Ultimate Beastmaster
Ultimate Beastmaster is an American sports entertainment reality show competition that premiered on Netflix on February 24, 2017. The show differentiates itself from other obstacle course competition shows by showcasing not only international talent, but by producing six localized versions, featuring select television hosts, actors, comedians and athletes as commentators from the six countries competing in the show. Reactions from all countries' hosts appear in each localized versions, especially during course clearing victories. Each season consists of 10 episodes, released simultaneously on Netflix worldwide.[1] The first season premiered on February 24, 2017, while the second season aired on December 15, 2017.
| Ultimate Beastmaster | |
|---|---|
 Title card | |
| Created by | Dave Broome |
| Presented by | Various |
| Theme music composer | Jon Ernst Sean Holt |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English Portuguese German Japanese Korean Spanish French Italian Chinese Hindi |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 29 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Dave Broome Sylvester Stallone Yong Yam Kevin King-Templeton Elayne Cilic Travis McDaniel Mike Espinosa |
| Running time | 40-83 minutes |
| Production company(s) | 25/7 Productions |
| Distributor | Netflix |
| Release | |
| Original network | Netflix |
| Original release | February 24, 2017 – August 31, 2018 |
In February 2018 the show was renewed for a third season, consisting of nine episodes,[2] which premiered on August 31, 2018.[3]
Premise
In each episode, there are twelve contestants (2 from each country) who run a new obstacle course known as “The Beast”. The winner is crowned “Beastmaster”. Each of the "Beastmasters" from the nine Beastmaster episodes will go forward to a final course, to become the Ultimate Beastmaster.[4] Starting in Season 3, each show featured nine competitors (one from each country in the competition). The two competitors with the highest score in the final stage moved onto one of two semi-finals. The top three from each semi-final moved to the final episode to be crowned Ultimate Beastmaster.
Hosts
In addition to Sylvester Stallone hosting season 1, each country has its own set of two hosts/commentators for the competition. They are as follows:
| Season 1 | Season 2[5] | Season 3[2] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Host | |||||
| United States | Terry Crews | Actor and retired athlete | Tiki Barber | Former NFL player | ||
| Charissa Thompson | Television host | Chris Distefano | Comedian | CM Punk | Former WWE champion/UFC fighter | |
| Brazil | Rafinha Bastos | Comedian | Rafinha Bastos | Comedian | ||
| Anderson Silva | UFC fighter | Anderson Silva | UFC fighter | |||
| Germany | Luke Mockridge | Comedian | Micky Beisenherz | Radio and TV host | ||
| Hans Sarpei | Professional footballer | Jeannine Michaelsen | Actress | |||
| Japan | Yuji Kondo | Sports broadcaster | ||||
| Sayaka Akimoto | Singer/actress | |||||
| Mexico | Luis Ernesto Franco | Telenovela star | Luis Ernesto Franco | Telenovela star | ||
| Ines Sainz | Sports broadcaster | Ines Sainz | Sports broadcaster | |||
| South Korea | Seo Kyung Suk | Radio/TV personality | Seo Kyung Suk | Radio/TV personality | ||
| Park Kyeong Rim | Park Kyeong Rim | |||||
| Spain | Paula Vázquez | Television host | ||||
| Saúl Craviotto | Olympic gold medalist | |||||
| France | Gilles Marini | Actor | ||||
| Sandy Heribert | Sports journalist | |||||
| Italy | Francesco Facchinetti | DJ/Television host | ||||
| Bianca Balti | Model | |||||
| China | Bin Gu | TV personality | ||||
| Qinyi Du | Television host | |||||
| India | Vidyut Jammwal | Actor | ||||
| Sarah Jane Dias | Actress | |||||
| United Kingdom | Stu Bennett | Professional wrestler | ||||
| Kate Abdo | Sports journalist | |||||
| Australia | Dannii Minogue | TV personality/singer | ||||
| Nick Cummins | Former rugby union player/ ′′Bachelor′′ star | |||||
Not only do each pair of hosts provide color commentary for each of the 6-9 localized versions, but the foreign commentators also make appearances in each localized version, with their commentary presented by subtitles. If a contestant completes a course, all hosts' reactions are shown on screen. Furthermore, since all host booths are placed in a row on the Ultimate Beastmaster set, commentators from one localization can easily walk over into the booth of another localized version.
