rantlust

Posted by anupcs on January 17th 2008 in Celebrity, Entertainment, Television
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As the reality TV season gets well underway with new Sanjayas in American Idol and the tired antics of a bald billionaire in The Apprentice, there is a new kid in town. It’s called American Gladiators and I happened upon it while flipping channels the other day. The show is a revival of a not so hot show from the early 90s. It pits contestants against each other (two at a time - separate rounds for men and women) in a hard competition of strength and agility. En route, they have to also overcome the show’s real stars, the “gladiators.” The new (actually on its second season) show seems to be a big hit according to Nielsen despite (or maybe because of) its obvious cheesiness. The lovely Laila Ali (Muhammad’s offspring) and the hulking Hogan play genial hosts.

The show might be yawn inducing for the reality TV deniers (you know who you are). But I was hooked enough to watch a couple of episodes though not enough to Tivo the show. It’s not the competition or the contestants that intrigued me but the gladiators with exotic names concealing their real personae. With names like Wolf, Justice, Hellga, Mayhem, they try to stop the hapless contestants from completing their tasks. Among them stands out 25 year old Gina Carano aka Crush. She’s a Muay Thai fighter and will be equally at ease at the Playboy Mansion or an Ultimate Fighting event. The word kickass best describes this superwoman. The cheers are loudest when she faces a contestant on the show. One of the audience-held signs on a recent show declared a crush on Crush. It’s not too hard to feel a crush yourself.