BattleBots/YMMV

Ensemble Darkhorse: Minion.
Funny Aneurysm Moment: Surgeon General's introduction in this fight qualifies as its builder died in a car accident a few years later.
Jumped the Shark: When it began focusing on Carmen Electra's rack more than actual robotic combat.
- The fights were still good, but the prevalence of pointless "filler" between those fights was probably what killed the show.
More Popular Spinoff: Borderline case, but this is the show that introduced basic-cable viewers (and producers...) to the people who would become the MythBusters.
Retroactive Recognition: Adam Savage, Jamie Hyneman and Grant Imahara were competitors before MythBusters (and before Imahara worked for Hyneman's shop). Hyneman and Savage - who had known each other in special effects circles for years - collaborated on a bot called Blendo, which was considered to be too dangerous for competition several times. Imahara built Deadblow, a popular and beloved middleweight bot that often dominated its weight class.
Older Than You Think: Although BattleBots didn't air its first season until 2000, there were two pay-per-view tournaments (to test whether the show's idea was viable) the year before, and the whole thing has its roots in Robot Wars, which began in 1994 in the USA. The Robot Wars USA tournaments continued until 1997. In 1998 The BBC took over the "Robot Wars" name to produce the TV show fans are familiar with, and the next year BattleBots began.
The Scrappy: Evil Cheese Wedge, a robot Comedy Central bought off eBay, decorated, and used in several filler shorts in the fifth season.
- To some viewers, Carmen Electra.
Too Good to Last: Both BattleBots and Robot Wars were cancelled even though the robots were getting more and more exciting to watch. Interestingly, the last seasons of both shows were full of upsets, showing that rookie robots were still able to climb the ranks.
What an Idiot!: Common criticism for Carmen Electra being made a presenter by many fans. After Warhead (a robot designed by the team behind famed Robot Wars champion Razer) was defeated by Overkill in its final fight, Electra stated the team "Could really use some driving lessons", despite the fact that the Razer team was renowned for their driving ability, and that Warhead, despite being incredibly difficult to control due to the gyroscopic design of the weapon, had decimated every other robot it had faced due to its precision attacks.

Back to BattleBots