The Gladiators Thread

[Bobfoc]

I hope this gets another series so that the little things can be ironed out. It's already something I enjoy, but it wouldn't take much for it to be just as good as the original. My fear is that it will go the way of the Robot Wars reboot.

[Chris2K]

Their decision to cancel Robot Wars was bizarre, but I can see Gladiators staying put for a while if it keeps drawing the same level of viewing figures.

Just to warn you, I'll likely use this thread for discussions of my re-watching of the old episodes as well. I've just stated the fourth full UK series which is the first one after Shadow got axed for his many, many drug and steroid issues, and he got replaced by Rhino who is one of the all time greats as far as I'm concerned. Also Vogue joined who is another of my favouries, as did noted bigot and TERF Amazon/Sharron Davies, who is not. Also Raider, who I had forgotten existed, and is openly mocked by John Sachs because his interviews are Ahmed Johnson levels of incomprehensible. Scorpio also left after the third series, and I could have sworn she was around for the whole thing.

I also nearly did a spit take when one of the contenders rolled out, and it was future Olympic 400m hurdler Chris Rawlinson, then working as a lifeguard in a Sheffield leisure centre.

The big new games were Pendulum, which was a great event, and Whiplash, which was terrible.

[Baddar]

I'm terrible at learning some of the new names, but I'm confident enough that if you bring up Shadow or Saracen, it won't be because they've made a miraculous return at about 60 years old.

[Benji]

If they replace Barney (who isn't as bad as people say but is definitely a weak point), I'd love for Sharron Davies to come on as the second host. Feels like an obvious choice.

EDIT: Maybe not, given @Chris2K informing me she is a TERF. Damn shame

[Bobfoc]

I wonder if they could get someone like Clare Balding or Gabby Logan.

[Chris2K]

This is said with extreme bias, but Diane Youdale wouldn't be a bad choice .

 

Speaking of Jet, there is a Gladiator podcast (hosted by Jet) which has a lot of the old crew telling stories, plus the new guys are starting to appear.

 

https://www.gladiatorstv.com/podcast/index.php

[Colly]

2 hours ago, Benji said:

If they replace Barney (who isn't as bad as people say but is definitely a weak point), I'd love for Sharron Davies to come on as the second host. Feels like an obvious choice.

EDIT: Maybe not, given @Chris2K informing me she is a TERF. Damn shame

I think she gets injured and removed fairly quickly too which is a positive.

Barney is fucking terrible though.

[Benji]

8 minutes ago, Chris2K said:

This is said with extreme bias, but Diane Youdale wouldn't be a bad choice .

Bruh, I'm already crushing hard on Dynamite and Diamond, don't bring my childhood crush into this too.

[Pogue Mahone]

Stating the obvious but - Bradley Walsh is a bit of cunt isnt he.

[Lineker]

The head of the production team making this reboot is best friends with one of my colleagues. Pleased that they stuck to their guns and kept it as faithful to the original as possible. They are screaming out for needing a female host, though. 

[Colly]

1 hour ago, Pogue Mahone said:

Stating the obvious but - Bradley Walsh is a bit of cunt isnt he.

Don't mind him. He's very old school light entertainment but that works for a show like this.

[Chris2K]

Yeah, I actually properly laughed at his "shoo" line after Diamond threw the shoe away.

Bradley has the reputation, drawing power and comedy chops to be a decent host for it, Barney really feels like a nepo hire and he has none of those attributes to back it up.

[Chris2K]

Can't say I was a fan of Betti going through after her pathetic display in Duel

Huge respect for to Paul for competing, and not doing badly at all, at 57.

[theshadow]

I felt so gutted for Tuathlaith on that eliminator she dominated the points building.

[Benji]

Betti seems like a poor sport, from going low and barely attacking on Duel to shaking the net on Eliminator I'm gutted she won over Tuathlaith who absolutely rocked everything else.

[Chris2K]

I did wonder if she was shaking the net, but put it down to her just aggressively climbing it. Then Guy Mowbray mentioned it, which they wouldn't have aired if there wasn't some truth to it.

She also spent most of The Ring crawling on the ground to get to the centre part after getting tackled, whilst Tuathlaith was out-running her Gladiator to get there on her feet. That's more of an issue with the rules of the game, but even so.

 

Almost forgot, this should hopefully be the example needed for them to get rid of the trapeze and get something that doesn't look so ridiculous. A literal platform to  jump on and jump off would be better (if they're not going to bring back the rolling log).

[Baddar]

It sucked that she fumbled that Eliminator, she was great.

[Cymbols]

I don’t think it is poor sportsmanship to stay low on Duel. You are choosing to sacrifice winning to avoid losing, so there’s a five point reason why you might want to avoid it, but the game’s the game. 

[Benji]

I'm confused. There's eleven episodes in the season, but they're on the semis this week. That only leaves four episodes left.

We're on episode six, so three semis and then presumably a three way grand final. So what's the last episode?

Poor Finley. Odd that he's not replaced by another fastest quarters person.

[Chris2K]

These are the quarters, it's listed episode 6 of 11, but that doesn't make sense either because it doesn't leave room for a Final:

6 - QF1

7 - QF2

8 - QF 3

9 - QF 4

10 - SF 1

11 - SF 2

I have to assume there's only going to be 3 quarter finals, and 1 semi-finalist will be (another) fastest loser. Or they'll do what they did here and just hand a new person a place without competing, which is weird. I'll give Wesley a pass, because wrestling.