American Gladiators 

The teams compete in such events as Power Ball, Assault, The Wall and Hang Tough. The Eliminator round decides the winner of the tournament.

Stars:

Mike Adamle, Jim Starr, Raye Hollitt

2 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Mike Adamle	...	Himself - Host 149 episodes, 1989-1996
Jim Starr	...	Laser 127 episodes, 1990-1996
Raye Hollitt	...	Zap 110 episodes, 1989-1995
Larry Thompson	...	Himself (Referee) / ... 106 episodes, 1991-1994
Lee Reherman	...	Hawk 104 episodes, 1991-1996
Galen Tomlinson	...	Turbo 101 episodes, 1991-1996
Lori Fetrick	...	Ice 96 episodes, 1991-1996
Danny Lee Clark	...	Nitro / ... 95 episodes, 1989-1996
Michael M. Horton	...	Gemini 81 episodes, 1989-1993
Larry Csonka	...	Himself - Host / ... 78 episodes, 1991-1993
Daz Crawford	...	Diesel 77 episodes, 1993-1996
Erika Andersch	...	Diamond 70 episodes, 1991-1993
Sha-Ri Pendleton	...	Blaze / ... 69 episodes, 1989-1993
Steve Henneberry	...	Tower 65 episodes, 1991-1994
John Harlan	...	Himself - Announcer / ... 65 episodes, 1990-1993
Shirley Eson	...	Sky 60 episodes, 1993-1996
Lynn 'Red' Williams	...	Sabre 60 episodes, 1993-1996
Marisa Pare	...	Lace 60 episodes, 1989-1993

Storyline

A seasonal competition in which two men and two women compete against each other and a roster of "American Gladiators". Events include, The Assault, Joust, The Wall, Breakthrough and Conquer, Hang Tough, Powerball, and many others, all culminating in the final event, "The Eliminator", a difficult obstacle course race. Every season there is a tournament to determine its "Grand Champion". For two seasons, there was an "International" competition taped in England where the champions from 4-6 countries competed similarly.

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Plot Keywords:

contest | non fiction | 

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Genres:

Action | Game-Show | Sport

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 January 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

American Gladiators

Company Credits

Production Co:

Four Point Entertainment, Trans World International

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Lisa Malosky was the only female host throughout the series run and was also the only one without NFL experience.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Human Duplicators (1992)

User Reviews

I'd Love for the Show to Come Back

After discovering the show sometime around '94, I watched every episode, including the reruns that were on at the time. The varied competitions made it something of an athletic game show, and it was always entertaining. My favorite was always the Eliminator.

Some people have expressed uncertainty as to why this show left the air. Well, watching the reruns you will never realize it, but the big problem with the show was that near the end new episodes became something of a rarity. The "International Gladiators" specials became more and more common, which eroded their mystique and made them somewhat dull. But in the end it seemed like every week (and I mean EVERY week) was a rerun--especially of the episode with Dean Cain, which must have shown at least twenty times. (An exaggeration perhaps, but not much of one.) So yes, the show was canceled without much fanfare, but that's because most viewers thought the show was already over. One new episode every couple of months isn't enough to hold viewers--I don't care how popular the show is.

I was just thinking about the show the other day and how neat it would be to have a traveling version of Gladiators that would work similarly to American Idol. Perhaps it's just nostalgia on my part, but I think it would be quite cool.