It was a glorious time.
We were all a bunch of misfits.
All of us remember the times fondly.
(L to R) The infamous jousts; American Gladiators Co-Creator Johnny Ferraro; Danny Lee “Nitro” Clark
I dont regret one second ofAmerican Gladiators.
(In response,30 for 30s Berman said, I wish Johnny the best.
I meant no harm.
I only meant good making this project.
And, Lordy Lord.)
DEADLINE:Is it coincidental that this is coming so soon after the ESPN documentary?
DANNY LEE CLARK:No, so we didnt know what was going on.
And they told me Jason Mamoa was gonna play me!
I have more hair than Jason.
So, I get this call from this young producer in Canada named Kyle.
KYLE MCCUTCHEON:When I finally spoke to him, it was one of those meet your heroes moments.
CLARK:He said my partner is Peter Sussman.
I do a quick Google search.
MCCUTCHEON:Our [docuseries] gets right into the heart of the series and the main gladiators themselves.
Being from Canada, these guys were my heroes.
This was my first impression of what America was.
They said they liked our take better.
It got ugly at certain points [with30 for 30].
There were punches thrown back and forth.
At the end of the day, were happy that both versions have come out.
DEADLINE:What were you hoping to accomplish with your docuseries?
Thats the time when American Gladiators ruled the airwaves.
DEADLINE:Why didnt you participate in the ESPN docuseries?
CLARK:I think the ESPN one is interesting.
Its interesting from a filmmakers perspective.
He wanted to chase this narrative of who created this show.
Ive known Dann Carr for years.
I still have a big place in my heart for both of them.
It was just a different take by a different director who had a different vision.
When Berman called, I listened to the questions.
It wasnt appealing to me.
And also, I was already developing my own with Kyle.
DEADLINE:Do you address how participating in the show abused your bodies?
CLARK:Yes, but I think its in a different way.
Thats the one main thing we hated about the ESPN one.
And we all said, no,Gladiatorswas one of the best times of our lives.
All of us remember the times fondly.
We knew what we signed up for.
And look, Ive had back surgery.
Ive had knee surgery.
Thats the way we lived our lives.
DEADLINE:Your faces were everywhereback in the day.How was your pay back then?
CLARK:The studio was making all this profit.
Our face was on all this merchandise, right?
We said, hey, look, those are our faces.
Its our blood and sweat on the gladiator floor.
Were not asking for a revolutionary new deal.
Were just saying give us whats the industry standard and give us a cut of the profit.
Its like what is going on with the writers strike today.
Be a good human being and do whats right.
Just give us the minimum.
This was in year three.
It was Sam Goldwyn Jr. who said, look, my dad didnt renegotiate, and neither do I.
Come back to work, or youre fired.
DEADLINE:Why do you call your docuseries unauthorized?
CLARK:It was an MGM rights thing.
MGM owns the rights.
MCCUTCHEON:Honestly, though, were so happy with it.
We kind of fell backwards into a title that we love.
Whos telling this story?
Its the gladiators telling their story about their experience.
Nobody speaks for anybody else.
We have the top executives who were part of the show.
Everyone tells the narrative from their own point of view of what they remember.
Muscles & Mayhem: An Unauthorized Story of American Gladiatorsis currently streaming on Netflix.
