BattleBots

Why, Comedy Central, why? Battlebots rocked, but they've seen fit to do away with it. And just when they really started marketing the toys, too. It was good, clean, violent fun. But I'd like to address the comments by "TheUnholyArmpit." Battlebots is not a ripoff of the British show "Robot Wars." "Robot Wars" is a pseudo-intellectual contest between various mechanical creations. Battlebots is simply the televised version of an exhibition of fighting robots that started in the early '90s. Robot Wars was actually the first show of its kind, but they used American robots, as that's where it all started. Battlebots was created by the guys who first started the original competition, then brought their bots to Britain for that show. (Check amazon.com for the Official Battlebots book for more history and info). In fact, the first time I ever heard of the competition was back in the '90s, when CNN (I think) did a story on it. So, in a way, neither show is entirely original, or a ripoff of something else. Regardless, I still miss it.

A fun show but the actual robotic combat isn't long enough. The show is 30 minutes and sadly most of it is taken up by commercials. It appears that the actual tournament took place over just a couple of days and all the bouts were edited into these half hour shows. If more bouts could be shown in one episode it would be a big improvement. The robots are very interesting to see as well as some of the creators. The Tilford family with their "Mauler" and Jim Smentowski with his "Nightmare" and "Backlash" were certainly some of the best.

Americans, dont you love `em? They see something they like, and then try to copy it. Thing is, they are like parrots, copying what ever they see with no comprehension of what they are doing. And this show is another example of this. Some US TV exec sees Robot Wars, thinks "we can do that", and makes a right mess of it. Robot wars has some structure behind it, the biggest part of the show is taken up with (sometimes brutal) competition - The US counterpart is mostly posturing. I could go on all night but, lets just put it this way.... Robot Wars` female presenter (Phillipa Forrester) has a PHd, Battle Bots has some woman out of Playboy. Watch the original, Robot Wars is still the best.

BattleBots rocks! Especially this season with some extremely dangerous hazards in the box. Wow! It's like small-scale demolition derby on steroids. Watching robots get absolutely shredded (which they have been lately) is more entertaining than I ever would have imagined. Coupled with brief scientific analysis by Bill Nye to satisfy those scientifically minded, BattleBots is can't-miss entertainment for virtually any sports/combat fan.

This has to be one of my favorite shows on TV right now. I just absolutely love watching these robots kick the crap out of each other! The new seasons keep getting better and better, with the current 3rd season looking to be the best yet.

For those of you that haven't seen this show yet, or just saw the spots on the Tonight Show, here's a basic breakdown.

People build some robots in varying weight classes. They then sic the robots on each other in a large cage filled with "hazzards" such as a 200 pound sledge hammer that slams down on one of the robots, or "killsaws" that spring up out of the floor. Enter laughter at the silly excitement.

Watching newcomer Mechagore carve Vlad the Impaler (the odds on favorite for the heavyweight class) into metal sushi was a trip! It goes to show, that there's all sorts of new ideas out there. I personally like the bots that are designed to kill the largest design style of robots, that being the wedges.

Personal favorites:

Lightweight: Ziggo Heavyweight: Mechagore and Mauler Superheavyweight: Toro

Now that the show is one hour long, its even more of a treat. Even if you hate machines, its a show that touches on that primal urge to break expensive stuff. (Some of the bots had over $20k put into parts/design/etc!)