Seasons
Season 1
Season 1 premiered on Netflix on February 24, 2017. The season was filmed in Santa Clarita, California, over the course of eight nights.[6] Felipe Camargo of Brazil was the Ultimate Beastmaster winner for placing first.
Season 2
Prior to the release of season 1, Netflix had already ordered and shot season 2.[7] The second season premiered on Netflix on December 15, 2017 with contestants from the United States, Spain, France, Italy, China and India.[8] Haibin Qu of China was crowned the Ultimate Beastmaster for placing first and completing the entire course in the final.
Season 3
In February 2018 the show was renewed for a third season, consisting of nine episodes. The third season features the United States, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, South Korea, France, Italy, United Kingdom and Australia.[2] Season 3 was released on August 31, 2018. Season 3 featured a tournament-style bracket, in which two athletes advanced from each episode to a semifinal round, then to a final round where they fought for the title of Ultimate Beastmaster. Corbin Mackin of the United Kingdom was crowned Beastmaster for placing first.[3]
Beastmasters
| Episodes | Beastmasters | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heeyong Park | South Korea |
| 2 | David Manthei | Germany |
| 3 | Steven Tucker | United States |
| 4 | Philip Meyer | Germany |
| 5 | Roberto Perez | Mexico |
| 6 | Hyunho Kim | South Korea |
| 7 | Felipe Camargo | Brazil |
| 8 | Jonathan Collins | United States |
| 9 | Ken Corigliano | |
| Beastmaster | Felipe Camargo | Brazil |
| Episode | Beastmasters | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mickaël Mawem | France |
| 2 | Haibin Qu | China |
| 3 | Kyle Soderman | United States |
| 4 | Yiqi Li | China |
| 5 | John Gerzik | United States |
| 6 | Bin Xie | China |
| 7 | Manuel Cornu | France |
| 8 | Bin Fang | China |
| 9 | Alberto Gotta | Italy |
| Ultimate Beastmaster | Haibin Qu | China |
| Episode | Winners | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Sprenger | Germany |
| James Drake | United States | |
| 2 | Jayden Irving | Australia |
| David Ferguson | United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Keiha Dhruev | |
| Miguel Angel Hernandez | Mexico | |
| 4 (Semifinal #1) | Jayden Irving | Australia |
| Max Sprenger | Germany | |
| James Drake | United States | |
| 5 | Jesse Turner | Australia |
| Norman Lichtenberg | Germany | |
| 6 | Hector Martinez | Mexico |
| Mark Greenham | Australia | |
| 7 | Luke Shelton | |
| Corbin Mackin | United Kingdom | |
| 8 (Semifinal #2) | Mark Greenham | Australia |
| Hector Martinez | Mexico | |
| Corbin Mackin | United Kingdom | |
| Beastmaster | Corbin Mackin |
Reception
James Hibberd compares the first season of Ultimate Beastmaster to American Ninja Warrior in a mixed review of the shows. Hibberd praises Ultimate Beastmaster's "gorgeous superstructure" of a course, the international rivalry aspect and concise contestant profile clips, but criticizes the show's commentators and the repetitiveness of the course, the latter of which American Ninja Warrior avoids.[9]
See also
References
- Prudon, Laura (May 9, 2016). "Netflix Orders Global Competition Series 'Ultimate Beastmaster' from Sylvester Stallone, Dave Broome". Variety. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
- "'Ultimate Beastmaster' Renewed for Season 3 by Netflix". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2018-02-27.
- Sandwell, Ian (August 2, 2018). "Here's when – or if – your favourite Netflix Original shows are coming back". Digital Spy. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
- Andreeva, Nellie (May 9, 2016). "Netflix Orders 'Ultimate Beastmaster' Competition Reality Series With Sylvester Stallone". Deadline. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
- "Netflix's monstrous obstacle course show Ultimate Beastmaster is back for season 2". EW. 2017-11-08. Retrieved 2017-11-09.
- How Netflix's 'Ultimate Beastmaster' Will Change Global Reality TV
- "Ultimate Beastmaster: Season Two of Netflix Series Already Filmed - canceled TV shows - TV Series Finale". canceled TV shows - TV Series Finale. 2017-02-20. Retrieved 2017-10-31.
- Holloway, Daniel (2017-11-08). "'Ultimate Beastmaster' Renewed by Netflix for Season 2 (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2017-11-08.
- Hibberd, James (March 2, 2017). "Ultimate Beastmaster vs. Ninja Warrior: An honest comparison". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
