BattleBots is an American television game show which originally ran from 1999 until 2002. Following a hiatus from television spanning over a decade, the show returned in 2015 where it has since aired seven World Championship seasons, three spin-off series and a variety of specials.
The televised show first aired on US network Comedy Central, with its five seasons colloquially referred to as Seasons '1.0' to '5.0'. Prior to that were two unaired competitions in 1999: the first was held in Long Beach, California, recorded for the BattleBots Beginnings VHS tape and DVD. The second was held in Las Vegas, Nevada and was made available on pay-per-view, but this was later available on DVD as well. The first three seasons of Comedy Central BattleBots also aired on BBC channels in the United Kingdom.
The show was revived in 2015 as a six-episode television series, and it was filmed in San Francisco. The season aired on ABC during the summer of that year and was referred to as Season 1 (later, World Championship I). Following its success, BattleBots was renewed for a second season which ran for ten episodes. On July 5 2017, the Science Channel picked up the rights to re-run ABC Battlebots episodes, though 2017 would not have its own season.
The rights to produce future seasons shifted to Discovery in that time, starting with the 2018 season, which was still colloquially named Season 3. In 2019, BattleBots and Amazon collaborated to run a special competition in Las Vegas, Nevada, which was livestreamed on Twitch to celebrate their annual re:MARS event. BattleBots has aired on Discovery ever since, with their spin-off series BattleBots: Bounty Hunters debuting on their subscription service, discovery+, in 2021. Following the show's sixth reboot season, the second summer series was announced, named BattleBots: Champions. A seventh season was announced in 2022, with filming taking place in October. The season was officially known as World Championship VII, following a similar nomenclature to annual Super Bowl events, and BattleBots: Champions II was also announced.
BattleBots has been distributed to over 150 countries in multiple continents since its 2015 return, even spawning dubs with unique presenters and recorded segments such as the French spin-off, Le Choc des Robots. In December 2021, BattleBots began uploading fights from the first five seasons of the show to their YouTube channel for an international audience, some of which had not been made available since their initial airing in the US. BattleBots became available on Netflix that year also, and starting in April 2022, World Championship III aired in the United Kingdom on ITV4.
Origins[]
- "I'm talking to Trey and Colleen, his wife, and we're trying to come up with names. You know, you've done it before, 'Robo-something', 'Bot-something'... So, you just come up with every little cut-up word for robots and battling and fighting, and you try to stick them all together. Colleen says 'What about BattleDroids?' and me being a Star Wars nerd, said 'Oh no, we can't call it BattleDroids 'cause Episode 1 is about to come out in like three months from now and they've already trademarked that name... so BattleDroids is off the table. And I say, 'How about BattleBots?', 'cause Bots was one of those words we had been goofing around with, and we all stopped... 'Let's think on that.' And then we talked about a few more names and then talked the next morning, saying 'You know, I think it's BattleBots', and we said 'Yeah, that's pretty good, right?', so we all came up with it!"
- — Greg Munson on the origins of the BattleBots name[1]
BattleBots stemmed from the original robot combat franchise Robot Wars. The brainchild of Lucasfilms toy designer Marc Thorpe, Robot Wars attracted builders from all over the United States, and as far away as France, to build fighting robots and battle them in a San Francisco warehouse. In 1997, legal disputes between Thorpe and his principle sponsor Profile Records reached critical mass, resulting in Profile licensing Robot Wars to the BBC in the United Kingdom without Thorpe on board. A large contingent of US Robot Wars regulars sympathized with Thorpe, and refused to have any more dealings with Robot Wars, leading to the 1998 and 1999 US Robot Wars events being canceled. However, the Robot Wars show became a hit in the United Kingdom, spawning seven total series, two Extreme spin-offs, US, Dutch and German series as well as multiple special episodes and competitions.
Tazbot taking on Razer during the inaugural Long Beach competition.
Trey Roski and Greg Munson, the builders of La Machine, decided to organize their own event to end the two-year drought and give their fellow builders an outlet for battling robots. Inspired by existing shows such as the Late Night with David Letterman segment 'Dangerous Toys' and Mark Pauline's Survival Research Laboratories, they decided upon the name 'BattleBots' for their competitions. The events proved hugely popular with the local crowd, each one pulling in a nearly-full house. The second event was made available on Pay-Per-View, and proved explosively popular there too. Subsequently, BattleBots was picked up by Comedy Central, where it enjoyed five seasons between 2000 and 2002.
Chinkilla on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Jay Leno endorsed BattleBots several times on The Tonight Show, and commissioned a robot called Chinkilla, built in his name to fight in exhibition matches. The popularity of BattleBots contained to grow, drawing over 400 entrants in Season 5.0.
