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Nickelodeon Robot Wars (also referred to in introductions as Nickelodeon's Robot Wars) was a spin-off of Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors, the US version of Robot Wars. It was first broadcast on Nickelodeon between August and September 2002 as part of their "Nickelodeon SLAM!" programming block, and was later rerun on Nick GaS (Nickelodeon Games and Sports for Kids). Filmed at the same time as the second season of Extreme Warriors, the one-off series ran for six episodes, and featured competitor robots from both seasons of Extreme Warriors and Series 5 of the UK series, including loanerbots leant to some of the teams that had also competed in Extreme Warriors. As with the Minor Meltdown, the competitor robots were driven by children.
Like Extreme Warriors, Nickelodeon Robot Wars was filmed in the main Robot Wars Arena in London, despite being for an American audience and featuring US series competitors.
Presenters[]
The show was presented by Dave Aizer, with Vivianne Collins of You're On! serving as pit reporter. Commentary was provided by Stefan Frank, who provided commentary for both seasons of Extreme Warriors along with the Grand Champions dub of Robot Wars: The Fourth Wars.
Format[]
Nickelodeon Robot Wars followed a similar concept to Robot Wars Extreme and the first season of Extreme Warriors. Eight competitions were held in total, consisting of three major competitions which each had an episode dedicated to them, three minor competitions which were aired together across the remaining three episodes and two one-off battles. A significant difference was that whilst the regular US (and indeed the UK) series of Robot Wars had between five to seven fights in a usual episode, the time constraints brought by the programme's timeslot meant that the Nickelodeon version could only have four battles per episode.
Episode Guide[]
- Main article: Nickelodeon Robot Wars/Episode Guide
Changes and Censorship[]
To appeal to younger viewers, a few changes specific to the Nickelodeon series were made during production. According to Aaron Joerger, teams were discouraged from using 'aggressive' language, contributing to a considerably less intense and frantic atmosphere than other versions.[1]
Although the arena and House Robots were carried over from the regular UK and US versions, a number of changes were made to these as well.
All fire-based hazards such as the Flame Pit and side fire jets were disabled, the former being modified to spout additional CO2 jets to those already firing from within the arena floor. These hazards were collectively referred to as the Steam Vents. However, various clips showing the Flame Pit and jets being active were still used throughout this series, particularly in House Robot introductions and battleboards, the latter of which used a stock clip from Extreme Warriors Season 1. A further discrepancy exists in statistics boards for Spin Doctor from this series, which list its weakness as 'Flammable' despite the flame hazards being eliminated.
Additionally, the Drop Zone was changed to use less serious objects, often tying in with the 'sports' theme of this version. Among the items dropped included sports equipment, an assortment of balls and old scrap metal.
Changes specific to House Robots included the disabling of Sgt. Bash's flamethrower, making his pincers his only weapon. However, clips where the flamethrower was still enabled continued to be used during House Robot introductions. Additionally, Sir Killalot was renamed Sir K - a name by which he was commonly referred to in video games and the original UK Robot Wars Magazine - potentially to make his identity more suitable for younger audiences. In place of statistics boards, some video clips from Extreme Warriors and the original UK Series were used when the House Robots were being introduced in battles.
Under the US TV Parental Guidelines, the Nickelodeon series received a "TV Y7" rating, in contrast to Extreme Warriors and Grand Champions which were both rated "TV PG". Ironically, no similar censorship changes were repeated for subsequent US airings of Robot Wars. TechTV's airings of the original UK Series, for example, received a universal "TV G" rating, while being left virtually unaltered from their initial BBC or Five broadcasts.[2][3][4]
Major Competitions[]
US Championship[]
- Main article: Nickelodeon Robot Wars/US Championship
The US Championship formed the first episode of the series, and was a straightforward knockout tournament between robots fighting to become the Nickelodeon US Champion. Due to time restrictions, this championship was significantly smaller than any other Robot Wars national championship, with only four robots competing. The format of the Nickelodeon US Championship was similar to the Grand Finals of the original UK series, consisting of two one-on-one 'Eliminators', a playoff (known as the Bonus Battle) and a Grand Final.
Robots Competing: Ninjitsu, Phantasm, Probophobia, Tyranabot.
Eliminators
- Tyranabot vs Ninjitsu: Tyranabot won
- Phantasm vs Probophobia: Probophobia won
Bonus Battle
- Ninjitsu vs Phantasm: Ninjitsu won
Final
- Tyranabot vs Probophobia: Tyranabot won
International Tag Team[]
- Main article: Nickelodeon Robot Wars/International Tag Team
As its name suggests, this tournament combined elements of the Tag Team Terror and War of Independence competitions found in other versions of the show. Eight robots - four American and four British - were paired into teams to battle each other in two-on-two battles. Only one robot from each team was allowed in the arena at a time and the teams could switch robots by 'tagging' them. Similar to the UK Series 4 Tag Team Terror, the International Tag Team competition featured two first-round 'Qualifiers', a playoff and a final between the 'Qualifier' winners.
