American Gladiators

American Gladiators is an American competition television program that aired weekly in syndication from September 1989 to May 1996. The series featured amateur athletes competing against each other and a team of professional athletes known as the Gladiators in events testing strength and agility. The concept was created by Dan Carr and John C. Ferraro, who first held the competition at Erie Tech High School in Erie, Pennsylvania. They sold the idea to The Samuel Goldwyn Company, where it was further developed into the television series American Gladiators. A 2004 attempt to launch a live version of American Gladiators on the Las Vegas Strip was halted due to a securities fraud investigation. The television series was revived in 2008. From 2007 to 2009, episodes from the original run aired on ESPN Classic, and several episodes remain available for download through Apple's iTunes Service.