BattleBots
| BattleBots | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Robot competition |
| Created by |
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| Directed by |
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| Presented by |
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| Starring |
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| Narrated by |
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| Composer(s) | Vanacore Music |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 7 |
| No. of episodes | 108 + 1 special (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
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| Editor(s) | Jonathan Siegel (2015–16) |
| Running time | 30–60 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
Whalerock Industries BattleBots Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network |
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| Original release |
August 30, 2000 – December 21, 2002 (Comedy Central) – June 21, 2015 – September 1, 2016 (ABC) |
| External links | |
| Website |
www |
BattleBots is an American robot competition television series. Competitors design and operate remote-controlled armed and armored machines designed to fight in an arena combat elimination tournament. For five seasons, BattleBots aired on the American Comedy Central and was hosted by Bil Dwyer, Sean Salisbury, and Tim Green. Comedy Central's first season premiered on August 30, 2000, and its fifth and last season ended on December 21, 2002.
A six-episode revival series premiered on ABC on June 21, 2015, to generally favorable reviews and ratings. Additionally, ABC renewed BattleBots for a seventh season, which premiered on June 23, 2016.
Battlebots was removed from the ABC website's list of current reality shows.[1]
History
BattleBots is an offshoot of the original American version of Robot Wars, the brainchild of Marc Thorpe. Robot Wars had financial backing from Sm:)e communications, a New York record company. The Thorpe/Sm:)e partnership broke up in 1997, starting many years of legal wrangling between Thorpe and Profile Records (the former Sm:)e communications). Profile licensed Robot Wars to a UK production company and Robot Wars ran for seven years as a popular television program in the UK, before being revived for 2016.
The robot builders left behind in San Francisco formed BattleBots, Inc. and began a series of competitions. The first was held in Long Beach, California in August 1999 and streamed online, attracting 40,000 streams. Lenny Stucker, a television producer known for his work on telecasts of professional boxing, was in attendance, and showed interest in being involved with BattleBots—believing the concept of robot combat was "hip" and having shown an interest in technology. Stucker made changes to the competition's format and presentation to make it more suitable for television, including elements reminiscent of boxing (such as a red and blue corner) and shifting to a single-elimination format. The creators tried selling the competition as a television series to networks such as CBS, NBC, HBO, and Showtime—but they failed to understand the concept of the program or take it seriously. A second event was held as a pay-per-view in Las Vegas in 1999; the PPV was in turn, used as a pilot to pitch the show again, with a higher rate of success.[2]
Among the networks interested was Comedy Central, who would ultimately pick up the program. Debbie Liebling, the network's Senior Vice President of original programming and development, felt that the concept would appeal to the network's young adult demographic, explaining that "it was really funny, and really nerdy. The Internet was not a big thing yet, so the nerd culture wasn't so celebrated. It was sports for the nerdy person, I guess."[2] Co-creator Greg Munson viewed the deal as a double-edged sword; it gave BattleBots an outlet and a larger budget, but the network insisted on the addition of comedic aspects to BattleBots as a program, such as sketches involving contestants. However, the competition itself was not affected by this mandate; Liebling described the final product as being "a parody of a sports show without being a parody". Munson lamented that the network had also ignored his suggestion for the co-host role to be filled by "attractive geek girls" with sufficient knowledge to speak with builders, having elected to "[keep] throwing bigger and better hot babes at it", such as Carmen Electra.[2]
Despite this, viewership and awareness of BattleBots grew progressively over time; contestants Christian Carlberg and Lisa Winter would be invited to appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, BattleBots beat South Park as Comedy Central's highest-rated program for a period during season 3, competitor interest grew, and licensing deals also emerged.[2] The success of BattleBots, however, resulted in competition from other broadcasters; TLC introduced a competing program, Robotica, while other channels imported episodes of the British Robot Wars series.[2] By 2002, the program had begun to face further difficulties; Munson felt that the bouts had become "homogenized" because the participants had "perfected" the sport of robot fighting, leading to a lack of innovation in robot designs and strategies.[2] Furthermore, BattleBots had sued Anheuser-Busch and its advertising agency for producing and airing a commercial during Super Bowl XXXVII that parodied the program and featured a robot greatly resembling one from BattleBots (this lawsuit, however, would be dismissed in 2004, after a judge ruled that the ad was a parody protected by fair use).[3] In September 2002, Comedy Central cancelled BattleBots after its fifth season, BattleBots 5.0. Viacom would acquire full control of the network in April 2003;[2][4] Stucker believed that Comedy Central had become "tired" of the program, and Roski stated that Viacom had wanted to shift Comedy Central back towards traditional comedy programming.[2]
In December 2014, ABC announced that it had picked up a six-episode revival of BattleBots, produced by Whalerock Industries, to premiere in June 2015. Roski and Munson served as executive producers, joined by Lloyd Braun.[5] The revival drew an average viewership of 5.4 million in its Sunday-night timeslot, with a 1.9 share in the 18-49 demographic. In November 2015, ABC announced that it had renewed the BattleBots revival for a second season, which expanded the competition to a 56-team field.[6][7]
Personalities
For the first five seasons, BattleBots was hosted by Bil Dwyer, Sean Salisbury, and Tim Green. Correspondents included former Baywatch actresses Donna D'Errico, Carmen Electra, and Traci Bingham, former Playboy Playmate Heidi Mark, and identical twins Randy and Jason Sklar. Bill Nye was the show's "technical expert". The show's match announcer was longtime boxing ring announcer Mark Beiro.
