Gladiators (2008 Australian TV series)

Infobox Television
show_name = Gladiators


caption = 2008 "Gladiators" Logo
show_name_2 =
genre = Sports entertainment
creator = Dan Carr
John Ferraro
director =
creative_director =
developer = Endemol Southern Star
(Licenced from MGM Television)
presenter = Tom Williams
Zoe Naylor
starring =
voices =
narrated = Andy Paschalidis
theme_music_composer = Neil Sutherland
opentheme =
endtheme =
composer =
country = AUS
language = English
num_seasons = 1
num_episodes = 15 (as of July 6, 2008)
list_episodes =
executive_producer = Rikkie Proost
Lisa Fitzpatrick
producer =
supervising_producer =
asst_producer =
co-producer =
editor = Thom Cochoran
story_editor =
location = The Dome, Sydney Showground, New South Wales
cinematography =
camera = Multiple-camera setup
runtime = 60 minutes
(including commercials)
network = Seven Network
picture_format = 1080i (HDTV)
audio_format = Dolby Digital Pro Logic II
first_run = AUS
first_aired = March 30, 2008
last_aired =
preceded_by = "Gladiators" (1995-1997)
followed_by =
related =
website = http://au.blogs.yahoo.com/gladiators/
imdb_id =
tv_com_id = 75464

"Gladiators" is an Australian television series which began airing on the Seven Network in 2008. It is a revival of the earlier series of the same name, and is based on the American and British versions of the show, which were also both revived in 2008.

The show is filmed at The Dome at the Sydney Showground, and is hosted by Tom Williams and Zoe Naylor. Respected NRL referee Bill Harrigan is one of the two referees for the show, the other is John Forsythe, who was a referee on the original series. Although not credited, the Sydney Altitude Cheerleaders were present in every episode, doing various routines throughout each episode whether an event was taking place or not. [ [http://www.sydneyaltitude.com.au/Altitude/Site1/HireUs.asp Sydney Altitude Cheerleading ] ]

The revival of "Gladiators" was first announced on September 9, 2007, [ [http://www.sevencorporate.com.au/_uploads/Files/gladiators.pdf http://www.sevencorporate.com.au/_uploads/Files/gladiators.pdf] Seven Network press release Retrieved on October 11, 2007] and premiered on March 30 2008 at 6:30 pm. [Clune, Richard [http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,23663,23010290-10388,00.html Gladiators Back] "The Daily Telegraph" January 6 2008. Retrieved on January 6 2008.] The Challengers in this series compete to win AUD $50,000 and a new Subaru Forester.

Events

Each episode features four events chosen at random, followed by the final round, The Eliminator. The 2008 series has featured many events that were initially featured in the first incarnation of "Gladiators".

Events currently played include Atlaspheres, Duel, Gauntlet, Hang Tough, Hit & Run, Powerball, Pyramid, Suspension Bridge, The Wall and Whiplash. Pendulum, Sumo Ball and Vertigo were introduced as events for the first time in 2008. The events Joust, Pursuit, Skytrak, Swingshot and Tilt from the original series have not been contested in the new series.

As before, The Eliminator is played at the end of every episode.

New events

Pendulum

The Challenger and Gladiator engage in a game of hide and seek on a ball 5 metres in diameter, which hangs from the roof of the arena. On the whistle, the ball begins to swing from side to side. The aim of the Challenger is to avoid the Gladiator, who must track the Challenger down and remove the Velcro flag from their back. Once this is done, the game is over. If the Challenger or Gladiator falls off, the remaining participant wins. Ten points are awarded to the Challenger if the Gladiator falls from the pendulum or if they do not fall off after a minute.

umo Ball

The Challenger and Gladiator stand on a platform with a giant 'sumo ball' suspended between them. They have thirty seconds to push their opponent off using the sumo ball, which they must hold onto using a loop for the entire time. Neither may touch the platform with their hands. Ten points are awarded for a Challenger win, five for a draw. Either player loses if they are forced off the platform yet still hold onto the ball.

Vertigo

The Challenger and Gladiator compete in a one-on-one race across five poles, each ten metres high. On the whistle they must climb the first one to the top. Once there they swing their pole and must use this method to transfer to each of the remaining poles. They must complete a left-to-right swing before transferring. They do this until the end where a silver ring awaits, the first to grab this wins the event.

The Eliminator

The obstacle course in the 2008 series is similar to that of the original series. It consists of padded hurdles of varying heights, a short rope climb, monkey bars, traversing across a quarter pipe, climbing up a longer rope ladder, going down a flying fox, walking across a balancing beam, running up a travelator which is going in the opposite direction, then after that, the first challenger to swing on a tarzan rope through a waterfall at the finish line is the winner of the episode.

Disqualifications

If Harrigan sees a rule broken in any way (confirmed by video replay), he may give the offender a yellow card. A red card is given if the offender breaks a rule again during the episode, argues the ruling or walks away from the referee when he's talking to them. The red card means the offender is out for the rest of the episode.

So far there had been 2 red cards given out to Gladiators.

1. Thunder pushed a challenger inside the Atlasphere. He was given a yellow card by Harrigan, but ate the yellow card, and so he was given a red card.

2. Amazon let go of the sumo ball in the Sumo Ball game, and was given a yellow card by Harrigan, but during the post game interview, Amazon said "Bill would call a foul? As far as I'm concerned a foul's a bird! Bill has had it in for me since day 1!" Harrigan approched Amazon, but then Amazon walked away and celebrated like she had won. For walking away from Harrigan and for arguing with the referee, Amazon got a red card. The clip is on www.gameshowvideos.com [www.gameshowvideos.com]

Results

"Note: Challengers which are bolded advanced through to the next stage. Times listed next to the challengers' name is their runtime for the Eliminator. DNR indicates the challenger did not run the Eliminator due to the other challenger pulling out from injury."

Men

References

External links

* [http://au.blogs.yahoo.com/gladiators/ Official Gladiators Seven Network website]
* [http://www.gladiatorszone.co.uk/international/australia/ Australian Gladiators Zone]