"I must become someone else."

June 1, 2017 11:17 AM

Stephen Amell (Arrow) takes on the American Ninja Warrior course for Red Nose Day 2017.

Via.

Alternate video link, on Facebook.

Most of the video shows Amell tackling a slightly easier, six-obstacle version of the America Ninja Warrior course specifically designed for celebrities to compete on during the Red Nose Day episode. Each completed obstacle earned $5000 for charity. Celebs could also ask their coaches (ANW veterans) to tackle a single obstacle for them. Amell's coach was gymnast Kacy "Mighty Kacy" Catanzaro - the first woman to ever complete an ANW Finals course.

Amell posted a tutorial video a couple of years ago showing how "easy and fun" the salmon ladder can be.

posted by zarq (31 comments total)

showing how "easy and fun" the salmon ladder can be.

*eats one more potato chip*
posted by Fizz at 11:36 AM on June 1, 2017 [34 favorites]

What a fantastic bit of Americana. I love Arrow, it's such perfect middlebrow TV. It's not trying to be deep prestige TV, but it's not too dump nor ironic. It's just fun TV adventure. So what a perfect marriage to American Ninja Warrior. Again no irony, and certainly no highbrow aspirations, it's just what it is. Good fun.

The only thing wrong here is Arnell is wearing a shirt. Sadly they seem to have backed off the beefcake in the show.
posted by Nelson at 11:43 AM on June 1, 2017 [13 favorites]

We love this show at our house! When I turn it out, my 4yo immediately starts setting up his own little pretend course and narrating like he's on the show.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 11:47 AM on June 1, 2017 [3 favorites]

I have a nine-year-old who is a big fan of The Arrow, and of American Ninja Warrior. This made him very happy.

He's a gymnast and aspires to be on the show some day.
posted by Orlop at 11:49 AM on June 1, 2017 [4 favorites]

This makes me miss the first few seasons of Arrow because he's such a badass and the stunts and fight choreography were so good back then. Super exciting and fun!
posted by Crystalinne at 11:56 AM on June 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

Derek Hough, the pro ballroom dancer, also took a red nose run and completed the course on his second try (sans shirt, yay pecs abs biceps). I like ANW a lot.
posted by MovableBookLady at 12:00 PM on June 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

It's just such a relentlessly positive show! Here's a recap, Erika Christiansen is my hero among the celebs!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 12:01 PM on June 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

My kids love this show and all it does for me is makes my hands sweat profusely.
posted by JoeZydeco at 12:12 PM on June 1, 2017 [2 favorites]

I still don't know who Stephen Amell is, but I guess this was cool?
posted by Chuffy at 12:33 PM on June 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

I'm smiling so huge after watching Erika Christiansen run. I mean, yeah, okay, cheating on a lot of that, but who cares?
posted by jacquilynne at 12:39 PM on June 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

Chuffy: I still don't know who Stephen Amell is, but I guess this was cool?

Stephen Amell is an actor, who is the star of the show Arrow. He plays a superhero who uses a bow and arrow to fight crime. Amell is in exceptionally good shape, and is shown working out every once in a while.

Eyebrows McGee: It's just such a relentlessly positive show!

It is, and I love how encouraging the announcers and crowds are for each contestant, and the way the contestants themselves truly seem to want everyone they're competing against to succeed, too.

Holy cow, i love Christiansen's run. :D

Both of my kids are obsessed with ANW. My daughter has been excitedly following Jesse Graff. (Graff is the stuntperson for Melissa Benoit on Supergirl.)
posted by zarq at 12:47 PM on June 1, 2017 [4 favorites]

I work with someone who's been on the show a few times. He has the biggest forearms I've ever seen on a human.
posted by soren_lorensen at 12:50 PM on June 1, 2017 [5 favorites]

FUCK YEAH SALMON LADDER!
posted by nicebookrack at 12:53 PM on June 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

That quote from Jesse Graff at the end of Zarq's link is really telling about the spirit of this show. She gets asked which was more important to her, getting 2 points for Team USA or completing stage 2. And she answered "I really like Team USA but I really like all the other teams, too. So definitely finishing stage 2."

Like, it doesn't really matter how much they change things up to create a sense of competition against other warriors, the warriors themselves are only ever competing against the obstacles.
posted by jacquilynne at 1:05 PM on June 1, 2017 [7 favorites]

I work with someone who's been on the show a few times. He has the biggest forearms I've ever seen on a human.

