On February 12, America will get a little medieval with the debut of Full Metal Jousting, a sixteen man tilting competition show straight out of the dark ages. From the teasers that the History Channel has put out so far, this looks like the real deal: Fully armored riders galloping towards each other with lances, and in some cases, knocking each other off of their steeds (also armored). According to the show’s website, the competitors range from trained knights (yes, apparently they still exist), to cowboys, to firemen.
It’s really amazing that it took so long to put something like this together. National Geographic recently did a show called Knights of Mayhem, a piece about those who would make jousting into a professional sport, but it wasn’t a competition. The world has long been fascinated with jousting – really anything related to King Arthur, knights, and feasts. The problem was that there was simply no one willing to take the risk of someone getting killed in a joust. Even on Knights, a show with nothing at stake for the participants, someone received a serious head injury. Another issue was that it just wasn’t flashy enough, that it wasn’t “wowing” anyone other than Renaissance fair regulars. From what we’ve seen so far, FMJ is implementing a high tech suit of armor with less openings than traditional armor. If you want a mental picture of how cool these outfits are, think of Tony Stark’s getup in Iron Man. The trailer that the History Channel has released shows us that there are indeed going to be injuries, and even embraces this fact.
I think that’s why we’re getting this show now. We’re at a point in our culture where we once again value entertainment over people’s safety. Can you imagine this happening even twenty years ago? Back then the most warrior-like show on TV was American Gladiators. I’m not saying I’m against this show, I’m actually extremely excited about it and would love to give jousting a shot. People get hurt every day playing football, and as long as these “knights” aren’t deterred by the risks I’m all for it. I just think that the producers at the History Channel looked around at all the gator-wrestling, frat-stunt (think Jack Ass), ultimate-fighting shows that are out there (many that they produced) and said to themselves, “Why not?” It wasn’t a risk anymore; the fact that this type of show is coming out hasn’t come as a shock to anyone – we’re used to it.
America is primed for a show like FMJ, and unless it’s done poorly (which I doubt it will be, based on what the History Channel has been coming out with recently), it should be a hit. I, along with much of America, will be crossing my fingers that it will be “all lances go” for this promising new hard-hitting competition.
“Full Metal Jousting,” History Channel.
Jason Hughes, “The Danger of Jousting Sends One to the Hospital on ‘Knights of Mayhem’,” HuffPost TV.