Netfix has released the first trailer for Muscles & Mayhem: An Unauthorized Story of American Gladiators, a new docuseries coming to the streamer. For TV fans of a certain age, American Gladiators was a staple of television, pitting regular Americans against each other in feats of strength and athleticism, typically for them to get smoked by the gladiators in front of everyone watching. As one might expect, given that it’s now the subject of Netflix documentary series, thigns weren’t as peachy behind the scenes of American Gladiators as they seemed. Check out the full trailer for Muscles & Mayhem: An Unauthorized Story of American Gladiators above and look for all five episodes to premiere next week on June 28.
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Fans of the classic American Gladiators show may be pleased to see some familiar faces, confirmed participants in the documentary include: Dan “Nitro” Clark, Debbie “Storm” Clark, Erika “Diamond” Andersch Bunker, Jim “Laser” Kalafat, Lori “Ice” Fetrick, Michael “Gemini” Horton, Raye “Zap” Olson, Shari E “Blaze” Pendleton Mitchell, Shirley “Sky” Eson-Korito, and Steve “Tower” Hennebery.
The description for Netflix’s new American Gladiators based series reads: “Muscles & Mayhem: An Unauthorized Story of American Gladiators chronicles the meteoric rise, dramatic fall, and gripping behind-the-scenes stories of one of the biggest spectacles on television during the height of the ’90s. Told first hand from the stars who lived through it, this five part series reveals untold stories of the iconic American Gladiators’ triumph, turmoil, and ultimate price of fame.”
Attempts to revive American Gladiators have been announced in the past but mostly gone unproduced entirely. A child-focused spinoff series, Gladiators 2000, happened in 1994, and a 2008 revival series aired two seasons in that year alone, but the magic has never been recaptured. An attempt was made in 2014 after the success of The Hunger Games movies to reboot American Gladiators, but nothing came of it. Yet another go, produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, was announced with another that would be in partnership with the WWE. So far the world has had minimal American Gladiators exposure since 2008 revival, but perhaps renewed interest will occur when its seedy underbelly is exposed on Netflix.
Muscles & Mayhem: An Unauthorized Story of American Gladiators premieres globally on Netflix on June 28, 2023.
