American Gladiators 2.0

Last night was the two-hour premiere of the all-new, retooled American Gladiators on NBC. Given the writers' strike, it seems the Peacock Network has little choice but to fill the void with reality programming, and AG is sure... well, not exactly real but TV-close. Call it on a par with American Idol for authenticity.

The original was a guilty pleasure. Over-the-top posturing by the Glads themselves, the narratives of the various competitors (from scrappy underdog to self-assured amateur athlete to blow-dried pretty boys 'n' girls), the sportscast-like style of Mike Adamle and Larry Csonka--what's not to love?

Not sure if the new, 2008 version will achieve that place in my TV schedule, though not for an abundance of competition in that time slot. The new show features revised competitions, updating several old events (a lot of the ones where contestants are knocked off will leave them in the water, like in The Wall and Joust) while offering some interesting new ones (like the tilting-platform Earthquake and the ball-swingin' Hit and Run). The smash-cut style of filming is exactly the same, with Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali providing plenty of rough charm as the hosts.

My major complaint (so far) is the sound quality. Who is mixing this show? The sound levels are terrible--you can barely hear Hulk, Laila or the contestants unless the insanely stoked mob falls near-silent (which doesn't happen much). Given that they don't identify the Glads with subtitles until halfway through the first show (another big mistake), the muddy sound makes the show overall less enjoyable.

We'll have to see if the new folks--Mayhem, Venom, Siren, Wolf, Toa, Fury, Stealth, et al--win a place in my heart. So far... well, we'll see.

In other TV news...

Lest you think I don't watch anything but a certain Monday night show...

• PUSHING DAISIES continues to bring something awesome to Wednesday nights. I was almost certain that Ned would never spill the beans about killing Chuck's dad (accidentally)... but he did, and the next episode seems to be about dealing with those consequences. Poor Ned. Still, the show is perhaps the most romantic thing on TV these days, and who can't love that?
• Loving FAMILY GUY and AMERICAN DAD, though I feel I can't watch them now that Seth MacFarlane is on the picket line. I know at least one ep of FG was completed without his input; that's sort of like watching a PEANUTS special knowing that Charles Schulz was boycotting King Features and CBS.
• ROBOT CHICKEN is always great. Their "Half-Assed Christmas Special" airs Sunday night. Seth Green continues to dismay me with the depth of his talent... dammit.
• BEAUTY AND THE GEEK was fun this season, but we missed the live finale. Will have to catch it on a repeat.
• Ditto REAPER. We like Missy Peregrym a lot on this show but wish they'd let her play Candice when they killed her on HEROES. If it was only a cameo, why not? Sheesh.
• CHUCK is a hoot, and this last episode introduced a danger that was really implied from the beginning but never stated outright--and Adam Baldwin continues to be incredible. My wife and I also think Zachary Levi and Yvonne Strahovski are terrific; they have great chemistry and make these two entirely believable.
• NBC's Thursday night lineup is pretty much in repeats now, right? Still, we've loved 30 ROCK especially this year, and are still on board with THE OFFICE, SCRUBS and MY NAME IS EARL (wait, okay, Earl isn't a repeat this week--so watch it!)
• Can't think of anything we're watching on Friday or Saturday nights lately...

And there you have it, folks. The TV season, already chopped short, is almost done. We'll probably keep an eye on AMERICAN GLADIATORS (which was my "guilty pleasure" viewing when I was a bit younger), but besides that...? Not much I can think of. If anything, it'll be a chance to get some writing done without feeling like I'm missing anything worth watching.