The 2015 edition was hosted by Molly McGrath, with Chris Rose and former UFC fighter Kenny Florian as commentators. The battle arena announcer is Faruq Tauheed, and Alison Haislip conducts interviews on the sidelines and behind the scenes. The judges are engineer and NASA astronaut Leland Melvin, Nerdist News anchor Jessica Chobot and visual effects artist Fon Davis.
For the 2016 season, Samantha Ponder was added as host, replacing Molly McGrath. The returning judges are Fon Davis, Jessica Chobot, and Leland Melvin, as well as celebrity guest judges Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. actor Clark Gregg, MythBusters host Adam Savage, NFL tightend Vernon Davis, and Youtube star Michael Stevens a.k.a Vsauce.
Celebrity competitors
- Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage (creators of heavyweight Blendo), and Grant Imahara (creator of middleweight Deadblow) of Discovery Channel's MythBusters are former competitors. Deadblow sometimes appears as a "guest Mythbuster", assisting Grant with various experiments including "Driving In The Dark".
- Will Wright, the creator of SimCity and other Sim games, as well as Spore, was a long-time contestant. He competed with middleweight Chiabot in Seasons 1 - 5, multibot RACC along with Mike Winter in Long Beach 1999, and lightweight The Aggressive Polygon in Season 1. His daughter Cassidy competed with middleweight Misty the WonderBot in Seasons 4 - 5.
- Michael Loren Mauldin, founder of Lycos, entered multiple bots over the series, competing with Team Toad.
- One of the founders of BattleBots, Trey Roski, is the son of Edward Roski Jr., one of the owners of the STAPLES Center sports arena in Los Angeles.
- Jay Leno appeared with a novelty BattleBot, Chinkilla – a lift type robot. Chinkilla did not comply with the competition rules and only competed in special exhibition matches at BattleBots events.
- Mark Setrakian, builder/creator of the fighting robots and control suits used on Robot Combat League, is known for his visually appealing robots such as Mechadon and Snake. He has also worked on control technology used for films like Men In Black, The Grinch, and Hellboy. Whilst Setrakian didn't compete in the ABC revival series, he built Axis, a claw-like podium which would rotate the Giant Nut on top of it whilst it was on display.
- Gary Coleman, in promotion with UGO.com, joined Jim Smentowski on Team Nightmare for BattleBots Season 5. In that season, he competed with middleweight Psyche.
- Dan Barry, retired NASA astronaut and Survivor: Panama contestant, competed in Battlebots Season 7 with Black Ice.
Gameplay
Weight classes
Robots at BattleBots tournaments were separated into four weight classes in seasons 1-5. The weight limits increased slightly over time. At the final tournaments the classes were:
- Lightweight – 60 pounds (27 kilograms)
- Middleweight – 120 pounds (54 kilograms)
- Heavyweight – 220 pounds (100 kilograms)
- Superheavyweight – 340 pounds (154 kilograms)
"Walking" robots ("StompBots") propelled by means other than wheels were initially given a 50% weight bonus. The rules changed following the victory of a heavyweight StompBot (Son of Whyachi) at BattleBots 3.0. For BattleBots 4.0 and beyond only a 20% weight bonus was given to walkers and the technical rules specified that walking mechanisms not use cam operated walking mechanisms as they were functionally too similar to wheel operation. Since the rules change, walking robots have entered the competition, but none has achieved any success beyond preliminary rounds.
Starting in season 6, there are no longer separate weight classes. However, there is a 250-pound weight limit.
Matches
Matches are three minutes long. During a match, two robots do their best to destroy each other using whatever means available. The match begins by a series of lights that flash from yellow to green. The original Comedy Central version used a standard Christmas tree as seen in the sport of drag racing; the ABC revival uses just one box of lights that flash yellow three times, and then flash green.
There are only two events that cause the match to be paused and people enter the BattleBox. One is the event that the robots are stuck together and cannot separate or that both have simultaneously become immobilized. The other scenario is that one or both 'bots have caught on fire. In that case, the people entering the BattleBox are equipped with a fire extinguisher.
If a robot is unable to move for ten seconds, because it is too badly damaged or it is stuck on the arena hazards, it is declared knocked out. In the Comedy Central version, the driver could also call a "tap-out" to forfeit the match if his or her robot is about to be destroyed. This ends the match ten seconds later; the opposing driver is "asked" (but not instructed) not to attack during the ten-second count.
If both robots survive the three minutes, three judges distribute a total of 45 points (15 points a judge, 5 points per judge per category) over three categories. The robot with the higher score wins. The judging categories are Aggression, Strategy, and Damage. In Season 6 (June/July 2015), the judging categories were Aggression, Damage, Strategy, and Control. A robot who hangs back safely from its opponent will not get many Aggression points; one in there fighting the whole time, however, will. The Strategy category is about how well a robot exploits its opponent's weaknesses, protects its own, and handles the hazards. A robot driving over the kill saws will lose points here, unless it had good reason to do so, while a robot that is able to attack its opponent's weak areas will gain points. The Damage category is for how much damage the bot can deal to its opponent while remaining intact itself.
The winner moves on; the loser is eliminated from the tournament.
At the end of the tournament, a series of 'rumbles' or 'melee rounds' is typically held in each weight class, allowing robots that survived the main tournament to fight in a 'free for all' in a 5-minute match. Occasionally there are too many robots for one rumble, and multiple rumbles are held with the top surviving bots competing in a final event. During the Season 5 Heavyweight rumble (the first rumble of that competition), a sheared-off robot part went through the Lexan arena roof and fell (harmlessly) into the audience. Because of this, the rest of the rumbles were canceled due to safety concerns.[8]
Arena
The BattleBox is a 48' x 48' square arena designed to protect the drivers, officials, and audience from flying shrapnel and charging bots. It was originally designed by Pete Lampertson. For the 2015 season, Pete is still overseeing the box with the help of Matt Neubauer. It has a steel floor and steel-framed walls and roof paneled with thick, bulletproof polycarbonate plastic. The teams bring their robots in through doorways, which are sealed after all humans have exited. The drivers control their machines from outside the sealed arena.
