Robot Wars is coming back
Discussion
Ignoring the robots for a minute, though Icewave was indeed insane, that programme neatly fitted my preconceptions of American TV, commentary by two jocks shouting into headsets, with the central presentation by a blonde in a sort of party frock, all teeth, tits and legs, whereas we get Dara O'Briain in an ill fitting suit.
FiF said:
Ignoring the robots for a minute, though Icewave was indeed insane, that programme neatly fitted my preconceptions of American TV, commentary by two jocks shouting into headsets, with the central presentation by a blonde in a sort of party frock, all teeth, tits and legs, whereas we get Dara O'Briain in an ill fitting suit.
I know which I prefer.... 
Indeed the American show is a proper "to the nines" affair
WWE style jock commentators, some eye candy for a host, ridiculous VTs where they get the competitors to say some proper cringy guff (did you see the guy pulling the pin on a fake grenade with is teeth and spitting the pin out in slo-mo?) and then all the fannying about with flashing lights, whizzy cameras and competitors hitting a ready button and the count down and more lights and flashy things.
But... worth it for the 3 minutes of destruction that comes next. I've watched all of the second series and IMO its even better than the first.
You should see the selection of bars tombstone has to choose from. Unreal. And I love how quickly his machine can spin up and how it seems quite robust too. It can give and take some serious hits without the weapon cutting out. I think in series one he does manage to brake a bar in half at the end of the fight!
WWE style jock commentators, some eye candy for a host, ridiculous VTs where they get the competitors to say some proper cringy guff (did you see the guy pulling the pin on a fake grenade with is teeth and spitting the pin out in slo-mo?) and then all the fannying about with flashing lights, whizzy cameras and competitors hitting a ready button and the count down and more lights and flashy things.
But... worth it for the 3 minutes of destruction that comes next. I've watched all of the second series and IMO its even better than the first.
You should see the selection of bars tombstone has to choose from. Unreal. And I love how quickly his machine can spin up and how it seems quite robust too. It can give and take some serious hits without the weapon cutting out. I think in series one he does manage to brake a bar in half at the end of the fight!
Dan_1981 said:
FiF said:
Ignoring the robots for a minute, though Icewave was indeed insane, that programme neatly fitted my preconceptions of American TV, commentary by two jocks shouting into headsets, with the central presentation by a blonde in a sort of party frock, all teeth, tits and legs, whereas we get Dara O'Briain in an ill fitting suit.
I know which I prefer.... I've warmed to the two Battlebots commentators as time's gone on. This is heresy but I think I might actually prefer them to the British commentary! I also quite like the ludicrously over the top presentation of the build up. Nothing in there to compare to Dara's piss taking though.
It's a bit harsh to compare the robots directly. Most of the RW competitors would last about 5 seconds in BB but if you gave some of the British guys the same budget then the gap would close quickly. I think all of the Battlebots competitors get $8k towards build costs and all travel/shipping paid. The fact that they get to show the sponsors logos on TV before the match presumably brings in a ton of money. I don't know the build costs of all the top teams but Charles Guan says he's got roughly $17k in series two Overhaul and he's nowhere near the top of the spending tree. The Tombstone guys say it's a rough average of $1000 in maintenance alone per fight. Ringmaster's probably the most spendy - their frame is a monocoque CNC machined out of a single magnesium billet.
I've been slightly obsessed with the fighting robots of late. My OH gave me a b
king the other day because I'd spent my afternoon off dicking about with robots in Solidworks rather than plasterboarding our living room
It's a bit harsh to compare the robots directly. Most of the RW competitors would last about 5 seconds in BB but if you gave some of the British guys the same budget then the gap would close quickly. I think all of the Battlebots competitors get $8k towards build costs and all travel/shipping paid. The fact that they get to show the sponsors logos on TV before the match presumably brings in a ton of money. I don't know the build costs of all the top teams but Charles Guan says he's got roughly $17k in series two Overhaul and he's nowhere near the top of the spending tree. The Tombstone guys say it's a rough average of $1000 in maintenance alone per fight. Ringmaster's probably the most spendy - their frame is a monocoque CNC machined out of a single magnesium billet.
