Photo: Comedy Central and popularmechanics.com
Bow to Your Robot Overlords: ‘BattleBots’ Is Returning!
Just as Kid Nation is the reality show perfectly attuned to Vulture’s sensibilities, so too does BattleBots — the sadly canceled show where teams of aspiring engineers build robots designed to beat the crap out of each other — have one magazine that follows it obsessively. When we want BattleBots news, there’s just one place to go: Popular Mechanics, obviously. The magazine has a great feature on the resurrection of BattleBots; the show is returning to television, on ESPN now instead of its poorly suited former network, Comedy Central.
Though BattleBots will miss its onetime host, recently fired ESPN buffoon Sean Salisbury, it should still be pretty great, especially as the show increases its focus on the pits, where panicked engineers have to repair their bots to a ticking clock. In addition, the show will find a way to ban “wedgebots,†robots whose entire modus operandi is to stay low, get under their opponent, and flip ‘em over. We know we’re totally nerding out here, but this is gonna be awesome.
BattleBots Returns, but Will ‘Science Fair Gone Mad’ Grab Geeks? [Popular Mechanics]