Arena hazards are intended to make fights more interesting and unpredictable, and to reward drivers who can avoid the hazards while pushing or carrying their opponent into them. Hazards from the first five seasons include:
- Pulverizers: Originally pneumatic powered standard sledgehammers that did minimal damage, the Pulverizers were first upgraded to 50 pound aluminum mallets for season 2, and were again upgraded to 150 pound mallets for season 3 and beyond. The pulverizers were capable of causing serious damage to the lighter weight class robots.
- Spike Strips: The lower walls of the arena are lined with inward pointing 6-inch long sharpened steel spikes. Pushing an opponent hard into a wall can sometimes lodge it into the spikes, immobilizing it.
- Spinners: Large, rapidly spinning discs embedded in the arena floor, Not intended to damage a robot, but rather to interfere with navigation. The spinners could fling lighter class robots across the arena, but the impact on heavier robots was minimal
- Kill Saws: Spinning circular saw blades that rise out of slots in the arena floor under the control of "Pulverizer Pete". These carbide-tipped saw blades can damage a robot's tires or chassis. In later seasons, red 'throwing blades' were added to increase the chance of a bot being thrown across the arena.
- Pistons: Introduced in Season 3, the Pistons are steel columns that raise and lower from the floor without warning. They can stop a charging robot or tip a slow moving robot onto its side. The Pistons were removed for Seasons 4 and 5.
- Ramrods: Sharpened steel spikes that rise up out of the arena floor in groups of six, serving either to lift a robot off the ground or damage vulnerable portions of the undercarriage.
- Hell Raisers: A pneumatic ram can tilt up specific sections of the arena floor. The 15 degree tilt may become a launching ramp, or may abruptly block passage. The Hell Raisers were removed for Season 5 to allow more uncluttered room for the robots.
- Screws: Introduced for season 3, these devices were a modification to the static spike strips. The screws were continually rotating augers placed horizontally along the edges of the arena floor. The Screws were intended to scrape up a bot, and possibly drag it closer to the Pulverizers due to the corkscrew design. Much like the Spinners, the Screws had a greater effect on the lighter weight classes—although their impact on all weight classes was small. For Season 5, the screws were upgraded with biting 'teeth' to better catch onto robots. Their rotation was also modified so that instead of 'pushing' in one direction, they converged in a corner from opposite directions and created a 'V' that could damage or turn over robots.
Series overview
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Season 1 (2000)
Season 2 (2000)
Tournament Winners: November 2000, Las Vegas: (Winners shown in bold)
- Super heavyweight Winner – Diesector (defeated Hamunaptra, World Peace, Rammstein, War Machine, and Atomic Wedgie)
- Heavyweight Winner – BioHazard (defeated M.O.E., Suicidal Tendencies, Nightmare, frenZy and Vlad the Impaler)
- Middleweight Winner – Spaz (defeated Tobor Rabies, Blue Streak, Buddy Lee Don't Play In The Street, Bad Attitude, and El Diablo)
- Lightweight Winner – Ziggo (defeated Scrap Metal, Scrap Daddy LW55, Afterthought 2.0, Beta Raptor, and Backlash)
| No. overall |
No. in season |
Original air date | Battle 1 | Battle 2 | Battle 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | 1 | December 12, 2000 | Mecha Tentoumushi vs. Evil Fish Tank (Lightweight round of 16) | N/A | |
| 17 | 2 | December 19, 2000 | Mauler 51-50 vs. Bigger Brother (Heavyweight round of 32) | Snake vs. War Machine (Super heavyweight round of 16) | Toe-Crusher vs. No Tolerance III (Lightweight round of 16) |
| 18 | 3 | December 19, 2000 | Vlad the Impaler vs. Mjollnir (Heavyweight round of 16) | Turbo vs. Buddy Lee Don't Play in the Street (Middleweight round of 16) | Chinkilla vs. Ginsu (Exhibition match) |
| 19 | 4 | December 26, 2000 | frenZy vs. Panic Attack (Heavyweight round of 16) | BioHazard vs. Suicidal Tendencies (Heavyweight round of 16) | GoldDigger vs. KillerHurtz (Heavyweight round of 16) |
| 20 | 5 | January 2, 2001 | Scrap Daddy LW55 vs. Ziggo (Lightweight round of 16) | OverKill vs. FrostBite (Heavyweight round of 16) | Sallad vs. Mouser Mecha-Catbot (Lightweight round of 16) |
