NOTE: - This is a light hearted question!! So please read it as such!!
I watch TechTV a lot ('cause I'm a geek). They play this show called Robot Wars. Now, I find the concept slightly entertaining, I suppose, but after watching it today I began to wonder...
The show is from the UK. Do the average people of the UK love this show as much as the audience seem to? Or is this like a chess competition in America? Are these people the 'geeks' of the UK or is the show really that popular.
Now America, in recent years, has been on a foreign kick. Be it Latin Music (Ricky Martin, J-Lo, Shakira, etc.) or actors/films (Jason Statham, Russel Crowe, Roberto Benigni, Snatch, etc.) so I was just wondering if this is just another "Oooh it's from another country so we love it" bullshit kind of thing.
For me, I don't really care for the show. I think the announcer guy ruins it. Is he the "Let's get ready to rummmmmmmm bullllllllllllllllllll" guy of the UK?? ;)
So, can those of you from the UK fill me in? What seems to be the opinion of this show (or do you even know about it) accross the pond?
Thanks!
dm
It's quite a popular prime time Friday evening show in the UK. I don't much like it personally, but it does seem to have quite a following.
We stole the conecpt for Robot Wars from an American show I think, and it's been around for ages now... Jeremy Clarkson used to present it instead of Craig Charles for the first few series. Possibly. Anyway, I think it still is quite popular, although I never can be arsed to watch it anymore.
QuoteI think the announcer guy ruins it. Is he the "Let's get ready to rummmmmmmm bullllllllllllllllllll" guy of the UK??
Er, do you mean the commentator (Jonothan Pryce or something, who seems to be constantly on a caffene buzz) or Craig? If you don't know who Craig is then i'll have to beat you up with a trout :)
I don't think it's really that popular anymore; it used to be pretty succesful in a the-simpsons-has-just-finished-and-I-can't-be-arsed-changing-the-channel sorta way, but I think it's mostly burnt out by now.
The channel who made it have recently tried launching a couple of similar shows in pretty much the same timeslot, though; 'Time Commanders', which is basically a group of people playing Rome: Total War for 45 minutes (actually much more entertaining than it sounds, but that isn't really saying that much) and 'Fightbox', which I haven't seen, but looks kinda like a televised beat-'em-up with characters designed by the contestants. I am assured that it is awful.
I don't quite know why I felt the need to share that with you, but anyway.
(PS, DS; Clarkson only presented the very first series, IIRC)
Mmmmm.... Phillippa Forrester in a corset, mmmm....
Of course, the reason it's not as good now is that she has to wear RW mechandise jacket instead of her previous get-up. :'(
I watch TechTV alot, too.
They don't air Robot Wars where I live anymore, and I find that a good thing, that show bored me to death.
Since I have nothing to contribute to this thread really, I'll just share something I saw on TechTV.
On the show Call For Help, not a long time ago, they showed The Adventures of Zak McKracken 2 (Lucasfan's game) as the free file of the day.
It was teh w00t.
EDIT- Oh yeah, and the american show that Robot Wars is based upon might be Battlebots.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
EDIT 2- OK, I stand corrected. Fun.
Quote from: Highwaygal on Fri 07/11/2003 17:42:20Oh yeah, and the american show that Robot Wars is based upon might be Battlebots.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
I don't quite know why I bothered to check this, but the imdb has Robot Wars starting in '98, and Battlebots in '00; consider yourself well and truly corrected.
I
think that the competition itself started in the US, but the UK were the first to make a show out of it.
man sponge
I was about to post the same thing
Dark Stalkey - Yeah the commentator guy. He scares me a little 'cause his face never changes.
Highwaygal - Yeah, I think it was called Battlebots. Which I enjoyed almost as much as Robot Wars!! Also, that same show "Call For Help", was where I was first introduced to AGS last March.
I owe them soooo much!!
dm
EDIT - I also thought that Battlebots was based off the UK show. Thanks Sponge!
Craig Charles the guy from Red Dwarf? My friends and I used to be in the "Red Dwarf Posse" (a little gang that we created when we were about 13). We used to hang out in one of my friend's garages and throw stones at the locals. I think Red Dwarf invented the word "smeg", am i wrong?
You're wrong. Smeg is smegma baccillus (sp?), which is the white crap that collects under the foreskin... - http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/omd?query=smegma&action=Search+OMD
Red Dwarf gave it a purpose though. It's also the name of a spiffy range of Fridge/Freezers
Speaking of TechTV, anybody watch Unscrewed with Martin Sargent? They've showed a couple of my animutations. It's cool.
How can anyone not like robot wars! I love it I only have the standard 5 channels but i love it anyway even if they don't show it now. There was an american robot show broadcast here, it had a cage...
On red Dwarf, did you know that Rimmer did the voice of simon the sourcerer, ya know i can't tell unless he's making a real sarcastic comment.
Wait, the guy from Red Dwarf? The guy is teh roxor. No questions asked.
they aired the last season on swedish tv, and I watched it sometimes. but it's very boring when the same shit happens all the time =)
Dirty Rapist that he is....
/me enjoys extrapolating on charges.
Robot Wars had a brief run on Channel 10 here I think [pay TV mya be a different matter]. They has wossisface from Water Rats presenting, but it was the British show.
It must be a haven for washups. They should get Gary Coleman.
i have only caught a glimpse of Robot Wars, but i really like watching BattleBots on Comedy Central instead. I haven't seen BB on in awhile, i think it might have been cancelled.
shawn
I live in America, but I watch the BBC America channel and TechTV a lot (my mother is from the UK, so we tend to watch the BBC America channel *cough*KeepingUpAppearances*cough*). I used to watch Robot Wars for pure amusement until it got on my nerves. It's best to just mute and watch. I guess it's kind of like Junkyard Wars (I love that show). A competition to see who can build the best machine. Where I live, some universities/colleges have Bot Ball competitions. A lot of people are interested in it. There's more to the team effort than the personal effot, like in chess.
