NBC
At 12 AM this morning, ESPN2 transformed into “The Ocho” for the next 24 hours. Over the course of the day, viewers will be treated to slightly untraditional events like chessboxing and professional lightsaber dueling in addition to trampoline dodgeball, which has already given us one of the highlights of today.
Two knockouts on one throw!
It's already lit on #TheOcho 🔥 pic.twitter.com/POBzkeHaXg
— ESPN (@espn) August 8, 2018
Unfortunately, there’s one sport (that really isn’t a sport) that won’t be gracing the airwaves today: the grueling competition that is American Gladiators.
If you grew up in the early 90s (or watched a ton of ESPN Classic) then you’re probably familiar with the program that answered the question “What if we made The Running Man into a real show without the whole “killing” thing and with a lot more steroids?”
If you somehow missed out on one of America’s greatest cultural artifacts, here’s a quick summary: contestants were tasked with facing off against various spandex-clad gladiators with nicknames that sound like they came straight out of Top Gun, including “Nitro” and “Gemini.”
There were plenty of different competitions but none of them topped the one where contestants faced off against a gladiator manning a tennis ball gun.
The series was rebooted in 2008 with Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali as hosts but it only ran for 21 episodes— one of which you can watch on YouTube if you have an hour to kill.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WkWdTfeZgQ
It’s been a decade, but thanks to Seth Rogen (of all people) the world is about to get some more American Gladiator in its life.
According to Deadline, MGM Television has tapped Rogen and his writing partner Evan Goldberg to serve as executive producers on the reboot. There’s no other info regarding when we can expect new episodes but I’m willing to wait as long as necessary.
Rogen also appeared on The Tonight Show last night where Jimmy Fallon had him read dramatic texts from real dads because everybody knows Seth Rogen’s voice makes everything funnier.
Rogen is easily my favorite Canadian who isn’t named “Alanis Morissette.”