| 21 | 6 | January 9, 2001 | Voltronic vs. Bigger Brother (Heavyweight round of 16) | Complete Control vs. Super Chiabot (Middleweight round of 16) | Atomic Wedgie vs. Minion (Super heavyweight round of 16) |
| Battle 4: Tripulta Raptor vs. Toro (Super heavyweight round of 16) | |||||
| 22 | 7 | January 16, 2001 | Deadblow vs. Kegger (Middleweight round of 16) | Blade Runner vs. Scrap Daddy MW110 (Middleweight round of 16) | Subject to Change Without Reason vs. The Master (Middleweight round of 16) Quarter-Finals intro |
| 23 | 8 | January 23, 2001 | Ziggo vs. Afterthought 2.0 (Lightweight Quarter-Finals) | Tazbot vs. Vlad the Impaler (Heavyweight Quarter-Finals) | Nightmare vs. BioHazard (Heavyweight Quarter-Finals) |
| 24 | 9 | January 30, 2001 | Revision Z vs. Ronin (Super heavyweight Quarter-Finals) | Spaz vs. Buddy Lee Don't Play in the Street (Middleweight Quarter-Finals) | Blade Runner vs. The Master (Middleweight Quarter-Finals) |
| 25 | 10 | February 6, 2001 | Diesector vs. Rammstein (Super heavyweight Quarter-Finals) | Toe-Crusher vs. Evil Fish Tank (Lightweight Quarter-Finals) | Deadblow vs. Bad Attitude (Middleweight Quarter-Finals) |
| 26 | 11 | February 13, 2001 | Atomic Wedgie vs. Toro (Superheavyweight Quarter-Finals) | El Diablo vs. Complete Control (Middleweight Quarter-Finals) | GoldDigger vs frenZy (Heavyweight Quarter-Finals) |
| 27 | 12 | February 13, 2001 | Backlash vs. Sallad (Lightweight Quarter-Finals) | FrostBite vs. Voltronic (Heavyweight Quarter-Finals) | War Machine vs. DooAll (Superheavyweight Quarter-Finals) |
| Battle 4: The Crusher vs. Beta Raptor (Lightweight Quarter-Finals) | |||||
| 28 | 13 | February 20, 2001 | Ziggo vs. Beta Raptor (Lightweight Semi-Finals) | Backlash vs. Toe-Crusher (Lightweight Semi-Finals ) | Backlash vs. Ziggo (Lightweight Finals) |
| 29 | 14 | February 20, 2001 | Vlad the Impaler vs. Voltronic (Heavyweight Semi-Finals) | frenZy vs. BioHazard (Heavyweight Semi-Finals) | Vlad the Impaler vs. BioHazard (Heavyweight Finals) |
| 30 | 15 | February 27, 2001 | Revision Z vs. Gray Matter (Super heavyweight round of 16) | Revision Z vs. Atomic Wedgie (Super heavyweight Semi-Finals) Heavyweight Rumble 1 | Diesector vs. War Machine (Super heavyweight Semi-Finals) |
| Battle 4: Diesector vs. Atomic Wedgie (Super heavyweight Finals) | |||||
| 31 | 16 | March 6, 2001 | Bad Attitude vs. SABotage (Middleweight round of 16) Middleweight Rumble | Bad Attitude vs. Spaz (Middleweight Semi-Finals) Super heavyweight Rumble | Ankle Biter vs. El Diablo (Middleweight round of 16) |
| Battle 4: El Diablo vs. Spaz (Middleweight Finals) | |||||
| 32 | 17 | March 13, 2001 | Remaining Rumbles | Recap Show | |
Season 3 (2001)
Tournament Winners: May 2001, Treasure Island (Winners shown in bold)
- Super heavyweight Winner – Vladiator (defeated JuggerBot, Hammertime, Revision Z, Techno Destructo, Diesector, and Minion)
- Heavyweight Winner – Son of Whyachi (defeated Shaka, Crab Meat, Kill-O-Amp, Nightmare, MechaVore, HexaDecimator, and BioHazard)
- Middleweight Winner – Hazard (defeated Fusion, Zion, F5, T-Wrex, and Little Drummer Boy)
- Lightweight Winner – Dr. Inferno Jr. (defeated Blood Dragon, Toe-Crusher, Bad Habit, Herr Gepoünden, Sallad, and Gamma Raptor)
| No. overall |
No. in season |
Original air date | Battle 1 | Battle 2 | Battle 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33 | 1 | July 10, 2001 | Nightmare vs. Slam Job (Heavyweight round of 32) | Shish-ka-bot 1.1 vs. Trilobot (Lightweight round of 64) | Minion vs. Ogre (Super heavyweight round of 16) |
| 34 | 2 | July 10, 2001 | Double Agent vs. Turbo (Middleweight round of 32) | Toro vs. World Peace (Super heavyweight round of 16) | N/A |
| 35 | 3 | July 17, 2001 | Hammertime vs. Vladiator (Super heavyweight round of 32) | Toe-Crusher vs. Dr. Inferno Jr. (Lightweight round of 32) | Little Sister vs. Gammatron (Heavyweight round of 64) |
| 36 | 4 | July 17, 2001 | Subject to Change Without Reason vs. Complete Control (Middleweight round of 32) | Bad Attitude vs. T-Wrex (Middleweight round of 16) | HexaDecimator vs. Fork-N-Stein (Heavyweight round of 64) |
| 37 | 5 | July 24, 2001 | Ziggo vs. Wacker (Lightweight round of 32) | Vlad the Impaler vs. MechaVore (Heavyweight round of 16) | CUAD the Crusher vs. Techno Destructo (Super heavyweight round of 32) |
