Media Ninjas: ANW in the Media

[Vermicious Knid]

Got the on-camera audience email that Las Vegas finale filming is next week, with the Women's Championship right after. I was able to sign up for two but instead of sending an email with my ticket it took me to a web page with the ticket displayed, and I'm not sure I can get back to it on my phone? I will check later.

[Omeletsmom]

11 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

Got the on-camera audience email that Las Vegas finale filming is next week, with the Women's Championship right after. I was able to sign up for two but instead of sending an email with my ticket it took me to a web page with the ticket displayed, and I'm not sure I can get back to it on my phone? I will check later.

Can you take a screen shot and mail it to yourself?

[mlp]

Here's a really interesting article:

https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2022/06/american-ninja-warrior-season-14-questions-answers/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

[Rickster]

2 hours ago, mlp said:

Here's a really interesting article:

https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2022/06/american-ninja-warrior-season-14-questions-answers/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

One thing that occurred to me from this article that I miss on the show are the random “walk on” contestants who would stand in line for hours and days for a chance to run the course. It’s very obvious from the article that the show is cast well in advance now.

[Taeolas]

So there's a lot of chatter, that the LA Olympics is looking to make a Ninja Warrior part of the Pentathlon course, replacing the horse riding stage. 

On the one hand, Ninja Warrior courses feel a bit too flashy and staged to fit in on the Olympics. But on the other hand, it does feel like something that deserves to be in the Olympics; or at least its Parkour-based cousin deserves to be there. Ninjas are true athletes doing stuff most athletes don't/can't do, and showing up in the Olympics is one way to acknowledge their skill. (Not that we'll see many Ninjas going for the Gold since it would be part of the Pentathlon). And while we're used to the flashy show, it is also a truly global sport with some well established obstacles and challenges. 

[Vermicious Knid]

Bob Reese's semi-final run. Good look at some of the new obstacles. Kaleidoscope and Ghost Town are going to take down a lot of people.

[Vermicious Knid]

Matt seems to be branching out. Going to be on the next Guy Fieri silliness.
 

Quote

It's all fun and games as Guy Fieri welcomes his celebrity friends to the Flavortown Lounge for outrageously fun and entertaining food-inspired games on Guy’s Ultimate Game Night, premiering on Wednesday, August 31 at 9|8c. The new game show puts a culinary twist on classic party games as the celebrity contestants compete in front of a live studio audience for the chance to win prizes for their favorite charity....

Guy’s Ultimate Game Night contestants include...television host Matt Iseman...

[mlp]

6 minutes ago, Vermicious Knid said:

Matt seems to be branching out. Going to be on the next Guy Fieri silliness.

He was on Celebrity Apprentice a few years ago - and won.  I didn't watch that season but I heard that he was really good.  He's a doctor so he's smart and he does comedy so I guess he's not opposed to silliness.

[Taeolas]

Yeah, Matt's got no problem having fun on shows and just being on the air in general. He hosted Live Rescue, and seemed to have a blast on RuPaul's All Star Drag Race. 

So this sort of food insanity seems almost tame for him. 

[mlp]

Here's an interesting interview with one of the management team.  It even includes a few comments about Drew.

https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2022/06/american-ninja-warrior-season-14-questions-answers/

[Lovecat]

On 8/23/2022 at 5:04 PM, mlp said:

Here's an interesting interview with one of the management team.  It even includes a few comments about Drew.

https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2022/06/american-ninja-warrior-season-14-questions-answers/

"When I interviewed Anthony Storm last summer, I asked about whether anything had to change to accommodate younger people, or younger bodies. The answer was: not really. The only real change was that those contestants had to have a parent or guardian with them at all times."

I have to admit that my brain immediately asked "Because of Drew Drechsel?"  I'll show myself out.

[Vermicious Knid]

Got this in my email:

American Ninja Warrior New Season- Get Free Tix -3 weeks only

All new season starts on 3/16/23
3 weeks only!

Come see your favorite Ninja superstars and dozens of exciting rookie competitors be the first to tackle never-before-seen obstacles. Bring the family to a location near you to watch the action as hundreds of athletes compete for the $1 Million grand prize!

The link provided goes here but doesn't show the actual locations as far as I can tell.  

[enoughcats]

Google has this

Quote

In a change for this year – all of the qualifying episodes & all of the semifinals will be recorded at just one location. All episodes (besides the National Finals) of American Ninja Warrior in 2023 will be filmed at the Backlot at Universal Studios in Los Angeles, California.

With the news that Season 16 of American Ninja Warrior will be filmed at the same time as Season 15 – this means that Season 16 will have the same filming dates & locations.

