Ah, good ol' BattleBots. Possibly THE best show on TV. What is that you say? Oh, you poor ignorant fool, you don't know why it is the best show on TV. Well, I will have to do something about this unfortunate situation.
First off, a definition of what the show is. It isn't a sitcom; although its entertaining, its not "funny" in a sitcom type of way. It isn't drama; although you will be on the edge of your seat, and you may let out a wail of grief at the sight of your favorite bot dying, unless you are REALLY into it, you won't cry. So just what exactly is it?
BattleBots is a sports show, of a sorts. Its the PERFECT sport, actually. Again, I'm hearing a "why" from you. Sheesh. Its perfect because it is violent. VERY violent. EXTREMELY violent. However, this isn't the type of violence that you would cause you to rush to cover up poor little Johnny's eyes, since no one is hurt. All of the violence is of that good old wholesome variety: robot vs. robot. Wrestling? Bah, in wrestling (which is fake anyway, this is the real deal) you don't exactly see one wrestler rip off another wrestler's stomach and expose his lunch, breakfast, and a little bit of whats left of his dinner from the night before.
Adding to this incredible formula of guilt-free violence is the arena itself, which is called the BattleBox. Its is completely contained, on all four sides and the top, with bullet-proof glass, which is to protect the audience (and it is needed during almost every match). Along the sides of the BattleBox is the Spike Strip, which has claimed many a victim. In the middle are the Hell Raisers, which can literally tip the balance in a match. There are also the Pulverizers on two of the opposite corners, which are huge badass hammers that have done more than their fair share of damage. However, the kings of the arena are the Killsaws. Theses sets of saw blades emerge from the ground at random intervals, sometimes slicing just thin air, sometimes sending lightweights flying through the air (and I do mean fly; these suckers do everything but sprout wings sometimes). New additions this season are giant horizontal screws on the sides of the BattleBox that push bots towards the pulverizers, as well as big thick pistons that rise up every once and a while from the ground.
Alright, another reason that this is the perfect sport is that it doesn't matter how strong you are. Who cares if you can bench-press your car containing that fat guy that always sits next to you on the airplane and talks to you no matter how much you try to ignore him. Um, anyway, my point is, this is the BRAIN'S sport, not the body's. These bots can get pretty complex, and it takes a keen engineering mind to not only build it in the first place, but also to fix it after it gets the shit beaten out of it.
Another kickass aspect of the game is the absolutly random nature of it. Sure, some matches just seem a little obvious (like anyone fighting Biohazard; Biohazard forever, bitches!!!) but most of them aren't over 'till someone's flying, smoking, or dropping parts all over the floor. Its been more than once where the bot that is leading in hits get tapped by the Killsaws, and then loose a battery or a motor, and end up losing the match. If you wanna play with the big boys, thats just the price you pay.
Alright, for those of you that noticed I gave it a 9.99, here is the only bad thing I have to say about the show: sometimes the random nature can be a bit disappointing. For example, sometimes the lightweight fights can be a bit dull, since lightweights are a lot harder to drive (very quick, so its easy to completely miss your opponent). Oh well, its still cool. :)
In wrapup, BattleBots just plain kicks every kind of ass you can imagine. I HIGHLY recommend that you see it.