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''Robot Wars'' is a technological game show that was first broadcast on BBC Two from 20 February 1998 until 23 February 2001, then on BBC Choice from 8 October 2001 until 7 February 2003 and finally on Channel 5 from 2 November 2003 until 28 March 2004. Additional series were filmed for specific sectors of the global market, including two series of ''Robot Wars Extreme Warriors'' with U.S. competitors for the TNN network (hosted by Mick Foley with Rebecca Grant serving as pit reporter), and two of Dutch Robot Wars for distribution in the Netherlands. The fourth series of the UK Robot Wars was brought to the United States on TNN as ''Robot Wars: Grand Champions'' in 2002, and hosted by Joanie Laurer. In 2003, the roboteers themselves formed ''The Fighting Robot Association'' and with their associated event organizers, carry on participating in competitions for new audiences. In 2013 Roaming Robots purchased the rights to the Robot Wars brand from Robot Wars LLC and now operates their traveling robotic combat show under that name. The series involved teams of amateur and professional roboteers who made their own robots to fight against each other in both friendly and tournament matches. As well as fighting each other, they had to avoid the "House Robots", which were not bound by the same weight or weapon limits as the contestants. ''Robot Wars'' had peak audiences of 4 million, and was commercially successful in merchandising. ==Origins== ''Robot Wars'' was the brainchild of Marc Thorpe, a designer working for the LucasToys division of Lucasfilm.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Robot Wars History )〕 In 1992, Thorpe had the initial idea for robot combat sport after unsuccessfully attempting to create a radio-controlled vacuum cleaner.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Robot Wars History )〕 In 1994, Marc Thorpe created ''Robot Wars'' and held the first competition at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. Approximately one month prior to the event, Thorpe formed a partnership with New York-based record company Sm:)e Communications, later Profile Records, who provided additional funding.〔 Between 1995 and 1997, three further ''Robot Wars'' events took place in America and, in 1995, Profile Records partnered with production company Mentorn to produce and televise a ''Robot Wars'' event in the UK. Mentorn acquired the worldwide television rights from Profile in 1995 after Tom Gutteridge (the head of Mentorn) had seen an amateur tape of a San Francisco event. Gutteridge and one of his producers Steve Carsey created a television format based on the Robot Wars concept. They produced a live event opposite BBC Television Centre in Wood Lane, Shepherds Bush, London and hired Derek Foxwell to build 3 combat robots to take on three American robots. The Controller of BBC Two, Michael Jackson, attended the event, which was not filmed, and he promised to commission a series. However, it wasn't until 1998 that a subsequent Controller of BBC Two, Mark Thompson, fulfilled Jackson's promise and actually commissioned 6 episodes. Gutteridge and Carsey were producers and Foxwell was the technical supervisor and senior technical consultant. He drafted the rules and regulations and was in charge of the pit area and the technical team, which scrutineered the robots, got them on and off stage and helped the contestants prepare and repair their robots. Irvine, initially a member of the technical team, served as one of the judges. Profile sought no input or consent from Thorpe before doing this, and this aggravated the already troubled relationship between Thorpe and Profile Records and indirectly spurred legal disagreements surrounding the ownership of the ''Robot Wars'' concept. The legal proceedings surrounding these would last until 6 February 2002.〔 Mentorn used Thorpe as a Consultant on the series, however, and the initial series of ''Robot Wars'' in the UK was broadcast over six weeks in February and March 1998. It was an immediate hit, with more than 2 million viewers, and a further 18 episodes were commissioned by the BBC that year. 154 episodes were produced in total, and the show was seen in 26 countries. Two series were produced in the US for the TNN (now Spike) network, and a version was also shown on Nickelodeon. Series were also produced in many European countries. Although the series had various directors and producers, all were produced in the UK by Mentorn, and executive produced by Tom Gutteridge and Steve Carsey. The initial series were staged in various film studios around London. But the stage and pit area became too large to fit into any of the conventional studios, so filming was later moved to an aircraft hangar at RAF Newton. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Robot Wars (TV series)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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