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The 1992-2000 version provides examples of:[]

  • Crowning Music of Awesome: Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" whenever someone fell out, the Gladiators theme and the eliminator theme.
  • Ensemble Darkhorse: Wolf and Jet.
  • Funny Moments:
    • During the 1993 celebrity special, one of the Gladiators ripped John Fashanu's outfit and exposed his gentleman's region. This forced him to use a powerball to preserve his modesty, TV using a Gladiators symbol.
    • In a quarter-final of that year's main series Wolf pulled contender Roddy McKay's shorts down during Hang Tough and was disqualified. He protested, "The referee's not being fair — he had pants on."
  • Moment of Awesome: The Action Girl above, but also the Duel between Wolf and Vulcan.
  • Seasonal Rot: By about Series 5, it was clear that the producers had run out of ideas and the public was starting to get bored.
  • So Cool Its Awesome: The whole damn show. Even if it may seem silly these days, it's hard to dispute how epic the setting and events were.
  • Tear Jerker: Early on in the run, someone failed to finish the Eliminator because they couldn't climb the ropes, the second obstacle. They broke down into tears, as well.
  • Unfortunate Implications: Some of the codenames given to the black Gladiators were ... less than politically correct. Shadow? Saracen? Nightshade? Fortunately, they got better about this in the later seasons.

The 2008-09 version provides examples of:[]

  • And the Fandom Rejoiced: Possibly John Anderson, possibly Wolf.
  • Jumping the Shark: You could argue the franchise jumped when they revived the show. Judging by the water tanks, they could have fit sharks in them.
  • Moment of Awesome: Wolf's return in the 2008 Legends Special was apparently subject to five solid minutes of applause, sadly cut for time. It forced the producers to quiet the crowd.
  • Ruined FOREVER: Probably when it first aired.
  • Tear Jerker: Like the original series, one episode had a contestant get seriously injured in one of the events, but they insisted on playing through. However when they made it to the Eliminator, the contestant was not able to run it, choosing to just watch on from the starting point. Their family, especialy their child, were in tears.
  • They Changed It, Now It Sucks: Getting John Anderson and the Legends back may have helped Series 1, but then getting rid of John, keeping Wolf on the sidelines, and getting rid of Kirsty Gallacher obviously didn't help. Considering the series only had lukewarm ratings and reception and seemed cheesier than the original show, it's no wonder it was cancelled.
    • There was also the fact that most of the male Gladiators had this damn attitude which felt like all of them were trying to be Wolf.