Robot Combat League w/ Amanda Lucas competing

[bigbarada]

Anybody watch this show at all? The technology is still really rough and the robots have to have a giant t-bar attached to them to keep them standing, which totally defeats the purpose of them having legs in the first place IMO.

It does have George Lucas' daughter, Amanda, as one of the contestants, so it might be interesting to keep up with to see how far she goes. But otherwise it just feels like a giant version of Rock-'em-Sock-'em robots to me.

You can watch the first episode on the SyFy website:
http://www.syfy.com/videos/Robot%20Combat%20League/vid:2626626

[JediTricks]

Thanks for the link, I didn't know this existed. And it was AWFUL, I am pretty sure that final battle was decided by hydraulic fluid shorting out the defeated guy. The robots looked terrible and it was such a Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots event. The T-bars at the back make sense, we don't really have the tech right now to have robots stand and move on their own strong enough to take punches, and we don't have the tech to power them either so they have to be tethered. But did they have to look so much like crap? The best hit of the episode was when George Lucas punched Amanda in the face, that looked like it actually connected accidentally hard even though it was meant to be cute.

[bigbarada]

The T-bars at the back make sense, we don't really have the tech right now to have robots stand and move on their own strong enough to take punches, and we don't have the tech to power them either so they have to be tethered.

Yeah, I'm thinking the technology needs about another 20-30 years of development before something like this is even remotely entertaining.

I also didn't really like how each team just had their robot assigned to them. I thought the teams were going to be designing and building the robots themselves. At least they could have allowed the competitors to choose their own robot or do something that would let them infuse some of their own personality into their machines.


The best hit of the episode was when George Lucas punched Amanda in the face, that looked like it actually connected accidentally hard even though it was meant to be cute.

That was pretty funny. I was kind of hoping to see George show up at some point during the show, but I guess that's going to be reserved for the episode where his daughter fights.

Although, I'm guessing SyFy is going to pull the plug on this show pretty quick. It's seems odd to me that they would put the first episode on their website before it even premiered on cable. I think they know the show sucks and they're trying to see if they should just kill it before its premiere.

Right now, I think the only show worth watching on SyFy is FaceOff. I actually really get into that show.

[JediTricks]

Yeah, I'm thinking the technology needs about another 20-30 years of development before something like this is even remotely entertaining.

I also didn't really like how each team just had their robot assigned to them. I thought the teams were going to be designing and building the robots themselves. At least they could have allowed the competitors to choose their own robot or do something that would let them infuse some of their own personality into their machines.What they should have done was give them the base robot and color, then let the teams choose what types of fists and heads and armor parts they got from a limited selection (so as not to give any one team too much of an advantage). I found the way they did this far more boring than BattleBots even though those usually pitted proto-Roombas against each other.


That was pretty funny. I was kind of hoping to see George show up at some point during the show, but I guess that's going to be reserved for the episode where his daughter fights.

Although, I'm guessing SyFy is going to pull the plug on this show pretty quick. It's seems odd to me that they would put the first episode on their website before it even premiered on cable. I think they know the show sucks and they're trying to see if they should just kill it before its premiere.

Right now, I think the only show worth watching on SyFy is FaceOff. I actually really get into that show. I'm sure you're right. I doubt they'll pull the plug just because they really haven't got anything right now to put in its place and they already paid to film the show, might as well air that.

I liked FaceOff last season, but I haven't had time this season to watch. It's pathetic that Siffy can't even get a single science fiction show on the air anymore, they're just hopeless now.

[bigbarada]

I liked FaceOff last season, but I haven't had time this season to watch. It's pathetic that Siffy can't even get a single science fiction show on the air anymore, they're just hopeless now.

I didn't really discover FaceOff until the middle of last season. I got into the show pretty quick though. I like how the contestants are being judged on their creativity, imagination, skill-set and talent; not their personality or ability to manufacture drama.

It was cool that Nicole was able to get back onto the show and eventually win it all, but I felt that Laura was the better make-up artist of the final three. It also sucked that all it took was one bad make-up job to send Roy home.

They have some really talented artists on season 4 and a few where you have to wonder how they even got on the show in the first place. Since I first started watching this series, I've seen all of season 3 and most of season 2; but the guys in season 4 have created some of the best designs I've seen on the show so far. Also, some of the worst. So in a way it's really the most uneven season for the show.

[JediTricks]

I actually also got into it from the middle of last season and did catch-up (easy since they rerun it CONSTANTLY), and also agree that Laura probably should have taken it, although I personally felt Roy's work was overall the best and most rounded and creative ideas of the group.

Maybe I'll check out season 4 if I can make the time, it won't be difficult judging by last season's airings. I think part of my distance is that currently Siffy has not a single show I'm watching, so they can't advertise it to me through that.

[bigbarada]

I actually also got into it from the middle of last season and did catch-up (easy since they rerun it CONSTANTLY), and also agree that Laura probably should have taken it, although I personally felt Roy's work was overall the best and most rounded and creative ideas of the group.

Maybe I'll check out season 4 if I can make the time, it won't be difficult judging by last season's airings. I think part of my distance is that currently Siffy has not a single show I'm watching, so they can't advertise it to me through that.

