Summary: <p>BattleBots is mid-way through its second season and has narrowed the playing field down to 16 competitors. The question is, where did this show come from. John took a look at the sports humble beginnings. </p> <p>History of battlebots<br> First was a straight up robot combat competition, started by a LucasArts designer in 1994 in California, Marc Thorpe (1994-97)<br> The first incarnation of the show came a year later when the US production company partnering with Thorpe teamed up with a British company<br> The British show Robot Wars was born (1998)<br> Proves again we steal all good shows from Britain<br> Little known fact, Breaking Bad is from a British show about a biology teacher who gets a bad cold and starts making his own tea bags<br> The first season was hosted by Jeremy Clarkson, of Top Gear fame<br> Wish he’d come back, was sarcastic and sometimes cruel when talking about the bots<br> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib_7Kb_ddjk</p> <p>Had offshoots that weren’t tournament style<br> House bots – Sergeant Bash was the best, had a huge flamethrower<br> Different format 6 bots to 4, weeded out through a maze, the Gauntlet and the Arena<br> For five seasons, BattleBots aired on the American Comedy Central 2000-2002<br> Kept the idea of House Robots<br> In season 3 was more popular than South Park and Jay Leno<br> Leno had a bot commissioned to fight named Chin-Killa<br> <br> Bill Nye was the technical expert<br> Robot Combat League was similar to Real Steel the movie and had the potential to be amazing – 2013 on Syfy<br> Similar as well to Robot Jox (1990 film flop)<br> All robots created by one dude<br> Now we get back to 2015 where BattleBots is rejuvenated by ABC and now Robot Wars is back on British television.<br> One of the big issues from the CC battlebots was that the robots turned into the same 3 over and over<br> Wedge, spinner, lifter</p> <p>Current battlebots (from the bracket of 32)<br> Front-horizontal-spinner: Tombstone, Cobalt 1<br> Double-horizontal-spinner: Chrome Fly<br> Lifters: Escape Velocity, Stinger, Lucky, Complete Control 1<br> Top-spinner: Icewave, Son of Wyachi, Ghost Raptor<br> Vertical-spinner: Brutus, Nightmare, Bite Force, Witch Doctor 2<br> Grabber/Pincher: Lock-jaw, Overhaul, Razorback 1<br> Hammers/Spikers: BETA, Chomp, Bombshell, blacksmith 3<br> Full Spinner: The Ringmaster, Captain Shredderator<br> Front Drum – Mega Tento, Yeti, HyperShock, Poison Arrow, Minotaur 6<br> Mega-hybrid – Warrior Clan (flamer, lifter, spinner), Red Devil (saw, grabber, flipper), Warhead (grabber, drum, T-Rex head) 2<br> Down to the Sweet Sixteen</p> <p>54.1 – <a href="http://thatonesportsshow.com/podcast/54-4-the-olympics-are-finally-here/">Minor League Football, College Football AP Polls</a><br> 54.2 – <a href="http://thatonesportsshow.com/podcast/54-2-baseball-golf-and-an-nba-members-member/">Hodge Podge of baseball, golf and an NBA Member</a><br> 54.3 – <a href="http://thatonesportsshow.com/podcast/54-3-the-history-and-current-state-of-battlebots/">The History and Current State of Battlebots</a><br> 54.4 – <a href="http://thatonesportsshow.com/podcast/54-4-the-olympics-are-finally-here/">The Olympics are finally here!</a></p>
