The use of the word “Unauthorized” in the Netflix docuseries Muscles & Mayhem: An Unauthorized Story of American Gladiators leads me to wonder the legitimacy of the phrase. Because it seems they got a lot of authoritized people to speak in the documentary. Granted, they can’t interview Samuel Goldwin Jr. because he’s been deceased for over eight years. But everyone who seems to have been connected to the show in some way is interviewed.
Is this kind of like the “unauthorized autobiography” Chuck Barris used on his Confessions of a Dangerous Mind book? I never caught on with American Gladiators during its peak in the late 1980s and early 1990s. But when they appeared out of nowhere in Hot Shots: Part Deux, I understood the reference. The show, which ran in syndication like a lot of shows did during this period, pitted “professional” athletes against amateurs. Yet, how professional they were has been called into question.
As bodybuilding and aerobics grew through the 1980s, it was only a matter of time before something like this would happen. In the beginning it looked cheap with the show’s crew admitted circles were drawn on the walls above the stands to make it look like they were people in the audience. It looked cheap because they were unable to get many people in the stands, even admitting the visitors off the Universal tour rides were getting tired of waiting for games to be set up and were leaving.
Like a lot of shows, it was slow to be getting started as it went through many formats that would’ve turned audiences off. Maybe it’s because there wasn’t many channels during this period, that local stations were able to pick it up and people could watch. As cable TV became more popular, they needed more programming. In many ways, I think the show benefitted from the popular of professional wrestling that emerged during the 1980s. Even though what we were seeing was the real deal Holyfield, there was still that remnants of the professional wrestling theatrics.
And that almost sunk the movie with a referee acting as an exeuctioner who would make decisions against the Gladiators. This was a dumb idea and thankfully they did away with it. The main focus is on about half a dozen of the original Gladiators including Dan Clark, who was trying to be an actor but because he was half-Asian, half-white found himself discriminated. Clark, or Nitro as he was known, and his roommate/friend Jim Starr, aka Laser, a former professional football player for the L.A. Rams became some of the biggest male gladiators along with Myke Horton, aka Gemini, the only black man, who was the only one from the pilot show to survive. Raye Hollitt, aka Zap, had recently appeared in Blake Edwards’ Skin Deep and one of the show’s producer was a fan. Since Hollitt played a bodybuilder/trainer in that movie, she had the physique and experience to be picked.
While there were about two or three dozen Gladiators, most of the focus is on the early days as the show became a success and then they went on the road touring through many major cities and arenas. This has been criticized by Shirley Eson-Korito, aka Sky, who is an interviewee, but has said that a lot in the docuseries is inaccurate. She says that many of the Gladiators did get paid well despite having a shady contract that limited them on marketing and merchandising.
If you’ve seen enough of these, you can’t help see the same format develop that always seems to develop in these types of documentaries and biopics. Something-something forms from humble beginnings and a lot of people come and go who have dreams of making it big. They become big-time celebrities overnight it seems after concerns they may not make it. Everything seems to go crazy with wild sex and drunken parties. But many of the people say they’re not getting a good cut of the profits. There’s also the injuries that the Gladiators have to contend with. What was their medical plan?
Eventually, a line is drawn in the sand. Some go this way. Others go that way. And there’s a riff that breaks up everything. And to quote Yeats, “Things fall apart.” The show sees its ratings decline as more and more new people are brought in while others leave for “greener pastures.” But they can’t find success. So, they come back for one last shindig. And then it all ends for everyone.
This seems to be a constant format it makes you wonder why people keep getting suckered into show business. Is it like the story of the man who is cleaning up the elephant feces at the circus and someone asks them why don’t they go get a better job? “And give up show business,” the shoveler replies. Yes, the entertainment industry is a shady one. But I’ve worked in retail, the travel industry and media journalism. It’s everywhere. Yes, greed is bad.
There are some great moments such Steve Henneberry, aka Tower, recalling how he was notified by the parents of a dying young boy who wanted to meet him which will have the biggest, baddest, meanest guys reaching for the tissues. And Lori Fetrick, aka Ice, recalls how her same-sex relationship was accepted by the rest of the Gladiators, but not the producers that shows how little has changed in the 30 years. However, there is some inaccurracy since Fetrick appeared on the Ellen sitcom which didn’t premiere until the spring of 1994 yet it’s made to believe this is earlier in the 1990s.
I will admit I was hooked by the five-episode series, even though I didn’t watch the show in its prime. Believe it or not, the series is co-directed by Jared Hess (of Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre fame). Hess and Tony Vainuku weave together a good look at a period in America when reality TV was in its infancy. The reaction from the public who were willing to go head-to-head with these huge athletes shows that everyone is looking for their 15 minutes of fame. And sometimes break a leg means just that literally.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 