History

The original season was filmed in 1989 at a horse show barn in Taluca Lake, CA, and was split into two halves, with Joe Theismann and Mike Adamle as the hosts. Todd Christensen also made a hosting appearance in the second half of season one. Season One featured contenders such as Billy Wirth, Brian Hutson, Lucian Anderson, Cheryl Ann Silich, Christy Cotton, and Wendy Brown. The original gladiators were Gemini, Malibu, and Nitro for the men, and Zap, Lace, and Sunny for the women. The second half season brought in Laser and Blaze, when filming moved to Universal Studios Hollywood. The first season was plagued by gladiator injuries though, one of which was when Malibu was kicked off the pedestal in Human Cannonball instigating the tuck rule. Another was when Sunny severly twisted her knee after falling off an elevated Conquer ring. Both injuries resulted in a substitute gladiator for a short time (Jade and Bronco). The show featured a total of six events which were Assault, Breakthrough & Conquer, Human Cannonball, Joust, Powerball, and The Eliminator. In the second half of season one, they added a new event, The Wall, to make seven events. This time though, contenders had two minutes to climb the wall with a gladiator chasing after them. The first season had crowned their first champions (Brian Hutson & Bridget Venturi) by Spring, and just like that AG was an instant hit. Also, after this season Zap took a year off to have a baby girl.

Season Two was filmed at Universal Studios Florida in 1991 and featured some of the show's best contenders, like women's grand champion Dorann Cumberbatch, Rockin' rocko Rico Costantino, and men's grand champion Craig Branham. Season two added a few new gladiators- Diamond, Turbo, Thunder, and Ice. Leaving the show after season one was David "Titan" Nelson. Attendance numbers rose from an average of 300 people per show all the way to thousands by season two. Also, producers added Larry Csonka to the hosting lineup with Mike Adamle, a tandem that would stay together until the end of season four. Season Two featured two new events, Hang Tough and Atlasphere, plus a brand new re-vamped Eliminator.

Season Three was when the show really started to hit its stride. Filming moved from Universal Studios Hollywood to MTM/CBS Studios, in Studio City, CA. Human Cannonball would take a one year leave of absence from the event line-up and was replaced by Swingshot and the Maze. The show would truly get a cult following and featured contenders like Mark Ortega, Joey 'Bam Bam' Mauro, Coz 'The Battlekat' Worthington, Kathy Mollica, Susie Stencil, Darrell Gholar and Kimberly Lentz. This year provided a more behind-the-scenes look, 'so to speak', with interviews from the locker rooms, Gladiator moments, and shots of the contenders/gladiators preparing for the next event. Eventually Alex Engmann, Eric Monostori, Terri Plunkett, Jay McCormack, Marek Wilczinski, and Vivian Riley were all claimed to injury (Turbo, Lace, and Gold were also injured). Season three proved to have some of the best contenders, crowing Mark Ortega and Kathy Mollica grand champions. This would also prove to be the last season on the show for Gemini, Blaze, Lace, and Gold. Nitro would leave for two seasons, but return for a final season before becoming an announcer.

In Season Four, the show re-newed its look with more modern colors on the Powerball and Breakthrough & Conquer mats. This season would prove to be the final season for the duo of Mike Adamle and Larry Csonka. However, with the addition of Csonka's Zonks and the Zonk-a-strator, it would be a going out party for the Hall-of-Fame fullback. In addition, it was crowned the season of the lost gladiator, as many gladiators came and went, including Cyclone, Havoc, Lace, and Atlas. New gladiators were Viper (Who returned from Season Three's grand championship), Sky, Elektra, Sabre, and Siren. Season Four also added some new events- Skytrack, Super Powerball (usually in crunch time) and the return of Human Cannonball for a final season. Also, for a short time contenders had a fifteen second head start in Wall, almost guaranteeing them a spot at the summit. By the end of the season, contenders Cheryl Wilson and Cliff Miller became grand champions over Betsy Erickson and Dr. Marty DePaoli. Not to be forgotten, former NFL star Charles White went back-to-back as AG NFL Show champion for the second year in a row.

Season Five was one of the most radical changes in American Gladiators history, due to the fact that the set, logo, and co-hosts all changed. The set took on a more silverish look with striped red and gray carpeting. The logo became futuristic, sporting a newer, better design. Also, after Larry Csonka's exit from the show, Lisa Malosky became Mike Adamle's new sidekick. This season provided excellent contenders like Peggy Odita and Wesley "Two Scoops" Berry, both grand champions. Season Five also expanded it's variety of events adding Pyramid, Tug-o-War, Whiplash, and Gauntlet. Gladiators Rebel, Tank, and Dallas also appeared for a short time, but the season's main 'new gladiators' were Hawk and Jazz.

Season Six took place in 1994 and 1995. Also, they added a new event, called Snapback, but Mike Adamle and Lisa Malosky remained hosts of American Gladiators. This season gladiator Nitro returned to the floor for a final spandex-laden season, also with Dallas and Tank making gladiatorial appearances. Zap left the show this year, but not before she faced Dallas as a contender in the season seven Alumni Challenge. The second half of this season was International Gladiators, but in the end Kyler Storm beat Dan Cunningham for the grand championship, while Adriene Sullivan beat Liz Ragland for the women's title.

Season Seven was the final season of American Gladiators with two halves, one at Gladiator Arena and another over 7,500 miles away in the United Kingdom, which set the stage for International Gladiators II. The show once again underwent a design change, updating the look of the show. The gladiators served a perfect season, as not one of the eight of them missed an episode. This season featured very low scores, but had some great contenders like Pat Csizmazia, Tiziana "Tee" Sorge, Russ Oleyer, Rich McCormick, and Dr. Christine Lydon. Also, there were some lesser contenders, like the scoreless Tyava Sylvers. Grand Champions were Pat Csizmazia and Tee Sorge. Also, Mike Adamle may have spoken one of the best AG quotes ever, during the final minutes of the last episode, "Don't worry, we'll be back..."

In the end American Gladiators turned out to be an excellent show, despite its up and downs throughout the various seasons. This show proves that simple idea can prove to be an excellent television show. Long Live American Gladiators!