| 38 | 6 | July 24, 2001 | BattleRat vs. Crash Test Dummy (Heavyweight round of 64) | Little Sister vs. BioHazard (Heavyweight round of 32) | Little Drummer Boy vs. Blade Runner (Middleweight round of 16) |
| 39 | 7 | July 31, 2001 | Rim Tin Tin vs. HammerHead (Lightweight round of 64) | Son of Whyachi vs. Nightmare (Heavyweight round of 16) | Omega-13 vs. KillerHurtz (Heavyweight round of 16) |
| Battle 4: Chinkilla vs. Nibbler, Reactore, SMD, Mordicus, Gungnire, and General Gau (Exhibition match, no winner) | |||||
| 40 | 8 | July 31, 2001 | Sallad vs. Carnage Raptor (Lightweight round of 32) | Ankle Biter vs. F5 (Middleweight round of 32) | Blood Moon vs. Shaft (Lightweight round of 64) |
| 41 | 9 | August 7, 2001 | Rammstein vs. The Judge (Super heavyweight round of 16) | Twin Paradox vs. Deadblow (Middleweight round of 16) | I-Beam vs. Greenspan (Heavyweight round of 64) |
| Battle 4: Sisyphus vs. Death By Monkeys (Lightweight round of 32) | |||||
| 42 | 10 | August 7, 2001 | Tazbot vs. GoldDigger (Heavyweight round of 16) | OverKill vs. M.O.E. (Heavyweight round of 64) | Voltronic vs. Bacchus (Heavyweight round of 16) |
| 43 | 11 | August 14, 2001 | Blood Moon vs. Mouser Super Mecha-Catbot (Lightweight round of 32) | Zion vs. Hazard (Middleweight round of 16) | SABotage vs. Double Agent (Middleweight round of 16) |
| 44 | 12 | August 14, 2001 | T-Minus vs. Sunshine Lollibot (Middleweight round of 16) | Dawn of Destruction vs. Diesector (Super heavyweight round of 16) | Wedge of Doom vs. The Wacky Compass (Lightweight round of 64) |
| 45 | 13 | August 21, 2001 | Ziggo vs. Shrike (Lightweight round of 16) | Tazbot vs. BioHazard (Heavyweight Quarter-Finals) | Phere vs. Toro (Super heavyweight Quarter-Finals) |
| 46 | 14 | August 21, 2001 | Diesector vs. Rammstein (Super heavyweight Quarter-Finals) | Techno Destructo vs. Vladiator (Super heavyweight Quarter-Finals) | Chinkilla vs. La Machine, Dreadnought, and Ginsu (Exhibition match) |
| 47 | 15 | August 28, 2001 | KillerHurtz vs. HexaDecimator (Heavyweight Quarter-Finals) | Electric Lunch vs. Minion (Super heavyweight Quarter-Finals) | MechaVore vs. Son of Whyachi (Heavyweight Quarter-Finals) |
| 48 | 16 | August 28, 2001 | Son of Whyachi vs. HexaDecimator (Heavyweight Semi-Finals) | OverKill vs. BioHazard (Heavyweight Semi-Finals) | Son of Whyachi vs. BioHazard (Heavyweight Finals) |
| 49 | 17 | September 4, 2001 | Herr Gepoünden vs. Dr. Inferno Jr. (Lightweight Quarter-Finals) | T-Minus vs. T-Wrex (Middleweight Quarter-Finals) | Gamma Raptor vs. Mouser Super Mecha-Catbot (Lightweight Quarter-Finals) |
| 50 | 18 | September 4, 2001 | Vladiator vs. Diesector (Super heavyweight Semi-Finals) | Minion vs. Toro (Super heavyweight Semi-Finals) | Minion vs. Vladiator (Super heavyweight Finals) |
| 51 | 19 | September 11, 2001 | T-Wrex vs. Hazard (Middleweight Semi-Finals) | Little Drummer Boy vs. SABotage (Middleweight Semi-Finals) | Little Drummer Boy vs. Hazard (Middleweight Finals) |
| 52 | 20 | September 11, 2001 | Sallad vs. Dr. Inferno Jr. (Lightweight Semi-Finals) | Gamma Raptor vs. Wedge of Doom (Lightweight Semi-Finals) | Dr. Inferno Jr. vs. Gamma Raptor (Lightweight Finals) |
Season 4 (2001)
Tournament Winners: November 2001, Treasure Island: (Winners shown in bold)
- Super heavyweight Winner – Toro (defeated Maximus, The Judge, Vladiator, Little Blue Engine and New Cruelty)
- Heavyweight Winner – BioHazard (defeated Stealth Terminator, Jabberwock, Nightmare, Tazbot and OverKill)
- Middleweight Winner – Hazard (defeated Timmy, SABotage, El Diablo, Heavy Metal Noise and Complete Control)
- Lightweight Winner – Ziggo (defeated SnowFlake, Serial Box Killer, Wedge of Doom, Death By Monkeys, and The Big B)
| No. overall |
No. in season |
Original air date | Battle 1 | Battle 2 | Battle 3 | Battle 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 53 | 1 | January 8, 2002 | Phrizbee vs. Deathstar (Heavyweight round of 64) | Ravager vs. T-Minus (Middleweight round of 64) | Fantom Thrust vs. The Probe (Super heavyweight round of 64) | Scrap Daddy Surplus vs. Wedge of Doom (Lightweight round of 32) |
| 54 | 2 | January 8, 2002 | TriMangle vs. Vladiator (Super heavyweight round of 32) | Sharkbyte vs. KillerB (Heavyweight round of 32) | Ziggo vs. SnowFlake (Lightweight round of 32) | N/A |
| 55 | 3 | January 15, 2002 | Ziggo vs. Serial Box Killer (Lightweight round of 16) | Eradicator vs. Swirlee (Super heavyweight round of 64) | Maximus vs. Pharmapac (Super heavyweight round of 64) | Toe-Crusher vs. Low Blow (Lightweight round of 32) |