Geoff Britten?
posted by SonInLawOfSam at 1:14 PM on June 1, 2017

Anyone have an outside-the-USA-friendly source?
posted by howling fantods at 1:18 PM on June 1, 2017

I recap my ninja-warrior-culture comment from a prior thread:

"My older son, who has some gross motor delays, takes a class at the local gymnastics gym called "Ninja Zone" which is based on this same subculture of ninja sport that has just suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It combines "Obstacle Course Training, Gymnastics, Street Dance, & Martial Arts." But the REALLY nice thing about it is that it's deliberately inclusive of boys who have super-high energy levels and the often-attendant impulse control issues (autism, ADHD, immaturity, just plain too much energy), and as any parent with a high-energy boy will tell you it's really hard to find activities for those very high-energy little boys who can't stop moving and running and listen to directions really well. They basically run-run-run for an hour, leaping over obstacles and doing tumbling moves and spinning in circles and climbing up walls. They only take short pauses to learn the next part of the circuit and then run-run-run again. It is the high point of his week, and it has made me be like, "Wow, this is a super-weird subculture but it is extremely healthy and welcoming!" It's the one place we go with our high-energy child where he's not constantly being told to slow down, use walking feet, wait his turn, listen better, don't do that, don't climb that, stop wiggling ... and he's making more gross motor gains in "ninja class" than in occupational therapy because he's SO MOTIVATED in ninja class."

It's not just the show, the whole ninja warrior culture is incredibly positive and affirming. He's still doing it two years after that comment, and now it provides a sort-of clumsy kid some playground cred when he can do "ninja moves" like ANW.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 1:26 PM on June 1, 2017 [30 favorites]

Most of the video shows Amell tackling a slightly easier, six-obstacle version of the America Ninja Warrior course specifically designed for celebrities to compete on during the Red Nose Day episode.

If it's "easier," it's not by much. I'm sure I've seen all those exact obstacles in real Ninja Warrior shows. It looks to me about even with the first round of any city competition, which is the first knock-out round.
posted by dnash at 1:39 PM on June 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

With Amell and Graf doing this, we only need Grant Gustin and Arthur Darvill to round out the group of CW's DC shows.
posted by Hactar at 2:17 PM on June 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

I'm exhausted just watching him do that.
posted by sarcasticah at 2:32 PM on June 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

Maintaining the beefcake bod is not only a pretty joyless existence, given how few carbs you can eat; it is also an enervating one. There's a reason that Amell doesn't go around at his "Arrow doing ladder chinups with no shirt" body fat percentage when he doesn't absolutely have to.
posted by radicalawyer at 2:36 PM on June 1, 2017 [4 favorites]

I stopped watching Arrow a couple seasons back when the melodrama far outpaced the thrilling heroics, but I love Amell's version of Oliver Queen, and by all accounts Amell is a great guy IRL. Fun to see this, especially with the salmon ladder.
posted by Gaz Errant at 2:43 PM on June 1, 2017 [5 favorites]

I've never watched Arrow but I love this run. This mix of hesitation, shyness, and childlike excitement, the anxiety followed by growing self-confidence, all that without an ounce of braggadocio? It's not what I expected from a celebrity and it's not what you see in most runs, period. He looks like he feels lucky to be there and is almost bewildered by both his success and the support he's getting from the crowd. It's adorable.
posted by Anonymous at 3:33 PM on June 1, 2017

I think you can see Amell's ribs taped up under his shirt, which if true makes this run all the more impressive.

I adore Amell as Oliver Queen. He is my One True Batman. (And all of Arrow's Canaries are actually Robins. It totally works!)
posted by nicebookrack at 4:14 PM on June 1, 2017 [5 favorites]

Another example of what a great sport Stephen Amell is ... he came to his (openly gay) co-star John Barrowman's 50th birthday party in a pair of skimpy briefs.
posted by dnash at 5:15 PM on June 1, 2017 [6 favorites]

This show is so great. We first started watching with our daughter on YouTube and Megan Martin was the first competitor we saw. So, we started looking for more episodes with women and we got all into it. After we'd returned to watch more episodes every evening for a week our daughter turns to us and says, "Um...do you think that they ever have boys do this show?" My husband and I looked at each other and I said, "Boys? Do you think boys would ever do this? Does this seem like something boys would even be interested in?" It's a credit to the hosts that they don't make the women running the courses seem special for their gender or amazing "for a girl" or "looking so hot tonight" and etc..

This Amell guy is infectious! The salmon ladder!
posted by amanda at 8:13 PM on June 1, 2017 [6 favorites]

To all of you Arrow fans who haven't joined us over in FanFare, when the new season starts up, please drop in and chat with us about the show. We whine about the bad parts, laugh about the good ones, and critique the fashion and costuming choices. I'm sure I can say the (very small) but loyal group of MeFites who on those threads would love to have some compan
posted by sardonyx at 8:33 PM on June 1, 2017 [5 favorites]

Arrowverse fan here and die hard comic nerd too.

Also, IRL, Mr. Amell just seems like an amazingly nice guy, so there's that too. (Who also doesn't seem to take himself TOO seriously.)
posted by Samizdata at 10:24 PM on June 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

Mena Suvari is awesome. She looked terrified but she did it! That was so fun.
posted by fshgrl at 10:29 PM on June 1, 2017 [2 favorites]

With Amell and Graf doing this, we only need Grant Gustin and Arthur Darvill to round out the group of CW's DC shows.


Or Caity Lotz (who started on Arrow but moved to Legends). She'd likely do well at that sort of thing.
posted by Pryde at 4:20 PM on June 4, 2017

FYI the "USA vs. The World" episode is on tonight (in a half hour!) and the season premiere is June 12.
posted by AFABulous at 4:31 PM on June 4, 2017