American Gladiators (1989 TV series)

American Gladiators^[2][3] is an American competition television program that aired weekly in syndication from September 1989 to May 1996.^[4] 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.

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 so 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 a 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.^[5]

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.

In July 2014, it was reported that American Ninja Warrior producer Arthur Smith had been pitching a reboot of American Gladiators with MGM Television, which would have had a "darker" and more "serious" post-apocalyptic theme inspired by works such as The Hunger Games. He explained, "it's a little less red, white and blue. And there's no spandex. Spandex has left the building."^[6]

In August 2018, it was reported that MGM was pitching another revival with actors Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg as executive producers; it did not make it to air.^[7][8] In September 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported that MGM Television had partnered with professional wrestling promotion WWE on co-producing a potential revival, which would have featured WWE talent.^[7]

In April 2024, it was reported that Johnny Ferraro had signed Range Sports as a representative to develop new "TV, film, attractions, merchandise and live events" within the American Gladiators franchise, in a decision that was accelerated by the success of a BBC reboot of the British version that premiered earlier in the year.^[9] In June 2024, it was reported that the reboot had been ordered by Amazon Prime Video, produced by MGM Television (MGM had been acquired by Amazon in 2021)^[10] in association with Ferraro's Flor-Jon Films.^[11] On May 12, 2025, MGM announced that WWE performer The Miz would serve as host.^[12]

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").^[13] Each match saw the competitors trying to advance in a tournament, with one man and one woman crowned champion at its conclusion.

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 served as the preliminary round, and the winners of those five matches automatically advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament. To round the field out at eight, the three highest scoring runners-up would be given wild card berths in the quarterfinals. From this point forward, the tournament became single-elimination, and any alternates (if needed) would be taken from the pool of defeated contenders. Any contender that advanced beyond the quarterfinals was guaranteed to receive a prize.

Reaching the semifinals of the tournament guaranteed that a contender would receive at least $2,500 in cash. A finalist was guaranteed to leave with at least $5,000, and the winner of the tournament would take home $10,000 for his/her efforts. The two winners were originally supposed to then become Gladiators themselves for any subsequent competitions, which was mentioned several times during the course of the original tournament.

However, before the initial tournament had concluded airing, the producers changed the format of the show due to the response it had received. Instead of becoming Gladiators, tournament winners Brian Hutson and Tracy Phillips were invited back for the second tournament, which began in early 1990. An additional ten men and ten women competed in the second tournament under the same format as the initial one; the winners received $10,000 and the chance to face the 1989 tournament champions in what came to be known as the Grand Championship, with an additional $10,000, a car, and the overall season championship going to the winners.

From then on until 1994, two tournaments per season were conducted with each comprising half of the season and the Grand Championship concluding the season. The second season used the same format as the first, while the format was changed for season three and again for season five.

For these two seasons, a total of twenty-four men and twenty-four women were selected to compete. Six preliminary matchups were played, with the winners advancing to the quarterfinals; unlike before, the preliminary round was single-elimination.

The six remaining contenders on each side competed in three quarterfinal matches, with the winners automatically advancing. To even out the semifinal field at four, the highest scoring contender among the losing quarterfinalists advanced as the lone wild card in the competition. The two semifinal winners would then face each other for a berth in the Grand Championship.

32 contenders competed over the course of the season.

For the first time, there were no wildcard spots used in the tournament. Instead, the preliminary round was used for the purposes of seeding, as all eight of the competitors on each side were guaranteed a spot in the quarterfinals, known in this season as the elimination round. After the preliminaries, the contenders were seeded 1-8 based on their performance. The tournament then proceeded as normal.

For the final two seasons, each contender that won a preliminary round matchup was awarded a cash prize of $2,500.

The tournament for season six was held over the course of the entire season. A total of 64 competitors were selected, and the format used was similar to the one employed on the British version of the program. In addition to winning, each contender hoped to have one of the four highest score totals of the season; the contenders that did so would face each other in the semi-finals, with the winners receiving an additional $7,500. The Grand Championship winners took home an additional $15,000 in cash, for a total of $25,000, and approximately $5,000 in prizes including a Versaclimber fitness machine.

Season seven’s tournament was truncated significantly, as only sixteen contenders were selected. The format became single elimination, with a total of $25,000 ($20,000 of which was cash) available. The Grand Champions automatically qualified for the second International Gladiators competition, which comprised most of the second half of season 7 and ultimately concluded the series.

During the first half of the first season, the show's set resembled that of an ancient Roman gladiatorial arena, with the stands raised high above the ground. For the second half, the show's set was changed into a modern indoor sports arena style. An onscreen clock was added in the second half of the season, which allowed viewers to see how much time a contender had left to complete an event.

