Now also a Weekly program on
Comedy Central Complete with commentators and a
BayWatch Babe!
Bill Nye adds his own brand of
humorous scientific commentary to the show. It's much better than the re-runs of old
stand-up routines they used to have.
New episodes air Tuesdays at 10 PM.
The Battlebot divisions are:
Lightweights: 25-58 lbs (wheeled) 25-87 lbs(nonwheeled)
Middleweights: 59-115 lbs (wheeled) 88-173 lbs(nonwheeled)
heavyweights: 116- 210 lbs (wheeled) 174-315 lbs(nonwheeled)
Superheavyweights: 211-325 lbs (wheeled) 316-488 lbs(nonwheeled)
This is truly the coolest thing happening on TV, forget
Survivor or
Big Brother, I wanna watch metal machines of
destruction battling to the death!
Each
battle is three minutes long, or until a "knock-out" (a
robot is made non-functional by an
opponent), If there is no knock-out
judges tally up points much like a
boxing match. the whole thing takes place in a square arena with plexiglass walls. The floor of the
arena has retractable
ramps,
spikes and
saw-
blades, as well there are hammers at the walls. Robots may use their own
weapons or push opponents into these
hazards. There are also Robot Rumbles in which up to 16 Battlebots vie in the arena for supremecy!
Note: The BattleBots event is the Successor to
RobotWars.
I must give kudos to Team Sinister. These geniuses behind the battlebots Mechadon and the new Snake really create battlebots that
look like the images that one creates when they think of battle bots. Unfortunatley they haven't fared so well in the actual competition (Snake was taken out in the first super-heavyweight round during the recent
Las Vegas competition). The Head of Team Sinister is Mark Setrakian, a
special effects wizard who has worked on such films as
Men In Black and
Mighty Joe Young. I think he embodies the true spirit of battlebots.