Robot Wars meanwhile, held two American competitions in the UK. They tried to entice BattleBots builders with an all-expense-paid trip to London, provided they changed their robot's name and paint job if it appeared on BattleBots. Most of the prominent BattleBots builders were still unhappy with Robot Wars and declined the invitation. However, a healthy contingent of lesser-known teams showed up to take part.
During the 2001 Super Bowl, a Bud Light commercial aired featuring a fictional competition called Robotbash and a robot made by Bob and Chuck Pitzer, which was essentially Tripulta Raptor with special effects. BattleBots sued for copyright infringement but was struck down in court. Regardless, MTV bought out Comedy Central and after Season 5.0 ended, MTV did not want BattleBots as part of their lineup, so ended their contract.
It was announced in November 2002 that a presumed 'Season 6.0' would not go ahead that month, as initially intended.[2]
- "We are very sorry to inform our builders that plans for the BattleBots 6.0 Tournament have been put on hold until further notice. At this point, the BattleBots 6.0 Tournament will NOT be held in November 2002 as originally planned. Much to our dismay, Comedy Central has decided NOT to renew its option for a Phase 6.0 taping at this time. Without this television funding from Comedy Central, BattleBots Inc. simply cannot afford to hold a live competition... We understand and appreciate the enormous resources, efforts, and talents that builders put into their robots. However, since the television funding is not there at this time, our hands are tied. Please understand that we have also expended a vast amount of effort in preparation for the Phase 6.0 event. We are as disappointed as you must be. This hurts us deeply in many ways."
- — Part of the email sent by Greg Munson and Trey Roski in November 2002
While the season was originally put on hiatus, this became indefinite as Greg Munson and Trey Roski struggled to find another home for their show.
Untelevised BattleBots[]
The BattleBox for the 2004 NPC Charity Open.
An early Witch Doctor fights at BBIQ 2010.
For the years that followed, low-profile BattleBots competitions still took place in variations of the same BattleBox arena. Notable events from this era included the 2004 NPC Charity Open, the 2005 Rochester Robot Rampage, and several student-oriented events running under the BattleBots IQ (BotsIQ) banner. These set the precedent for modern era competitors such as Marc DeVidts, Andrea Gellatly and Will Bales to establish themselves during the televised show's hiatus. An annual BotsIQ championship, arranged by Team Loki's Nola and Bill Garcia, took place alongside regional events running under the same name, this being staged between 2002 and 2012.
The logo for BattleBots: Destruct-A-Thon.
Co-founders Trey Roski and Greg Munson fought to agree a deal with a new network to air BattleBots on television once again, ranging from FOX Broadcasting Company to Canadian filmmaker James Cameron. Despite the 2009 Pro, Collegiate and High School Championships all being filmed and edited for television,[3] proposed broadcast deals for the former two events failed to materialize due to sponsorship issues.
In 2014, it was revealed that James Cameron of Avatar fame and television producer Mark Burnett were set to back a revival on the Discovery network.[4] However, the deal fell through as the network proposed a name change, wanting to call the show RoboGeddon. The network also envisaged flying robots and humanoid creations more akin to Real Steel films, which was another stumbling block according to Greg Munson.
A year later, Trey Roski and Greg Munson were invited to meet Chris Cowan, whose visions for a revived series aligned with theirs. BattleBots remained off the air until it was finally picked up by ABC in 2015, having worked with Whalerock Industries CEO and former ABC chairman Lloyd Braun.
A brand-new live show unlike any previous events was announced in 2022, called BattleBots: Destruct-A-Thon. Beginning in 2023, these events would not be televised and featured ShowBots resembling fan favorites from the competitions past and present. In mid-2024, it was revealed that select mini-tournaments would be held during the live shows between select teams, with a view for these fights to be uploaded to YouTube. This was later called BattleBots FaceOffs and an eight-minute teaser premiered in March 2025.
- "You can watch reruns on MAX. But no new TV until we can make a win/win/win deal with a network (bot builders/BattleBots/broadcaster). For now we’re controlling our own destiny on YouTube"
- — Greg Munson on Facebook in March 2025, responding to a fan enquiring about BattleBots returning to television[5]
The Reboot Era[]
The BattleBots logo unique to ABC.
The BattleBox in 2016.
The first two seasons of the reboot era were produced in 2015 and 2016, with the iconic BattleBox and many new and former competitors returning. The show now only focused on heavyweight robots weighing up to 250lbs, a 30lb increase on the upper limit set by RoboGames and other US events at the time.
BattleBots has since become one of Discovery's most highly successful pick-ups, spawning two spin-offs named BattleBots: Bounty Hunters and BattleBots: Champions alongside the fifth, sixth and seventh reboot seasons.
In February 2020, it was announced that Discovery had agreed a deal for 80 hours of programming, spanning what would become World Championship VI and World Championship VII. Although the COVID-19 pandemic postponed the 2020 competition, this multi-year deal was not affected and the seasons were filmed in 2021 and 2022.
