Been a while since my last post, figured I should say something...

Well I was gonna talk about TV in general, but I got a little too involve with the Old vs. New Gladiators special, so...

Gladiators
I normally wait for 'drad to post his opinions on the episode & then chime in with a few comments on his blog, but I'm bored & the last show of the current series was on last weekend, a special show pitting the new crop of Gladiators against some of the "Legends" of the classic series. I say "Legends", clearly I didn't watch as much of the original series as I thought, cos I didn't recognise half of them.
Legal issues with ITV meant that the "Legends" weren't allowed to use their orignal outfits, instead we were treated to some rather interesting outfits decorated with seemingly random sequin designs,,, yeah, just when you thought they couldn't look more gay...

Show started with a short compilation of random action & behind the scenes stuff from the early years & then we were introduced to the 8 "Legends" taking part. For the girls we had fan favourite Lightning, the eldest female & veteran of the very first series (apparently) Flame, Rebel, who I vaguely remember & Rocket, who I'd never heard of... For the guys, we had the more well known 8 year veteran, former youngest Glad & apparently "Ultimate Gladiator" Hunter (not sure when they did that contest), Trojan, who was apprently around a lot longer than I thought, Ace, who I don't remember & of course, the original bad boy & the eldest Gladiator at 55 years of age...WOLF :)

First event was Hang Tough. Now if you're like me, you'd expect to see the unbeaten Lightning & Hunter take on the new Gladiators in this event...& like me, you'd be disappointed. For the women, we had Flame (who's lost her signature red hair & is now blonde) take on Tempest. They went straight towards each other early on but Flame managed to slip away & then kept away from Tempest to run down the clock & pick up 5 points. It was interesting to see that a former Gladiator actually made an attempt to reach the middle (scoring zone) rings as opposed to the new series where they seem to just have to still be there at the end to score points...
For the guys, Trojan was left to take up the challenge of Tornado when the other "Legends" backed down, he did pretty well, got a warning from john Anderson for attacking Tornado instead of trying to get across. Got his rings twisted, lost momentum & then Tornado just had to pick him off...dissappointing
Oh, but Trojan said something to Torndao which he should take note of "Humble in victory, gracious in defeat"


Second event, Earthquake & for the girls we had Battleaxe against Rocket, a pretty even match in height & build (pretty shocking when they showed some clips of Rocket in action back in the day & you saw how thin & athletic she used to look). The stats were evenly matched, the match wasn't, Rocket picked up Battleaxe & literally threw her off the Earthquake arena(?) in very quick time, not something I'd expected to see & I'm sure not what Battleaxe was expecting, 10 points for Rocket.
For the guys, we had the obvious setup of Oblivion against Wolf. It didn't last long, Oblivion knocked off Wolf, but John Anderson tried to tell them the match wasn't over due to wrestling (which isn't allowed), Wolf & Oblivion started pushing each other around, Ian Wright got involved & John Anderson disqualified everyone, brandishing a red card to Wrighty, an obvious reference to Wrighty's days as an Arsenal player in the mid 90's when referees seemed to have it in for him (biased, me?)


Third event, Hit & Run. For the girls, we saw the return of Enigma along with Tempest, Inferno & Ice trying to knock off a very enthusastic Lightning. No flips on the Hit & Run platform, but she did do the standing splits (much better than Cyclone's version). She didn't hang around on the bridge but she took the time to count out the number of crossings upon reaching either end. At one point she stumbled & did a forward roll but she did very well to keep going & she even gave a little arse wiggle on one crossing. Finally knocked off by Inferno with only 2 seconds left, Lightning picked up 12 points. Afterwards we got a nice view of her cleavage as she got out of the pool & Wrighty seemed very happy alongside her as Enigma dropped character & took the time to say how good Lightning was.
For the guys, Wolf stepped up (again) to take on Destroyer, Atlas, Predator & "mr little o". Very entertaining, Wolf wasn't quick, but he put on a show of it, taking the time to do a little dance & mince along the bridge, pulling faces at the Glads, he picked up 8 points & managed to keep dry. Afterwards, Destroyer stepped up to the mic in another obvious setup in which Wolf slapped Destroyer in the back of the head & blamed it on Ian Wright & then Wrighty catching Wolf off guard & throwing him into the pool.


