Robot Wars (lost MTV pilot of British robot combat gameshow; 2000)

Title card used for the British version of the show.

Status: Lost

Robot Wars is a British robot combat game show that was broadcast on BBC Two and Channel Five from 1998-2004, and from 2016 to 2017. Because of the success of the show during Series 3 and Series 4, MTV was interested in airing an American version of the show. A pilot was created around the summer of 2000.

In this pilot, eight robots were supposed to compete in a knockout tournament. Seven of the robots were frenZy, The Mangulator, The Mauler, Spike, Ghetto-bot, Mjollnir, and Rammstein. However, the unknown eighth robot withdrew, so the producers decided to reduce the number of competing robots to four. This meant that Ghetto-bot, Mjollnir, and Rammstein did not compete, although they were in attendance during the battles. The remaining four robots were paid $5,000 for appearing in the pilot.

There were three battles in total. The first was The Mauler vs Spike, which the former won. The second was frenZy vs The Mangulator, with frenZy winning. It and Mauler would compete in the final, which Mauler ultimately won, thus enabling it to avenge its loss in BattleBots. What is notable is that this was The Mauler's and Spike's only appearance in Robot Wars (Mauler was supposed to compete in the First World Championship, but was disqualified because its weapon was deemed too dangerous for the arena). The pilot also marked the debut of the Series Four version of the Robot Wars Arena.

Ultimately, MTV decided not to air an American version of Robot Wars,^[1] although TNN would later do so, naming the show Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors. The MTV pilot has never aired on television and remains as one of Robot Wars' most coveted media.