In line with the seventh reboot season, BattleBots decided to adopt Roman numerals to refer to current, past and future reboot era seasons. Further spin-offs were also produced, looking back at previous seasons and getting insight from former and current competitors. The first of these were titled BattleBots: Nastiest Knockouts and BattleBots: Most Outrageous Moments.
Event[]
The Pits during Comedy Central BattleBots.
The BattleBox and the Pit area are in separate areas of the chosen location. Teams are given tables for their robots and are separated with enough room for builders to work on their robots and walk between tables to other teams. In the Comedy Central days, banners featuring the previous event's winners from each weight class were hung overhead. In the modern era, the pits feature television screens where teams can watch various matches taking place to get an idea of who their next opponent might be. Otherwise, teams are forced to wait until the early morning hours of a future day to find out their first matchup.
Team HyperShock's pit area during World Championship VI.
Teams often got a day off for every three days of filming, though this was not always possible due to scheduling. Two sessions a day were filmed with each session lasting four hours. Fights were 30 minutes apart, allowing for introductions from ring announcer Faruq Tauheed and other needs.
For the 2020 season, the events of COVID-19 and the restrictions that ensued meant there would be no live audience. Instead, competing teams ended up serving as a makeshift audience if they were not already fighting. They stood in front of the seats normally occupied by the crowd, with each team's respective banner hung over the railing during the time they were watching. A live audience returned, however, from the 2021 season onward.
Personalities[]
The original emcee for both 1999 events was former American Gladiator Lee Reherman, who also did the countdown before each match. In the 1999 Las Vegas event, an animatronic robot called Y2K2 served this role, but in later seasons was replaced by a drag race Christmas Tree. At the Las Vegas event, Mark Beiro was the pre-match announcer, continuing on through the Comedy Central events. For the televised show, Bil Dwyer and Sean Salisbury were the original presenting duo, though the latter was replaced by Tim Green from Season 3.0. In addition, several arena side reporters interviewed competitors before and after their matches. Carmen Electra served this role in the Comedy Central era of the show, though the reboot era saw this expand to a much more dignified role.
Alison Haislip filled this role in World Championship I, with FOX Sports' Molly McGrath serving as a third presenter alongside Chris Rose and Kenny Florian. Sportscaster Samantha Ponder took over from Molly McGrath in World Championship II due to conflicting work with ESPN, but Chris and Kenny took over as permanent hosts for the show from World Championship III onward, providing both the introductions to each fight as well as the commentary and post-fight interviews.
Jenny Taft served as pit reporter for the 2019 and 2020 seasons, but did not return for future seasons. Former BattleBots competitor Pete Abrahamson took a presenting role starting from World Championship V. Known as the "Bot Whisperer", he provided pre-fight analysis and thoughts on how a battle may play out. 2016 season guest judge Fon Davis returned in a permanent role in 2022, replacing Jason Bardis from World Championship VII, and Bombshell captain Mike Jeffries joined the show in a production role as Match Steward.
Ring Announcer[]
- Long Beach 1999: Lee Reherman
- Las Vegas 1999, Season 1.0-Season 5.0: Mark Beiro
- Season 5.0 preliminary rounds: Roy Hellen
- World Championship I-Present: Faruq Tauheed
- Destruct-A-Thon, FaceOffs: Bil Dwyer & Steve Judkins
Commentators *[]
- Long Beach 1999: Lee Reherman
- Las Vegas 1999: Larry Michael & Dan Danknick
- Season 1.0-Season 2.0: Bil Dwyer & Sean Salisbury
- Season 3.0-Season 5.0: Bil Dwyer & Tim Green
- World Championship I-Present: Chris Rose & Kenny Florian
- 2022 re:MARS all:STARS: Pete Abrahamson & Will Bales
- Destruct-A-Thon, FaceOffs: Bil Dwyer & Steve Judkins
* Several team captains joined Chris Rose and Kenny Florian to commentate on select World Championship VII battles.
Match Steward[]
- World Championship VII-Present: Mike Jeffries
Format[]
BattleBots competitions were nearly identical to the US Robot Wars format - a straight knockout tournament in each weight class. Everyone who showed up with a rule-compliant robot was allowed to compete, with first-round byes given out as needed. The two untelevised seasons were double elimination, whilst the rest were just single. In the Comedy Central seasons, matches were televised at the producers' discretion, and every show would typically feature at least one battle from each weight class. For Season 3.0 and beyond, seeded robots would gain automatic entry into the Top 32. A robot was considered knocked out if immobile for thirty seconds and completely separated from its opponent. If there was no clear winner after three minutes, the judges would determine a winner based on aggression, strategy, and damage. Any teams unable to fulfil a match would have to forfeit, handing their opponent a bye into the next stage of the competition.
One of the Lightweight rumbles during Season 2.0.
