S00.E13: All Stars

[OnceSane]

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After a history-making 7th season, "American Ninja Warrior" celebrates with its first-ever All-Star special edition.  Hosts Matt Iseman and Akbar Gbajabiamila have each selected their own teams comprised of 5 competitors, including one rookie and one female competitor.  The teams will go head-to-head for bragging rights and the championship.  The show features 5 "supersized" skill and obstacles competitions: a giant peg board, a 40-foot Salmon Ladder, the Flying Shelf Grab, Jump Hang and the "Mega Wall."

[mlp]

That sounds great but when and where?  I checked both the NBC and Esquire sites and didn't see anything about this.

[AuntieDiane6]

It's on NBC on Sunday night, 9 - 11.  Maybe your local station is pre-empting it for some Memorial Day show?  Usually, they re-run these things on Esquire (or whatever it's called) or later that night if it's pre-empted.

[mlp]

Thank you!

[slf]

I cringed when Kacy did that whole "hey hey watch out boys." Women absolutely can do these obstacles, no doubt. Other countries have produced female finishers as early as their first season. But Kacy is so small and I don't get the feeling she really trains hard enough to do 20-30 rungs on the Salmon Ladder. So the brag, when going up against such buff guys was a little...ugh.

Graff and Murphy did so well; it was interesting to see both women make it halfway through stage 3 (was it?), given that neither of them was able to make it to that stage in regular seasons. 

[MyFavShows]

Saw this tonight!  Again Kacy was overhyped and underperformed.  

Wow re: Stefie Graff and Megan Martin on Stage 3 - such impressive upper body strength those two have.

Drew Deschel was really impressive on that hanging jump thing - it seemed like he could do another 10 feet he was so good.   That firefighter dude was great on the salmon ladder - I think he could have went another 20-30 steps if challenged.

Flip R. had a great night - he is really becoming one of the greats on this show.

[ClareWalks]

Kacy. Blech. I don't even understand why she was competing in that, since she has never made the NORMAL salmon ladder look easy.

I wish they'd gone farther with that shelf grab. 14 feet was clearly nothing for Drew. I thought he could have done 16 easily. He reminded me of how Bruce Lee always said to aim 6" behind your target when punching...Drew was aiming a foot farther during his leaps. Amazing.

[slf]

Flip was definitely the one I was most impressed by. I was really underwhelmed by Caldiero, given his success last season.

[SophiaD]

I like Kacy, but I don't think she was set up for success in that.  She just doesn't have the upper body strength that the guys do, but there wasn't really a challenge she could succeed in.  Too small and light for the Hanging Jump, not a good enough climber for the peg grasper thing.  If they had a challenge that showcased flexibility or balance, I think she would have done better.  

Both Drew Dreschel and Flip were amazing.  So were Jessie Graf and Meagan Martin.  I was disappointed not to see Michelle Warnky compete.  Anyone know if she's healthy?

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Flip was definitely the one I was most impressed by. I was really underwhelmed by Caldiero, given his success last season.

Can Isaac compete this year, since he won last year?  I was also disappointed not to see Geoff Britten

[AZChristian]

Mr. AZC opined that the only reason Kacy was included was because that was the only way they could get her boyfriend to compete.

[mlp]

I thoroughly enjoyed the competition and the out-sized obstacles in the second hour and plan to watch it again tonight.  I never had the coordination to do a cartwheel so the strength and skills these competitors have just amaze me.  I love Joe Moravsky and Daniel Gill so I was happy to see them do well.  I missed another of my favorites, Travis Rosen, and wondered why he wasn't involved.  

I wonder how Matt and Akbar picked their team members.  I was surprised to see that one of them had picked JJ Woods because he has always looked half angry to me and he's always chomping on gum which makes him look kind of dumb.  Then tonight he was actually smiling and seemed to be having fun so I saw him in a different light.  Still hate the gum though.  

I wish they would stop acting like Kacy is the second coming.  I was as excited as everyone else when she made it up the wall first and completed a course first but she hasn't done anything special since and that was two years ago.  I think the adulation went to her head because she's still playing to the cameras when she has the chance.  Meanwhile, a whole bunch of women have made it up the wall and some, like the lovely Meagan Martin, can do it every time.  

I'm really looking forward to the new season.

[piequinn35]

19 hours ago, MyFavShows said:

Saw this tonight!  Again Kacy was overhyped and underperformed.  

Wow re: Stefie Graff and Megan Martin on Stage 3 - such impressive upper body strength those two have.

Drew Deschel was really impressive on that hanging jump thing - it seemed like he could do another 10 feet he was so good.   That firefighter dude was great on the salmon ladder - I think he could have went another 20-30 steps if challenged.

Flip R. had a great night - he is really becoming one of the greats on this show.

Stefie Graf? the tennis player?

Flip was so impressive on the rope climb. 

[MyFavShows]

3 hours ago, piequinn35 said:

Stefie Graf? the tennis player?

