Gladiators (2008 Australian TV series)
| Gladiators | |
|---|---|
2008 Gladiators Logo
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| Genre | Sports entertainment |
| Created by | Dan Carr John Ferraro |
| Developed by |
Endemol Southern Star (Licensed from MGM Television) |
| Presented by |
Tom Williams Zoe Naylor |
| Narrated by | Andy Paschalidis |
| Theme music composer | Neil Sutherland |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 15 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Rikkie Proost Lisa Fitzpatrick |
| Location(s) | The Dome, Sydney Showground, New South Wales |
| Editor(s) | Thom Cochoran |
| Camera setup | Multiple-camera setup |
| Running time | 60 minutes (including commercials) |
| Production company(s) | Southern Star Group |
| Release | |
| Original network | Seven Network |
| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) |
| Audio format | Dolby Digital Pro Logic II |
| First shown in | Australia |
| Original release | 30 March – 6 July 2008 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Gladiators (1995-1997) |
| Followed by | N/A |
Gladiators was an Australian television series which aired on the Seven Network in 2008. It was a revival of the earlier series of the same name, and was based on the American version of the show, which was also revived in 2008.
The show was filmed at The Dome at the Sydney Showground, and was hosted by Tom Williams and Zoe Naylor. Well known NRL referee Bill Harrigan was one of the two referees for the show, the other was John Forsythe, who was a referee on the original series. Although not credited, the Sydney Altitude Cheerleaders were present in every episode, doing various routines throughout each episode whether an event was taking place or not.
Behind the scenes, highly respected military fitness expert 'Chief' Brabon (head strength & conditioning coach) was responsible for preparing the gladiators for their extremely physical roles.
The revival of Gladiators was first announced on 9 September 2007, and premiered on 30 March 2008 at 6:30 pm. The Challengers in this series competed to win A$50,000 and a new Subaru Forester.
No official announcement was made by the Seven Network as per the future plans for the series.
To ensure that both Gladiators, and Challengers were of the highest possible calibre, all prospects were submitted to a grueling physical selection process designed by the shows head strength & conditioning coach 'Chief' Brabon.
The so-called 'Barrier Test' was based on similar selection programs that Chief had designed for elite military and law enforcement tactical response teams.
The barrier test was so successful at vetting would-be Gladiators & Challengers that less than 10% of applicants successfully completed the first event known as the Grunt Challenge. The challenge required participants to do a burpee style exercise (Grunts) to a cadence called by Chief himself. Prospective Challengers were required to complete a minimum of 75 Grunts to pass through to the next event, whereas Gladiators were required to complete 100 Grunts.
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