The fascination over American Gladiators isn’t over just yet: Three weeks after ESPN aired 30 for 30: The American Gladiators Documentary, Netflix is now shining a spotlight on the inimitable ’80s competition show that gave us Nitro, Gemini and thrilling jousts with what looked like giant, padded Q-tips.
Like ESPN’s penetrative two-parter from director Ben Berman (The Amazing Jonathan Documentary), the new Muscles & Mayhem: An Unauthorized Story of American Gladiators (dropping June 28 on Netflix) reminds us that TV’s first big reality show stars weren’t privileged women who throw wine in fits of rage. They were pumped-up athletes who donned patriotic colors while playing Goliath to some poor civilian’s David in a makeshift battledome.
But while ESPN’s documentary from Vice Media focuses more of its narrative on Johnny Ferraro, the infamous figurehead behind the memorable franchise, Muscles & Mayhem keeps the attention on the gladiators and how,...
Like ESPN’s penetrative two-parter from director Ben Berman (The Amazing Jonathan Documentary), the new Muscles & Mayhem: An Unauthorized Story of American Gladiators (dropping June 28 on Netflix) reminds us that TV’s first big reality show stars weren’t privileged women who throw wine in fits of rage. They were pumped-up athletes who donned patriotic colors while playing Goliath to some poor civilian’s David in a makeshift battledome.
But while ESPN’s documentary from Vice Media focuses more of its narrative on Johnny Ferraro, the infamous figurehead behind the memorable franchise, Muscles & Mayhem keeps the attention on the gladiators and how,...
- 6/28/2023
- by Lynette Rice
- Deadline Film + TV
The two-part “30 for 30” documentary on the seminal 1990s competition show “American Gladiators” has now concluded, wrapping up an epic saga that cut right to the core of the American Dream.
The documentary dove deep into the largely unknown history of the show, which dominated the TV landscape in its initial run in syndication on US television and around the world. It revealed stories of love, lust, betrayal, friendship, injury, agony, and everything in between from the creators of the show and the Gladiators themselves.
So how did a nearly three-hour doc about a show famous for events like jousting with things that looked like huge cotton swabs and rolling around in giant steel balls called Atlaspheres come together? According to the doc’s director Ben Berman, he was skeptical when initially approached by Vice about the project but changed his mind once he learned more about the story.
The documentary dove deep into the largely unknown history of the show, which dominated the TV landscape in its initial run in syndication on US television and around the world. It revealed stories of love, lust, betrayal, friendship, injury, agony, and everything in between from the creators of the show and the Gladiators themselves.
So how did a nearly three-hour doc about a show famous for events like jousting with things that looked like huge cotton swabs and rolling around in giant steel balls called Atlaspheres come together? According to the doc’s director Ben Berman, he was skeptical when initially approached by Vice about the project but changed his mind once he learned more about the story.
- 6/1/2023
- by Joe Otterson
- Variety Film + TV
We may live in a post-truth world, but most viewers still settle in to watch documentaries with the assumption that what we’re going to be treated to is at least some version of “truth.” Surely, we think, “truth” is what most documentary filmmakers aspire to.
Perhaps owing to a background that’s in comedy — Lady Dynamite, Comedy Bang! Bang! — rather than nonfiction, Ben Berman doesn’t operate on that level. Berman, who made his documentary debut with 2019’s Sundance entry The Amazing Johnathan Documentary, is more interested in the lengths that people go to avoid the truth. He isn’t angry at liars — he’s not Alex Gibney — so much as he is fascinated with the prevarication itself, not always the motivation for it or the reality behind it.
Berman’s new film is ESPN’s two-part The American Gladiators Documentary, which airs under the 30 for 30 banner, even though,...
Perhaps owing to a background that’s in comedy — Lady Dynamite, Comedy Bang! Bang! — rather than nonfiction, Ben Berman doesn’t operate on that level. Berman, who made his documentary debut with 2019’s Sundance entry The Amazing Johnathan Documentary, is more interested in the lengths that people go to avoid the truth. He isn’t angry at liars — he’s not Alex Gibney — so much as he is fascinated with the prevarication itself, not always the motivation for it or the reality behind it.
Berman’s new film is ESPN’s two-part The American Gladiators Documentary, which airs under the 30 for 30 banner, even though,...
- 5/30/2023
- by Daniel Fienberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Johnny Ferraro comes across like a Mafia soldier in witness relocation as a used car salesman, or maybe that one casino employee you really don’t want to mess with. He has a way of looking at the camera like he wants to strangle it, or at least spit on it. But somehow, some way, he musters charm. Ferraro is the creator of the much-mocked, absurdly popular proto-reality-tv competition series American Gladiators. Or is he?
This question lingers over the new two-part ESPN 30 for 30 film The American Gladiators Documentary, whose...
This question lingers over the new two-part ESPN 30 for 30 film The American Gladiators Documentary, whose...
- 5/30/2023
- by Chris Vognar
- Rollingstone.com
ESPN has released an exclusive clip from a new two-part documentary that will shed light on the behind-the-scenes story of the famed reality competition show “American Gladiators.”
From 1989 to 1996, “American Gladiators” was one of the most popular syndicated programs in television, a competition show that predated the reality TV era but used many of the same techniques to attract viewers. Every week, “amateur” contestants would go up against a cast of “professional” gladiators in a range of physical competitions, setting up David versus Goliath matchups that were popular with big television audiences but also earned considerable criticism for being “crash TV”.
The documentary, which will debut on May 30 and 31 on ESPN and be made available on ESPN+ following its premiere, features original interviews with Johnny Ferraro, Deron McBee (‘Malibu’), Michael Horton (‘Gemini’), Lynn ‘Red’ Williams (‘Sabre’), the late William Billy Smith (‘Thunder’) and Salina Bartunek (‘Elektra’).
“What we were doing consumed us so much.
From 1989 to 1996, “American Gladiators” was one of the most popular syndicated programs in television, a competition show that predated the reality TV era but used many of the same techniques to attract viewers. Every week, “amateur” contestants would go up against a cast of “professional” gladiators in a range of physical competitions, setting up David versus Goliath matchups that were popular with big television audiences but also earned considerable criticism for being “crash TV”.
The documentary, which will debut on May 30 and 31 on ESPN and be made available on ESPN+ following its premiere, features original interviews with Johnny Ferraro, Deron McBee (‘Malibu’), Michael Horton (‘Gemini’), Lynn ‘Red’ Williams (‘Sabre’), the late William Billy Smith (‘Thunder’) and Salina Bartunek (‘Elektra’).
“What we were doing consumed us so much.
- 5/23/2023
- by Lucas Manfredi
- The Wrap
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