| 56 | 4 | January 15, 2002 | Malvolio vs. Bad Attitude (Middleweight round of 32) | Bender vs. Little Sister (Heavyweight round of 64) | Tentoumushi 7.0 vs. Wedge of Doom (Lightweight round of 16) | N/A |
| 57 | 5 | January 22, 2002 | Surgeon General vs. FrostBite (Heavyweight round of 32) | Hazard vs. Timmy (Middleweight round of 32) | Short Order Chef vs. T-Minus (Middleweight round of 32) | Slap 'Em Silly vs. Mouser Classic Mecha-Catbot (Lightweight round of 32) |
| 58 | 6 | January 22, 2002 | El Diablo Grande vs. SlamJob (Heavyweight round of 64) | M.O.E. vs. PyRAMidroid (Heavyweight round of 64) | El Diablo vs. Turtle Road Kill (Middleweight round of 16) | N/A |
| 59 | 7 | January 29, 2002 | Son of Whyachi vs. Swirlee (Super heavyweight round of 32) | MechaVore vs. Towering Inferno (Heavyweight round of 32) | Afterthought vs. Slap 'Em Silly (Lightweight round of 16) | Carnage Raptor vs. Whirligig (Lightweight round of 32) |
| 60 | 8 | January 29, 2002 | Atomic Wedgie vs. Ogre (Super heavyweight round of 32) | Phrizbee vs. HexaDecimator (Heavyweight round of 32) | The Matador vs. Omega-13 (Heavyweight round of 32) | N/A |
| 61 | 9 | February 5, 2002 | Heavy Metal Noise vs. T-Minus (Middleweight round of 16) | Ziggo vs. Wedge of Doom (Lightweight Quarter-Finals) | Toro vs. Maximus (Super heavyweight round of 32) | N/A |
| 62 | 10 | February 5, 2002 | Ziggo vs. Death By Monkeys (Lightweight Semi-Finals) | Minion vs. No Apologies (Super heavyweight round of 32) | Hammertime vs. The Judge (Super heavyweight round of 32) | Ziggo vs. The Big B (Lightweight Finals) |
| 63 | 11 | February 12, 2002 | Toro vs. The Judge (Super heavyweight round of 16) | Ogre vs. Techno Destructo (Super heavyweight round of 16) | Junkyard Offspring vs. Nightmare (Heavyweight round of 32) | Ronin vs. Diesector (Super heavyweight round of 16) |
| 64 | 12 | February 12, 2002 | New Cruelty vs. Odin II (Super heavyweight round of 32) | Toro vs. Vladiator (Super heavyweight Quarter-Finals) | Techno Destructo vs. Diesector (Super heavyweight Quarter-Finals) | N/A |
| 65 | 13 | February 19, 2002 | Little Blue Engine vs. Toro (Super heavyweight Semi-Finals) | Stealth Terminator vs. Center Punch (Heavyweight round of 64) | Diesector vs. New Cruelty (Super heavyweight Semi-Finals) | N/A |
| 66 | 14 | February 19, 2002 | Toro vs. New Cruelty (Super heavyweight Finals) | Silverback vs. Agitator (Heavyweight round of 64) | Pack Raptors vs. SABotage (Middleweight round of 32) | N/A |
| 67 | 15 | February 26, 2002 | SABotage vs. Hazard (Middleweight round of 16) | Huggy Bear vs. Double Agent (Middleweight round of 32) | Mauler 51-50 vs. Jabberwock (Heavyweight round of 32) | Silverback vs. Tazbot (Heavyweight round of 32) |
| 68 | 16 | February 26, 2002 | Complete Control vs. Psychotron (Middleweight round of 16) | BattleRat vs. Nightmare (Heavyweight round of 16) | Bad Attitude vs. Complete Control (Middleweight Quarter-Finals) | N/A |
| 69 | 17 | March 5, 2002 | The Matador vs. M.O.E. (Heavyweight round of 16) | Hazard vs. El Diablo (Middleweight Quarter-Finals) | OverKill vs MechaVore (Heavyweight round of 16) | BioHazard vs. Nightmare (Heavyweight Quarter-Finals) |
| 70 | 18 | March 5, 2002 | KillerHurtz vs Little Sister (Heavyweight round of 32) | Sharkbyte vs HexaDecimator (Heavyweight round of 16) | SlamJob vs. frenZy (Heavyweight round of 32) | KillerHurtz vs. Surgeon General (Heavyweight round of 16) |
| 71 | 19 | March 12, 2002 | Heavy Metal Noise vs. Hazard (Middleweight Semi-Finals) | Complete Control vs. Zion (Middleweight Semi-Finals) | Surgeon General vs. HexaDecimator (Heavyweight Quarter-Finals) | Hazard vs. Complete Control (Middleweight Finals) |
| 72 | 20 | March 12, 2002 | Surgeon General vs. OverKill (Heavyweight Semi-Finals) | BioHazard vs. Tazbot (Heavyweight Semi-Finals) | BioHazard vs. OverKill (Heavyweight Finals) | N/A |
Season 5 (2002)
Tournament Winners: May 2002, Treasure Island: (Winners shown in bold)
- Super heavyweight Winner – Diesector (defeated Final Destiny, Dreadnought, Hammertime, New Cruelty, and Vladiator)
- Heavyweight Winner – BioHazard (defeated Center Punch, Greenspan, MechaVore, Aces and Eights, and Voltronic)
- Middleweight Winner – T-Minus (defeated TriDent, Double Agent, Huggy Bear, previously undefeated Hazard, and S.O.B.)
