No educational value. Does encourage determination and focus. Silly costumes, not overtly sexual. Appropriate protective equipment in use. Both sides face disqualification for illegal use of aggressive moves aimed at unprotected or easily injured areas. The show is fun family viewing.
American Gladiators
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Is it age appropriate?
About our ratings -
Is it any good?
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Common Sense says
Rough-and-tumble show is guilty pleasure at best.
Why We Rated This 
for Ages 10–13
What to watch out for
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Violence:
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Sex:
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Language:
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Consumerism:
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Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
What Parents Need to Know
This review of American Gladiators was written by Will Wade
Parents need to know that that this game show is all about action. Though the contenders are competing against each other for a $100,000 prize at the end of the season, in the meantime they must go up against the gladiators in a series of grueling physical events. Many of these involve wrestling, tackling, and various types of mock combat. It can get pretty rough, and participants are sometimes injured (remind kids who watch that they shouldn't try any of these events at home). There's no swearing, but expect plenty of trash talking. And though there's no nudity, all of the gladiators wear revealing outfits designed to show off the bodies they've obviously worked very hard to develop.
Families Can Talk About
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- Families can talk about sportsmanship. The contestants and the gladiators often trash-talk each other, and their comments sometimes seem to have some anger behind them. This kind of thing is a common part of many games, especially physical ones, but when does it cross a line? And speaking of lines, is it OK to watch people batter each other in the name of entertainment? The ancient gladiators fought to the death to amuse Roman emperors. This show uses plenty of safety gear and has medics on hand, but the basic premise is similar. Is the show's whole concept inherently inhumane? Or is it simply another rough-but-fun spectator sport like boxing or football?
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More on American Gladiators
What’s the Story?
With names like Mayhem, Venom, Fury, and Wolf, don't expect the new crop of AMERICAN GLADIATORS to play nice. This rough-and-tumble game show, a remake of the popular series from the 1990s, pits amateur athletes against a dozen seriously well-toned gladiators in a variety of physical contests. Hosts are Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali.
Is It Any Good?
Though the contestants are technically competing against each other, they're rarely matched against one another in the various events, which have friendly names like "joust," "hit and run," "gauntlet," and "assault." Instead, they must face off against the gladiators in these challenges, which are heavy on the wrestling, tackling, and mock combat. The contestants are all in great shape, and some of them -- including a professional skateboarder and a New York fire fighter -- are certainly above-average specimens, but most of them are just average folks (including a toilet paper sales rep, a bartender, and an aviation engineer). They're clearly outclassed by the gladiators, whose roster includes a four-time Mr. Universe, a 6'8" former European professional basketball player, and a veteran kickboxer.
There's plenty of action, and a fair bit of trash talking between the contestants and gladiators, some of which seems to straddle the line between fun competition and real hostility. The hosts sometimes egg them on with their pre- and post-event interviews, and the studio audience amps up the aggression, cheering when the gladiators take someone down and jeering the pummeled contestants. All of the events are grueling, and several can be fun to watch, but this show certainly doesn't rate very highly on the cultural scale. Watching these people bash each other for our pleasure is basic, escapist entertainment -- a classic guilty pleasure.
Our Members Say
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Most Recent Reviews
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I rate this title on for age 0 and give it
Silly family fun
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I rate this title pause for age 0 and give it
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I rate this title on for age 0 and give it
We have it here too!
We have it here in England, kinda the same games!
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I rate this title pause for age 0 and give it
A WWE altenative
this is a fun tween friedly show. The violence is real all that violent.The show is all about beating you partner at phiscal challenges, no punching or blood or any of that bad stuff on WWE. The sex in the show is that most boy gladiators don't were shirts , and females wear ver "reviling" bikini type things . There is some mild trash talk , such as the word ass and damn overall a fun altenatvie to WWE or RAW. 5 stars 9+
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I rate this title pause for age 0 and give it
Revived game show is good, but iffy
Like other network game shows, this one has a grand prize; the remaining contestant will receive $100,000 and a spot as an American Gladiator. But unlike most game shows, this one involves some violence. The whole point of this show is to defeat your opponents and get past the Gladiators. But if you like competition game shows like this, this is a good one.
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