The Contender (TV series)
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The Contender | |
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Created by | Mark Burnett |
Presented by |
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Starring |
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Theme music composer | Hans Zimmer |
Composers |
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Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 5 |
No. of episodes | 47 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Production locations | Los Angeles, California |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | |
Release | March 7, 2005 August 24, 2018 – November 9, 2018 | – January 7, 2009
The Contender is an American
The series was created and executive produced by Mark Burnett. The first three seasons of the show were hosted by Sugar Ray Leonard, who shared hosting duties in the first season with actor Sylvester Stallone. Leonard departed the series after season three and Tony Danza joined as his replacement.
On January 22, 2018, it was announced that the series was being revived by
Premise
The show takes the format of a gameshow, with the boxers divided into two teams based on their place of residence in the United States: East Coast or West Coast (or simply “East” and “West”). These teams live together in group living quarters, in Pasadena, California in the historic Royal Laundry Building on Raymond Avenue, and compete for the right to choose which of their team members fights that week, and who he fights against. Most of the second half of the hour-long episodes are devoted to that fight: the loser is eliminated.
Production
The series’
On May 16, 2005, the series was cancelled. The first season cost NBC $2,000,000 per episode. Reruns were seen on CNBC. On August 11, 2005, ESPN announced that it was picking up the rights to a second season of the show,[3] which began airing on the network in July 2006, although special editions under the Contender title are currently airing as of March, 2006. ESPN also announced that it has options to renew the series for two additional seasons. However, on April 10, 2008, ESPN announced that it was canceling the series. Executive producer Jeff Wald maintained that the show would continue on another network.[4] It was later announced the show would move to Versus.
Najai Turpin suicide
On February 14, 2005, one of the 16 contenders,
Seasons
Season | Network | Airdate | Presenter | Trainers | Winner | Runner Up |
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1
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NBC | March 7 – May 24, 2005 | Sylvester Stallone Sugar Ray Leonard |
Tommy Gallagher Jeremy Williams Dub Huntley |
Sergio Mora “The Latin Snake” |
Peter Manfredo Jr. “The Pride of Providence” |
2
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ESPN | July 18 – September 26, 2006 | Sugar Ray Leonard | Tommy Gallagher Jeremy Williams |
Grady Brewer “Bad Boy” |
Steve Forbes "2 Pound” |
3
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September 4 – November 6, 2007 | Buddy McGirt Pepe Correa |
Sakio Bika “The Scorpion” |
Jaidon Codrington “The Don” | ||
4
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Versus
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December 3, 2008 – January 7, 2009 | Tony Danza | Tommy Brooks John Bray |
Troy Ross “The Boss” |
Ehinomen Ehikhamenor “Hino” |
5
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Epix
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August 24 – November 9, 2018 | Andre Ward | Freddie Roach
Naazim Richardson |
Brandon Adams | Shane Mosley, Jr |
Broadcast
The show ran for fifteen weeks through 2005 on
International versions
Country | Title | Broadcaster | Presenters | Original run | Trainers |
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Asia | The Contender Asia | AXN | Stephan Fox & Jaymee Ong | January 16, 2008 – April 23, 2008 | |
Australia | The Contender Australia | Fox8 | Charlotte Dawson & Daniel Amalm | 3 November 2009 | Billy Hussien (Blue Team) & Paul Briggs (Gold Team) |
Ukraine | Ти чемпіон Ty chempion |
TRK Ukrayina | Kostya Tszyu, Denis Nikiforov & Alina Shaternikova | October 17, 2010 – December 12, 2010 |
See also
References
- ^ Evans, Greg (January 22, 2018). "Epix Plans New Version Of Mark Burnett's Boxing Competition 'The Contender'". Deadline. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
- ^ Pedersen, Erik (June 27, 2018). "'The Contender': Mark Burnett's Boxing Competition Revival Gets Premiere Date On Epix". Deadline. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
- ^ "'The Contender' to begin second season on ESPN". ESPN. August 12, 2005. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
- ^ "The Contender: Boxing Series Cancelled for a Second Time – Will It Return for Round Three? | TV Series Finale".
- ^ "Reality TV Boxer Commits Suicide". CBS News. February 15, 2005. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
- ^ "'The Contender': Mark Burnett's Boxing Reality Series Revival for Epix Sets Host & Trainers". April 10, 2018.