Yeah, they'll replay every episode this Tuesday leading up to the nest episode, so if you can set aside a Tuesday then you should have no problem catching up. Although, they are down to only 7 contestants and next week is a double elimination, so there are only about 3 episodes left until the finale.

As for shows on SyFy, Continuum has actually been pretty enjoyable. It's very well written compared to most of SyFy's shows. I usually end up watching Being Human just because it's tolerable and I'm too lazy to change the channel. I have high hopes for Defiance as well.

Anyways, it seems that Robot Combat League enjoyed one of SyFy's best premiere nights in over 2 years, at least in terms of their "unscripted" shows. I did read a bunch of posts on SyFy's Twitter page saying how great the show was, but I just assumed those were made by SyFy employees. ;)

[JediTricks]

I gave Continuum about 5 episodes based on the ravings of all the fans who watched the show's first season in Canada but it really didn't do anything for me and I dropped it, it doesn't feel as cleverly-written as everybody's claiming it to be.

As for FaceOff, I think it might also be on OnDemand, I'll check.

[bigbarada]

I watched the first episode of Continuum with zero expectations because it just happened to be on that night. Like I said, compared to the other scripted shows on SyFy, it's pretty good; but that's not really a very high bar I guess. It's not something that I will got out of my way to watch, like Walking Dead or Face Off, but I'll watch it if it's on and I just happen to be watching TV at the time.

On season 4 of Face Off, they've got a guy who thinks big and really out of the box, like Roy was last season, and it seems that the judges hold that against him more than anything else. I can't really figure out why.

[JediTricks]

To be honest, one of the things that annoyed me the most about the judging on Face Off was the way they randomly penalized people for growing an idea big and bold. Ve Neil would be fairly consistent and then just tear something down from Roy that looked great. And Glenn Hetrick is just frustrating to watch as a judge, he's as two-faced as it gets.

[bigbarada]

To be honest, one of the things that annoyed me the most about the judging on Face Off was the way they randomly penalized people for growing an idea big and bold. Ve Neil would be fairly consistent and then just tear something down from Roy that looked great. And Glenn Hetrick is just frustrating to watch as a judge, he's as two-faced as it gets.

A part of me wants to say that it's a bit of jealousy or the judges feel intimidated by the level of talent that some of these guys are showing, but I'm kind of hesitant to really claim that.

When I was in college getting my graphic design degree, I experienced the situation where you know you are more talented than your professor and they kind of resent you for it. Even though you are putting out better work than anyone in the class, they tend to be more critical and discouraging than anything else. However, I would like to think that an accomplished, award-winning motion picture artist would be a little bit more professional than some old lady stuck teaching at a community college. Then again, it is human nature.

But it's also possible that the judges are just a victim of editing. My boss has starred on 3 reality shows as of now and has a fourth in development and he explained it like this: You can spend 55 minutes singing another person's praises and talking about how good and talented they are, then 5 minutes giving constructive criticism and outlining how they can improve and the editors will home in on the 5 minutes of criticism because it's seen as more dramatic. The editors decide what story they want to tell first, then they pick and choose, from the hundreds of hours worth of footage, in order to create that story. Documenting what "really happened" is not really that important.

[JimJamBonds]

Where is Bill Dwayer and Sean Salisbury to do the commentary?

[JediTricks]

Bil Dwyer was awesome, he'd be too good to do commentary for this mess. I miss watching Battlebots, THAT was robot fighting! Stomping! Sawblades! Kinetic energy that threw parts over the arena walls!


As for the judges, I get the feeling they are trying to use subjectiveness to judge objectively and it clashes there. Your point about editing could be it too, but the outcomes definitely still feel arbitrary in some ways.

Today is a FaceOff marathon, I'm grabbing 'em all except today's episode since that one is counter-programmed. :p

[bigbarada]

Today is a FaceOff marathon, I'm grabbing 'em all except today's episode since that one is counter-programmed. :p

Cool. :cool: I went ahead and started a Face Off thread, so that we can talk about it there if you want. This way all those Robot Combat League fans can have this thread to themselves. :D

[Bel-Cam Jos]

I saw the episode where Ms. Lucas competed... and was knocked out in the 1st round. Robot was in a pool of hydraulic fluid. Mr. Lucas seemed obsessed with a robot punch-to-the-crotch (his word) shots, though. :eek: Looked cool (the fighting robots, not crotch shots :rolleyes: ), but I doubt I'll become a regular viewer.

[bigbarada]

Having Lucas' daughter competing was the ONLY reason I even bothered to give this show a chance. Now that she's out of the competition, then I really see no reason keep watching.

The "robot punch to the crotch" thing was pretty funny, though. Who knew George was such a dirty fighter? lol

[JediTricks]

I saw the episode where Ms. Lucas competed... and was knocked out in the 1st round. Robot was in a pool of hydraulic fluid. Mr. Lucas seemed obsessed with a robot punch-to-the-crotch (his word) shots, though. :eek: Looked cool (the fighting robots, not crotch shots :rolleyes: ), but I doubt I'll become a regular viewer.Seriously? Her robot fighting career started the same way her MMA one did, she got knocked out bad?

Why would a punch to the crotch concern a robot fighter? So silly.