The Contender (TV series)
The Contender | |
---|---|
Created by | Mark Burnett |
Starring | Sugar Ray Leonard and Sylvester Stallone |
Theme music composer | Hans Zimmer |
Composer(s) | Jeff Lippencott and Mark T. Williams, Ah2 Music |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
Production | |
Running time | Varies |
Production company(s) |
Mark Burnett Productions DreamWorks Television ESPN Original Entertainment (2006–2008) |
Release | |
Original network |
NBC (2005) ESPN (2006–2008) Versus (2008) |
Original release | March 7, 2005 – 2008 |
The Contender is a reality television series that follows a group of boxers as they compete with one another in an elimination-style competition, while their lives and relationships with each other and their families are depicted. Produced by Mark Burnett, the show is hosted by Sugar Ray Leonard, who shared hosting duties in the first season with actor Sylvester Stallone. Leonard also serves as a trainer on the show, along with Tommy Gallagher. During the first season, boxing manager Jackie Kallen also served as counsel to the boxers.
The show ran for fifteen weeks through 2005 on NBC in the United States of America. The show ran in the UK on ITV2 and was repeated later in the week on ITV, and now airs on ITV4. It also aired on AXN in India, and on the Spanish language network Telemundo. The second season, featuring welterweight contenders, premiered in the U.S. on Tuesday, July 18, 2006, at 10 pm ET/PT, on ESPN. The third season, featuring super middleweight contenders, premiered in the U.S. on Tuesday, September 4, 2007, at 10 pm ET/PT, on ESPN. The fourth season, featuring cruiserweight contenders, premiered in the U.S. on Wednesday, December 3, 2008, at 10 pm ET/PT, on Versus.
The series’ tagline is “The Next Great Human Drama”, and its soundtrack was scored by Hans Zimmer. Before the show premiered, rival US television Fox network rushed to air a competing show The Next Great Champ, hosted by Oscar de la Hoya. The show performed very poorly, with the final episodes being relegated to cable FSN. In an effort to distance itself from the Fox disaster, NBC opted to hold airing its show until spring 2005.
The show takes the format of a gameshow, with the boxers divided into two teams based on their place of residence in the United States: East Coast or West Coast (or simply “East” and “West”). These teams live together in group living quarters, in Pasadena, California in the historic Royal Laundry Building on Raymond Avenue, and compete for the right to choose which of their team members fights that week, and who he fights against. Most of the second half of the hour-long episodes are devoted to that fight: the loser is eliminated.
On February 14, 2005, one of the 16 contestants, Najai Turpin, despondent over personal matters, committed suicide, shooting himself while sitting with his girlfriend in a parked car outside the West Philadelphia gym where he trained. In his memory, the producers set up a trust fund for his daughter Anyae. The show still aired in its entirety, but with a special tribute to Turpin.
On May 16, 2005, the series was cancelled. The first season cost NBC $2,000,000 per episode. Reruns were seen on CNBC. On August 11, 2005, ESPN announced that it was picking up the rights to a second season of the show,[1] which began airing on the network in July 2006, although special editions under the Contender title are currently airing as of March, 2006. ESPN also announced that it has options to renew the series for two additional seasons. However, on April 10, 2008, ESPN announced that it was canceling the series. Executive producer Jeff Wald maintained that the show would continue on another network.[2] It was later announced the show would move to Versus.
