BattleBots

Reviewed by:
John Walsh

Remote-controlled robots fight to the death in an arena filled with buzzsaws and lethal spikes, while Baywatch babe Donna D’Errico provides color commentary. BattleBots, premiering this week on Comedy Central, is our idea of must-see TV.

There’s just one gag here—them robots blow up real good!—but who doesn’t like a brisk round of mechanical carnage every now and then? The funniest part, though, is the color commentary between bouts, as D’Errico and the Sklar brothers, an identical twin comedy team, interview the participants. You might think these robots are good for a half-hour’s fun once a week, but they’re serious business to the tournament entrants. Watch them swell with pride at the pre-game weigh-in, showing off weapons and discussing strategy. Then check back with them after a few rounds, stoically assessing damage and keeping a stiff upper lip. And at the end of the show, some of the losers… well, they take it pretty hard. Imagine your high school math club finding out that Earth: Final Conflict has been cancelled and you’ll have some idea of the drama played out here.

Of course the real test here, in an arena more brutal than anything the show’s creators could dream up, is whether Battle Bots can sustain the joke for another 13 weeks. Gentlemen, start your robots.

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