Gladiators Ready?

[Shaxberd]

BARGEARSE

[thr0b]

Rollmops

[JesusAndYourBush]

Bunyip

[thr0b]

Chuzwuzzer.

[Sonny_Jim]

Kidnapper

[touchingcloth]

A Gladiators called LET THERE BE A THOUSAND BLOSSOMS BLOOM and he enters to Men At Work's Down Under, the entire song from start to finish and in the gauntlet round he wears Ned Kelly's actual armour.

Waltzing Matilda.

Kookaburra.

Rolf.

[Huxleys Babkins]

A**

[elliszeroed]

An old woman called Mangler.

[Blue Jam]

BARGEARSE

❤️

[Huxleys Babkins]

Longneck

[greencalx]

It's a tough game.

Spoiler alert

The weaker contender prevailed in each case, I think. I had my money on Chung as the series champion, such a pisser he got injured. And Kerry was defeated by the travellator.

[close]

Presumably this was filmed before the other semi, as Sabre got injured in that one. (It seems like they film one show in one go - comments made by the contenders suggested as much.)

[Icehaven]

The final's going to be shit at this rate.

[confettiinmyhair]

It was the weirdness of the replacement bloke being a bit over the top in his 'happy to be here' speech and then a super botch at the end which, when added to the moments of WWE level scripted moments which have been scattered throughout the series, seemed a bit suspect.

[greencalx]

The final's going to be shit at this rate.

Yeah I was looking forward to Finlay vs Chung, though Wesley might give the army man a run for his money. Kerry was a great contender too, shame she knackered herself out by the time she got to the travelator.

[Brian Freeze]

I've been told we've put our names down for the audience ticket lottery for series 2.

[curiousoranges]

What's the process for them auditioning the actual Gladiators? It's a bit more niche than just ringing round acting agencies.

[elliszeroed]

Am I right, that both male finalists are replacements?

[Icehaven]

Am I right, that both male finalists are replacements?

Yep, they're both former contestants that got knocked out earlier in the heats. Given it's supposed to be all about the physical challenge of beating the glads (yeah I said it) and the other contestants it feels rather undeserved when both finalists have already failed to do that.

[Utter Shit]

What's the process for them auditioning the actual Gladiators? It's a bit more niche than just ringing round acting agencies.

They seem to have nabbed most of them from professional sport (e.g. Nitro was a sprinter, Apollo was in the NFL) or bodybuilding (Giant and Diamond definitely, there are others too). No idea of the process beyond that point but I'm not entirely sure the producers do either. Diamond was pushed as one of the stars early on but as it went on her lack of personality really became exposed and they focused more on Fury and Sabre.

As much as I've enjoyed this series I feel like there are loads of ways they can improve it for the next one. There are really only five recognisable 'characters'  in Nitro, Legend, Viper, Fury and Sabre, the rest just feel like filler - hopefully they can find a couple of new additions with a bit more about them.

And then as has been discussed a lot throughout this thread, the injuries and shoe issues on the Wall have really detracted from the show. I'm not sure what they can do to fix the injury problem because they're mostly contact injuries rather than stemming from the setup of the events, but the shoe thing has pretty much ruined the Wall as it happens every week.

I do appreciate the silliness of questioning the legitimacy of the competition in an early-evening show aimed at 9-year olds, but you do get invested!

[superthunderstingcar]

shoe issues on the Wall have really detracted from the show. I'm not sure what they can do to fix the injury problem because they're mostly contact injuries rather than stemming from the setup of the events, but the shoe thing has pretty much ruined the Wall as it happens every week.

I dunno, there's something to be said for sitting at home predicting which contender will lose a shoe this week. Or maybe I'm only saying that because I called it correctly this week?

Nah, you're right - like the easiness of the Gauntlet and the too many points from The Edge, this is something a second series could/should tighten up on. Like the contenders' laces.

[Captain Z]

With the shoe thing I think that's more on the gladiators - if they really are all that, they should be able to catch the contestant by the waist/harness rather than desperately grabbing for a foot.

[Mr Trumpet]

The events are obviously imbalanced - Gauntlet is a piece of piss while Hang Tough is virtually impossible. At least with The Wall there's a bit of variance in success rates, and it's always fun to watch Nitro zooming up there.

[confettiinmyhair]

What was the event called from the original series where the Gladiator fired tennis balls from a platform, whilst the contender shot at targets? That could be a good filler round, with low injury risk.

[Olarrio]

Danger Zone, I believe?

[Gulftastic]

Series 2 confirmed, to the surprise of no one.

[Icehaven]

Series 2 confirmed, to the surprise of no one.

Maybe the S1 contestants forced to drop out from injury will get another go?

[Icehaven]

Every time I mention this show to someone it turns out they're watching and enjoying it. Must be a smash hit? Rather this than Strictly, anyway.

The more I break it down the more mysterious the appeal. The events are repetitive, the banter is a bit shit, we don't learn a whole lot about either gladiators or contenders. But somehow it manages to be an enjoyable watch.

Yep I don't like any sport, or wrestling, or TV talent shows or anything that even vaguely overlaps with this at all (I don't even remember particularly liking the original back in the day either but ended up watching it sometimes if my family were) but I really like this. It's mostly just enjoying the silly camp fun of people in  dayglo costumes whacking each other with giant Q-tips and swinging about on hoops and it all being treated with tongue-in-cheek seriousness, with a good dollop of escapism and 90s nostalgia thrown in too. The world's going to shit but for an hour a week the most important thing on TV is how fast someone can run the wrong way up a conveyor belt.

I also think the repetitiveness and not knowing much about the participants or gladiators is part of the appeal, there's not much to follow and you don't have to remember much or keep up with anything, it's basically the same thing every week. I hope they don't try and get clever and mess with the format for series 2.

[Pete23]

I don't think the Walsh's are coming back for series 2. I've got my fingers crossed for Vic and Bob.

[Gulftastic]

I hope they avoid a rush of contestants hoping to become Internet celebrities by appearing.

[thr0b]

I don't think the Walsh's are coming back for series 2. I've got my fingers crossed for Vic and Bob.

Yeah, that was weird; before the first episode aired, Walsh Sr had said it was a one-and-done show for them. I wonder if that was panic that it might have bombed like Survivor? There's been less talk of them not returning since.

Survivor bombed because it was shit and dull though, whereas Gladiators is enjoyably kitsch shit.