Seasons
Season | Broadcaster | Airdate | Presenter | Trainers | Winner | Runner Up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | NBC | 2005 | Sugar Ray Leonard & Sylvester Stallone | Tommy Gallagher Jeremy Williams Dub Huntley |
Sergio "The Latin Snake" Mora | Peter “The Pride of Providence” Manfredo Jr. |
2 | ESPN | July 18, 2006 - September 26, 2006 | Sugar Ray Leonard | Tommy Gallagher Jeremy Williams |
Grady "Bad Boy" Brewer | Steve "2 Pound" Forbes |
3 | September 4, 2007 - November 6, 2007 | Sugar Ray Leonard | Buddy McGirt Pepe Correa Carlos Vargas Romnick Dongiapon |
Sakio Bika | Jaidon Codrington | |
4 | Versus | December 3, 2008 | Tony Danza | Tommy Brooks John Bray |
Troy Ross | Ehinomen "Hino" Ehikhamenor |
International versions
Country | Title | Broadcaster | Presenters | Original run | Trainers |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Asia | The Contender Asia | AXN | Stephan Fox & Jaymee Ong | January 16, 2008 – April 23, 2008 | |
Australia | The Contender Australia | Fox8 | Charlotte Dawson & Daniel Amalm | 3 November 2009 | Billy Hussien (Blue Team) & Paul Briggs (Gold Team) |
Related shows
On October 17, 2010, the Ukrainian show Ty – Chempion («Ти чемпіон», translated as You are the Champion), the adaptation of NBC's The Contender, started on Ukrayina TV channel.[3][4] The 10-episode show is hosted by Kostya Tszyu, Alina Shaternikova (both are professional boxers) and Denis Nikiforov (the star of Shadowboxing 2005 film).[5] There are 13 contenders and all are current or former professional and amateur boxers.[6] in the Finale fight for 1,000,000 UAH on December 12, 2010 David "Dato" Tabatadze took revenge on Bogdan Protsyshin.[7] Previously in round 1 (show's episode 4) on November 7, 2010 Bogdan Protsyshin won the fight,[8][9] but later Tabatadze returned to the show thanks to viewers SMS votes.[10] The Finale received rating/share 3,7%/8,4% of 50,000 18+ age and 3%/7,8% of 50,000+ 14–49 age viewers.[11] According to Kostya Tszyu, the season 2 of the show is in considering for production.[12]
See also
References
- ↑ "'The Contender' to begin second season on ESPN". ESPN. August 12, 2005. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
- ↑ The Contender: Boxing Series Cancelled for a Second Time – Will It Return for Round Three? | TV Series Finale
- ↑ Anischenko, Sergiy (October 13, 2010). "Ukrainian TV channel launches new reality project". Ukrinform. Retrieved October 31, 2010.
- ↑ "Ти чемпіон" стартував з часткою 6,61% ["You are the Champion" Started with a Share of 6.61%] (in Ukrainian). «Телекритика» (telekritika.ua). October 18, 2010. Retrieved October 31, 2010.
- ↑ "Ти чемпіон" на "Україні" матиме 10 випусків, половина вийде в прямому ефірі ["Ukrayina" channel's "You are the Champion" will have 10 episodes, half will live] (in Ukrainian). «Телекритика» (telekritika.ua). October 12, 2010. Retrieved October 31, 2010.
- ↑ Ти чемпіон ::: Учасники | ТРК Україна [You are the Champion ::: The Contenders | TЕLEVISUAL & BROADCASTING JOINT – STOCK COMPANY "UKRAINE"] (in Ukrainian). Ukrayina TV channel. October 2010. Retrieved October 31, 2010.
- ↑ В шоу "Ти чемпіон" определили сильнейшего боксера (in Russian). МедиаБизнес (mediabusiness.com.ua). December 14, 2010. Retrieved December 19, 2010.
- ↑ Табатадзе сенсаційно програв новачку (in Ukrainian). digital ventures (sport.tochka.net). November 8, 2010. Retrieved December 19, 2010.
- ↑ "David Tabatadze profile at boxnews.com.ua". BOXNEWS.com.ua. December 2010. Retrieved December 19, 2010.
- ↑ Володимир Мула (December 13, 2010). Давид Табатадзе став переможцем проекту "Ти чемпіон" (in Ukrainian). ТелеПростір (teleprostir.com). Retrieved December 19, 2010.
- ↑ Финал "Ти чемпіон" на телеканале "Украина": лучшие показатели ноября и декабря, – "МедиаБизнес" (in Russian). МедиаБизнес (mediabusiness.com.ua). December 13, 2010. Retrieved December 19, 2010.
- ↑ Костя Цзю: "ТРК Украина" предложили мне очень хитрый контракт" (in Russian). МедиаНяня (mediananny.com). December 14, 2010. Retrieved December 19, 2010.
External links
- About.com Contender Guide
- Yahoo TV Contender Guide
- CBS News article on Najai Turpin's suicide (February 15, 2005)
- The Uppercut.tv