BattleBots season 8
BattleBots | |
---|---|
Season 8 | |
Release | |
Original network | Discovery Science |
Original release | May 11 October 5, 2018 | –
Season chronology | |
The eighth season of the American competitive television series BattleBots premiered on Discovery on May 11, 2018. Encore episodes debuted on Science Channel on May 16, 2018.
In February 2018, Discovery Channel and Science Channel announced that it had picked up BattleBots after it was unofficially cancelled at ABC, marking the second time in the series' history that new episodes premiered on a new network. It features the "biggest, baddest, strongest and fastest next-generation robots from all over the world" as they battle it out in the battle arena for a chance to win the Robot Combat Sports championship.[1]
Former UFC fighter Kenny Florian and MLB/NFL Sportscaster Chris Rose returned from the last two seasons to host this eighth season of BattleBots on Discovery. Also returning is Faruq Tauheed as the arena announcer. Former Battlebots judge Jessica Chobot replaced Alison Haislip as the sideline and behind the scenes reporter.
Judges
The current judges are the former Battlebots "bad boy" Derek Young, esports "maven" Naomi Kyle, and legendary roboticist Mark Setrakian. The guest judge (episode 3) was special effects "guru" Frank Ippolito. For episode 7, Grant Imahara from Mythbusters and NASA systems engineer Bobak Ferdowsi, who worked on the Mars Landing, were guest judges. Episode 9 featured former BattleBots sideline correspondent Alison Haislip as a guest judge. Lisa Winter 2015 captain of team Plan X and 2016 captain of team Mega Tento is a guest judge as well. Episode 15 featured YouTube star Simone Giertz as a guest judge.
Contestants
This season, 55 robots weighing a maximum of 250 pounds have the chance to fight up to four times each. Their goal is to earn a top 16 ranking and qualify for the post-season where there will be knockout rounds until a winner-take-all fight to crown the 2018 BattleBots World Champion. The contestants hailed from all over the world including: Brazil, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States.
Raven, the robot, was supposed to compete in BattleBots, but due to its unfinished state and time constraints, it never made it into the competition.
Contestants | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Tournament
This season featured a new fight format with the mid-season (episode 11) "Desperado Tournament" where eight bots whose season started poorly will have a one time opportunity to reverse their fortunes. Eight teams will get a second chance to battle it out tournament style in the battle box. The lone survivor who can win three fights in a row will earn an automatic spot into the Top 16 and will be the first entrance into the 2018 BattleBot Championship and also win the Desperado Tournament giant bolt trophy. Meanwhile, the losing bots will go back into the Battle Box to finish out the season.
Desperado Tournament Bracket
Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
#1 Lock-Jaw | KO[x] | |||||||||
#8 Kraken | ||||||||||
#1 Lock-Jaw | KO[x] | |||||||||
#4 Valkyrie | ||||||||||
#4 Valkyrie | UD[y] | |||||||||
#5 Hypothermia | ||||||||||
#1 Lock-Jaw | KO[x] | |||||||||
#3 Lucky | ||||||||||
#3 Lucky | UD[y] | |||||||||
#6 Gemini | ||||||||||
#3 Lucky | KO[x] | |||||||||
#2 Gigabyte | ||||||||||
#2 Gigabyte | KO[x] | |||||||||
#7 Double Dutch | ||||||||||
x KO: Knockout
y UD: Unanimous Decision
This season will have a 16 bot tournament to decide who will get the giant nut. The winner of the Desperado Tournament, Lock-Jaw, has already clinched a spot in the tournament. Then a committee will choose the other 15 bots.
Desperado Quarterfinals
Episode | Battle | Winner | Loser | Method | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
11 (August 3, 2018) |
1 | Lucky | Gemini | UD[y] | 3:00 |
2 | Lock-Jaw | Kraken | KO[x] | 2:25 | |
3 | Gigabyte | Double Dutch | KO[x] | 1:29 | |
4 | Valkyrie | Hypothermia | UD[y] | 3:00 |
- The robot was the winner of the battle and moved on to the Semifinals.
- The robot was the loser of the battle and was eliminated.
- Only highlights from the battle(s) were shown.
x KO: Knockout
y UD: Unanimous Decision
Desperado Semifinals
Episode | Battle | Winner | Loser | Method | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
11 (August 3, 2018) |
1 | Lock-Jaw | Valkyrie | KO[x] | 1:32 |
2 | Lucky | Gigabyte | KO[x] | 1:07 |
- The robot was the winner of the battle and moved on to the Final.
