Robot wrestling takes over TV

'Battlebots' bridge gap between man and machine

By Phil Witte
Daily Forty-Niner

If wrestling annoys you, boxing bores you and the Ultimate Fighting Championship leaves you thirsty for blood, then Comedy Central may have a show to satisfy your need for carnage.

Rather than watching two overweight Goliaths pummel each other until Don King decides the winner, you can watch Tentomoushi and Alpha Raptor fight in the "Battlebox" the way it used to be: to the death.

Comedy Central's "Battlebots" is the creation of Edward "Trey" Roski III, 1994 Cal State Long Beach alumnus and the son of a Los Angeles real estate and sports mogul. Roski, who tinkered with mechanics all his life, got the idea for the show while competing in a European variation of the show. He disliked the choreographed format, believing it to be too much like wrestling, so he came back to the United States and created a new version with his cousin Greg Munson.

"Battlebots" pits homemade, radio-controlled robots in a variety of classes in a battle to the death in the Battlebox, a 48-foot square ring featuring surprise hazards, including traps, sledgehammers, spikes and buzz saws popping up from the floor to intensify the action.

Commenting on the action from weigh-in to post-mortem is the announcing team of color commentator Bill Dwyer, play-by-play announcer Sean Salisbury, technical expert Bill Nye, twins Randy and Jason Sklar and Donna D'Errico.

Since it airs on Comedy Central, the intensity of the competition is tempered by the tongue-in-cheek nature of the presentation.

Whether you think it's extreme sports for nerds, or just good, clean mechanical fun, "Battlebots" will satisfy your preternatural need for violence. Just don't get too close to the tungsten-tipped buzz saws springing up from the floor.

'Baywatch' babe moves to 'Battlebots'

By Phil Witte
Daily Forty-Niner

Former "Baywatch" star Donna D'Errico and  commentator for "Battlebots" participated in an interview with The Daily Forty-Niner and various college newspapers covering everything from how long she expects to be with the show to how the "Battlebots" compare to her former "Baywatch" co-stars.

Question: What do you think the producers were looking for when they chose you for the show?
Donna D'Errico: I think they wanted sex appeal, obviously, but they also wanted someone who didn't take themselves too seriously. And I think if you watch the show, you see I don't take myself too seriously.
Q: What have you done before that prepared you for the format of "Battlebots?"
DD: I guest-hosted Talk Soup a few times and I was a summer host on MTV. In both shows I had a chance to interact with people and show my sense of humor.
Q: What was your impression of the "Battlebots" contestants?
DD: I didn't know what to expect from them. They are mostly young and funny, but they take the competition very seriously. It's not a joking matter to them.
Q: How do the robots compare with your old "Baywatch" co-stars?
DD: There is more camaraderie among the robots and they definitely have more personality. They're probably also a little smarter than most of them.
Q: What is the appeal of the show?
DD: I think people watch to see something get demolished. It's like watching a car race and waiting for the crash.
Q: Who was the funniest contestant?
DD: There was a 12-year-old girl who had a robot shaped like a ladybug and she was so sweet. She had a robot that would destroy everything and she said she would use to attack boys if they flirted with her.
Q: Did you brush up on you technical knowledge to ask better questions of the contestants?
DD: I'm not a science person, but I did go behind the scenes to ask some questions. I wasn't used to being around that much metal and testosterone though.
Q: How can the show better appeal to women?
DD: Maybe if the robot operators were really buff and walked around in skimpy outfits. I don't know though, maybe women just don't want to watch things being destroyed.
Q: What kinds of robots do better in the competition?
DD: The prettier looking and more ostentatious ones usually lose. The solid looking ones that don't have too many weapons do better. Also, the ability not to be flipped over helps.
Q: What kind of robot would you design?
DD: I don't know exactly what I'd do, but it would probably look female and be very deadly.
Q: What did you think of the show the first time you heard about it?
DD: It sounded cheesy and until you see it, you can't really describe it. In the beginning of the taping of the show, I kind of liked that all the robots had phallic names.
Q: How wide could the show's appeal be?
DD: I think people can get into it even more. You can watch robots get ripped apart and completely demolished and have to be carried out at the end. It's better than wrestling.
Q: How long do you hope to stay on the show?
DD: Well, I'm expecting a baby in early December and the next competition tapes in November, and I'm going to try to make that one. After the baby, I should get back into shape and back to the show quickly.
Q: Is the show a sign of the changing times?
DD: Definitely. With more technological advances and the explosion of the Internet, I think everyone will have to adjust to the new electronic world.
Q: With the show's potential, could it get too big for Comedy Central?
DD: I hope it stays on Comedy Central. It would get lost if it went to a network. Here it could get really huge. There isn't any other show like it.
Battlebots commentator Donna D'Errico participated in a conference interview