NBC Lands Another Writerless Victory With ‘American Gladiators’

Not Cavemen, not Bionic Woman, not a Grey’s Anatomy spinoff, nor even a show about children forced to survive alone in the desert could sufficiently capture our collective imaginations. After a failed start with an unpopular batch of new shows, and an ongoing WGA strike that, in all likelihood, will never be resolved, it looked as though all was lost for the networks — until Sunday night when NBC’s writerless American Gladiators reboot became the highest-rated show of the new season!

Yet again, NBC wunderkind Ben Silverman has looked deep into the soul of the American TV viewer and given us exactly what we, apparently, want. And as the network’s improvised Tonight Show continues to defeat a scripted Letterman in the ratings, it’s becoming painfully clear that what we want isn’t sharply written humor or taut, incisive drama — it’s Hulk Hogan and a cadre of veiny, elephantine meatheads pounding the crap out of hapless amateur athletes angling for their possible chance to win a 2008 Toyota Sequoia. Witness the future of television!

‘American Gladiators’ Shows Ratings Muscle [TV Week]