- The robot was the loser of the battle and was eliminated.
x KO: Knockout
Desperado Final
Episode | Battle | Winner | Loser | Method | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
11 (August 3, 2018) |
1 | Lock-Jaw | Lucky | KO[x] | 2:46 |
- The robot was the winner of the battle and moved on to the Top 16 Tournament Bracket.
- The robot was the loser of the battle and was eliminated.
x KO: Knockout
Seeding
- Tombstone (4–0)
- Bronco (4–0)
- Bite Force (4–0)
- Minotaur (3–1)
- SawBlaze (3–1)
- Icewave (3–1)
- Yeti (3–1)
- Son of Whyachi (3–1)
- Lock Jaw (4–2)
- Whiplash (3–1)
- ROTATOR (3–1)
- Monsoon (3–1)
- Witch Doctor (3–1)
- HUGE (3–1)
- WAR Hawk (4–1)
- Bombshell (0–4)
Top 16 Bracket
Round of 16 | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | |||||||||||
#1 Tombstone | ||||||||||||||
#16 Bombshell | KO[x] | |||||||||||||
#16 Bombshell | ||||||||||||||
#9 Lock-Jaw | KO[x] | |||||||||||||
#8 Son of Whyachi | ||||||||||||||
#9 Lock-Jaw | UD[y] | |||||||||||||
#9 Lock-Jaw | ||||||||||||||
#4 Minotaur | KO[x] | |||||||||||||
#5 SawBlaze | ||||||||||||||
#12 Monsoon | UD[y] | |||||||||||||
#12 Monsoon | ||||||||||||||
#4 Minotaur | KO[x] | |||||||||||||
#4 Minotaur | KO[x] | |||||||||||||
#13 Witch Doctor | ||||||||||||||
#4 Minotaur | ||||||||||||||
#3 Bite Force | KO[x] | |||||||||||||
#2 Bronco | KO[x] | |||||||||||||
#15 WAR Hawk | ||||||||||||||
#2 Bronco | ||||||||||||||
#10 Whiplash | KO[x] | |||||||||||||
#7 Yeti | ||||||||||||||
#10 Whiplash | UD[y] | |||||||||||||
#10 Whiplash | ||||||||||||||
#3 Bite Force | KO[x] | |||||||||||||
#6 Icewave | ||||||||||||||
#11 ROTATOR | UD[y] | |||||||||||||
#11 ROTATOR | ||||||||||||||
#3 Bite Force | KO[x] | |||||||||||||
#3 Bite Force | KO[x] | |||||||||||||
#14 HUGE | ||||||||||||||
x KO: Knockout
y UD: Unanimous Decision
z SD: Split Decision
Round of 16
Episode | Battle | Winner | Loser | Method | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
18 (September 21, 2018) |
1 | Monsoon | SawBlaze | UD[y] | 3:00 |
2 | Bombshell | Tombstone | KO[x] | 1:57 | |
3 | Minotaur | Witch Doctor | KO[x] | 1:39 | |
4 | Lock-Jaw | Son of Whyachi | UD[y] | 3:00 | |
19 (September 28, 2018) |
1 | Bite Force | HUGE | KO[x] | 1:37 |
2 | ROTATOR | Icewave | UD[y] | 3:00 | |
3 | Bronco | WAR Hawk | KO[x] | 1:40 | |
4 | Whiplash | Yeti | UD[y] | 3:00 |
- The robot was the winner of the battle and moved on to the Quarterfinals.
- The robot was the loser of the battle and was eliminated.
- Only highlights from the battle(s) were shown.
x KO: Knockout
y UD: Unanimous Decision
Quarterfinals
Episode | Battle | Winner | Loser | Method | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
18 (September 21, 2018) |
1 | Lock-Jaw | Bombshell | KO[x] | 0:36 |
2 | Minotaur | Monsoon | KO[x] | 1:00 | |
19 (September 28, 2018) |
1 | Bite Force | ROTATOR | KO[x] | 1:20 |
2 | Whiplash | Bronco | KO[x] | 2:57 |
- The robot was the winner of the battle and moved on to the Semifinals.
- The robot was the loser of the battle and was eliminated.
x KO: Knockout
Semifinals & Championship
Episode | Battle | Winner | Loser | Method | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
20 (October 5, 2018) | |||||
Semifinals | |||||
1 | Minotaur | Lock-Jaw | KO[x] | 1:43 | |
2 | Bite Force | Whiplash | KO[x] | 1:32 | |
Exhibition | |||||
1 | Tombstone | Tantrum | KO[x] | 1:19 | |
Championship | |||||
1 | Bite Force | Minotaur | KO[x] | 2:05 |
- The robot was the winner of the battle.
