It's a Knockout
Encyclopedia
It's a Knockout was adapted from the French show Intervilles. It ran between from 7 August 1966 to 25 December 1988 on BBC1, 28 May 1990 on ITV
, 3 August 1991 to 24 December 1994 on S4C
and from 3 September 1999 to 6 January 2001 on Channel 5, produced by Richard Hearsey and Ronin Entertainment. It featured teams representing a town or city competing tasks in absurd games, generally dressed in large foam rubber
suits. Games were played in the home town's park, with weather often turning grassland into mud. The team scoring most points would advance to the next stage. Teams could double points in one round by choosing to "play their Joker
". The games were refereed by former international football referee Arthur Ellis
. The theme tune was Bean Bag by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.
s or throwing custard pie
s. Limited budgets meant games were often a variation on what could be done with a long piece of elastic, a lot of water, a portable swimming pool and a roundabout.
In its earliest form, the show emphasised skill or organization applied in a bizarre way, for instance picking up eggs with an industrial excavator
, as well as traditional village sports such as climbing a greasy pole. Games of strength were included, for example, carrying a Mini Moke
without wheels. From the beginning, a "mini-marathon" would run the length of the programme, with updates on progress between shorter contests. The shift to spectacular displays, with or without costumes, came later, to improve audience appeal and to follow continental traditions.
The teams scored points for how well they did in each event with the winner gaining 3, and the second placed team scoring 2 with the loser achieving one. The teams also had a joker card to before play on one event, which they would receive double points.
The winner of each edition was awarded an It's a Knockout trophy and a chance to represent the UK in Jeux Sans Frontières
. Three local teams appeared in the UK show, with around 6 to 8 countries competing in the European finals.
. It was filmed in Melbourne. The 1976 season featured two complete competitions with initial heats and finals, while the 1977 and 1978 seasons featured only one each. Following the 1977 grand final, the season finale featured a competition between the top two teams from the grand final and a team representing New Zealand.
An Australian version of It's a Knockout ran on Network Ten
from 1985 to 1987. The teams were divided into the Australian states: New South Wales
(NSW), Victoria
(VIC), Queensland (QLD) and South Australia
(SA). The show was hosted by Billy J Smith along with Fiona MacDonald for the duration that it aired in Australia. They would arrive to the show in a golf buggy. The show was filmed in a field in Dural, New South Wales
, however due to numerous complaints from local residents the show was dropped in 1987.http://www.youtube.com/v/J5p5ddiJI4 This version aired in Mexico on the TV Cable Network Multivisión and was a success during 1992. It was also adapted and shown in Argentina
as Supermatch. This version was heavily edited, and the anchor
s were replaced by off-screen commentators.
In October 2011- It was announced that Channel 10 Australia will re-launch a new version of Its a Knockout for it's 2011/12 Summer programming lineup hosted by HG Nelson
, Charli Robinson and Brad McEwan
. Due to insurance costs the show will be filmed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and will run for eight 1-hour episodes and feature teams of 15 from each state of Australia.
ran from 1976 to 1990, and was revived in 2009.
in America from 31 July to 28 August 1975 - handily winning the time slot on Thursday nights against reruns of The Waltons
on CBS
and a short-lived Ben Vereen
variety show (Comin' At Ya!) on NBC
.
For its second season (24 January to 2 May 1976), AAG moved to Saturday nights after the cancellation of the short-lived Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell
variety show
. Sports announcers Charlie Jones
and Lynn Shackelford were the play-by-play and color men
on this version which featured small towns across America playing the games. Sam Riddle, who was one of the producers, served as field reporter in 1975 along with Dick Whittington, the latter being replaced by Regis Philbin
in 1976.
Boulder City, Nevada
won the 1975 series and Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
won the 1976 series. In a showdown, Boulder City beat Chambersburg and a celebrity all-star team. However, it was up against The Jeffersons
on CBS and Emergency!
on NBC, and was shortly cancelled thereafter due to low ratings.
A children's version called Junior Almost Anything Goes hosted by Soupy Sales
ran on Saturday mornings from 11 September 1976 to 4 September 1977; After this, a syndicated celebrity version (All Star Anything Goes) hosted by Bill Boggs
ran from 16 September 1977 to September 1978.
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
, 3 August 1991 to 24 December 1994 on S4C
S4C
S4C , currently branded as S4/C, is a Welsh television channel broadcast from the capital, Cardiff. The first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking audience, it is the fifth oldest British television channel .The channel - initially broadcast on...
and from 3 September 1999 to 6 January 2001 on Channel 5, produced by Richard Hearsey and Ronin Entertainment. It featured teams representing a town or city competing tasks in absurd games, generally dressed in large foam rubber
Foam rubber
Foam rubber refers to rubber that has been manufactured with a foaming agent to create an air-filled matrix structure. Commercial foam rubbers are generally either polyurethane foam or natural foam rubber latex. Latex foam rubber, used in mattresses, is well-known for its endurance.-See also:*...
suits. Games were played in the home town's park, with weather often turning grassland into mud. The team scoring most points would advance to the next stage. Teams could double points in one round by choosing to "play their Joker
Joker (playing card)
Joker is a special type of playing card found in most modern decks, or else a type of tile in some Mahjong game sets.-Name:It is believed that the term "Joker" comes from a mispronunciation of Jucker, the German/Alsatian name for the game Euchre. The card was originally introduced in about 1860 for...
