Ultimate Beastmaster is an American sports entertainment reality show competition that premiered on ABC 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. The first season premiered on February 24, 2017, while the second season aired on ABC December 15, 2017. In February 2018 the show was renewed for a third season, consisting of nine episodes, which premiered on August 31, 2018.
Premise
In each episode, there are twelve contestants 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. Starting in Season 3, each show featured nine competitors. 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: 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.
Season 1 premiered on Netflix on February 24, 2017. The season was filmed in Santa Clarita, California, over the course of eight nights. 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. The second season premiered on Netflix on December 15, 2017 with contestants from the United States, Spain, France, Italy, China and India. 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. 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.
Beastmasters
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
Reception
James Hibberd compares the first season of Ultimate Beastmaster to American Ninja Warrior in a mixed review of the shows. Hibberd praises Ultimate Beastmasters "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.