The hooded figures that officiated the games were replaced by veteran NFL referee Bob McElwee (No. 95). Starting in Season 2, former Pacific-10 football referee Larry Thompson became the referee. In case of ruling explanations, a host would interview the referee for an explanation.

The first two seasons were recorded on Stage 27 at Universal Studios Hollywood. Beginning with the third season and continuing for the rest of the run, the show relocated production to the CBS Studio Center in Studio City, Los Angeles. The studio used to tape the show was referred to on air as “Gladiator Arena”.

In each episode, the contenders competed in a series of events.^[14] Six to eight events were played per show, varying from season to season. Most of the events tested the contenders' physical abilities against the superior size and strength of the Gladiators, who were mostly pro or amateur bodybuilders and former football players. In most events, the contenders were not directly pitted against each other, but against the Gladiators. In each event, the contenders earned points based on their performance. In the first half of season one, the points in each event were given in minimum 5-point increments, with 100 points usually the maximum in every event. After the first half of the first season, single point increments were used.

Some events had objectives where each contender had to perform a certain task against the Gladiator, while the Gladiator was trying to do the same thing to them (such as attempting to knock each other off the platforms in Joust). In these types of events, where a clear winner could emerge, contenders were usually awarded ten points for defeating the Gladiator and five points if the event was a draw. No points were awarded to the contender if the Gladiator won.

Other events had no maximum score, with the objective being to perform a task as many times as possible (such as scoring goals in Powerball) within the set time limit for the event. Points in this case would be awarded based on how many times the contender accomplished the objective during the event.

Starting with the fourth season, the final event before The Eliminator, was labeled "Crunch Time", and was played for more points.

Season six used a format in which events were referred to as "rounds" due to more than one game played per round. Three games per show were played by both males and females and three were split between the males and females, two each in a round. In split rounds the men went first. Including the Eliminator, ten events appeared in each episode, and the lineup of single and split rounds changed during the season. The sole exception to this format was in the semi-finals and grand championship, in which each round was a single event.

There were four lineups used during the season:

The Eliminator was the final event played in each episode, and determined which contender would win that day's competition. The contenders competed side-by-side to complete a large obstacle course as quickly as they could. In the first two seasons, the Eliminator had a time limit, and both contenders started the course at the same time. Contenders scored points for every second left on the clock when they finished the course; the contender with the highest final score won the day's competition. Beginning in season 3, the contender in the lead was given a head start with each point they led by worth a half-second; the first contender to cross the finish line won.

Of the events that debuted in the show's first season, only six lasted the entire original run on American television: Breakthrough and Conquer, The Wall, Joust, Assault, Powerball, and the Eliminator, although The Wall did not debut until the second half of the first season.

Throughout the series, American Gladiators had several regular segments that were not related to the competition of the day. These segments were used to allow the audience to get to know the Gladiators or to highlight some of the best moments of past competitions.

• Gladiator Moments (Season 3): Gladiators reflect and talk about their favorite moments of the first two seasons of American Gladiators.
• Ask a Gladiator (Seasons 3 and 4): Fans write to their favorite American Gladiator asking them questions.
• Csonka's Zonks (Season 4): Brief array of clips featuring the funniest moments of the show which includes mostly hits, tackles, and tumbles of the contenders and Gladiators.
• 30 Seconds With: (Seasons 5 and 6): In season 5 Gladiators are asked a number of fill-in-the-blank questions. Then in season 6 the questions were taken away and it was just the Gladiators talking about a random topic.

The show was taped at Universal Studios Hollywood until 1991, then moved to Gladiator Arena (Studio 3) at CBS Studio Center in Studio City for the rest of its initial run. The National Indoor Arena, home to the UK version, hosted the International Gladiators competitions.

The series, a co-production of Trans World International and Four Point Entertainment, was distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Television.

The original Pilot was hosted by Fran Tarkenton and Tim Wrightman.^[18]

The first 13 episodes were recorded from July 24 to August 5, 1989. The remaining 13 episodes of the first season began production on January 9, 1990.^[19] The entire 26 episode second season was recorded in five weeks from June to July 1990.^[20][21]

During the first half of season one, the intention was to reward the winners by promoting them to the role of American Gladiators, but that reward was never implemented and was abandoned after the first half of the first season.

