American Gladiators

American Gladiators is a syndicated American competition series that aired weekly from September 1989 to May 1996. The program pitted a roster of amateur athletes against one another and against the show's Gladiators in contests centered on strength and agility. The concept was developed by Dan Carr and John C. Ferraro, who staged the inaugural competition at Erie Tech High School in Erie, Pennsylvania. They sold the idea to The Samuel Goldwyn Company, where it was refined and expanded into American Gladiators. A 2004 attempt to launch a live American Gladiators production on the Las Vegas Strip became entangled in securities fraud proceedings. Nevertheless, the television series was revived in 2008. Original-series episodes were broadcast on ESPN Classic from 2007 to 2009. Several installments are available for download on Apple's iTunes service.