- The robot was the loser of the battle.
- The robot was the winner of the battle and became the champion of BattleBots 2018.
x KO: Knockout
Episodes
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|
109 | 1 | "It's Robot Fighting Time!" | May 11, 2018 | 1.03[2] |
110 | 2 | "Are You Yeti to Rumble?" | May 18, 2018 | 1.02[3] |
111 | 3 | "Everyone Wants to Be the Hotshot" | May 25, 2018 | 0.94[4] |
112 | 4 | "There's No Tapping Out in BattleBots!" | June 1, 2018 | 1.01[5] |
113 | 5 | "Just Keep Spinning" | June 8, 2018 | 0.96[6] |
114 | 6 | "It's a Flippin' Robot Party!" | June 15, 2018 | 1.00[7] |
115 | 7 | "It's Fork Lifting Time!" | June 22, 2018 | 0.92[8] |
116 | 8 | "I'm Here to Kick Some Bot" | June 29, 2018 | 0.93[9] |
117 | 9 | "Ice, Ice, Baby" | July 6, 2018 | 0.84[10] |
118 | 10 | "A Smashing Good Time" | July 13, 2018 | 0.90[11] |
119 | 11 | "The Desperado Tournament" | August 3, 2018 | 0.72[12] |
120 | 12 | "This Is BattleBots!" | August 10, 2018 | 0.74[13] |
121 | 13 | "The Rematch" | August 17, 2018 | 0.83[14] |
122 | 14 | "It's Going to Be a Flippin' Blast!" | August 24, 2018 | 0.84[15] |
123 | 15 | "USA vs. the World" | August 31, 2018 | 0.76[16] |
124 | 16 | "A Bull in a Bot Shop" | September 7, 2018 | 1.03[17] |
125 | 17 | "Last Chance Rumble" | September 14, 2018 | 0.83[18] |
126 | 18 | "It's Tournament Time" | September 21, 2018 | 0.98[19] |
127 | 19 | "The Tournament" | September 28, 2018 | 0.76[20] |
128 | 20 | "Championship Night" | October 5, 2018 | 0.81[21] |
Giant Bolt Awards
Four giant bolt awards were made for the 2018 season. The winner of the Desperado Tournament (episode 11) received a bolt award. The other three "Best of Show" awards were presented in the Battlebox towards the end of filming and were announced by Battlebots on Facebook and Twitter on 16 October 2018.[22][23]
Award | Awarded for | Winner |
---|---|---|
Desperado | Winner of Desperado Tournament | Lock-Jaw |
Founders' Award | Team that embodies the spirit of BattleBots. Awarded by the BattleBots Founders, Trey Roski and Greg Munson. |
Monsoon |
Best Design | Robot that best embodies the combination of top-notch engineering and outstanding design Awarded by the BattleBots builders. |
Huge |
Most Destructive Robot | Robot that dished out the most gourmet damage Awarded by the BattleBots Judges. |
Rotator |
References
- ^ "'BattleBots' Revived On Discovery Channel". Deadline. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (May 14, 2018). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Friday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 5.11.2018". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (May 21, 2018). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Friday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 5.18.2018". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (May 29, 2018). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Friday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 5.25.2018". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (June 4, 2018). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Friday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 6.1.2018". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (June 11, 2018). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Friday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 6.8.2018". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (June 18, 2018). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Friday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 6.15.2018". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (June 25, 2018). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Friday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 6.22.2018". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (July 2, 2018). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Friday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 6.29.2018". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (July 9, 2018). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Friday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 7.6.2018". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
- ^ "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Friday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 7.13.2018 - Showbuzz Daily". www.showbuzzdaily.com.
- ^ "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Friday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 8.3.2018 - Showbuzz Daily". www.showbuzzdaily.com.
- ^ "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Friday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 8.10.2018 - Showbuzz Daily". www.showbuzzdaily.com.
- ^ "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Friday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 8.17.2018 - Showbuzz Daily". www.showbuzzdaily.com.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (August 27, 2018). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Friday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 8.24.2018". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (September 4, 2018). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Friday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 8.31.2018". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (September 10, 2018). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Friday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 9.7.2018". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (September 17, 2018). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Friday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 9.14.2018". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (September 24, 2018). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Friday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 9.21.2018". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved September 24, 2018.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (October 1, 2018). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Friday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 9.28.2018". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (October 8, 2018). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Friday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 10.5.2018". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
- ^ Battlebots on Facebook
- ^ @Battlebots (16 October 2018). "BotFans - Presenting your 2018 BattleBots Best of Show Winners" (Tweet) – via Twitter.