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Airdate: The American Gladiators Documentary

If you remember the Gladiators brand, the US cast and crew look back over what it did to many of their lives.

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ESPN will debut a new 30 for 30 doco, The American Gladiators Documentary, a two-part film directed by Ben Berman which takes an unconventional approach to the tale of the famed reality-competition show.

“We’re very excited to finally get this story out into the world, and you can trust that it’ll take you to some weird places,” said director, Ben Berman.

“Come for the 90’s nostalgia, but stay for the Elvis impersonators, the burps, the mental torment, the murder plots, aliens, and of course the undeniable atrocity of America’s dark history. And sports. It’s got some sports too.”

What begins as a traditional sports documentary soon gives way to bigger themes of greed, divergent narratives, and ultimately questions how history itself is written.

From 1989 to 1996, American Gladiators was one of the most popular syndicated programs in television, a competition show that predated the reality TV era but used many of the same techniques to attract viewers.

Every week, “amateur” contestants would go up against a cast of “professional” gladiators in a range of physical competitions, setting up David versus Goliath matchups that were popular with big television audiences but also criticised for being “crash TV”.

The show’s cast and crew look back on it all, with their memories complicated by regret over what it did to many of the gladiators’ lives. And as the behind-the-scenes story of the series is told, from the beginning of the film, the central, most compelling character of the story is clear: Johnny Ferraro, the creator of American Gladiators, a former Elvis impersonator from Erie, PA who came to Hollywood with a dream of putting the show on screen and ended up with a singular success.

The film features original interviews with Johnny Ferraro, Deron McBee (‘Malibu’), Michael Horton (‘Gemini’), Lynn ‘Red’ Williams (‘Sabre’), the late William Billy Smith (‘Thunder’) and Salina Bartunek (‘Elektra’).

The documentary is executive produced by ESPN Films and VICE Studios and produced by Ben Berman, Kirk Johnson, Russell Wayne Groves, Danny Gabai and Andrew Freston.

3:30pm / 5pm, 30 for 30: The American Gladiators Parts I & II Thursday June 1 on ESPN.

One Response

  1. Nice timing with UK Gladiators being rebooted and starting later in the year on BBC One, by memory filming for that one starts in June, might give this a look seeing it’s on ESPN and should be on Kayo (got that with my AFL Membership for a year).

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