American Robot Wars 2000 (lost MTV pilot of British robot combat game show; 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, 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.

Photo Gallery

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  The Mauler in the pits for the MTV Pilot.

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  Spike in the pits for the MTV Pilot.

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  frenZy in the pits for the MTV Pilot.

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  The Mangulator in the pits for the MTV Pilot

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  Mjollnir in the pits for the MTV Pilot.

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  Rammstein in the pits for the MTV Pilot.

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  Ghetto-Bot being tested before filming of the MTV Pilot.

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  The unknown eighth robot in the pits for the MTV Pilot.

See Also

• 1995 Robot Wars UK Open (partially found rejected robot combat TV show pilot; 1995)
• BattleBots (found game show; 2000-2002)
• BattleBots Collegiate Championship (partially lost unaired spinoff of robot combat TV show; 2009)
• Mechanoids (partially found BBC game show; 2003)
• Robot Wars (lost near death footage of Jeremy Clarkson from robot combat gameshow; 1998)
• Robot Wars (lost work on unfinished cartoon series based on robot combat gameshow; existence unconfirmed; 2002-2004)
• Robot Wars (partially found unaired or partially aired battles of BBC gameshow; 1998-2017)
• Robot Wars (partially found uncut battles from BBC robot combat gameshow; 1998-2017)
• Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1 (lost original BBC Choice version of robot combat battle; 2001)
• Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors: Season 1 (found TNN robot combat gameshow; 2001)
• Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors: Season 2 (partially found behind-the-scenes footage of TNN robot combat gameshow; 2002)
• Robot Wars Revealed (partially found BBC Choice spin-off of robot combat gameshow; 1998)
• Robot Wars: Series 3 (lost HSE documentation concerning behind-the-scenes accidents; 1999)
• Robot Wars: Series 8 (lost unaired pilot of BBC gameshow; 2016)
• Robot Wars: The Kick-Off (lost BNN robot combat special; 2001)
• Robotica (found TLC robot combat game show; 2001-2003)
• Robots Revenge (lost Discovery robot combat documentary series; 2001)
• Why Hypno-Disc can't work in an office (found testing video of Robot Wars competitor; 2000, 2007)