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This old skit from SNL isn't far away I guess.

"And when they grab you with those metal claws you can't break free, because they are made of metal and robots are strong"

Obligatory Link to Robot Insurance Movie If You Can't Search Google (first result)

Funny I just changed this sig a few days ago....:

Doesn't seem so stupid now!

Ya, one of my personal favorites.. video here.

For when the metal ones decide to come for you... and they will!

(Low bandwidth one here.)

For when the metal ones decide to come for you... and they will!

(Low bandwidth one here.)

This movie explains why I have doubts about this.

This was a Saturday Night Live skit from the 11/18/1995 episode. Happy to see it, but make sure you credit where you got it from... :-)

The video is avalible here (High-Res) or here (Low-Res), BTW.

This was a Saturday Night Live skit from the 11/18/1995 episode. Happy to see it, but make sure you credit where you got it from... :-)

The video is avalible here (High-Res) or here (Low-Res), BTW.

Do yourself a favor and check out this link. It's a timeline that discusses the history of Robot Wars, which originated in California (not the UK), and the origins of Battlebots and Robotica. It's a very interesting read about a wide-eyed geek and the corporations that ate him up and spit him out.

But American history is crammed with technological innovations that are neither discussed nor much thought out. Drone Wars might not appear so terrible. They might even become irresistible.

Drone Wars are already irresistible. A lot of people including myself enjoy watching BattleBots.

Just picture the 200 lbs Nightmare running after Bin Laden. Nice picture huh?

Whose line is it anyway??!?! Did you ever see the first season? I saw a few episodes that were run on Comedy Central, and it was awful not funny at all. It wasn't until Ryan Stiles and Colin Mochrie showed up that it was worth watching! Okay, so they're Canadian... (Yes, I know that Colin was born in Scotland, but he grew up Canadian!)

Okay, I can't comment on Scrapheap Challenge vs Junkyard Wars because I haven't seen the American version...

Robot Wars! You've shown that you don't know anything about the history of Robot Wars and the common lineage of Robot Wars, Battlebots, and yes, Robotica. They began right here in the US.

Whose Line is it Anyway-all the same people, but a new host.

JunkYard Wars-Same producer(Kathy Rodgers) different hosts, same action.

RobotWars--There's an American version, so don't compare it to BattleBots, but if you want to, you should know that RobotWars(UK) was originally created by an american guy, Marc Thorpe. See here. But anyway, what I have seen and heard of the UK version of RobotWars is that it is basically the exact same show as Robotica, which most people say is a pretty good version of Robot competion.

now, A few bad examples of Brit television that have been transfered to America are Cybil(Absolutly Fabulous clone), and a show called Men Behaving Badly(a British Men Behaving Badly clone)--notice that both have been canceled.
I will give you that Survivor is an example of a European show that seems to have caught on that I wish hadn't. And, oh yes, I watch too much BBCAmerica.

Actually, due to ongoing litigation, Marc's site is not the best source for this information, since he is not allowed to make any comments regarding his ex business partners. For a better source on the history of Robot Wars and Battlebots, see http://www.robotcombat.com/history.html.

In case you don't want to check the link, Robot Wars ® was actually begun by an American (USian, Ussie, whatever), Marc Thorpe, in California where the first few competitions were held. Of course, he had to get some funding from some Big Evil Corp (tm) who went behind his back to film the TV event in the UK, back in '97*. Several lawsuits later, the SORC (Society of Robotic Combat) was formed to get away from said Evil Corp and (the name) Robotica was born, after that, Battlebots.

This is a great simplification, so I encourage you to check that link, also check marcthorpe.com for a more in depth early history of Robot Wars.

If you're more interested in Battlebots, check out this FAQ. Very interesting stuff, IMO. Makes me want to run out to the garage and start tinkering. :)

* This doesn't mean that I don't like Robot Wars, it's just a little behind the scenes action you may not be aware of.

In case you don't want to check the link, Robot Wars ® was actually begun by an American (USian, Ussie, whatever), Marc Thorpe, in California where the first few competitions were held. Of course, he had to get some funding from some Big Evil Corp (tm) who went behind his back to film the TV event in the UK, back in '97*. Several lawsuits later, the SORC (Society of Robotic Combat) was formed to get away from said Evil Corp and (the name) Robotica was born, after that, Battlebots.

This is a great simplification, so I encourage you to check that link, also check marcthorpe.com for a more in depth early history of Robot Wars.

If you're more interested in Battlebots, check out this FAQ. Very interesting stuff, IMO. Makes me want to run out to the garage and start tinkering. :)

* This doesn't mean that I don't like Robot Wars, it's just a little behind the scenes action you may not be aware of.

The bigest irony of it all is the fact that BattleBots is NOT a big corperation. BattleBots inc was started by two competitors of the (non-telavised) Robot Wars (In San Francisco). The Orginal Robot Wars (not to be confused with the UK, which was a spin-off) was shut down by the greed of one of it's partners, Profile Records. Battlebots has done an amazing job of keeping the competition Builder Centric and not giving into the glitz of Robot Wars. Ask any competitor who has been there and they will tell you: Battlebots is for Builders, Robot Wars is for TV.

A great history of the "death" of Robot Wars can be found here: http://www.robotcombat.com/history.html by Jim Smentowski, builder of "Nightmare". He was first at Robot Wars '97, the last Robot Wars event. There was no Robot Wars '98 because of the legal hassels. The first BattleBots event, pre-Comedy Central, was in '99 in Long Beach. I have been to every event since '97 (except one) and I have met Trey Roski and Greg Munson, founders of BattleBots. They are great guys who really care for the sport.

I am betting that this turns out to just be another overzellous lawyer getting the the way. Remember that in order to keep a trademark, you have to defend it.

Many designs also only use ONE stick for forward/reverse and steering.

Check out RobotCombat.com's FAQ for more info.

GO BACKLASH!!

You can see all the heavyweight competitors at RobotCombat.com.