Fourth event, The Wall. Former Olympic sprinter Rebel & Lightning taking on Tempest & Ice respectively. The "Legends" had a 7 second start on the Glads & they used it well. Rebel was supposedly one of the best on the wall & she shot up it this time, Tempest didn't get close. She picked up 10 points & Lightning grabbed 5 after narrowly avoiding getting caught by Ice near the top of the wall.
The guys saw Ace & Trojan trying to escape Tornado & Predator respectively. Ace got a fairly good start but seemed to falter at the halfway point where speedy Tornado picked him off. Ace gave Tornado a new knickname "lobster", "cos he goes around giving it all that". Trojan had a crap event, had a lot of trouble getting up the first part of the wall & Predator barely had to jump to take him off the wall... very poor


Fifth & final event, Duel. Panther finally makes an appearance (unusual for the new series), taking on Rebel. Rocket would have been the best choice I think but she backed down because she can't swim. In the end it was fairly even until Rebel's back foot slipped off the platform & she took an awkward tumble into the water...Panther still unbeaten.
For the guys, Spartan took on a heavily strapped up Hunter (which may explain why he didn't compete in Hang Tough). Bit of an anti-climax really, Hunter took just two, possibly three hits to send Spartan into the water to prove that he's still got it, 10 points & a very aggressive celebration from Hunter finished the round (as well as the third & final setup of the night, which saw Wolf get his own back on Ian (who had miraculously lost all his electrical equipment apart from the mic in his hand) by throwing him in the pool with a bit of help from Trojan, Ace & Spartan. Which just leaves...

The Eliminator. For this show, we have the "Legends" against the new Glads in a team relay. The female "Legends" were up first & they picked up a total of 42 points giving them a 10.5 second head start. Lots of kissing arse before the event with all the participants praising the opposition (including some more decent mic action from an out of character Enigma)
For the starting positions we have (Champion Swimmer) Flame & Enigma from the start, taking on the pool w/ fire beam & the cargo net, Rocket & Battleaxe taking on the cotton reels (most pointless obstacle ever), Lightning & Tempest taking on the monkey bars, balance beam & pyramid, followed by Rebel & Panther taking on the zip line & the dreaded travelator.
Flame made a meal of her section & Enigma did well to cut the "Legends" lead to just 2 seconds after the first section. Both Rocket & Battleaxe seemed to have a little trouble actually getting on the cotton reels, battleaxxe gaining on Rocket a little before the tag to Lightning & Tempest. It was almost neck & neck over the monkey bars & it was very close at the begining of the pyramid but Lightning must have felt Tempest right behind her because she suddenly started pulling away from her opponent, taking each step in a single stride which I don't think I've ever seen before, very impressive. Unfortunately, Rebel had to wait for Tempest to pass infront of her before taking the zip line to the floor, but she managed to keep the lead over Panther heading on to the travelator which didn't seem to faze her, being a sprinter, you'd expect as much. A good fight back from the new Glads, but in the end, a pretty simple win for the "Legends".
Next up, the guys. The "Legends" decided to give up their 4.5 second head start (mistake number 1), so that meant a straight forward head to head between the two teams. Trojan & Tornado lined up for the first section (mistake number 2), Wolf & Atlas start at the cotton reels, Ace & Predator with the hand bikes with Hunter & Spartan taking the final section.
Now after Trojan's appaling display on the wall, you'd figure the "Legends" would use anyone other than him for the only climbing section of the eliminator, but no. After falling behind jus from the swimming bit, he completely ballsed up the cargo net giving Tornado an easy lead to pass on to Atlas. Atlas actually managed to use the cotton reels for their intended purpose, actually hanging on to it long enough for it to take him to the end of the section, first time that's ever been done, whereas Wolf had to sit & wait for Trojan, by the time he finally got the tag, Atlas had already passed on to Predator. Now the hand bikes have always been the biggest problem for the guys in every version of Gladiators, screw the travelator, the hand bikes are the deciding factor in the men's eliminator, but Predator made it look like child's play. When they showed a preview clip of Predator on the hand bike before the ad break, I thought they'd speeded it up, but no, the guy was like lightning across the section, it was absolutely amazing to see. Ace was pretty quick too, but Predator had already made it up the pyramid leaving Spartan with the relatively easy task of finishing up, which of course meant that everybody was watching Hunter as he completed the final section, almost tripping at the top of the travelator but making it through pretty easily. Very easy win for the new Glads.

All in all, very enjoyable. the female "Legends" had clearly prepared themselves, they all looked in very good shape, with the possible excepting of Rocket, but then her new size certainly helped. The men on the other hand, clearly hadn't... Wolf & Hunter seemed like they were there purely as big names, Hunter especially as he was carrying an injury. The events were good, however, I'd have loved to see them take on the Gauntlet & Powerball.



Well, that's that done...& now that it is, I wonder why I did it...ah well

I might get round to doing the TV/Film entry that I had intended to do, some other time




& Seeing as it is now officially past 12:00, it's officially Firday 15th September & you know what that means...


HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROSE MCGOWAN