American Gladiators is an athletic competition game show where contestants, referred to as "contenders", competed against the show's titular Gladiators in a series of physical games called "events" with the goal to be crowned the Grand Champion at the end of the season and win thousands of dollars in cash and prizes.
Following a reconfiguration of the show's format in 1990, points were awarded in numbers ranging from one to ten; this carried over for the remainder of the original series and the 2008 revival.
Years active: 1989–96, 2008 The contender had 60 seconds to hit a target using a series of projectile weapons, while avoiding high-speed tennis balls being fired at them by a Gladiator using an air-powered cannon.
The course spanned the entire arena floor with each weapon located at a safe zone that provided some cover for the contender.
If the contenders hit the bull's eye on the target, which was located at the foot of the Gladiator's platform, they would receive 100 points.
If the contender fired all four weapons unsuccessfully, he/she could take cover in the last safe zone until time expired to earn 30 points for a draw.
Years active: 1990–94, 2008 Atlasphere was conducted across the entire arena floor and saw the contenders and Gladiators enter spherical metal cages to do battle in a sixty-second event.
This was also an event that the show did not initially allow female contenders to compete in; for portions of the preliminary rounds in 1989 a different game was played off screen (see Swingshot).
In Breakthrough, the contender began at the 15-yard line of an artificial turf field and had to carry a football into the end zone for a touchdown.
Gladiator Sunny suffered a severe knee injury when contender Tracy Phillips caused her to land awkwardly after pulling her off of the elevated circle from the front.
The Conquer circle was lowered back down for contender Joanna Needham's turn, but she suffered a serious shoulder injury during her attempt at Breakthrough and was forced to drop out of the event and the Eliminator that followed.
Years active: 2008 In Earthquake, a contender and Gladiator attempted to throw each other off of a moving twelve-foot circular platform above the arena floor and either onto crash mats (season one) or into water.
It also gave rise to a short-lived seven point draw possibility, which required the contender to advance to the closest rings to the Gladiator's platform (which were color coded).
In the 2008 Revival Contenders were awarded five points for reaching the red ringed zone (at the halfway mark) in sixty seconds.
Years active: 1989–90 (through first half of season two), 1992–93 The object of this game was simple: swing on a rope from an elevated platform and try to knock a Gladiator off a pedestal some distance away.
After the preliminary round in the first half of season one, a rule was added that forbade contenders from leaving a tucked position while swinging; the rule was put in place out of safety concerns raised after Gladiator Malibu suffered a gash caused by contender Brian Hutson hitting him in the face with his feet extended.
Several things could result in a disqualification, such as: In the second half of season three, the contenders and Gladiators began wearing gloves while Jousting.
Years active: 1991–93 A giant maze was constructed across the entire length of the arena floor, and the contenders were given 45 seconds to negotiate their way through it.
It was also possible for a cylinder to become so full with balls that it could no longer be used during a game, and on several occasions the weight of contenders and Gladiators falling on them would cause the plastic to break, stopping play while a replacement was brought out.
The 2008 series' Powerball game was played for 60 seconds on a field had a retaining wall placed around it, which took away the out of bounds option for the Gladiators.
Ten points were awarded for a win and staying on the platform for the entire thirty seconds earned the contender a draw.
Years active: 1993–96 The contender and Gladiator stood atop a 20-foot (6.1 m) diameter circular platform, with each participant having one hand strapped to a handle of a triangular apparatus referred to as the “dog bone”.
These added five seconds to the contenders' finishing time for each violation, which meant a loss of ten points from the overall Eliminator score (twenty-five in 1989).
The layout of both courses, with corresponding changes, follows: In the early episodes of season three, the first obstacle after the zip line was a padded wall with a step at the bottom to aid the contenders in climbing over.
Once over the wall, two Gladiators stood holding giant medicine balls to form a gauntlet that would impede their path temporarily.
This happened in the men's Grand Championship match during that same season, as eventual champion Mark Ortega vaulted over the final hurdle just as runner-up Joseph Mauro went to break the tape; Ortega landed on the floor with his arm across the line just before Mauro was able to break through and was declared the winner after a video review.
Season four also saw the return of the gauntlet as an obstacle; this time, a series of blocking pads were attached to poles that swung back and forth with handles operated by two Gladiators.
In keeping with the aesthetic overhaul AG went through at the start of its fifth season, the Eliminator too was given a makeover inspired by the British Gladiators course in use at the time.
In seasons five and six, the Gladiators' involvement was limited to allowing contenders to climb back on the platform after a game judge enforced the time penalties with a stopwatch for falling off the hand bike.
As a result, the referee was positioned at the base of the top of the treadmill, with the game judge enforcing head starts and lanes.