668 - Neighbor of the Beast

I actually watched the whole thing.

It was actually a neat little knockoff of American Gladiators. I remember seeing it on TV around 1992-1993 (which is when the show aired) when I was awake way too late as a 7 or 8 year old kid. It was airing Sunday at like... 2 in the morning or so.

This was in the closing days of US TV where they'd still sign off for a few hours overnight (and indeed, they did right after the show, in this case).

Though god, you can tell that the "audience cheers" are not only piped post-production, but they have a RIDICULOUSLY short loop! You can hear that screeching voice every 3-5 seconds!

Also loved the little bit of wisdom at the end. "Just kidding. HERE COMES A TRUCK!!!"

Honestly, I think Saber would go nuts at pretty much everything in the modern world. Hell, she'd be pissed enough just seeing that her country was run by the Saxons....

And, God that is awful. Or, at least, the setup, acting and commentry is (Gladiators got a bit hammy at times (particularly the Wolf), but it was generally well-done, although I guess I might be looking at it through rose-tinted glasses, plus the US version might have been less to my taste). The games seemed vaguely interesting, though. The second one is obviously a Duel rip-off, although it does have an interesting gimmick.

I think it loses somewhat from having everyone be an obvious, hammy villain, as opposed to Gladiators which only had the Wolf acting like that (and he did a decent job of it, too).

That was beautiful.

"And they will forever be known as.... WAAAARRIOOOORRRS"

Nobody else noticed the main "good guy" was called the "Lord Of Rules and Discipline", either.

Or Lord L.O.R.D.