Lycra clad adults wrestle in soft play adventure park? (Gladiators)

Member Name: bruffyboy

Product:	Gladiators
Date:	02/02/09 (59 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great fun

Disadvantages: single sex only

WHAT IS IT ABOUT:
Four super fit members of the public battle it out against even fitter and stronger Gladiators as they battle their way around assault courses and through physical challenges. Each round wins the victor a head-start for the final assault course.

IS IT ANY GOOD:
This was a show I grew up with; as a young teenage boy I marvelled at the muscular physique of the men, and lusted over the beautiful women. Last year, the show returned to our screens, on Sky One, and it was with great joy that I began watching again. I didn't expect it to be as good as I remembered, but it really was. The show works because of the many levels of competition it involves:

1) Competing against the gladiators - whether it's wrestling, battling with pugil sticks, racing up a climbing wall or just charging head-first at four steroid filled men, it takes some nerve to face the gladiators. The cast of men and women are mostly muscular to the point where they are very capable of inflicting some serious damage, and this is a lot of the fun, as you watch the contestants getting flung around.

2) Competing against the second contestant - at the end of the show there is The Eliminator, a gruelling assault course, to get through. In this round, the gladiators are nowhere to be seen, and it's just contestant against contestant. The course includes swimming, climbing and running, all in the build up to the legendary travelator, which is so much fun to watch.

It's not just the two levels of competition that make this show a winner - the gladiators themselves are very entertaining. There's always one that has a nasty personality, and gives a theatrical performance of anger against the contestants. It's almost pantomime, as the crowd get behind the contestants, and there's a real feel good factor about the whole thing.

The only thing I don't like is that they don't do mixed sex rounds, as we only see men vs men and women vs women: in today's equal opportunities world, would it be too much to see a mixed sex show?

IF YOU LIKED IT:
Try 'Total Wipeout', a more fun approach to an assault course based game show (and they DO mix the sexes).

Summary: watch it