Uncle Don!This menacing 6'4", 250 lbs. drink of water is my absolute favorite part of the new American Gladiators. I find it wonderful that one of my relatives made fame and fortune and that any contender who dares cross paths with Wolf will no doubt receive a ferocious bite. That and he looks like a wolf. Or a vampire. I did enjoy the crowd laughing at him when he said he "smelled fear." We'll have to work on family trademark infringement with references to him being the Wolfman, which we all know is he not the family Wolfman.
The show isn't that great once you get past the nostalgia that has transformed the old version into Emmy award winning TV that it really never was. Laila Ali isn't much of a host offering such hard hitting question as "that was really great," which of course isn't a question. The camera shots are unnecessarily fast and furious that when interspersed with crowd cheering shots in the middle of a 30 second competition make it impossible to follow what action there is.
But it's not all bad. The eliminator is pretty nifty even if a wall of fire hovering above a pool is completely unnecessary and merely a pretty TV shot. Overall though, I love the water everywhere and cannot wait for a contestant who can't swim to go tumbling backwards. Hulk Hogan is a part of the program, which alone makes it totally awesome. While I didn't see it this evening, I want to see a gladiator go flying in assault. And we've already covered gladiator-family member Wolf.
In all, it's fine. I can't say I'll be setting Tivo to watch every show. For one, I don't have Tivo and for two the show is not on the same level as say The Office. But, with the writer's strike, NBC could do worse to fill their Monday nights.
Photo from American Gladiators
1 comment:
I agree with everything you've said. I am also tickled by Toa's rain dance and Hulk Hogan with such gems as: "the sun, the moon, the stars and Venus were all in alignment," said to a contestant named Venus who had just won the eliminator.
I think the show is trying to be goofy and lame. Clearly scripted trash talk sessions, horrendous commentary, a caricature of a referee and events that might have a little WWE pre-destination ... I don't think the show is trying to separate itself from its remarkably cheesy predecessor. I think it's embracing that past.
Also, Helga.
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