And it was on WLEX and WDKY in Lexington (which both carried the show every Late Saturday/Early Sunday at 1:00am), WLKY in Louisville (which carried it every Saturday at 11:30pm) and the now-defunct WBKI in Campbellsville, which carried American Gladiators every Saturday Afternoon at 3:00pm as part of a 3-hour Saturday Afternoon block right before WWF Superstars and WCW Worldwide! BTW, does anyone have the promos for American Gladiators, WWF Superstars and WCW Worldwide (a.k.a. the Saturday Afternoon 3-hour Action Block on WGRB Channel 34) on WGRB (which later became WBKI)?
Its interesting how you can see the rise and decline of the show just from the intros. 0:00 - tiny studio, incredibly low budget 1:18- show is a hit, budget increased big time. New arena, more gladiators, new theme, new events 3:38 to 5:23 - When the show was on the rise, more focus on the Gladiators and this is when the branched out with videogames, toys, etc 5:26 - This is when the show peaked. budget increases again and the show gets a major overhaul. Brand new arena, new logo, theme, Gladiators and events 6:35 - Show is on the decline and they are desperate throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks which is evident by this ridiculous opening that looks like some kind of high school drama 7:08 - The decline continues, budget slashed bigtime with a scaled down presentation. Even the Gladiators look like they are wondering if they will even have jobs soon.
The first season is so cheesy! Between the Gladiators' character intros, them being presented as villains, the masked "ninja", and the cardboard cutout fans, I can't get enough of it! 😂
It was composed by Academy Award winner William Conti, best known for composing the 🎼 for the Rocky and 🥋 Kid films and for conducting the Academy Awards orchestra 21 times!
dmace81 You are right I have that as my phone ring on my cell. Sounds funny but when you hear the first theme version it brings kind of a lump in.your throat.
It's interesting looking at these progression of videos one after the other. The first season intro was like a humble beginning, with its distinct 80s style and character intros. Then starting from the 2nd season onwards, the show started to hit its peak of popularity, and it showed in the more "electric" intros. Then in the later seasons, you can tell the show was on the decline, and the intros were revamped into the distinct 90s style, with its flashy graphics...to make it seem fresh again.
And my oldest son watched it on WDKY, WLKY, WLEX and WBKI, which aired the show at 3:00pm as part of a 3-hour Saturday Afternoon block right before WCW Worldwide and WWF Superstars.
@@danalong1237 YOU MUST BE ON THE WEST COAST AS THIS SHOW CAME ON AT 12 NOON ON WNYW FOX 5 NEW YORK AFTER WWF SUPERSTARS AND THE ONLY FEW TIMES I CAUGHT WCW WORLDWIDE/PRO WAS ON A FEW RANDOM LATE NIGHT SATURDAYS(12:30 AM SUNDAY MORNING TO BE EXACT) I STAYED UP LATE ON WCBS CHANNEL 2
Excellent show! It was one of my favorites! My favorite gladiators were Gemini, Blaze, Laser, Lace, Siren (RIP), Tower, Sabre and Nitro 😍 Also, am I the only one who loves how Sabre went from a competitor to one of the gladiators? 🏅
Storm tried out as a competitor and was instead picked to be a gladiator. Laser was best friends/roommates with Nitro. In fact, both were 'replacement players' with the Rams during the 1987 NFL strike. Sky was first known as Athena, but she didn't like it, so she went with her childhood nickname Sky. She was recruited during their 50-week traveling tour as a 'replacement' to give the other gladiators a break and to rest up while they were injured. Nitro, Zap, and Gemini were all fired for wanting a cut of the merchandising. Nitro was lured back with the promise of being a host for the next season, while Zap was brought back as a contestant. But it was iffy since the other gladiators didn't want to fight against Zap.
4:58, the exact moment we crossed into the early mid 90's "93" (lower case script, silly ass graphics all over the screen) then to cheesy, over dramatic melrose place-type intro.
i remember watching this as a kid and i was very impressed by muscles the dudes had and i wanted to have muscles like them and that is why today i lift weights
And hopefully Shout Factory will release the remaining six seasons and the first half of the first season on DVD and Blu-Ray and re-release the second half of the first season on DVD and Blu-Ray someday!
Now that all the gladiators are old and dying they admit they were all jacked up on steroids. The show encouraged it and sent them to "special" doctors.
I first heard of American Gladiators when I was looking through the TV channels at 3 AM (CST) and there it was! American Gladiators on TelExitos (Telemundo's sister channel). It's in Spanish but I still watch it because I know it. I love this show and I can see the importance of it, I wish they brought back this on TV, though.
I remember being at a Farmer's Market in Valley Junction (West Des Moines, IA--my wife works at The Theatrical Shop there) where the Army National Guard had a "mini-Wall" set up, and as I watched some kids climbing, I said, "Okay, _why_ am I getting a _serious American Gladiators_ vibe here?" One of the soldiers tapped me on the shoulder and shouted, _"ICE! TURBO! LASER!"_ And I joined in, _"GEMINI! ZAP! THUNDER! DIAMOND!"_ We laughed, and he said, "You watched that show, too, huh?" I told him I never missed it when it ran on television. I said, "Hey, at least these kids don't have a steroid-crazed Gladiator chasing them up that thing! And, it's a lot _smaller,_ too!" He agreed, and we both laughed again.
As a gay guy, I loved this show while growing up...growing up in the 90's ruled! Too bad I started the decade at 6...ah couldn't I have been 15 or something lol so I could have better appreciated the decade!
It was too bad the 7th season was it's last. That modification to the set made it look like you were about to see something epic (the new lights and that huge AG logo there). Makes you wonder what they could've done with an 8th season if they could've gotten it. Was my favorite set version. EDIT: The G in the final season was copying off of the G logo of the UK version, and it seemed like they were trying to go that way since the UK struck gold the way they made it into how much went into their production values. I could imagine them moving into a bigger arena if they had another season to copy that, too.
I think season 3 was the best intro with the trash talking from the gladiators. The announcer seemed to have more fun and work the crowd better in season 3 with his style of intros of the gladiators. Then the exciting finale of season 3.
Feel like the first few seasons was better. Theme song more epic, the red white and blue costumes, much more fun atmosphere. Then when they change the theme song... Oy. And the thing with them trying to look sexy in the white shirts... They just look pissed off, missing the fun.
Came here from drunkborne funhaus, bruce/james sings the theme song without mentioning American Gladiators you had to find that out for yourself. If you are smart enough
And my son used to watch it every Saturday afternoon on WBKI, which carried it right after two hours of 🤼♀️ shows! Does anybody have a promo for the WGRB “3 hours of action” Saturday afternoon block?
