Gladiators re-revival - Printable Version

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+--- Thread: Gladiators re-revival (/showthread.php?tid=55)

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RE: Gladiators re-revival - MorganLamia - 15-01-2024

I was a BIG fan of the show in the '90s, then loved watching the repeats on Challenge several years ago, and for the last couple of years I've enjoyed an American reactor watching them, so I think it's safe to say that I was really looking forward to this. I thought the first episode was great.

Very glad to see the original opening theme, although it is a bit long, as others have said. Kudos to eladkse for the edit they posted. It works well. The opening sequence is... Fine? A little boring, but it does give you a good look at all of the new cast at least.

I appreciate that they didn't stray too far from the graphics used in the original show, just made them look a bit more modern. A particular shout-out to the "REPLAY" transition which is a pretty close recreation of one of the originals.

I thought the editing was ok. A few moments that felt "off" but nothing major.
However, it felt strange going:
Male contenders intro > Event 1 for males > Female contenders intro > Event 1 for females
I'm so used to it going:
Male contenders intro > female contenders intro > Event 1 for males, Event 1 for females.
Especially since showing the male and female tries of events are back to back for the rest of the episode. Why have it different at the beginning?

The games were good. The new ones were decent but could maybe need a little fine-tuning.
It's nice that the Eliminator event is mostly the same, although the Travelator was nerfed quite substantially - shorter and less steep. I couldn't judge if it was slower or not.

Music during the events was disappointing. Very unmemorable and didn't add to the events. Maybe subtracted from it at times. The original show's music was great at it's a shame that it wasn't used or updated. Yeah, I'm aware that nostalgia is a powerful thing. 😆
If they wanted to only use the very bare minimum of music from the original, I'd say that the opening theme and the Eliminator are definitely the most important.

The Gladiators themselves are pretty good. A fair few of them don't stand out much, but there are a small handful that really have some good character to them. Not feeling Viper though. He's certainly no Wolf!

Bradley and Barney were... ok? Not long after I watched it on Saturday, I didn't particularly remember much of what they contributed other than one or two sentences from Bradley and when Barney got pushed over. They were just kinda bland. I'd be fine with keeping one of them if they were alongside someone more energetic and/or charismatic. That may sound harsh, but I felt like it needed some more energy.

On a similar note - the commentator. He did an ok job. Some more fun and cheese would've been welcome, like they're doing with a lot of other parts of the new show. Lean into it!

All-in-all, I thought it was great. A few very minor things, as I mentioned above, but I think that this turned out to be as good as it can get for a reviving an old show like this. Really well done to everyone involved.

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RE: Gladiators re-revival - Larry the Loafer - 15-01-2024

Niggles such as the title sequence, the music and the Gladiators personalities is something I compare to the first of the original series. Music wasn't an issue, sure, but one can easily forget how threadbare Series 1's title sequence was. Even the break bumpers was just the 2D logo flying in at an angle.

And as for the Gladiators themselves, I'm too young to remember the show's early days, but I'm sure it took time for their personalities to shine through. In that respect, I'd give the new series a free pass for the time being. Viper still makes for a better villain than the mardy guy Sky used to fill that role. Also, I think one of the reasons Wolf worked as the villain was because he was considerably older than the others, and it made a bit more sense for the older Gladiator to be less tolerant and grumpier than any of the younger ones.

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RE: Gladiators re-revival - London Lite - 15-01-2024

If not Alex Scott, Kelly Somers or Betty Glover would have been decent choices.

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RE: Gladiators re-revival - Larry the Loafer - 15-01-2024

Anyone else think there's a bit of irony that Gladiators - which learnt its lesson after basing its last reboot too heavily on the also-rebooted American version - is inevitably going to beat out Wheel of Fortune, which has based its reboot far more heavily on its American counterpart? Just a thought...

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RE: Gladiators re-revival - James2001 - 15-01-2024

(15-01-2024, 02:56 PM)Larry the Loafer Wrote:  Anyone else think there's a bit of irony that Gladiators - which learnt its lesson after basing its last reboot too heavily on the also-rebooted American version - is inevitably going to beat out Wheel of Fortune, which has based its reboot far more heavily on its American counterpart? Just a thought...

Don't forget that Bradley is himself a former WoF host. And left that show because of Barney's birth.

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RE: Gladiators re-revival - XIII - 15-01-2024

I think if they ever do a celebrity edition, it would be fun to see Dr Zoe compete considering she is a former Gladiator.

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RE: Gladiators re-revival - Johnr - 15-01-2024

I reckon they’ll give Barney a go at some point

There was a great moment on the short lived Vernon Kay show Beat The Star once! (2:45 in)

https://youtu.be/5TsC0knujpw?si=mslJkM_4MmVP6ov8 

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RE: Gladiators re-revival - arbrax - 15-01-2024

(14-01-2024, 02:33 PM)James2001 Wrote:  Am I the only one who didn't have a problem with Bradley or Barney at all? I thought they both did a great job.

Honestly their segments were so short and quick I can't really hold a strong opinion either way, they did the job well enough to not stick out or bore me

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RE: Gladiators re-revival - Brekkie - 15-01-2024

ITV do seem to have lost Bradley to the BBC now when it comes to primetime entertainment formats outside of The Chase. Bradley's House Party anyone?

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RE: Gladiators re-revival - sjames - 15-01-2024

I've always thought Bradley would be the perfect host for a revival of the Generation Game, and surprised it's not been tried so far. Some of the games in Take Off that he did with Holly showed that.

I'm yet to catch up with Gladiators, but as for female sports presenters what about Gabby Logan or Jill Scott?

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