Gladiators
Remember being scared of the big bad wolf? Did you want to date /look like Jet? Remember when Shadow got done for using steroids? and the wonder of people fighting with giant cotton buds on elevated platforms?
Gladiators was a phenomenon of family viewing. Everyone knew someone who’s teacher’s friend’s brother’s babysitter had been a contestant -or been in the audience. All of the Gladiators themselves looked like porn stars on protein shakes.
The best part of the entire show was the wait to see if they would make it up the travelator. The viewers waited with baited breath as the Scottish referee said “Contenders, you will go on my first hhhwhistle. Gladiators, you will go on my second whistle…”
Another cool part of the show was how they got to smash through a paper finish. As kids we made our own Gladiator finishes so that we too could smash through something victoriously.
Did you sing along with “we will, we will rock you!” with a giant polystyrene hand? Nope, neither did I. But I did hope that the PE teacher from Nottingham would beat the Gladiators for once. A great advert for physical activity and leotards.
Oh yeah -I forgot that it was presented by Ulrika Johnson and John Fashnu. The memories…
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