Also featured in each season was a rumble between the Top 32 finishers in each class. The lower 16 would fight in the first rumble, known as the Consolation Rumble, from which the judges would pick two winners. The winners joined the Top 16 in the Royal Rumble, which would end with the judges picking the three best performers and audience applause ultimately deciding the winner. These Royal Rumbles were not held during Season 5.0 due to a safety breach during a heavyweight rumble which caused one of Nightmare's teeth to fly through the BattleBox ceiling and into the crowd. Fortunately, no one was hurt in the incident.
The 2018 season Top 16 bracket.
For World Championship I and II, the competition followed a straight knockout format, with the latter featuring several qualifier rumbles to determine the final places in the tournament. Applying teams had to go through a selection process to make the show, with alternate robots selected to fill in for teams forced to drop out.
The 2020 season Top 32 bracket.
A brand new format was introduced for World Championship III, called Fight Night. This saw every competing robot handed a schedule of opponents from which they would earn a win/loss record. After each robot had fought a total of four times (three in 2020, sometimes only two in 2021 due to time restraints), records were compared with each robot's record, strength of schedule and quality of wins and losses considered. Places in the World Championship tournament were often given to the winners of specific play-in matches, such as Last Chance Rumble winner Bombshell in World Championship III, as well as Hydra and Skorpios in World Championship VI.
The Selection Committee would therefore select a Top 16 (later, Top 32) and each robot would be seeded based on their performances during Fight Night. From then, it would be a straight knockout tournament until a new Giant Nut winner had been found.
Judging[]
A judging card for the Season 5.0 fight between Diesector and World Peace.
If both robots were still mobile after 3 minutes, a panel of three Judges would decide the winner based on a set of scoring criteria. Throughout the Comedy Central years, this criteria was Aggression, Strategy, and Damage, with each having equal weight. The judges would score the robots from 0-3 in each category for a score of up to 9 points (later 0 to 15 for a score of up to 45 points).
The judging lineup during the 2021 season.
For the reboot seasons, a Control judging category was added and had the same weight as the other three categories. However, instead of using a points total, each judge would cast a vote on the winner based on the criteria. For the third season of the reboot, the judging awards up to 2 points for damage and 1 point for the other categories. Much as with World Championship II, not using the primary weapon can count against a robot's aggression points. The major difference for the 2016 season concerned celebrity guest judges, but this was short-lived as from the 2018 season onward, guest judges were dropped, instead favoring a permanent lineup of former BattleBots competitors: Derek Young, Jason Bardis and Lisa Winter.
Ahead of World Championship IV, the Strategy category was retired and instead merged with Control. To balance the categories, 3 points were available for damage and 2 for Aggression and Control, allowing fights to be scored more evenly in theory, but with Damage still being the dominant category.
In 2022, it was revealed that Jason Bardis would not return to BattleBots. He was replaced by a fellow former competitor in Fon Davis.
For untelevised fights within the Destruct-A-Thon live show, Proving Ground and FaceOffs, fights were decided by the live audience rather than professional judges.
Broadcast Dates[]
| Season | Network | Filming Location | Premiere |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic Era | |||
| Long Beach 1999 | ZDTV (online) | Long Beach, CA | August 14, 1998 |
| Las Vegas 1999 | ESPN (Pay-Per-View) | Las Vegas, NV | November 17, 1999 |
| Season 1.0 | Comedy Central | San Francisco, CA | June 9, 2000 |
| Season 2.0 | Las Vegas, NV | November 17, 2000 | |
| Season 3.0 | Treasure Island, CA | May 22, 2001 | |
| Season 4.0 | November 4, 2001 | ||
| Season 5.0 | May 19, 2002 | ||
| Reboot Era | |||
| World Championship I | ABC | San Francisco, CA | June 25, 2015 |
| World Championship II | Los Angeles, CA | June 23, 2016 | |
| World Championship III | Discovery Channel | Long Beach, CA | May 11, 2018 |
| World Championship IV | June 7, 2019 | ||
| World Championship V | December 3, 2020 | ||
| BattleBots: Bounty Hunters | discovery+ | January 4, 2021 | |
| World Championship VI | Discovery Channel
discovery+ |
Las Vegas, NV | January 6, 2022 |
| BattleBots: Champions | August 4, 2022 | ||
| World Championship VII | January 5, 2023 | ||
| BattleBots: Champions II | October 5, 2023 | ||
| BattleBots FaceOffs | YouTube | March 27, 2025 | |
References[]
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbHV28a0l1I
- ↑ https://groups.google.com/g/alt.robotwars/c/ZhhbETjy4qo/m/JUPsk7DqxWAJ
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8p77zh0Ajc
- ↑ https://www.engadget.com/2012-04-11-james-cameron-to-create-robogeddon.html
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1059648676208542&set=a.610756364431111
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