- Lightweight Winner – Dr. Inferno Jr. (defeated Afterburner, Tentoumushi 8.0, Death By Monkeys, Gamma Raptor, and Wedge of Doom)
| No. overall |
No. in season |
Original air date | Battle 1 | Battle 2 | Battle 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 73 | 1 | August 20, 2002 | Warhead vs. Darkstar-2J (Heavyweight round of 64) | Ziggo vs. Code:BLACK (Lightweight round of 32) | Son of Whyachi vs. Steel Reign (Super heavyweight round of 32) |
| Battle 4: Moebius vs. Ankle Biter (Middleweight round of 64) | |||||
| 74 | 2 | August 27, 2002 | Backlash vs. Burning Metal (Lightweight round of 32) | Wee Willy Wedgy vs. Little Drummer Boy (Middleweight round of 32) | M.O.E. vs. Stealth Terminator (Heavyweight round of 32) |
| Battle 4: Slap 'Em Silly vs. Rambite 2.0 (Lightweight round of 32) | |||||
| 75 | 3 | September 3, 2002 | Wedge of Doom vs. Wireless Wonder (Lightweight round of 32) | Twin Paradox vs. S.O.B. (Middleweight round of 32) | Codebreaker vs. Techno Destructo (Super heavyweight round of 32) |
| Battle 4: Nightmare vs. Warhead (Heavyweight round of 32) | |||||
| 76 | 4 | September 10, 2002 | Hazard vs. Misty the WonderBot (Middleweight round of 32) | Patriot vs. Sallad (Lightweight round of 32) | The Matador vs. frenZy (Heavyweight round of 32) |
| Battle 4: No Apologies vs. The Judge (Super heavyweight round of 32) | |||||
| 77 | 5 | September 21, 2002 | Wrath Jr. vs. Complete Control (Middleweight round of 32) | Toro vs. Phrizbee-Ultimate (Super heavyweight round of 32) | Vladiator vs. Pro-AM (Super heavyweight round of 32) |
| 78 | 6 | September 28, 2002 | Gammacide vs. Dreadnought (Super heavyweight round of 32) | Sublime vs. Death By Monkeys (Lightweight round of 32) | Final Destiny vs. Gray Matter (Super heavyweight round of 64) |
| 79 | 7 | October 5, 2002 | Vlad the Impaler II vs. Spitfire (Heavyweight round of 64) | T-Minus vs. TriDent (Middleweight round of 32) | Tazbot vs. Ringmaster (Heavyweight round of 32) |
| 80 | 8 | October 12, 2002 | Phrizbee-Ultimate vs. IceBerg (Super heavyweight round of 16) | Diesector vs. Final Destiny (Super heavyweight round of 32) | Ankle Biter vs. El Diablo (Middleweight round of 32) |
| 81 | 9 | October 19, 2002 | Codebreaker vs. Minion (Super heavyweight round of 16) | The Master vs. Ankle Biter (Middleweight round of 16) | Hazard vs. Blade Runner (Middleweight round of 16) |
| 82 | 10 | October 26, 2002 | Sallad vs. Hexy Jr. (Lightweight round of 16) | Atomic Wedgie vs. Maximus (Super heavyweight round of 16) | BioHazard vs. Greenspan (Heavyweight round of 16) |
| 83 | 11 | November 2, 2002 | T-Wrex vs. S.O.B. (Middleweight round of 16) | Double Agent vs. T-Minus (Middleweight round of 16) | BattleRat vs. OverKill (Heavyweight round of 16) |
| 84 | 12 | November 9, 2002 | Warhead vs. The Matador (Heavyweight round of 16) | Dreadnought vs. Diesector (Super heavyweight round of 16) | MechaVore vs. Mauler 51-50 (Heavyweight round of 16) |
| 85 | 13 | November 16, 2002 | Dr. Inferno Jr. vs. Tentoumushi 8.0 (Lightweight round of 16) | Son of Whyachi vs. No Apologies (Super heavyweight round of 16) | Bad Attitude vs. Huggy Bear (Middleweight round of 16) |
| 86 | 14 | November 23, 2002 | Zion vs. SABotage (Middleweight round of 16) | Slap 'Em Silly vs. Wedge of Doom (Lightweight round of 16) | N/A |
| 87 | 15 | November 30, 2002 | Turtle vs. Ankle Biter (Middleweight Quarter-Finals) | Huggy Bear vs. T-Minus (Middleweight Quarter-Finals) | Zion vs. Hazard (Middleweight Quarter-Finals) |
| 88 | 16 | December 7, 2002 | S.O.B. vs. Turtle (Middleweight Semi-Finals) | Hazard vs. T-Minus (Middleweight Semi-Finals) | T-Minus vs. S.O.B. (Middleweight Finals) |
| 89 | 17 | December 14, 2002 | MechaVore vs. BioHazard (Heavyweight Quarter-Finals) | Warhead vs. OverKill (Heavyweight Quarter-Finals) | Aces and Eights vs. HexaDecimator (Heavyweight Quarter-Finals) |
| Battle 4: BioHazard vs. Voltronic (Heavyweight Finals) | |||||
| 90 | 18 | December 14, 2002 | Codebreaker vs. Vladiator (Super heavyweight Quarter-Finals) | Diesector vs. Hammertime (Super heavyweight Quarter-Finals) | Maximus vs. IceBerg (Super heavyweight Quarter-Finals) |
| 91 | 19 | December 21, 2002 | Wedge of Doom vs. Code:BLACK (Lightweight Semi-Finals) | Dr. Inferno Jr. vs. Gamma Raptor (Lightweight Semi-Finals) | Dr. Inferno Jr. vs. Wedge of Doom (Lightweight Finals) |
| 92 | 20 | December 21, 2002 | Vladiator vs. Maximus (Super heavyweight Semi-Finals) | Diesector vs. New Cruelty (Super heavyweight Semi-Finals) | Diesector vs. Vladiator (Super heavyweight Finals) |
Season 6 (2015)
| No. overall |
No. in season |
Title | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 93 | 1 | "The Battle Begins: Qualifiers, Part 1" | June 21, 2015 | 5.44[9] |
| 94 | 2 | "Crunch Time: Qualifiers, Part 2" | June 28, 2015 | 4.84[10] |
| 95 | 3 | "Full Metal Bracket: Round of 16 Part 1" | July 5, 2015 | 4.15[11] |
| 96 | 4 | "Last Chance to Advance: Round of 16 Part 2" | July 12, 2015 | 4.07[12] |
| 97 | 5 | "The Great 8: Quarterfinals" | July 19, 2015 | 4.45[13] |
| 98 | 6 | "One Bot Rules Them All: Final 4/Finals" | July 26, 2015 | 4.62[14] |
