Posted by Brandon Martus. [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]
Other on team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.
Posted on 8/20/2000 11:03 PM MST
I probably missed this in an earlier post, but I’ll put it here, just in case…
Battlebots… a new show on Comedy Central.
(Wednesday, August 23rd)
From the commercials, it looks like a bunch of
robots, beating the heck out of each other.
Could be interesing…
Follow the link below for the website.
Posted by Mike Dubreuil.
Student on team #175, Buzz, from Enrico Fermi High School and UTC/Hamilton Sundstrand.
Posted on 8/23/2000 10:38 AM MST
In Reply to: Battlebots posted by Brandon Martus on 8/20/2000 11:03 PM MST:
It looks like Battlebots made it big on television before FIRST did. Battlebots now has a series on Comedy Central.
I know why they made it first. And here’s my opinion: It’s the American culture.
US citizens do not want to see robots cooperating to score points in a goal. They would rather see robots beating the crap out of each other.
This is not the 60s US citizens do not want to see robots coming together to form an alliance to combat another alliance. This is the 90s and people want to see robots single-handedly fighting for their cause.
I think for FIRST to make it as big as Battlebots you have to show producers what Americans want. Producers who dream of getting the same ratings as the World Wrestling Federation’s Monday Night RAW. With the game we are currently playing producers just don’t see a reason to waste their time with a kid-oriented game.
Next year FIRST needs to, at least, make the game more violent. Or the producers will go to Battlebots once again.
- Mike
: I probably missed this in an earlier post, but I’ll put it here, just in case…
: Battlebots… a new show on Comedy Central.
: (Wednesday, August 23rd)
: From the commercials, it looks like a bunch of
: robots, beating the heck out of each other.
: Could be interesing…
: Follow the link below for the website.
Posted by Janna.
Student on team #349, The RoBahamas, from International Academy and Ford Motor Company.
Posted on 8/23/2000 4:32 PM MST
In Reply to: Re: Battlebots posted by Mike Dubreuil on 8/23/2000 10:38 AM MST:
: Next year FIRST needs to, at least, make the game more violent. Or the producers will go to Battlebots once again.
Hi,
I don’t think that’s necessarily true…if you look at the show in context, it shows on Comedy Central. After South Park. I think that by placing the show after South Park they’re appealing to people who do like violence, and that works for Comedy Central and all. But Comedy Central isn’t the only station FIRST competitions can air on. The atmosphere of the current competition certainly could make it on the major networks…not everything on there is violent. They even show like four hours of golf, the most nonviolent sport I can think of at this time on major networks, and since they keep airing it, people must not have a problem with the lack of violence there. (And FIRST is so much more fun than golf, anyway.) So I’ll agree with you by saying that more violence does appeal to some people, but I don’t think that makes FIRST’s future on TV hopeless by any means.
Janna
Posted by Mike Dubreuil.
Student on team #175, Buzz, from Enrico Fermi High School and UTC/Hamilton Sundstrand.
Posted on 8/24/2000 9:33 AM MST
In Reply to: Re: Battlebots posted by Janna on 8/23/2000 4:32 PM MST:
Janna,
I believe that you are correct in saying that we don’t need violence- I think it would be easier to fit into most TV networks with it, but that’s just my opinion. There is one network that I mention at the bottom of my message that would be perfect for our current format.
Did anyone see last night’s Battlebots? It was for the most part, exactly what we want! They started off by simply going over the rules. They explained what the field was like and what scoring opportunities the robots had. Then they talked about the robots. They explained the major types of weapons using pretty technical jargon. The announcers didn’t say that combustion engines could only have X amount of fuel, but that is insignificant to most people viewing a game. Just as saying that all robots in FIRST have 60 amp fuses- doesn’t matter to the layperson. Then the announcers told about robots to look out for. Just as someone had posted about how the announcers should know the robots- they did. When a robot was being destroyed in the arena the announcers actually knew that a speed controller had fallen off the robot. I thought that was pretty impressive.
Last night I realized who would be able to make all of our dreams possible. We are their biggest event, why not their next mini-series- Disney. They have their very own TV channel; and it’s free now. Disney could make tapes of the regionals and show them a couple days after they happen so they have time to edit them. “Tuesday check out the action from the NASA Ames FIRST Regional… Then on Thursday sparks fly as FIRST gets it on at the UTC New England Regional.” Then they would finish by showing the final rounds at nationals “LIVE from EPCOT it’s FIRST Nationals Baby!” This would be most excellent. Anybody else think Dean should rattle Disney’s cage for this one?
- Mike
: : Next year FIRST needs to, at least, make the game more violent. Or the producers will go to Battlebots once again.
: Hi,
: I don’t think that’s necessarily true…if you look at the show in context, it shows on Comedy Central. After South Park. I think that by placing the show after South Park they’re appealing to people who do like violence, and that works for Comedy Central and all. But Comedy Central isn’t the only station FIRST competitions can air on. The atmosphere of the current competition certainly could make it on the major networks…not everything on there is violent. They even show like four hours of golf, the most nonviolent sport I can think of at this time on major networks, and since they keep airing it, people must not have a problem with the lack of violence there. (And FIRST is so much more fun than golf, anyway.) So I’ll agree with you by saying that more violence does appeal to some people, but I don’t think that makes FIRST’s future on TV hopeless by any means.
: Janna
Posted by Lora Knepper.
Other on team #419, Rambots, from UMass Boston / BC High and NASA, Mathsoft, Solidworks, Analog Devices.
Posted on 8/24/2000 5:22 PM MST
In Reply to: Re: Battlebots and a TV network for FIRST posted by Mike Dubreuil on 8/24/2000 9:33 AM MST:
:Last night I realized who would be able to make all of our dreams possible. We are their biggest event, why not their next mini-series- Disney
I’m amazed that we have all overlooked this option for so long! Disney is the perfect way to spread FIRST across the nation via the TV…even thinking about the family based atmosphere Disney prides itself on is the perfect home for a family Robotics Competition!
FIRST appeals to many levels, from small children to adults…and the Disney Channel spans that entire audience…a match made in heaven! I’m with you wholeheartedly on this one Mike, I think Disney would be the perfect place to really introduce the Competition to mass media.
Lora
Posted by Jason Iannuzzi.
Engineer on team #11, Marauders, from Mt. Olive HS. and BASF, Rame Hart, CCM.
Posted on 8/25/2000 2:46 PM MST
In Reply to: Re: Battlebots and a TV network for FIRST posted by Lora Knepper on 8/24/2000 5:22 PM MST:
In theory, Disney and FIRST make a great match.
In practicality, Dean Kamen and Disney are two of the most stubborn (in a good way) control freaks out there. Disney needs to have almost complete control over anything they put their name on, the exception being the Pixar films. Dean Kamen is worse.
For Disney to ‘adopt’ FIRST, I think they would require a whole lot more control over the organization than Dean would be willing to give up. I think that is what is currently keeping FIRST from becoming more than an ‘outside’ event.
I sincerely hope I’m wrong.