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May 19, 2013

American Gladiators crowns new winners

by Isabelle Carreau, posted Feb 18th 2008 4:39PM

American GladiatorsLast night was the grand finale of NBC's remake of American Gladiators. Hosted by former WWE Champion Hulk Hogan and professional boxer turned Dancing with the Stars contestant Laila Ali, contenders faced off gladiators in events such as Joust, Power Ball, Pyramid, Hang Tough, etc.

The finale crowned a female and a male champion who each won $100,000, a car, and a position as one of the gladiators in the series' second season.

Having watched all episodes of the current season, I can assure you that both winners deserved their prize. Evan Dollard, a 25-year-old retail manager from Chicago, Illinois, was probably one of the best contestant on the show... ever (including the first run of GA). The guy was unbeatable on the Wall and Hang Tough but especially on the famous Eliminator (his opponent even said the last event should be renamed "The Evanator" so I wouldn't be surprised that this becomes Dollard's gladiator name). As for the women, 32-year-old mother of 8-year-old twin daughters, Monica Carlson was crowned the winner. The latter was a great opponent for the gladiators but will be less of a force to reckon with next season for the new batch of contestants than Evan will be.

NBC has yet to announce when the next season of Gladiators will air but it should be in the summer.

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Cody

It takes me about 20 minutes to watch a regular episode, and about 40 minutes to watch the 2-hour episode. It's a pretty good watch if you're not trying to get through it live.

February 20 2008 at 8:16 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Palababms

I was actually excited to see the finale until they totally spoiled who won on the today show this morning! Damn you Matt Lauer, Damn You!

February 18 2008 at 10:06 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
sitruc

A couple of people I know teased me for watching past the first episode, but it appears my viewing habits weren't that different than others. There really isn't that much show to the show. Only the competitions are worth watching. When I watched the show, I either watched something else during the fluff pieces or fast-forwarded past them. Regadless, most of the show was watched with the volume down or muted. Hogan was horrible with his scripted one-liners and interviews. Did it seem like Ali spoke more in the finale instead of going from a script? Hearing her say "alright, ok sweetie" actually made me laugh and smile for some reason. That it actually felt real(even if sarcastic) was refreshing.

February 18 2008 at 9:22 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Eric J.

Can I apply to be the "Referee" next season? That's got to be one of the greatest jobs out there. And I have the physique for it.

February 18 2008 at 7:07 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Susan

I timed watching the first hour. Granted, I only watch the actual and none of the interviews or banter. For 65 minutes of aired show, there was only 10 minutes of actual competition.

Does anyone think the winners of this show will actually become a gladiator? The winners aren't as physically developed as the gladiators. I wonder if they will have to beef up to join the show next season.

February 18 2008 at 5:38 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
StrikerObi

I agree. This show is awesome, but ONLY if you have a DVR. It's a huge pain in the ass to watch live.

Also, the announcer guy sucks. They need to get Larry Csonka back.

February 18 2008 at 5:29 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jake

I like this particular reality show because once you get past all the fluff (easily done with my handy DVR) it's all about the competition. There are no confessionals or contrived scenarios. It's all about two people battling. The finale looked like it was unbearable during the non-competition parts. If I didn;t have a DVR to fast forward through the "talking" parts I might not watch the show.

February 18 2008 at 5:22 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Jake's comment
Jerk Face

Hulk Hogan at least makes me laugh at how over the top and ridiculous he is. *shrug* They could have done worse.

February 18 2008 at 6:18 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
david

still cant understand why this show is a hit. 40 minutes into last nights episode and they had less than 4 minutes of actual competition. They water down the whole show with all those stupid introductions and poorly written insults/comebacks it makes it just painful to watch.

February 18 2008 at 4:57 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to david's comment
david

oh and if they are gonna have the loser guy back as a gladiator i would think it would only be for the wall event. I vote for his name to be spider.

think they really should have had the champions come out in their new gladiator costumes/personas at the end of the show

February 18 2008 at 4:59 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
superbagman

I agree that both competitors were awesome, but that finale was terrible. Why was it two hours long? It took just about 35 minutes just to finish the first event. Thank God for my DVR.

February 18 2008 at 4:56 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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