American Gladiators
Nitro, Zap, Laser, Turbo, Ice — spandex-clad giants with names like energy drinks, and the ordinary people who tried to beat them at Joust, Powerball and the Eliminator. American Gladiators ran in syndication from 1989 to 1996, a popular success the critics panned, and every kid who watched knew exactly which gladiator they would be.
The idea came from Erie, Pennsylvania. Johnny C. Ferraro and Dann Carr originated it in 1982 and staged the original competition at Erie Tech High School — Ferraro financed and produced, Carr gathered the gladiators and hosted. Samuel Goldwyn Television took it into syndication on September 9, 1989, co-produced by Trans World International and Four Point Entertainment, taping first on Stage 27 at Universal Studios Hollywood and, from the third season, at CBS Studio Center in Studio City. Mike Adamle, paired at first with Joe Theismann, was the lead commentator for the whole run; Larry Csonka and later Lisa Malosky sat beside him, and for the final season the gladiator Nitro, Dan Clark, co-hosted.
Six events lasted the entire run: Breakthrough and Conquer, The Wall (added midway through the first season), Joust, Assault, Powerball and the Eliminator. Hang Tough, Atlasphere, Human Cannonball, Pyramid, Skytrack and Gauntlet came and went. The gladiators were the stars — Nitro, Zap, Lace, Gemini, Malibu, Ice, Blaze, Gold, Diamond, Turbo, Tower, Hawk, Sky, Sabre, Siren — and only Laser, Jim Starr, appeared in all seven seasons. The original plan had tournament winners becoming gladiators themselves. It was scrapped after the first season's champions, Brian Hutson and Tracy Phillips, turned out to be significantly undersized next to the cast. Bill Conti wrote the theme.
The show was a popular success and critically panned, and it traveled. ITV aired it in Britain from September 1990 and built its own Gladiators in 1992, and a kids' version, Gladiators 2000, hosted by Ryan Seacrest and Maria Sansone, ran from 1994 to 1996. The original ended on May 11, 1996, after seven seasons and 208 episodes. NBC revived it in 2008 with Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali as hosts, for two seasons that both aired that year, and a new version hosted by The Miz arrived on Prime Video in 2026.
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