Quote

Additionally, the producers have announced that there will be a new competition format for Season 15 & 16 of American Ninja Warrior, including side by side (or head to head) competition, which you can read about here.

 

[Rickster]

Seems really odd to film two seasons back to back. I know it saves money, but I almost have to believe there’s something else going on. One justification would be that they want to broadcast a season during the winter, I guess. Otherwise, I don’t know.

I like the head to head idea.

[Vermicious Knid]

Emails went out today for tickets to the Las Vegas finals. This time I signed up and actually got my ticket. Last year it just disappeared into the ether. I went for the 7pm taping so I can hopefully get some sleep before work. Filming is May 6-11, with 7pm and 11:55pm start times. No extras like skills tests listed this time, maybe because of the concurrent seasons. 

[Lantern7]

Heads up: there's going to be a women's championship episode tomorrow night at 8. Week after that, the new season begins.

Does the writers' strike affect the series at all? If the whole season wasn't filmed already, there might be a problem.

[Vermicious Knid]

The short answer, no. The long answer, is that I did attend the taping and yes, they are filming two seasons at the same time and both finished before the strike began. Turned out one of my new coworkers also had tickets. She went to an earlier night and they were on Stage 3. She's not a regular viewer so only recognized one name.

Spoiler

Ugh, Daniel Gil. So he gets at least to Stage 3 for 2023.

 

The night I went it was for the 2024 season. I took some pictures. If anyone's interested I can post them. They have moved 5 or 6 miles south on Las Vegas Blvd from the old spot. Many parcels in that area have sold over the past year so may not have been available again. Or they could have gotten a much cheaper deal since it's so much farther from the Strip. If you like looking things up on maps the new location was just past the South Point. They had us all bunch up along the course and I landed somewhere around the middle. Then later they were trying to herd people to the stands and I ended up moving around and sat at the beginning, middle, and end. Those signs people wave? Production hands them out so they can shoot people being fans. Then they collect them for next time. Except for one kid's family that had made up caps and foam fingers and passed them out to anyone who wanted some.

Spoiler

Electric Enzo. He fell. 

 

They were really poor at managing the crowd. I didn't get in until an hour past the ticket time. There was a separate line for friends and family and they all get let in first, of course. They kept asking us to shuffle around. The course was not a straight line and curved so people at the beginning couldn't see the end, and the people at the end couldn't see who started. You couldn't hear it either. The director kept instructing '"Big Applause!" so they had the appropriate reaction shots. And there was a very annoying man standing next to me at one point who was much bigger and it wasn't until he shifted around I realized Joe Moravsky was standing on his other side. 

I miiiight end up on television but I won't know until next year. They had Najee Richardson run by the stands slapping hands for his entrance. Twice. I got to touch him! Who knows if my one second will make it to air. I thought he was going to run the course then, but I didn't see him and asked a PA. He was #55 and at that time they were up to #31. So no, I did not end up staying through the whole stage because I had work in the morning. The airhorns are actually much, much quieter than they sound on the show. You had to be right by the course end to hear them.

The next stage is a set up as a side by side course, so they are going to be running in pairs against each other. Not sure how that's going to work. Overall performance like usual, or sudden elimination of the slower one. 

[mmal]

Drew Drechsel pleads guilty.

https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2023/06/drew-drechsel-update-guilty-plea/ Edited June 21, 2023 by mmal

[enoughcats]

Now Warriors has what seems to be hundreds of minors running the course, and that percentage chances of encounters with older ninjas have simply increased.  

I can see making a suggestion for two catagories of competition: minors and adults.  With 18 being the pivot age.

[Quilt Fairy]

6 hours ago, enoughcats said:

I can see making a suggestion for two catagories of competition: minors and adults.  With 18 being the pivot age.

This is what they had until a year or 2 ago.  They've intentionally lowered the age for the adult competition, they're hardly likely to change it back.  And that won't solve the problem.  It's not meeting at competitions that's the issue, it's the kids seeking out training at ninja gyms. 

[Lantern7]

Reality Blurred goes over the current season. Andy isn’t a fan of the format changes.

[enoughcats]

Quote

we’re seeing fewer people do less, and it’s making less-enjoyable reality TV competition.

Andy gets it.

[Vermicious Knid]

Matt Iseman gets engaged, with an assist by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

[DEL901]

Drew Drechsel sentenced to just over 10 years. 
https://people.com/former-american-ninja-warrior-champion-drew-drechsel-sentenced-10-years-child-sex-crimes-8671018

[enoughcats]

Specifics of how it ANW happened

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-13580257/American-Ninja-Warrior-champion-Drew-Drechsel-sentenced-child-sex-crimes.html

[Lantern7]

*sigh*

From Reality Blurred: ANW retooling yet again for next season, including dumping Mt. Midoriyama.