Teams Competing:
- USA: The Revolutionist & Spin Doctor, Zanzara & Run Away
- UK: Ming 3 & Rick, Bigger Brother & Kat 3
Qualifiers
- US - The Revolutionist & Spin Doctor vs Zanzara & Run Away: The Revolutionist & Spin Doctor won
- UK - Ming 3 & Rick vs Bigger Brother & Kat 3: Ming 3 & Rick won
Playoff
- Zanzara vs Bigger Brother: Bigger Brother won
- Run Away and Kat 3 were unable to take part due to technical issues.
Final
- The Revolutionist & Spin Doctor vs Ming 3 & Rick: Ming 3 & Rick won
Annihilator[]
- Main article: Nickelodeon Robot Wars/Annihilator
The Nickelodeon Annihilator was held to a similar format to those found in other versions of the show, but with five robots rather than six, allowing for only four rounds. The rules for the Annihilator remained the same as in other versions; five robots began the competition, with one being eliminated from each round until only one robot was left standing.
Robots Competing: Basenji, Bunny Attack, Hannibal, Techno Trousers, The Piecemaker
- Fifth: Techno Trousers
- Fourth: Basenji
- Third: The Piecemaker
- Runner-up: Bunny Attack
- Winner: Hannibal
Minor Competitions[]
Mayhem[]
- Main article: Nickelodeon Robot Wars/Mayhem
As with their Extreme 1 namesake, Mayhem battles were a series of three-way melees aired in separate episodes, where one robot from each would emerge victorious. Winners of each Nickelodeon Mayhem would qualify for an 'Ultimate Mayhem', shown as the Main Event of Episode 5, where one robot would be declared the Mayhem Champion.
Robots Competing: Diskotek, Joker, Propeller-Head, Rigby, Rosie the Riveter 2, Techno Trousers, The Revolutionist, Vert-I-Go, Xylon
Mayhems
- Propeller-Head vs Rosie the Riveter 2 vs Xylon: Propeller-Head won
- Joker vs Techno Trousers vs Vert-I-Go: Vert-I-Go won
- Diskotek vs Rigby vs The Revolutionist: The Revolutionist won
Ultimate Mayhem
- Propeller-Head vs Vert-I-Go vs The Revolutionist: Propeller-Head won
Vengeance[]
- Main article: Nickelodeon Robot Wars/Vengeance
A series of one-on-one battles between robots which had a grudge to settle or issued an open challenge to prospective opponents.
Robots Competing: Bunny Attack, Hoot, Joker, Probophobia, Spin Doctor, Xylon
Battles
- Bunny Attack vs Hoot: Bunny Attack won
- Probophobia vs Spin Doctor: Probophobia won
- Xylon vs Joker: Xylon won
Challenge Belt[]
- Main article: Nickelodeon Robot Wars/Challenge Belt
A winner-stays-on competition, where Tyranabot was given a special "belt" to defend against opponents which attempted to take it. Any robot could fight Tyranabot for the belt, and whoever won would keep it. In order to win the belt outright, three challenges had to be won by the belt holder.
- Original Holder: Tyranabot
- Challengers (in order of challenge): Tut Tut, Rosie the Riveter 2, Probophobia
Challenges
- Tyranabot vs Tut Tut: Tut Tut won
- Tut Tut vs Rosie the Riveter 2: Tut Tut won
- Tut Tut vs Probophobia: Tut Tut won
Single Battle Events[]
Battle of the Spinners[]
- Main article: Nickelodeon Robot Wars/Battle of the Spinners
In this one-off battle, shown in Episode 3, two robots fought each other to decide which had the better spinning weapon.
Winner: Ninjitsu
House Robot Rebellion[]
- Main article: Nickelodeon Robot Wars/House Robot Rebellion
In this one-off battle - the Main Event of Episode 4 - two robots were given the chance to take on Dead Metal, Shunt and Sir K (Sir Killalot).
Squirmin Vermin & Humdrum vs Dead Metal, Shunt & Sir K
Winners: Dead Metal, Shunt & Sir K
References[]
- ↑ 'Combat Robot Tournaments and Events - The Ask Aaron Archives', Team Run Amok website
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20030521165024/http://cgi.techtv.com/tvschedule?glance=1&day=0&show_id=0&timeZone=0
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20041012024146/http://www.g4techtv.com/robotwars/index.html
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20051207234843/http://www.g4tv.com/robotwars/index.html
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