against the four athletically trained gladiators, two female and two male. Their strength, agility and endurance were tested in various, constantly changing contests against the powerful gladiators, with the highest scorers advancing to the exciting ...
- Mike Adamle
May 30, 2023 · Home > Entertainment. Every '90s Kid Has Fond Memories of 'American Gladiators' — Where Are Those TV Warriors Now? By Jennifer Tisdale. Published May 30 2023, 5:36 p.m. ET. Source: MGM. 'American Gladiators' With names like Nitro, Laser, and Blaze, it's nearly impossible to find anyone who didn't like American Gladiators.
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In Season 1, the four male contenders and the four female contenders who won their respective preliminary matches with the fastest Eliminator times advanced to the semifinals, and the winners of the two semifinals matches competed in the finals.
