The Contender - Episode 3 summary March 17, 2005 "The Lord of the Ring," our episode summary for the third episode of NBC's The Contender, written by KObrien_fan, is now available.
'The Contender' suffers a ratings knockdown in its first Sunday broadcast March 15, 2005 NBC's aggressive launch strategy for its reality-competition boxing show The Contender took a hard hit to the body on Sunday, March 13, when the third episode -- but the first episode in its intended time slot (Sunday at 8 PM ET/PT) -- hit the airwaves with a resounding thud.
The Contender - Episode 2 summary March 15, 2005 "Shut-up, Put-up, Go Hard or Go Home!," our episode summary for the second episode of NBC's The Contender, written by volsfan, is now available.
The Contender - Episode 1 summary March 14, 2005 "Unusual Circumstances," our episode summary for the premiere episode of NBC's The Contender, written by I_AM_HE, is now available.
NBC's 'The Contender' premiere garners a ratings split decision March 9, 2005 Those people who said that NBC's new reality-competition boxing show The Contender would struggle to find female viewers were correct. Nevertheless, the March 7 premiere of The Contender, while not a huge success, showed promise for the later rounds.
Peter Manfredo Jr. loses undefeated record in premiere of NBC's 'The Contender' March 8, 2005 One of the real surprises when the cast for NBC's The Contender was announced was that Peter Manfredo, Jr., a promising middleweight with a 21-0 record who was ranked #3 in the world by the World Boxing Organization, had agreed to become one of the 16 contestants on the reality-competition boxing show. A bigger surprise, shown on the March 7 premiere episode of The Contender, was that Peter became the first contestant eliminated from the show, as he suffered his first pro defeat at the hands of Alfonso Gomez, Jr. (now 11-2-1 as a pro).
'The Contender' boxer Najai Turpin commits suicide before the NBC show airs February 15, 2005 Up-and-coming Philadelphia boxer Najai "Nitro" Turpin, 23, one of the sixteen contestants appearing on NBC's upcoming The Contender boxing reality-competition show, apparently committed suicide in a parked car on the Valentine's Day morning of February 14, 2005.
NBC reschedules 'The Contender' (again) for Sundays beginning March 13 February 8, 2005 No one knows if NBC's The Contender will score a ratings knockout when it finally premieres, but one thing is clear -- it certainly has the "float like a butterfly" part of boxing legend Muhammad Ali's strategy down. NBC has announced yet another scheduled change for the upcoming Mark Burnett-produced reality series -- its fifth for those keeping score at home.
NBC reschedules 'The Contender' for Wednesdays beginning March 9 January 21, 2005 What had been touted as a heavyweight reality showdown between reality titan Mark Burnett's upcoming The Contender series and Fox's American Idol undisputed ratings champ has suddenly turned into an instant forfeit as a result of NBC's announcement that it has decided to refuse to enter the ring.