The show awarded cash prizes depending on how far the contenders advanced. For the first five seasons, $10,000 cash was awarded for winning the half-season finals. Runners-up in these finals were guaranteed $5,000. Contenders that lost in the semi-final rounds were guaranteed $2,500 for advancing that far. Grand Champions received $15,000 more, while the runners up won $10,000 more. In the first two seasons a new 1990 or 1991 Chevrolet automobile of the Grand Champion's choice, worth up to $20,000 (vehicle selections included GM vehicles such as the Lumina, Lumina APV, Cavalier, Metro, Tracker, Storm, C/K pickup, Caprice, Suburban, Camaro, Beretta, Blazer, etc.), were awarded to the Grand Champions. In season 3, a 1992 Chevrolet S-10 Blazer and in season 4 a 1993 Suzuki Sidekick was awarded to the Grand Champion, and the runner up received a Club Med vacation. The runner up prize was eliminated in the fifth season.

To coincide with the change in tournament structure in season six, contenders won $2,500 for winning matches. Once the competition reached the semifinals, the winners received $10,000. The Grand Champions for that season won an additional $20,000, while the runners-up won an additional $5,000. In season seven, the structure was the same but the Grand Champions won an additional $10,000 for their victories and a berth in the second International Gladiators competition.

Joe Theismann and Mike Adamle co-hosted American Gladiators during the first half of the first season, with Theismann presiding over the proceedings and Adamle serving more of an analyst's role. After Theismann left the series, Adamle became the lead commentator and remained in that role for the remainder of the series. Todd Christensen initially was Adamle's replacement as analyst, with Larry Csonka joining the series at the beginning of season two in 1990. Csonka was replaced by Lisa Malosky following the fourth season, and she held the analyst position for seasons five and six. Danny Lee Clark, who spent the first three seasons and most of season six on the show as Gladiator Nitro, became co-host for the final season and was credited on air as Dan "Nitro" Clark.

Adamle also hosted both seasons of International Gladiators and was joined by John Fashanu in season one and Ulrika Jonsson and Kimberley Joseph in season two.

A referee wearing an executioner costume appeared during the first half of the first season (portrayed by former football player Jeff Benson). Then-NFL referee Bob McElwee became the referee for the second half of season one. Larry Thompson (a former Pacific-10 Football referee) took over for season two in 1990 and remained until the series ended in 1996. The referees were assisted by several game judges, including Bob Wucetich, Fred Gallagher and Jim Marcione. During International Gladiators, Thompson was also joined by the British Gladiators referee, John Anderson.

Theismann also was the announcer of the first season and was replaced by legendary game show announcer John Harlan in 1990, who remained with the show until his retirement from announcing in 1993. There was no announcer after that, although Adamle introduced the Gladiators in the final season.

The show was a popular success, but critically panned.^[22][23]

American Gladiators was broadcast in the UK by ITV as part of their Night Time slot starting on September 1, 1990.^[24] In 1992, ITV debuted their own version called Gladiators and in doing so became the first country to adapt American Gladiators.

In Japan, the series aired under the title Clash! American Muscle Battle (激突!アメリカン筋肉バトル, Gekitotsu! Amerikan kin'niku batoru), and was shown as a sports variety program produced by TV Tokyo aired on its' affiliated stations from October 16, 1992 to March 1993. It compromises of the series' footage from its' heyday, dubbed into Japanese,^[25][26] with exchanges between the hosts of the late Tatsuya Kurama and Reiko Katō respectively. At the end of each episode, Kato would encourage Kurama to join the Gladiators.

In 2008, MGM, Reveille and Flor-Jon Films Inc. revealed a special American Gladiators U.S. cross-country tour. MGM along with Johnny Ferraro have also put into development a cartoon series based on the show but has never aired.^[27]

In 2009, Johnny Ferraro wanted to bring a live-action movie of American Gladiators. Former Legendary Pictures chief marketing officer Scott Mednick was producing the film where the goal was to create an action story that takes place inside the world Ferraro created.^[28]

USA Network was the first network to air reruns of American Gladiators, acquiring a total of 104 episodes.^[29] In 1992, USA began airing episodes daily in the late afternoon following its game show rerun lineup and preceding Cartoon Express, and later moved the episodes to air as part of its mid-morning lineup. The network initially had rights to the first three seasons and picked up rights to the fourth when it finished airing in 1993, but did not pick up any additional seasons beyond that. USA aired reruns through at least 1996, just as the show ended its original run.

Spike TV purchased a rerun package they began airing during their last days as The National Network in 2002. Originally airing weekday afternoons and late night Saturdays, Spike eventually scaled back the reruns to the late Saturday airing and then dropped them in 2003. Spike was only given rights to seasons two through four in their entirety, special episodes from seasons five and six, season seven in its entirety, and both editions of International Gladiators in their entirety.

In 2007, ESPN added the entire original series to ESPN Classic's lineup. This meant that the non-specials from seasons five and six saw their first airings since their respective seasons and the first season, including the episodes under the original format, would be seen for the first time since USA carried the series. ESPN Classic briefly pulled the original American Gladiators series from its lineup shortly after a revival premiered in 2008, but returned it after the revival concluded. ESPN permanently removed the show from ESPN Classic in 2009.

