So, I’ve kind of been watching American Gladiators. A little bit. For what it’s worth, I’m only 20% paying attention — I’m usually distracting myself on the computer or eating something or doing a scrimshaw.

There’s not a whole lot to it. If you remember watching American Gladiators , the show is pretty much the same. Only this time around, you’re the one who’s changed. You’re more aware of what’s going on and it’s obvious that the contestants have been coached to act super-psycho and delusionally over-confident. And they say silly catchphrases and the crowd cheers unnaturally hard, with their veins bulging. You can practically see the production assistant doing the upward arm motions to make them cheer louder.

I don’t really have enough to say about American Gladiators to constitute an entire post, so how about a little game? Below, there’s a list of words. You’ve got to figure out whether the word is the name of an American Gladiator or a refreshing soda/energy drink.

1. Vault
2. Blast
3. Surge
4. Crush
5. Toa
6. Josta
7. Jolt
8. Venom
9. Hammer
10. Freek

Get the answers after the jump…

What can I say? I love the robots and the fighting and the time travel. I know I haven’t seen a lot of new TV lately, so you might start to question my judgment, but I still think that Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is one of the best, most promising new shows of this season.

(Up front: I’ve never been obsessed with the Terminator movies — I’ve seen them each once — but I think they’re good fun. Except for the third one, which was disappointing. You don’t have to be a superfan to like the show. But knowing about the movies — a cursory glance at wikipedia will do — may help.)

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I will rave a bit.

They were playing Laura Veirs in Starbucks!

• A 30 second ad on American Idol costs more than your life.
• American Gladiators has already been renewed.
• E-Kristin has a spoiler chat featuring Lost.
• Seems like the whole gang is around for High School Musical 3.
• Terminator appears to be a hit.
• .  Or at least that’s what his campaign advisors told him to say to get him in with the hip, artsy demographic.
• Chile is getting its own version of The Office.
• ABC producers are getting the ax thanks to the writers strike.