[Rickster]

Actually, I was never a big fan of Mount Midoriyama, but the rest of the changes are cheapening the show even more. I’m not sure whether it reflects a shrinking fan base or just penny pinching by the network.

[Quilt Fairy]

They should just cancel the show.  This is death by a thousand cuts. 

[Hellga]

On 7/25/2024 at 9:08 PM, Quilt Fairy said:

They should just cancel the show.  This is death by a thousand cuts. 

I agree...  I remember when I first discovered this show in 2015, it was so heart-warming with regular people showing their athleticism vs. the course.  Now we have kid who are purpose-training for obstacles since early childhood who are running against each other with a few old-timers thrown in.  I don't like the format changes or the 'look and feel' changes.  I was thinking already that this might be the last season I will be watching - now that I read these news about changes, maybe I will give it a shot, see how the new format works out, but I am not really keen about the proposed changes...

[MsVixen]

On 9/9/2024 at 6:57 PM, Hellga said:

I agree...  I remember when I first discovered this show in 2015, it was so heart-warming with regular people showing their athleticism vs. the course.  Now we have kid who are purpose-training for obstacles since early childhood who are running against each other with a few old-timers thrown in.  I don't like the format changes or the 'look and feel' changes.  I was thinking already that this might be the last season I will be watching - now that I read these news about changes, maybe I will give it a shot, see how the new format works out, but I am not really keen about the proposed changes...

Hi Hellga!  Where did you read about the changes?  I need to check them out because I didn't enjoy this season that much.

[ams1001]

23 hours ago, MsVixen said:

Hi Hellga!  Where did you read about the changes?  I need to check them out because I didn't enjoy this season that much.

There's info here:

https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2024/07/american-ninja-warrior-17-format-change/

[MsVixen]

11 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

There's info here:

https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2024/07/american-ninja-warrior-17-format-change/

Thanks, Ams1001!

Not sure about these changes.  

[Hellga]

On 9/13/2024 at 6:46 PM, ams1001 said:

There's info here:

https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2024/07/american-ninja-warrior-17-format-change/

Yep, that's the same link I saw.  

On 9/13/2024 at 6:58 PM, MsVixen said:

Not sure about these changes.  

I am also unsure, but that's why I am willing to give it a try next summer.  If they kept this season's format for another year, I would not have bothered.  I would prefer they go back to their roots, but I guess that ship has already sailed.  There are ninja gyms all over the place now, and purposefully training kids, and all that is not going to go away.  

I remember speaking with my uncle's friends who were pro soccer players in Europe in the 60s, before it was big business with big bucks - it was the same type of a process, a sport becomes a big business and it no longer has the same homey feel.  No longer hometown boys but big trades and big money win titles.  Sad but it's not going to change while there is money to be made off it...

[MsVixen]

On 9/16/2024 at 10:31 PM, Hellga said:

Yep, that's the same link I saw.  

I am also unsure, but that's why I am willing to give it a try next summer.  If they kept this season's format for another year, I would not have bothered.  I would prefer they go back to their roots, but I guess that ship has already sailed.  There are ninja gyms all over the place now, and purposefully training kids, and all that is not going to go away.  

I remember speaking with my uncle's friends who were pro soccer players in Europe in the 60s, before it was big business with big bucks - it was the same type of a process, a sport becomes a big business and it no longer has the same homey feel.  No longer hometown boys but big trades and big money win titles.  Sad but it's not going to change while there is money to be made off it...

Hellga, I haven't really liked the show as much as I did before they dropped the age limit.  Those kids had more experience than any of the previous veterans AND due to their age, they were definitely going to have some advantages.

[Hellga]

16 hours ago, MsVixen said:

Hellga, I haven't really liked the show as much as I did before they dropped the age limit.  Those kids had more experience than any of the previous veterans AND due to their age, they were definitely going to have some advantages.

Me too...  sure, some of the kids are likeable but still, it's not the same 'look and feel'. 

[Vermicious Knid]

Turns out they were sending me emails for days about tickets for the new season but they were going into my spam folder. Taping will be September 23 - October 5. Whole season is Las Vegas only. "Come see your favorite Ninja superstars and dozens of exciting rookie competitors tackle the sport's most iconic obstacles." With all the changes and the grand prize dropping to $250K I expect a lot of retirements.

In the past the list of tickets would identify what was taping i.e. Stage 1, Stage 2, skills test. This time they don't. I picked a later date so will probably end up with the tail end of Qualifiers or maybe the first day of Semis.