DRG

One thing I really love with SASUKE versus ANW is the numbering and how the tone alters throughout that first stage. In the beginning you have these lower numbered runs and everyone's laughing -- and it's amazing when one of them actually does well. But by the last 20 runners or so there is a horrified palpable shock from the crowd when one of them fails. It just gradually creeps from this goofy fun thing to a serious competition as those numbers get larger.

PhantomStranger

The Japanese version has more of that wacky Japanese gameshow feel to its contest.

JimRochester

I expected a giant foam hammer to spring out and knock her off the course.

PhantomStranger

The people editing this show have absolutely no idea how to hide surprising outcomes. It was clear from the first minutes of last night's episode that Jessi Graff had done something special in her run and they completely gave it away that she would be the first to beat that obstacle. She ultimately finished second in the finals course.

Here is a clue to the ANW's editors. People watch sports because the outcome is uncertain. Blowing it for the viewer is why ANW continues to be a reality show instead of sport. It's hard to take seriously with the phony reactions and endless hyping.

Bill Needle

Week after week the contestant who runs the qualifying course at the 46 minute mark of the episode will be the first to complete it. For the finals that will hopefully change, as in this week where the one obstacle was so difficult virtually no one completed the course.

One of the things nice about the Japanese Sasuke version is the contestants wear numbers and run the course in the order of their number. This prohibits the obvious editing shenanigans which the ANW version is replete with.

DRG

I, too, hate the editing and the pandering to people with short attention spans with those endless teasers. To me this is the far bigger problem with the show than all the person interest story segments. It's a bad reality show gimmick and I've never understood it even on those shows. I suppose I just find it hard to believe that in this era of steaming shows and DVRs that there are still enough live watching 'chronic channel surfers' that they feel the need to constantly tempt the audience to stick around through a commercial break.

PhantomStranger

The remaining live viewers are mostly casual television watchers randomly flipping channels and looking for a temporay distraction.

JSwarce

So, anybody watch the return of ANW after the Olympics this week? :-)

Really surprised that so many veteran competitors were eliminated on Stage 1, especially on the early obstacles. It did give me an eye roll, but I wasn't surprised to see Kacy make it as a wild card (but there should have been some mention of it earlier). Too much build-up for Jessie Graf's run at the very end, although kudos to her for finishing the course.

Two more episodes left?

SmackDaddy

At this point, I wish they'd show more of the attempts. Intro, backstory, commercial, full run, highlight runs and more backstories has grown tiresome. I also find it sort of boring now that a lot of these competitors are "pros" that you see every season.

mphtrilogy

was pretty amazing to watch a lot get thrown off by the mat drop

JimRochester

We saw it last night. There is a guy from Rochester that made it to the finals so we looking for him. Didn't show up yet. He was #15 out of 15 from the last show so I'm guessing he won't get any further that the others last night.

It is a double edged sword. Many of these competitors are pros but the course is getting so tough only a pro can compete. By next season it will be nearly impossible for someone with a real job, not stunt person or gym owner to be able to hang in with these obstacles.

Bill Needle

We were laughing about the fact that they teased her run at the start of the show and going into every single commercial break - about 14 or 15 times total in under two hours - before she finally ran.

mphtrilogy

they did do a good job teasing some folks, only to see them fall in the first 15 seconds...

I haven't watched this show before, but it's a great family show..

I did used to watch a show back in the day, American Gladiator, did this morph from that?

DWilson

It's adapted from a long-running Japanese show. The Esquire Network will be running a marathon of the original Japanese series over Labor Day weekend.

JimRochester

I remember hearing about the Japanese show. I'm sure the one fueled the other although I don't know which one came first, but the popularity of Tough Mudder's, Dirty Girl runs, Spartan races, etc. must be helping. Or the show is helping the runs popularity.

PhantomStranger

The original Japanese Ninja Warrior looks a lot like the old American Ninja Warrior when it first started, before NBC got their grubby little hands on it.

It's a broader mix of joke contestants. The Japanese announcers take a much different tact than Matt and Akbar. The editing is much different, more focused on the actual course. If I had a nickle for every dumb cutaway the NBC version uses during a run, I'd be a billionaire.

PhantomStranger

NBC couldn't help themselves. I had said last year that no woman would ever pass their version of the warped wall on the Nationals stage one course as it was designed. So they slightly altered the course in a couple of subtle ways this year.

Knowing how desperate they were to get a woman to stage two of Nationals, they changed that warped wall obstacle to make it less demanding this year. It has been shortened in height for the first time since the Nationals course first premiered. Thus leading to Jessie Graf's successful run. It's still an amazing accomplishment by her completing that course but it feels less legitimate.

The most shocking early exit was Travis Rosen, who slipped early in the race into the water. He had never lost this early at Nationals.

JimRochester

I though the warped wall was taller this year? Fourteen and a half vs. Fourteen? No? Did they lower it back down for nationals?

Bill Needle

I know it was raised to 14.5 for the regionals this year, but not sure if they kept it there for the finals. They did cut the run-up distance by about half for stage 1 in Vegas.

d2cheer

JFC...a little full of yourself here? She would have got up it either way. Considering all the early exits of some of the supposed superstars her run is fucking historic and the highlight of a really drab and down year.

PhantomStranger

NBC did raise the height an extra six inches on the regional qualifying courses this season. That is not the same warped wall I brought up.

I'm referring to the differently staged warped wall seen on the National finals in Vegas. It's near the end of the run after they cross the water on a rope. It was a brutal challenge for shorter competitors in past seasons and especially for female competitors. Beating it was mostly a test of jumping ability. The normal warped wall shares little of the same athletic requirement.

It wasn't an obstacle you could beat through sheer technique, you had to have fairly explosive leaping ability as the run-up was too short to build any speed. They altered it just a bit this year, making it easier for certain athletes.

In other ways they did make this National finals course harder than previous seasons. The log slide made that obstacle much less predictable. It did seem like competitors learned very quickly, after seeing others failing on them, how to cope with the new changes. Later runs seemed to have a huge advantage over earlier runs.

JimRochester

Do they handicap the contestants? Like golf the better ones go off later. Golf does it to keep people watching. It seems as though the later runners have an edge when they see how people pass or fail the news obstacles.

Thrush

You would think some of those Crossfit dorks would do well in this. But maybe the stamina portion is where they would have trouble.

Noonan

The US version has grown into basically a test of upper body strength. Rock climbers and the type will always have the best chance. The JPN original is much more diverse.

JimRochester

I'd like to see some more tests of lower body strength and stamina.