Damn robots

Ready for the next generation of robot combat?

The niftily titled Syfy channel has greenlit and shot the first season of a new show where fully articulated eight-foot-tall state-of-the-art humanoid robots will rock ‘em and sock ‘em in a boxing cage until one is roundly defeated.

What kind of robots? How about a robot with a giant axe for a head?

Think of it as heavy metal pro wrestling. The future-shock new series is called “Robot Combat League” and the action resembles a real-life version of the hit movie “Real Steel,” with large menacing robots pounding away at each other in a shower of sparks and gushing hydraulic fluid.

“Robot Combat League” will feature twelve teams of robots backed up by human engineers and robo-jockeys manning the remote controls. NBCUniversal, Syfy’s parent company, beat entertainment heavyweights James Cameron and Mark Burnett to the punch - The Discovery Channel will be airing a similar show by the pair called “Robogeddon in 2013.”

Yes, there’ll be lots and lots of loud clanging crunching metal on metal action.

But whether there’s any emotional impact remains to be seen.