''Gladiaattorit'' is a Finnish

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indiv ...

television program part of the international ''Gladiators'' franchise.

Original series

The show originally ran for three seasons from 1993 to 1994; it was directed by Hollywood director

Renny Harlin Renny Harlin (born 15 March 1959) is a Finnish film director, producer, and screenwriter who has made his career in Hollywood and China. His best-known films include '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master'', ''The Adventures of Ford Fai ...

, produced by

Markus Selin Markus Selin (born 16 March 1960) is a Finnish television and film producer. Career Selin was born in Vihti. His first feature was conceived in the mid-1980s. At a party in Los Angeles, he was introduced to fellow Finn Renny Harlin. The two c ...

, and filmed at

Planet FunFun Planet FunFun was an indoor amusement park located in Kerava, Finland. Originally the park was called Fanfaari but soon after the opening, new owners took over and renamed the park Planet FunFun. Among others, the Hollywood director Renny Harli ...

. It was hosted by Juha-Pekka Jalo alongside Katariina Ebeling in 1993 and Minna Aaltonen in 1994. It was rerun on the original

MTV3 MTV3 ( fi, MTV Kolme, sv, MTV Tre) is a Finnish commercial television station. It had the biggest audience share of all Finnish TV channels until Yle TV1 (from Yle) took the lead. The letters MTV stand for Mainos-TV (literally "Advertisemen ...

channel in 2002.

Participants

Persons becoming famous from the show included

Tony Halme Tony Christian Halme (January 6, 1963 – January 8, 2010) was a Finnish politician, athlete, author, actor, and singer. He was a member of the Finnish Parliament from 2003 to 2007, representing the True Finns party as an independent politician ...

(''Viikinki''—Gladiator Viking) who would become a member of the parliament and Virpi Butt (''Timantti''—Gladiator Diamond) who committed a murder in 2003. Competitors Pirjo Litilia, Riikka Hartikainen, Jarmo Jousisto, and Tommi Vuoristo would later compete on

International Gladiators 1 ''International Gladiators 1'' was the first international competition of the ''Gladiators'' franchise, consisting of seven episodes. Held at the National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England, the competition pitted contenders and Gladiators from ...

. Gladiators Flash (''Salama''—Marjo Krishi) and Terminator (''Terminaattori'' — Mikko Tukonen) would also appear on IG1.

Revivals

On 6 April 2017, it was announced that the show, owned by MGM Television, will return to the airwaves in Finland for a revival on

Nelonen Nelonen () is a Finnish commercial television channel. It started out as Helsinki's local television channel PTV in 1990 on the HTV cable network (now part of DNA Welho), and changed its name first to PTV4. On June 1, 1997, the channel expand ...

. The new series will be hosted by

Heikki Paasonen Heikki Paasonen may refer to: * Heikki Paasonen (linguist) (1865–1919), Finnish linguist * Heikki Paasonen (presenter) Heikki Valtteri Paasonen (born ) is a Finnish television presenter. Paasonen came to prominence as the host of '' Idols ...

and recorded at

Tampere Exhibition and Sports Centre Tampere Exhibition and Sports Centre ( fi, Tampereen Messu- ja Urheilukeskus) is an indoor venue in Tampere, Finland. It hosted European Wrestling Championships in 2008. The centre has 4 halls and the first one was built in 1985. See also *List ...

. It was announced that in 2019 a new series of ''Gladiaattorit'' would return to its original television channel

. The relaunched series will be hosted by Viivi Pumpanen and Antero Mertaranta. Filming of the series began on 11 February 2019 and will be produced by MTV Warner Bros. International Television Production Finland. There will be seven new Gladiators joining the team, with six staying from the previous series in 2017. Legendary original Gladiator Mohikaani ( Mika Ounaskari) is joining the show as the Gladiators coach and event expert.

Events

Gladiators

References

External links

*
GladiatorsTV.com - Finland
1993 Finnish television series debuts 1994 Finnish television series endings Gladiators (franchise) Finnish game shows MTV3 original programming Nelonen original programming {{Finland-tv-prog-stub