Season 7 (2016)
| No. overall |
No. in season |
Title | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 99 | 1 | "The Gears Awaken" | May 10, 2016 | 1.97[15] |
| 100 | 2 | "Robots Activate: Qualifying Round Begins" | June 23, 2016 | 3.91[16] |
| 101 | 3 | "There Will Be Bot Blood: The Qualifying Round Concludes" | June 30, 2016 | 3.59[17] |
| 102 | 4 | "We're Gonna Need a Bigger Bracket: The Round of 32, Part 1" | July 7, 2016 | 3.45[18] |
| 103 | 5 | "Shake, Battle and Roll: The Round of 32, Part 2" | July 21, 2016 | 2.96[19] |
| 104 | 6 | "The Good, the Bot, and the Ugly: The Round of 32 Concludes" | July 28, 2016 | 3.24[20] |
| 105 | 7 | "Not So Sweet 16: The Round of 16 Part 1" | August 4, 2016 | 3.32[21] |
| 106 | 8 | "Rise of the Machines: The Round of 16 Part 2" | August 25, 2016 | 3.43[22] |
| 107 | 9 | "Gr8 Expectations: The Quarterfinals" | September 1, 2016 | 5.61[23] |
| 108 | 10 | "One Shining Bot: The Championship" | September 1, 2016 | 5.61[23] |
Repeats
On July 5, 2017, Science picked up reruns of the ABC series to begin airing on Wednesday, July 12, 2017.[24]
See also
- FIRST Robotics Competition
- Robot Fighting League
- Survival Research Laboratories
- RoboGames
- Robot Wars (TV series)
References
- ↑ "ABC Reality shows". ABC. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Robot Wars: An oral history of the birth and death of BattleBots". SBNation. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- ↑ "Lawsuit Over Bud Light Ad Dismissed". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- ↑ "Viacom buys Comedy Central". CNNMoney. CNN. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- ↑ "At The "Intersection Of Design And Destruction," ABC Reignites "BattleBots" With Creative Combat". Fast Company. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
- ↑ "ABC Renews ‘BattleBots’ for Season 2". TheWrap. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
- ↑ "BattleBots is coming back for a second season on ABC". The Verge. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
- ↑ RobotCombat.com http://www.robotcombat.com/nightmare_sf02.html
- ↑ Bibel, Sara (June 22, 2015). "Sunday Final Ratings: U.S. Open Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
- ↑ Kondolojy, Amanda (June 30, 2015). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Celebrity Family Feud' & 'Big Brother' Adjusted Up; 'Golan the Insatiable' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
- ↑ Bibel, Sara (July 8, 2015). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Big Brother' & 'Celebrity Family Feud' Adjusted Up & Final Women's World Cup Numbers". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
- ↑ Bibel, Sara (July 14, 2015). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Big Brother' Adjusted Up, 'BattleBots' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
- ↑ Bibel, Sara (July 21, 2015). "Sunday Final Ratings: No Adjustments to 'Celebrity Family Feud', 'Big Brother', 'BattleBots' or 'Welcome to Sweden'". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
- ↑ Kondolojy, Amanda (July 28, 2015). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Big Brother' Adjusted Up; No Adjustment for 'Celebrity Family Feud' or 'Welcome to Sweden'". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
- ↑ Porter, Rick (May 11, 2016). "Tuesday final ratings: ‘NCIS’ and ‘NCIS: New Orleans’ adjust up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
- ↑ Porter, Rick (June 24, 2016). "Thursday final ratings: 'Spartan: Ultimate Team Challenge' adjusts up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
- ↑ Porter, Rick (July 1, 2016). "Thursday final ratings: 'Greatest Hits,' 'Big Brother' and all others hold". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
- ↑ Porter, Rick (July 8, 2016). "Thursday final ratings: ‘Big Brother’ adjusts up, ‘Greatest Hits’ and ‘Aquarius’ adjust down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
- ↑ Porter, Rick (July 22, 2016). "Thursday final ratings: ABC’s RNC coverage adjusts up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
- ↑ Porter, Rick (July 29, 2016). "Thursday final ratings: 'Home Free' adjusts up, 'Hollywood Game Night' adjusts down, final DNC numbers". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
- ↑ Porter, Rick (August 5, 2016). "Thursday final ratings: ‘BattleBots’ adjusts up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
- ↑ Porter, Rick (August 26, 2016). "Thursday final ratings: NFL preseason on NBC adjusts up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
- 1 2 Porter, Rick (September 2, 2016). "TV Ratings Thursday: ‘Big Brother’ leads an NFL-inflated night". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
- ↑ "Science Channel Steps Into the Ring This Summer with "BattleBots"". The Futon Critic. July 5, 2017. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
External links
- Official website
- (Comedy Central version)
- (ABC version)
- Full results of major robotic competitions including Robot Wars, BattleBots and Robotica
- 2000 Series on IMDb
- 2015 Series on IMDb