American Gladiators is an American competition television program that aired weekly in syndication from September 1989 to May 1996. The series matched a cast of amateur athletes against each other, as well as against the show's own "gladiators", in contests of strength and agility. Following the success of American Gladiators, other countries began to produce their own versions of the show.
Background and history
The concept was originally created in 1982 by Johnny C. Ferraro and Dann Carr. Carr gathered the Gladiators and hosted the show, and Ferraro financed and produced the original competition at Erie Tech High School in Erie, Pennsylvania so Ferraro could have the event on film as to shop the new creation. In 1983 Ferraro financed, developed and packaged the American Gladiators as a movie project. In 1984 Carr sold his interest in a literary purchase to Flor-Jon Films. Ferraro had been the main driving force behind the American Gladiators brand since 1982. In 1987, Flor-Jon Films then licensed the unscripted rights to The Samuel Goldwyn Company (now part of MGM). Ferraro is the sole creator of the 1994 kids' version of the series, Gladiators 2000 (a.k.a. G2).
An all-star, one-off primetime celebrity special, Superstar American Gladiators aired on ABC on May 4, 1995.
Flor-Jon Films, Inc and the Samuel Goldwyn Co in 1993 granted a license to Chariot Entertainment in an effort to launch a live American Gladiators show on the Las Vegas Strip, but the president of Chariot became mired in a securities fraud prosecution, through no fault of Flor-Jon Films or The Samuel Goldwyn Co, and the live show went unrealized.
2008 revival
MGM Television, the successor company to the Samuel Goldwyn Company, during the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike, sold to NBC a prime-time revival that was closer to the British version than the American, with hosts Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali, and Van Earl Wright the play-by-play voice. That version lasted two seasons.
Potential revivals
In July 2014, a revival of American Gladiators was planned in the works by A. Smith & Co. Productions where it would have incorporated elements that were inspired by the popular film franchise The Hunger Games along with mixed martial arts.
In August 2018, MGM Television, with Ferraro and actors Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, announced plans to bring American Gladiators back again for the 2019–20 season, the 30th anniversary of the franchise's television debut.
In September 2021, it was reported that MGM Television has teamed up with WWE (formerly WWF) for a reboot of American Gladiators that will feature WWE wrestlers. The project is currently being pitched to broadcasters and streaming platforms.
Competition
American Gladiators featured four competitors, two men and two women, in most episodes. The players, referred to throughout the series as "contenders", faced off in a series of physical games against each other and against a cast of costumed athletes looking to prevent them from succeeding (the titular "Gladiators"). Each match saw the competitors trying to advance in a tournament, with one man and one woman crowned champion at its conclusion.
Initial tournament format
When the series premiered in the fall of 1989, ten men and ten women were selected to participate with several more chosen to be alternates in case one or more of the contenders had to withdraw due to injury.
The tournament was spread out over the course of twelve episodes. The first five episodes comprised the preliminary round of play. Eight contenders would advance from this round to play in the quarterfinals. The five winners from each side would automatically advance, as would the three highest scoring contenders that had not won.
Once the quarterfinal brackets were set, the tournament became single-elimination. Any alternates from here on in would come from the pool of defeated contenders, if they were necessary. The winners of the four quarterfinal matchups were guaranteed a prize, which increased based on how far they advanced. A contender eliminated in the semifinals went home with $2,500. The winner of the final match won $10,000, while the runner-up received $5,000.