Flip was so impressive on the rope climb. 

Oops.  Lol...  

[Kromm]

14 hours ago, slf said:

Flip was definitely the one I was most impressed by. I was really underwhelmed by Caldiero, given his success last season.

Plus Caldiero is still a total douchebag. What did he say again? "I'm definitely the favorite on this!"

Flip at least seems to have changed that about himself somewhat.

Heh. Rewatching it now, I was very amused that Akbar did what Larry Wilmore calls a "Black React" to Drew Dreshel in the shelf swing. So funny!

Edited May 31, 2016 by Kromm

[MelinaBallerina]

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 Again Kacy was overhyped and underperformed.  

So is her boyfriend, Brent Steffenson.  He may have been the first to go the furthest, but he's been a disappointment ever since.

Was this one filmed right after the Vegas final last year?  How did everyone continue to look so perky after being away all night?  Even the audience didn't look sleepy!

[AZChristian]

54 minutes ago, MelinaBallerina said:

How did everyone continue to look so perky after being away all night?  Even the audience didn't look sleepy!

This was Vegas.  I honestly believe they run on an opposite clock there.  Everybody wakes up at 7 PM and goes until the following morning.  LOL.

[SophiaD]

I don't think Kacy was as hyped as usual this time.  Matt and Akbar tacitly acknowledged that Meagan and Jessie had better changes of making it farther by selecting them for their teams - and were both going NUTS over them, and deservedly so.  They had one little clip of Kacy and Brett had that brief interview with her (and I thought she was kind of rolling her eyes - what was she supposed to say? "Yes, well, none of this plays to my skills, but it's an honor to be asked, even if I know I'm going to lose by a lot.")

Brent hasn't done too much in over three years.  I think, honestly, I can see them both taking a backseat in a year or two, unless the exposure continues to help their business.

[Kromm]

Even more interesting, Meagan and Jessie don't brag or self-hype. I can see the awkward position Kacey is in, being an automatic "representative" of all women, and having to give "Girl Power" type speeches constantly as a result, so it's not totally her fault, but whatever put her in that box, she's firmly in it.

[Julie Firestone]

I loved this episode. I found the shelf grab competition truly thrilling. I was super happy at how well Jessie and Meaghan did in Stage 3. I loved how enthusiastic Matt and especially Akbar were about everything; they definitely added to my enjoyment. And, as always, it makes me feel good to see how supportive the athletes are of one another - even here, when they are actually competing against each other, you see them cheering each other on to do well. Like, after Drew made that astounding 14 foot leap, if Isaac had missed his jump, then Drew would have won. But still, Drew was cheering for Isaac to make the jump, which he did, making them co-champions.

[jhlipton]

They also cut way back on the intro stories which definitely helped.

[ketchuplover]

Second hour = best hour of TV ever imo. YMMV.

[SmithW6079]

9 hours ago, ketchuplover said:

Second hour = best hour of TV ever imo. YMMV.

I watched most of the second hour with the sound off because of Matt's and Akbar's screeching. Seriously, I though Akbar was going to gave a fit. Not to take anything from Jessie's and Meaghan's athleticism and accomplishments, but they were the first women on stage 3 because they started at stage 3.

I felt bad that Geoff Britten seemed to get short shrift. He may not have won the $1 million last year, but he was the first athlete to conquer Mount Midoriyama.

Brent Steffenson sucks. He may have been one of the original Ninjas, but he has consistently flamed out early in almost every competition I've seen him in since. 

Mike Bernadino is one of my favorites. I'm not sure why. He tries to come off as cocky, but I think he's insecure inside. I was glad he made it all the way up the extra-long salmon ladder. He deserved a win. I want him and Ryan Stratis to live happily ninja after.

[Kromm]

52 minutes ago, SmithW6079 said:

I watched most of the second hour with the sound off because of Matt's and Akbar's screeching. Seriously, I though Akbar was going to gave a fit.

I wasn't totally joking alluding to Larry Wilmore's "Black React" ongoing series of jokes. At one point Akbar had a moment that could have been lifted straight from one of Wilmore's skits, where he shot up like a rocket. moving around like crazy, and screamed "he's not human!" (the "black react" joke Wilmore does most often is about how black people react to magic, where they start screaming that the magician is not human and/or working for the devil).

55 minutes ago, SmithW6079 said:

Brent Steffenson sucks. He may have been one of the original Ninjas, but he has consistently flamed out early in almost every competition I've seen him in since. 

He and Kacey C. have put themselves in a really bad position, because now I think the success of their gym relies on them not being perceived as sucking.

[Richness]

I'm glad they didn't dwell too much on that super jump into the net, or whatever it was called. Because that's the obstacle that I fear is likely to down someone if they miss and get tangled up. I agree about the announcers getting overly excited, especially Ackbar. Though I was semi-amused and flabbergasted that he was taking his own cell phone video at one point toward the end.

[ketchuplover]

I'd like to see pro athletes and or celebrities run these courses