I have only two words on Robot Wars and its future:
American... Gladiators...
Quote from: AlexisVale on Sat 08/11/2003 04:23:17I used to watch Robot Wars for pure amusement until it got on my nerves. It's best to just mute and watch. I guess it's kind of like Junkyard Wars (I love that show).
Funny how you mention Junkyard Wars, because that
also started out as an English show; it was called 'Scrapheap' (later renamed to 'Scrapheap Challenge') and was
also hosted by a Red Dwarf star - Robert Llewellyn, who played Kryten (and also the title role in The Feeble Files).
Well, I think it's funny, anyway.
I used to adoreeeee gladiators. As a kid, I especially wanted to ride that hamster ball thing.
But anyway.
Robot wars bored me from the first episode. However, at the Esat Young Sciencist Exhibition last year they had an actual Live robot war event, featuring robots that had been on the show. It was amazing. They are a lot bigger and a lot more powerful in rea life. When they smash together, it's not just the harmless little "pock!" that you see on TV, but in fact a whole bunch of force and armour - piercing weaponry. They're also three times the size they look on TV.
So as a live event it does interest me, but on TV I'd rather... well, read a book.
As for Craig... he was the voice of Asterix for a few of the animated movies (Asterix and Obelix) wasn't he? I remember thinking how shittily cast he'd been. He may kick ass, but Asterix?! What the hell were they smegging thinking!?
Quote from: Yufster the Psychadet on Sat 08/11/2003 14:10:16As for Craig... he was the voice of Asterix for a few of the animated movies (Asterix and Obelix) wasn't he? I remember thinking how shittily cast he'd been. He may kick ass, but Asterix?! What the hell were they smegging thinking!?
I could be going mad, but as I recall those were french movies and Craig (I like hpow we're both on a first name basis with him now) only provided the voice for the english-language re-dubs; you often find with re-dubs that they'll either get the cheapest actors they can find, or the biggest celebrity they can afford (that that was Craig Charles gives you an idea of how low their budget must have been) regardless of there appropriateness for the role.
---edit after a rather surreal brainwave---
Quote from: DGMacphee on Sat 08/11/2003 05:29:05
I have only two words on Robot Wars and its future:
American... Gladiators...
'...no, you see what happened was the royal servant dropped his glasses, which caused Michael Fawcett to drop the bowl of fruit he was holding in sheer surprise; he bent over to pick it up, and Prince Charles lowered the banana he had managed to salvage to the same level as his crotch out of dissapointment for the shoddy work of the two; with impaired vision, this appeared to the royal aide as if something totally different was taking place, and he fainted backwards. His posterior served to cushion the blow as he hit the floor, which is why he felt as though he had been anally raped when he woke up. We have figured it out, go back to bed Great Britain, your government has figured out how it all transpired. Go back to bed Great Britain, your government is in control again - here, here's Robot Wars; watch this, shut up. Go back to bed Great Britain, here's Robot Wars...' And so forth.
I don't quite know why I felt the need to type all that.
Quote from: Shattered Sponge on Sat 08/11/2003 14:45:12
'...no, you see what happened was the royal servant dropped his glasses, which caused Michael Fawcett to drop the bowl of fruit he was holding in sheer surprise; he bent over to pick it up, and Prince Charles lowered the banana he had managed to salvage to the same level as his crotch out of dissapointment for the shoddy work of the two; with impaired vision, this appeared to the royal aide as if something totally different was taking place, and he fainted backwards. His posterior served to cushion the blow as he hit the floor, which is why he felt as though he had been anally raped when he woke up. We have figured it out, go back to bed Great Britain, your government has figured out how it all transpired. Go back to bed Great Britain, your government is in control again - here, here's Robot Wars; watch this, shut up. Go back to bed Great Britain, here's Robot Wars...' And so forth.
I don't quite know why I felt the need to type all that.
A group of hooligans just tipped over a dustbin in Shaftsbury!
Boy, I wouldn't want to be a dustbin in Shaftsbury right now!
/me marries DeeGee
Quote from: Yufster the Psychadet on Sat 08/11/2003 14:10:16
Robot wars bored me from the first episode. However, at the Esat Young Sciencist Exhibition last year they had an actual Live robot war event, featuring robots that had been on the show. It was amazing. They are a lot bigger and a lot more powerful in rea life. When they smash together, it's not just the harmless little "pock!" that you see on TV, but in fact a whole bunch of force and armour - piercing weaponry. They're also three times the size they look on TV.
I think that the 2nd-5th series were the best. Since then it has gone downhill, as everyone has seen what makes a good robot and its really now just how well people can construct them and drive them. The design element has gone, which was always what interested me. But there was nothing quite like that first show in which Hypnodisc destroyed threee other robots. And I mean destroyed.
Scrapheap also appeals to me, although it too is now at the point where they've run out of ideas.
Quote
As for Craig... he was the voice of Asterix for a few of the animated movies (Asterix and Obelix) wasn't he? I remember thinking how shittily cast he'd been. He may kick ass, but Asterix?! What the hell were they smegging thinking!?
Craig Charles ahs only ever been good in one thing: Red Dwarf. Everything else I have seen him in, he has been rubbish.
"My stupid rhymes give people blisters and sores, I'm the worst thing about Robot Wars"
* kiss two fingers and raise them in a cool-but-not-really salute to audience