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The Contender

  • 2005-2009
  • 4 Seasons
  • NBC
  • Reality, Sports
  • TVPG
  • Watchlist

Professional boxers stare down reality in and out of the ring in this elimination tournament produced by Mark Burnett ('Survivor,' 'The Apprentice') and Sylvester Stallone and hosted by Sugar Ray Leonard. Each episode ends with a five-round elimination bout.

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Cast & Crew See All

Sugar Ray Leonard
Tony Danza
James 'Buddy' McGirt

Latest News See All

Investigation Links Reality Shows, Suicide

Is there a link between reality shows and suicide?An investigation by TheWrap, an entertainment website, found that 11 people have killed themselves "in tragedies that appear to be linked to their experience on television shows."

Tue, Jun 2, 2009

In the Works: The Contender Fights On, and More

ESPN on Sept. 4 will reenter the ring with a third round of The Contender, the first to feature full and uncut fights on ESPN2. Sugar Ray Leonard will again host, says the Reporter.... CBS has given a greenlight to the pilots Worst Week (a half-hour comedy based on the U.K.'s The Worst Week of My Life, and to be penned/exec-produced by Scrubs' Matt Tarses), as well as a medical drama from Kasi Lemmons (Talk to Me) and Mark Gordon (Grey's Anatomy).... Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) and scribe Sheldon Turner are developing for FX a dark drama about two cops undercover with the Russian Mafia, says Variety. The series is being eyed as a successor to The Shield.

Tue, Aug 7, 2007

Can Stallone Save The Contender?

With less than championship ratings, NBC's The Contender is definitely on the ropes. Unwilling to admit defeat, cohosts Sylvester Stallone and Sugar Ray Leonard rushed this week to create a one-hour special that will air just before Sunday night's regularly scheduled episode. On Thursday afternoon, these two tough superstars, both significantly dressed in black, met TVGuide.com for an exclusive interview at a Los Angeles boxing club. TVGuide.com: Despite your star power and a tremendous amount of on-air promotion, The Contender has not lived up to expectations in the ratings. Why?Sylvester Stallone: Other networks were dropping nuclear weapons on us. They were trying to see if we had the legs to survive.Sugar Ray Leonard: Based upon what we have been up against, with the other networks doing everything they can to break us down, we stayed strong.Stallone: [Fox's] The Next Great Champ put a negative spin on boxin

Fri, Mar 25, 2005

Why Contender KO'd Rocky Theme

Mark Burnett and Sylvester Stallone are recruiting yet another champ for their upcoming NBC boxing reality series, The Contender. "We're talking to Bill Conti, who wrote [the theme from Rocky], about writing our theme song," reveals Burnett, who calls "Gonna Fly Now" the "most inspiring theme I can imagine. Whenever you really, really feel like s--t and can't keep going, [that song] is a good motivator." The reality guru, however, decided against using the song in The Contender because he believes it's "too identifiable with Rocky. This is about real life and 16 young men getting a chance." That said, Burnett — who recently signed boxing greats Sugar Ray Leonard and George Foreman to climb into the ring and mentor the aspiring pugilists — is eyeing another signature Rocky tune for The Contender. "At some po

Wed, Apr 7, 2004

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