I've been slightly obsessed with the fighting robots of late. My OH gave me a b
king the other day because I'd spent my afternoon off dicking about with robots in Solidworks rather than plasterboarding our living room ajprice said:
MarkRSi said:
moanthebairns said:
ajprice said:
Sunday 8pm, Spike (Freeview 31)
st missed it8PM Wednesday
9PM Saturday
6PM Sunday before the next episode at 8PM
Its on the My5 player - https://www.my5.tv/battlebots/season-1
Just caught up with the final last night. Viewpoints of a massive fan and watcher of every original episode, and probably far too much analysis below 
Personally absolutely loved it. Some slow moments in a couple of the heats but in general a thoroughly enjoyable series of telly. One of the best finals I can remember, excellent match ups and the right robots definitely got through. I loved Thor from the beginning, and it genuinely hurt seeing it take such a pummelling. I can't remember the last time I've been so invested into an episode of TV. Also loved how it seemed the game was turned up to 11, the house robots weren't fking around that episode and certainly looked like Matilda's weapons were ramped up a notch. Floor flipper not giving much leniency either.
Dara just fine, does well as a modern presenter. Craig's style in today's TV climate would come over as very cheesy I feel. Angela I could take or leave, doesn't really do much for the show but she didn't do much wrong either. Just filled the role OK.
Biggest gripe - too many untested, amateurish robots. More notice given if there's another series please. Also more robots needed - felt a little thin on the ground compared to series of old but maybe also would be covered with more notice. I preferred the lack of music in fights, nice to hear more of the fight sounds. Good to see quite a bit of behind the scenes stuff, short of basic interviews, older series didn't go into this as much. Kinda feel like the fighting system needs a shake up somehow, seems a little redundant that by the final, you've already seen the two fight before so have a decent idea of who's going to win.
Also a point for those saying some of the old guard would have given the 2016 winners a run for their money - Panic attack (lifter), Chaos 2 (flipper), Razer (crusher), Tornado (pusher) and Typhoon (spinner) would all have been absolutely taken apart by the finalists and were all subject to reliability issues at one point or another. There were also robots of each of this type of class throughout this series, many of which in the final, which featured these type of designs and all had various weaknesses to different opponents.
Make another series please. Please!
Personally absolutely loved it. Some slow moments in a couple of the heats but in general a thoroughly enjoyable series of telly. One of the best finals I can remember, excellent match ups and the right robots definitely got through. I loved Thor from the beginning, and it genuinely hurt seeing it take such a pummelling. I can't remember the last time I've been so invested into an episode of TV. Also loved how it seemed the game was turned up to 11, the house robots weren't f
king around that episode and certainly looked like Matilda's weapons were ramped up a notch. Floor flipper not giving much leniency either.Dara just fine, does well as a modern presenter. Craig's style in today's TV climate would come over as very cheesy I feel. Angela I could take or leave, doesn't really do much for the show but she didn't do much wrong either. Just filled the role OK.
Biggest gripe - too many untested, amateurish robots. More notice given if there's another series please. Also more robots needed - felt a little thin on the ground compared to series of old but maybe also would be covered with more notice. I preferred the lack of music in fights, nice to hear more of the fight sounds. Good to see quite a bit of behind the scenes stuff, short of basic interviews, older series didn't go into this as much. Kinda feel like the fighting system needs a shake up somehow, seems a little redundant that by the final, you've already seen the two fight before so have a decent idea of who's going to win.
Also a point for those saying some of the old guard would have given the 2016 winners a run for their money - Panic attack (lifter), Chaos 2 (flipper), Razer (crusher), Tornado (pusher) and Typhoon (spinner) would all have been absolutely taken apart by the finalists and were all subject to reliability issues at one point or another. There were also robots of each of this type of class throughout this series, many of which in the final, which featured these type of designs and all had various weaknesses to different opponents.
Make another series please. Please!
Edited by Andy S15 on Monday 5th September 14:25
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