Knights and Warriors

I first heard of "Knights and Warriors" when I saw something on an entertainment news show about one of the American Gladiators supposedly getting fired from the show because she married one of the cast members of "Knights and Warriors". Being a big fan of "AG," I decided to check out "K&W." It was painfully obvious that it was trying to feed off the success of "AG", with "average Joe" contenders ("knights") facing off against the Warrior Dome's version of the Gladiators ("warriors") in physical games of skill with such names as Catapult, the Volcano, Roller Joust, and the ultimate Target Onslaught. As much as "AG" played up the real people behind the contenders and Gladiators, "K&W" was the opposite. The "knights" wore spandex outfits with trim reminiscent of something you'd see at a renaissance festival. The "warriors" had names like Chaos, Plague, Pyro, Lady Battleaxe, Raven, and Princess Malice. They wore black leather and spandex outfits that looked like they were stolen from the wardrobe of an early 80's Motley Crue video, and each adopted a villainous persona to match his or her name. "K&W"'s equivalent of "AG"'s referee Larry Thompson was a silver-robed gent calling himself the Lord of Rules and Discipline. He sat high above the action, giving his verdict on instant replays and reprimanding warriors who didn't play nice.

If you thought that "AG" was cheesy, "K&W" made it look like a session of "Meet The Press." Still, for all its hokey-ness, it was kind of like a car wreck; you felt like you shouldn't watch it, but you couldn't tear your eyes away from the screen. Despite its hackneyed "good vs. evil" premise, it was actually fun. Like many copycat franchises in the U.S., "K&W" never really caught on, and was gone long before "AG" made its own exit.

Looking back now at "K&W," I find that I really miss it. The current full-contact type game show, "Battle Dome," could never hope to hold a candle to what "K&W" was. I wonder if anyone else has as "fond" memories as I do about this show... for that matter, does anyone else remember it?

I guess it could be a little outdated now with all of the modern carnage at our disposal now, but Knights and Warriors operated like one giant, straight-faced satire of American Gladiators. I remember it came on after Saturday Night Live, and what was great was that it was 5 times funnier. The villains were so choice, so over the top, and the events were pretty cruel.

I've been waiting for a Good Samaritan to post some episodes on a torrent, or on YouTube, and I'm still waiting.

I sure miss this show, and judging from the two comments posted here, so does a huge fraction of America.

personally, we loved watching this show and so did our friends!!! we wished lady battle-axe would have had more play time as she was the best one on the show. it did seem that she was purposefully left out to watch the others 'play' with the contestants though. but when she was allowed in, it was fantastic!

now that you have the gladiators show coming back on TV, you need to get the knights and warrior TV show back into action! if you cant get the old crew back, offer reruns of the original show with the original cast members! if you are not able to do any of the above, how about offering DVD's so we can purchase them and relive the fun of yesteryear!