American Gladiators: Season 2 - EPISODE 8

American Gladiators is an American competition TV show that aired on NBC and Citytv in Canada. Hosted by Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali,^[1] the show matches amateur athletes against each other and the show's own "gladiators" in contests of strength, agility, and endurance. It is a remake of the original series of the same name which ran from 1989–1996, with elements of the UK version of the 1990s. The show is refereed by Al Kaplon, a former American League umpire, who can also be seen as the referee in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.^[2] Play-by-play narration is handled by Van Earl Wright.

Season 1 was taped at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California.^[3] Beginning with Season 2, the show moved to the Los Angeles Sports Arena. It is produced by Reveille Productions and MGM Television.

American Gladiators premiered on Sunday, January 6, 2008; an average of 12 million people watched the two-hour premiere.^[4] All other Season 1 episodes aired Mondays at 8:00 ET/PT,^[5] except for the finale, which aired Sunday February 17, 2008 at 7:00 ET/PT. Season 2 premiered May 12, 2008, on NBC, with a two-hour episode.^[6] The two-hour Season 2 finale aired on August 4, 2008 at 8:00 ET/PT. While the final two-hour episode of Season 1 was devoted entirely to the finals, the Season 2 finale consisted of the third semifinal round followed by the finals.

New episodes and new cast members were planned for a 3rd season in the summer of 2009,^[7][8] however, NBC canceled those plans in March.^[9][10] It may return at a later date on another network. It is currently being televised on WGN America and MTV2.

In August 2008, Season 1 of American Gladiators began airing on WKAQ-TV, Telemundo Puerto Rico every Sunday at 8 PM. In September 2008, Season 1 of American Gladiators began airing on Sky1 in the United Kingdom on Tuesday afternoons. In April 2009, Season 2 of American Gladiators began broadcasting on Sky1 on Saturday evenings. In Australia, American Gladiators started airing on Seven's new free-to-air digital channel 7Two on Wednesdays at 7:30pm from November 4, 2009.