In 2017, after an absence from television lasting several years, American Gladiators reruns returned to the air with the launch of the Sinclair Broadcast Group's action-themed broadcast network Charge!. Edited reruns of the UK Gladiators series were also added. As of 2020, both shows are no longer on the Charge! schedule.

As of April 2018, SI TV (Sports Illustrated TV) has added the original series to their premium channel add on for Amazon Prime.

In October 2019, a channel dedicated to the original show, as well as the 2008 revival was added to Pluto TV^[30] on channel 136, later channel 303. Episodes spanned the entire run of both shows, with only the International Gladiators episodes absent. On October 1, 2021, the channel was removed from the lineup. Several episodes are available for download on Apple's iTunes Service. In May 2025 the channel was revived on Amazon Prime Video.^[31]

On January 28, 2008, a broadband website will pay homage to the original series called americangladiators.com where it features clip of the original which all have been re-digitalized as clips would reintroduce original Gladiators and give fans an update on where they are today. Future segments would also include "Best Hits" and stunts that were performed on the show.

On April 12, 2021, it was announced that an upcoming documentary film about American Gladiators^[32] for the ESPN series 30 for 30 was going to be produced by Vice Studios and ESPN Films and would directed by Ben Berman and co-directed by Kirk Johnson.^[33] After two years in development, on April 21, 2023, it was announced that the two-part documentary film will be called The American Gladiators Documentary premiering May 30 and 31 on ESPN,^[34] and will be available on its streaming service ESPN+ immediately after its premiere.

In 2023, Netflix released a five-part documentary series on American Gladiators called Muscles & Mayhem: An Unauthorized Story of American Gladiators.The series was released on June 28, 2023.^[35][36]

On July 14, 2009 Shout! Factory released The Battle Begins, featuring commentary from the Lazer, Zap, and Nitro, and an interview with Billy Wirth. This DVD only has the last 14 episodes of season one (the mid-season recap, and the second half of season one).

In 1993, American Gladiators: The Music was released by DCC Compact Classics/Sandstone Music, featuring songs used on the show, Dan Milner's music for the games and the opening and closing themes by Bill Conti.

In 1995, American Gladiators performed a dinner show in Orlando, Florida.^[37] This dinner show featured Dallas, Laser, Hawk, Ice, Jazz, Nitro, Sabre, Siren, Sky, Tower, and Turbo from the TV show along with the new Gladiators Apache, Cobra, Electra, Flame, Flash, Jade, Quake, Rage, Raven, Tank, Thor, Tigra, Titan, Viper. The events included The Wall, Breakthrough and Conquer, Assault, Whiplash, the Eliminator and others.

A kids version of the show called Gladiators 2000 (also known as G2) hosted by Ryan Seacrest and Maria Sansone (later Valerie Rae Miller in season 2) where it had traditional games mixed with trivia questions thrown in for educational value aired in syndication from September 9, 1994, until May 5, 1996. American Gladiators season 5 and International Gladiators 2 grand champion Peggy Odita served as the show's referee.

An hour-long, one-off celebrity primetime special called Superstar American Gladiators hosted by Pat O'Brien and Kim Alexis Duguay aired on ABC on May 4, 1995, where four teams of stars from the four major television networks of ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX each led by an American Gladiator from the original syndicated version as their team captain competed against the gladiators from the syndicated series in various contest for $15,000 and the Superstar Gladiator Trophy. The celebrities in this special were: Sarah Chalke, Debbe Dunning, Darius McCrary & Holly Robinson (representing ABC Team; Hawk was their team captain); Charlie Robinson, Victoria Rowell, Shadoe Stevens & Helene Udy (representing CBS Team; Sky was their team captain); Drake Hogestyn, Mario Lopez, Marsha Warfield & Tina Yothers (representing Team NBC; Sabre was their team captain) & Tichina Arnold, Jensen Daggett, David Goldsmith & John Henton (representing FOX Team; Ice was their team captain).

A revival of American Gladiators hosted by Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali aired on NBC from January 6 until August 4, 2008.

• Gladiators (franchise)
• American Gladiators (2008 TV series), the 2008 revival
• American Gladiators, 1992 video game
• Superstar American Gladiators, a primetime special that aired on ABC in 1995.
• Gladiators 2000, a spinoff of AG for children
• Nickelodeon Guts, a children's athletic competition program
• My Family's Got Guts, the 2008 revival of GUTS
• Jeux sans frontières, a Europe-wide television game show, based on the French programme Intervilles
• Muscles & Mayhem: An Unauthorized Story of American Gladiators

• American Gladiators at IMDb