BattleBots picked up for a second season

**PedroDaGr8** · 11-06-2015, 09:49 PM

http://www.theverge.com/2015/11/6/96...bc-summer-2016

Good news for folks like CitBBN and myself.

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**CitizenBBN** · 11-06-2015, 11:06 PM

Awesome. Hope/wish they get more into the tech and less into the overly fluffy personal interest coverage. Doubt it, but hope.

Anything to fill the gaping void that will be left in my life with the end of Mythbusters is most welcomed.

**Doc** · 11-07-2015, 08:37 AM

Yep, screw the human interest crap. I don't care that a builder spends his morning milking cows and his afternoons dressed in a cape and tights fighting crime. And tone down USFL/WWE type commentary and make it about the competition rather than the laser lights and glitz (which look cheap). People watch to see robot one smash robot two. Its not a hard formula. And to think they pay TV execs millions of dollars when they could pay me thousands to do a better job!

**CitizenBBN** · 11-07-2015, 02:57 PM

Originally Posted by Doc

Yep, screw the human interest crap. I don't care that a builder spends his morning milking cows and his afternoons dressed in a cape and tights fighting crime. And tone down USFL/WWE type commentary and make it about the competition rather than the laser lights and glitz (which look cheap). People watch to see robot one smash robot two. Its not a hard formula. And to think they pay TV execs millions of dollars when they could pay me thousands to do a better job!

I will certainly vote to put you in charge of production for the show, b/c I agree with every word.

I like a taste of the human side, esp. when the kids and girls are involved b/c I think it can encourage others to pursue their dreams despite being told it's not for girls or it's not cool, but you can do that in the context of less light shows and more about the bots and the design and strategy, etc.

It's a show for geeks, but it's being run by people who aren't geeks and don't know geeks.

FWIW that's what has made Mythbusters so good, Jamie and Adam and the build team aren't actors hosting a show, they love this stuff and are good at it and their passion for it comes across in both their focus and their presentation. They threw in their humor and some cheesy fun here and there, which is still very much the way us geeks do things, we're a pretty fun bunch in our way, but they never lost sight of the actual tests being cool.

But I have no faith in TV execs anyway. They couldn't see the potential of Star Trek, which has become the largest and most valuable television produced intellectual property on Earth, and still don't as they repeat those same mistakes with shows like Firefly, and no doubt dozens upon dozens of other good shows that never made it to air.

There is a ton of padding in Battlebots. When I rewatch this last season it's amazing how much I can fast forward. I don't mind the announcer intros, but it's long enough, and then they do a bot warm up test, then have to push the button they are ready, then the lights, then finally they go. I think you could tighten that up a bit, cut down the NFL side stage commentary by two guys and a pretty girl who clearly don't know a thing about robotics or engineering, and then expand the contest format to simply add in more bots and more fights.

Wouldn't that be cool? Do a contest with more teams and more bots, so you get the same 6 episodes but with way more actual fights. I'm sure you could find entries, then you're getting more action and less filler for about the same production cost.

**PedroDaGr8** · 11-13-2015, 01:55 PM

Someone mentioned it would be nice to see more than two bots in the ring at one time. Maybe have entry rounds with three bots then in the later rounds switch to one on one.

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**Doc** · 11-13-2015, 07:01 PM

Originally Posted by PedroDaGr8

Someone mentioned it would be nice to see more than two bots in the ring at one time. Maybe have entry rounds with three bots then in the later rounds switch to one on one.

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Yeah. Last year I mentioned I'd like to see a battle royal between all the eliminated bots. Would make a great consolation prize. Winner take all for 5K type thing. Be fun to watch and see if any alliance formed.