Hmm, no spandex leotards. Not even a tuft of feathered hair.
This line of jocks snaking around the Windy City Fieldhouse on a brisk Sunday morning in September couldn’t be the tryouts for “American Gladiators.”
Their faces were all business, and less spray-tan, and there’s just something unholy about that to any “Gladiators” purist.
Well, get used to it. This isn’t your father’s — OK, older brother’s or sister’s — “Gladiators” of the early ’90s. It’s NBC’s updated reality TV version that launches midseason in 2008, and already there are signs that the endearing, star-spangled campyness (remember Hang Tough and Joust?) that made the original series a hit may not carry over to the remake.
What will be there are the athletic duels: Matching amateur contenders against the muscle-bound maniacs who literally try to knock down their spirit in games.
Which brings us back to Chicago’s Fieldhouse and the wannabes waiting five hours for 10 minutes to prove themselves to the host of Hollywood producers watching every sprint and pull-up like an overbearing Little League dad.
“It’ll be good to have a new generation of kids wanting to grow up and be Nitro,” production assistant Alan Froberg said of one of the original’s most popular personalities.
Maybe that kind of fame awaits Chicago’s contestants, or those who have auditioned for roles as “contenders” and Gladiators at four other national tryouts.
They want to be giants — or giant slayers.
“I’ve always wanted to be an American Gladiator, ever since I was little,” said Kristin Johnson, a powerfully built, tattooed high school teacher who wore contestant No. 59 — although she was quick to remind anyone within earshot that she was, in fact, No. 1. “I’ve [dreamed] a lot of things in my life, and none of them have really come true. But if I make this show, it will definitely be a dream come true.”
Physically, some weren’t up to the challenge of the tryouts, and mentally, they couldn’t handle it — having an excuse or two at the ready. Others were ready and then some.
One woman did 18 pull-ups in 30 seconds, eclipsing the rest of the women and producing a chorus of applause. Chicago native Shonie Carter, “Mr. International” as he’s known in the Mixed Martial Arts circuit, talked as big as the opponents he likes to take on. “I’m an Ultimate Fighter,” said Carter, an Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran, multichampionship world-title holder and a founding member of the Chicago-based Iron Academy MMA team. “I’m always challenging myself. It’s what I do. I like beating up on big, >>>>buff dudes. You have to have that fighting spirit, that bushido. That’s the way I live. I just flow with it. I stick and move, stick and move, man.
“Seriously, I just do the damn thing. Everyday I get up and just do the damn thing. If somebody says I can’t do it, I go do it.”
Carter’s been there. He’s stood in front of a sold-out arena and fought for a championship. And when the new “American Gladiators” makes its debut, Carter hopes his fighting experience in front of the camera will give him an edge in both beating out the other contestants to make the show and to take down those Gladiators while he’s at it.
“I’ve been on the big show,” he said. “I’ve been on TV in front of millions of people. To me, it’s just another day at the office. When the lights are on and the money’s on the table, I’m in it to win it. To me, getting into a fight is like drinking a glass of water to you.”
But what about the giants themselves? NBC’s soon-to-be-televised David vs. Goliath also needs Goliaths.
The auditions used the same physical tests for everyone, but some men and women didn’t exactly fit the mold of merely a contender. As some producers put it, you can’t really have a challenger who’s twice as big as a Gladiator.
That won’t be a problem for Antonio Mitchell.
When the professional bodybuilder walked in with the words “Ultimate Anatomy” emblazoned across his Herculean back, heads turned, whispers were exchanged.
“I was born for this,” Mitchell said. “I’ve been doing obstacle course competitions, fitness modeling competitions, bodybuilding competitions, but none of those things combined all of those elements.”
It’s no guarantee that Mitchell will be a Gladiator or that Shonie Carter will be a contender — NBC is keeping most of its picks and plans for the new show close to the vest.
“That very first episode,” Mitchell said, “the hype and the publicity surrounding it, it’s gonna be unimaginable.”
“I’m looking forward to someone trying to beat me,” Carter said with a smile.
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So you wanna be on ‘Gladiators’?
The tryouts’ physical tasks included
Pull-upsAs many as each contestant could do in 30 seconds. One woman in Chicago did roughly three pull-ups and complained that the pull-up stand made her do wide-gripped pull-ups instead of the ones she was used to.
10 up-downsAn exhausting type of push-ups. Contestant Rami Abbasi, a talkative cook at the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago, did 10 awkward air humps while producers choked back laughs. Not to worry, Abbasi rapped and sang during his interview, and he did a cartwheel before doing his up-downs. He also wanted to be called “Little Man Romeo.”
Karaoke drillGoing straight from the up-downs, contestants had to do this side-stepping football drill twice to showcase their agility before sprinting to a set of suicides. The last contestant of the day, a diminutive man, did the karaoke drill so fast one of the production assistants said excitedly, “He looked like a ballerina out there!” A really badass ballerina.
5 suicidesBy the time most contestants got here, the lungs were caving in and the legs were melting into the gym floor. One of the first contestants to arrive for the 9 a.m. start, a skinny kid wearing a blanket like a cape around his neck, definitely could’ve used a breather between the up-downs, the karaoke drill and the suicides. But he gets style points for the cape.
40-yard dashScraped knees and bruised egos. That’s essentially what the final physical task produced. People were running so hard that they dove face-first into the floor. It’s hard to describe in print the sound of a 300-pound body smacking against the ground. Little hint: It echoes.
The host
Before ex-Bear Mike Adamle took over as sports anchor at NBC’s Chicago station in 1998, he was one of “Gladiators’ ” original hosts. This fall,
NBC announced that pro wrestling icon Hulk Hogan would be host of the new show.
The games
NBC has yet to reveal what new contests will pit contender against Gladiator in a battle of wits, strength and agility. But you can catch the classics — the Joust, the Eliminator, Powerball, Breakthrough & Conquer — during reruns of “American Gladiators” on ESPN Classic.
The twist
Since the new, reality-style version will focus on competitors’ life stories, producers needed to know just as much information about the contestants’ personalities as their pectorals. Some people arrived at the tryouts unaware that they would have to fill out a 27-page application (“Some of the slowest writers in the history of the world,” griped one production assistant). Questions included: “What pets do you own now, or have owned at any time in the past?” and “What is the weirdest thing about you?”
– Tribune contributed
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redeyesports@tribune.com
