Editing BattleBots (section)

=== Comedy Central seasons (2000–2002) ===
Among the networks interested was [[Comedy Central]], who ultimately picked up the program. [[Debbie Liebling]], the network's Senior Vice President of original programming and development, felt that the concept would appeal to the network's young adult demographic, explaining that "it was really funny and really nerdy. The Internet was not a big thing yet, so the nerd culture wasn't so celebrated. It was sports for the nerdy person, I guess."<ref name=sbnation-oralhistory/> Co-creator Greg Munson viewed the deal as a double-edged sword; it gave ''BattleBots'' an outlet and a larger budget, but the network insisted on the addition of comedic aspects to ''BattleBots'' as a program, such as [[Sketch comedy|sketches]] involving contestants. However, the competition itself was not affected by this mandate; Liebling described the final product as being "a parody of a sports show without being a parody". Munson lamented that the network had also ignored his suggestion for the co-host role to be filled by "attractive geek girls" with sufficient knowledge to speak with builders, having elected to "[keep] throwing bigger and better hot babes at it", such as [[Carmen Electra]].<ref name=sbnation-oralhistory/>

Despite this, viewership and awareness of ''BattleBots'' grew progressively over time; contestants Christian Carlberg and [[Lisa Winter]] were invited to appear on ''[[The Tonight Show with Jay Leno]]'', ''BattleBots'' beat ''[[South Park]]'' as Comedy Central's highest-rated program for a period during Season 3, competitor interest grew and licensing deals also emerged.<ref name=sbnation-oralhistory/> The success of ''BattleBots'', however, resulted in competition from other broadcasters; [[TLC (TV network)|TLC]] introduced a competing program, ''[[Robotica (TV series)|Robotica]]'', while other channels imported episodes of the British ''Robot Wars'' series.<ref name=sbnation-oralhistory/> By 2002, the program had begun to face further difficulties; Munson felt that the bouts had become "homogenized" because the participants had "perfected" the sport of robot fighting, leading to a lack of innovation in robot designs and strategies.<ref name=sbnation-oralhistory/> Furthermore, ''BattleBots'' had sued [[Anheuser-Busch]] and its advertising agency for producing and airing a [[Super Bowl commercial|commercial during Super Bowl XXXVII]] that parodied the program and featured a robot greatly resembling one from ''BattleBots'' (this lawsuit, however, was dismissed in 2004, after a judge ruled that the ad was a [[parody]] protected by [[fair use]]).<ref name=lat-battlebotslawsuit>{{cite news|title=Lawsuit Over Bud Light Ad Dismissed|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jul-13-fi-bots13-story.html|access-date=29 June 2015|agency=Bloomberg News}}</ref> In September 2002, Comedy Central cancelled ''BattleBots'' after its fifth season, ''BattleBots 5.0''. [[Viacom (2005–present)|Viacom]] acquired full control of the network in April 2003;<ref name=sbnation-oralhistory/><ref name=cnnmoney-viacombuyscc>{{cite web|title=Viacom buys Comedy Central|url=https://money.cnn.com/2003/04/22/news/companies/viacom/|website=CNNMoney|publisher=CNN|access-date=29 June 2015}}</ref> Stucker believed that Comedy Central had become "tired" of the program, and Roski stated that Viacom had wanted to shift Comedy Central back towards traditional comedy programming.<ref name=sbnation-oralhistory/>

Between August 21 and 26, 2009 a BattleBots-branded event was held and filmed in California.<ref>{{cite web |title=The BattleBots Season That Never Was |url=http://thirdlawsports.com/2016/07/14/battlebots-season-that-never-was/ |website=Third Law Sports |publisher=thirdlawsports.com |access-date=13 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160719213420/http://thirdlawsports.com/2016/07/14/battlebots-season-that-never-was/ |archive-date=19 July 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Three competitions were held: The High School Championship, Collegiate Championship and Pro Championship. Competitors included a mix of Comedy Central stars and newcomers who would return to the reboot. CBS sport originally agreed to air the Collegiate Championship before dropping out due to lack of commercial interest. A deal with Fox was later signed before also falling apart for unknown reasons.<ref>{{cite web |title= CBS Drop BattleBots College Series |url=https://battlebots.com/college-show.html |website=BattleBots |publisher=BattleBots.com |access-date=13 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707214334/https://battlebots.com/college-show.html |archive-date=7 July 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The pilot episode of the Collegiate Championship was released onto the official BattleBots YouTube Channel on the 17th of September 2010.