If there’s one show that I would beg for (not something I normally do), and would definitely watch if it ever came back, it’s Spike TV’s Deadliest Warrior, which ran for three seasons from 2009-2011.
Now, I know Spike TV is no longer in existence (It’s now known as Paramount Network), but I wouldn’t even need Spike to exist to get my fix, as the concept alone of two historical warriors battling it out to see who’s the deadliest is still a novel idea. It's something I would watch again in a heartbeat if there were ever new episodes.
So, while Deadliest Warrior wasn’t prestige television like Breaking Bad or The Wire, it’s still one of my favorite shows of all time, and here’s why.
It Settled Questions That I Genuinely Lost Sleep Over Through Science
RoboCop vs. Terminator. Godzilla vs. King Kong. Freddy vs. Jason. These are crossover battles that I don’t really lose sleep over since these fights have already taken place and I know the outcomes. That said, these are all fictional characters, so there's no real “accuracy” as to who would actually win since it all depends upon the writer. Ho hum.
However, what does sometimes keep me up at night is whether a samurai or a Spartan would come out on top (Especially since I love samurai movies), or how about a pirate vs. a knight? George Washington's army vs. Napoleon's? Joan of Arc vs. William the Conqueror? These are the kinds of things that shouldn’t be humming along in my brain at 2:00 in the morning, but sometimes do when I can’t sleep.
Well, thankfully, Deadliest Warrior helped iron out these worries. It wasn’t just all talk, either, as historical experts were brought in to decide which weapons, armor, and battle strategies would win out if these historical fighters actually battled to the death.
Honestly, I miss this kind of “reality TV” that you used to see in the early 2010s. Plus, it didn’t hurt that, for its time, it actually looked pretty good, which I’ll talk about next.
The Production Value Was Actually Quite Impressive…Given What They Had To Work With
The 2000s were an interesting time for both movies and TV shows, as the quality was mixed. For example, some things looked really good, while other things looked absolutely terrible.
This is especially true for television, where I feel like a lot of studios did what they could with the limited budgets they had (which is why so many DC CW shows relied more on great storytelling than special effects). Well, Deadliest Warrior kind of ran into this issue as well when it came to the simulated battles, as the costumes, weapons, and settings definitely weren’t fooling anybody.
That said, it still got the job done. The scenes in the lab were minimalistic at best, but once they showed the actual reenactments, there was a certain rugged charm that kind of managed to transport you to the scenario where these two unlikely warriors would duel to the death.
Again, it definitely wasn’t Disney+ levels of special effects, but it still worked for what it was, and that made all the difference. So, while I know I’ll likely never get the OG series back, could I please get something like Deadliest Warrior with my Netflix subscription? Because that would be pretty rad.
