American Ninja Warrior season 8 / Spartan Ultimate Team Challenge

[JirinPanthosa]

Don't know if anybody else is interested in American Ninja Warrior but I get into it every year and even train at Ninja Warrior gyms. Thought I'd create a thread to discuss it as we always have at least one for the big reality competition shows.

I love the show and often use it as a backdrop for strength workouts. My criticism of the show is over the format. I wish they'd treat it more like a sport and less like a reality show. Yeah, there are ninja competitions that are strictly sports run by UNAA and a lot of individual gyms. Competitions you don't have to apply for and be photogenic to get on. It'd be nice if the most well known incarnation of the sport was more equitable in terms of accessibility, and it'd also be nice if ANW promoted these smaller competitions or even used them as qualifiers for the show. So many of the top ANW athletes are actually running these gyms that run these contests it makes no sense for them not to except that they can't afford to pay for the ad time.

I'd like the show to be less heavily edited, more accessible to the strongest athletes who are neither photogenic nor have sob stories, and focus less on the narratives. But as it is the show is still incredibly entertaining and motivating.

It was also weird last year how the city finals courses were so much harder than stage 1 of Mt Midoryama.

I have this idea if I ever apply to the show to use an '8 bit ninja' gimmick, and make my audition tape like the premise of an NES game, with blocky costume and video game music and score icons edited into my demo run. Not that I'm ugly or anything, but I'm not exactly TV-good looking, so something like that is probably my only shot.

I run lots of Spartan races so of course I'll leave the TV on for the Spartan reality show running after, but of course I'm skeptical as it is also reality show format.

 

[Morpheus 02]

I really like American Ninja Warrior as it is a great family show, and you can jump in any time. And even if you have favorites, we all mourn when someone calls and cheer if they succeed

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

I'm a fan. It's concurrent with my increasing interest in fitness - and it's tough to NOT cheer for every single contestant, regardless of their sob story or ridiculous outfit (Wonder Woman AND a Tyrannosaurus Rex this year?!). Unlike similar shows like Takeshi's Castle, I'm watching them to see them succeed, rather than wipe out as ridiculously as possible.

Still, yeah - I could do with less of the backstory and more of just getting on with it. But I also appreciate their need to break up what is a very repetitive formula for the show. All reality type programming has to shoot low (in Canada we actually HAVE "Canada's Smartest Person", and even that can be pretty pedantic), but this one has a simple enough gimmick that they have to spruce it up somehow (and to be fair, on the original show "Sasuke" they do exactly the same thing, albeit with less judicious editing). Perhaps they could post the unedited runs on their online channels, instead of just the same clips lifted from the episodes...

I've already signed off of Spartan. Fun as those races can be, IMO it's like golf - you have to BE there to really appreciate it.

Mark

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I agree about Spartan. I enjoy the TV coverage of the actual races though they sometimes feel like Reebok commercials, and I like the Battlefrog college championship coverage. For a Spartan TV show to really work I think it'd need to be a condensed short course with heats and qualification and such.

I'm running the Palmerton TV race in the elite heat. I may actually appear in the background behind the celebrities. Or if the top female elites get to an obstacle at the same time I do.

ANW is so fun, I tend to work out harder when I'm watching it.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

One thing I don't get about yesterday's ep.

Why didn't more people use the switch grip for the Wedge?

People were unable to make the jump because the bar turned in their hand. When Jessie Grahf used switch grip I thought it was brilliant, because the switch grip stops bars from turning under your weight. I was surprised nobody copied her.

 

[Morpheus 02]

One thing I don't get about yesterday's ep.

Why didn't more people use the switch grip for the Wedge?

People were unable to make the jump because the bar turned in their hand. When Jessie Grahf used switch grip I thought it was brilliant, because the switch grip stops bars from turning under your weight. I was surprised nobody copied her.

Do contestants get to watch the course before they run? They edit episodes, so other than the first and last (and even then), they might not show the actual order.

Oh, and I actually like the background stories - makes me route for them more, and magnifies the wins and losses.

What I like about the show is that it is NOT about beating the other guy... It is about conquering past defeats to do and be more.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I'm pretty sure in every successive round they run in reverse order of their finishing place in the previous round, and I know other contestants are watching in the audience.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

There must be big TV screens showing what's happening to the majority of the people in the stands, otherwise it'd be as exciting for them as watching an F1 race from anywhere else but the finish line.

And from the online videos, there is an orientation where they go over the rules of everything and and competitors get to formulate some base strategies. You can tell that the editting clearly places some people ahead of others - depending on when they go, some of their supporters are or aren't in the stands cheering them on. This is readily apparent with the bigger support teams that have identical printed t-shirts. :P

Besides, they seem to shoot the qualifiers AND city finals on the same night, right? No one seems to change their outfits from what I've seen.

Mark

 

[JirinPanthosa]

City finals are filmed the day after qualifiers.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

...And knowing is half the battle.

I've also just learned that "Team Ninja Warrior" was also a thing, as it's being (re)shown on the same Canadian network I'm watching ANJ with. It's fun as well, but I like the charm of the basic concept where the primary competition is against oneself. Sure the goal is to get to the end of Stage 4, but since barely anyone makes it that far it's really an an athletic challenge and not a competitive one. The way such a struggle is televised is a welcome break from one-on-one or team sport shows. So, Team Ninja Warrior, since you're competing against other athletes directly (albeit in a very friendly and even cooperative manner), holds less an appeal to me.

Mark

 

[lizlovestrek]

I'm a big fan of ANW, I've been watching since it started. It's fun to see who will make it or not. One of my favorite Ninjas is Jessie Graff.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

Oh, I'm a fan of hers and her Wonder Woman run this year has been standout. That she's a stuntperson on Supergirl is real icing - makes me wanna see what stunt roles she actually did... Does she stunt for Melissa Benoist? She's not quite the same build...

Edit: Looked it up, seems she does as-needed stunts for other people and had a more prominent role once. She's actually done more stunt work on Agents of SHIELD, but far be it for NBC to admit that...

Mark