". The games were refereed by former international football referee Arthur Ellis
Arthur Edward Ellis
Arthur Edward Ellis was an English football referee.Ellis was a referee in The Football Association competitions and in FIFA international competitions...
. The theme tune was Bean Bag by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.
The Games
The games were described as school sports day for adults. For example, teams would carry buckets of water over greasy poles or rolling logs. Other teams would interfere, squirting water cannonWater cannon
A water cannon is a device that shoots a high-pressure stream of water. Typically, a water cannon can deliver a large volume of water, often over dozens of metres / hundreds of feet. They are used in firefighting and riot control. Most water cannon fall under the category of a fire...
s or throwing custard pie
Custard pie
A custard pie is any type of uncooked custard mixture added to an uncooked or partially cooked crust and baked together. In North America, custard pie commonly refers to a plain mixture of milk, eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla extract and sometimes nutmeg combined with a pie crust...
s. Limited budgets meant games were often a variation on what could be done with a long piece of elastic, a lot of water, a portable swimming pool and a roundabout.
In its earliest form, the show emphasised skill or organization applied in a bizarre way, for instance picking up eggs with an industrial excavator
Excavator
Excavators are heavy construction equipment consisting of a boom, stick, bucket and cab on a rotating platform . The house sits atop an undercarriage with tracks or wheels. A cable-operated excavator uses winches and steel ropes to accomplish the movements. They are a natural progression from the...
, as well as traditional village sports such as climbing a greasy pole. Games of strength were included, for example, carrying a Mini Moke
Mini Moke
The Mini Moke is a vehicle based on the Mini and designed for the British Motor Corporation by Sir Alec Issigonis. The name comes from "Mini"—the car with which the Moke shares many parts—and "Moke", which is an archaic dialect term for donkey...
without wheels. From the beginning, a "mini-marathon" would run the length of the programme, with updates on progress between shorter contests. The shift to spectacular displays, with or without costumes, came later, to improve audience appeal and to follow continental traditions.
The teams scored points for how well they did in each event with the winner gaining 3, and the second placed team scoring 2 with the loser achieving one. The teams also had a joker card to before play on one event, which they would receive double points.
The winner of each edition was awarded an It's a Knockout trophy and a chance to represent the UK in Jeux Sans Frontières
Jeux Sans Frontieres
Jeux Sans Frontières was a Europe-wide television game show.In its original conception, it was broadcast from 1965 to 1999 under the auspices of the European Broadcasting Union and featured teams from different European countries in outlandish costumes competing to complete bizarre tasks in funny...
. Three local teams appeared in the UK show, with around 6 to 8 countries competing in the European finals.
Australia
Almost Anything Goes aired in Australia from 1976 to 1978. It was hosted by Tim Evans and Brendan Edwards and featured Sean Kramer and Australian Rules legend Ron BarassiRon Barassi
Ronald Dale Barassi, Jr AM is a former Australian rules football player and coach. During a long and decorated career, Barassi has been one of the most important figures in the history of Australian football. His father, Ron Barassi, Sr., was the first Australian footballer killed at Tobruk during...
. It was filmed in Melbourne. The 1976 season featured two complete competitions with initial heats and finals, while the 1977 and 1978 seasons featured only one each. Following the 1977 grand final, the season finale featured a competition between the top two teams from the grand final and a team representing New Zealand.
An Australian version of It's a Knockout ran on Network Ten
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
from 1985 to 1987. The teams were divided into the Australian states: New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
(NSW), Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
(VIC), Queensland (QLD) and South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
(SA). The show was hosted by Billy J Smith along with Fiona MacDonald for the duration that it aired in Australia. They would arrive to the show in a golf buggy. The show was filmed in a field in Dural, New South Wales
Dural, New South Wales
Dural is a semi-rural suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Dural is located 36 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government areas of Hornsby Shire and The Hills Shire. Dural is part of the Hills District, in Northern Sydney...
, however due to numerous complaints from local residents the show was dropped in 1987.http://www.youtube.com/v/J5p5ddiJI4 This version aired in Mexico on the TV Cable Network Multivisión and was a success during 1992. It was also adapted and shown in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
as Supermatch. This version was heavily edited, and the anchor
News presenter
A news presenter is a person who presents news during a news program in the format of a television show, on the radio or the Internet.News presenters can work in a radio studio, television studio and from remote broadcasts in the field especially weather...
s were replaced by off-screen commentators.
In October 2011- It was announced that Channel 10 Australia will re-launch a new version of Its a Knockout for it's 2011/12 Summer programming lineup hosted by HG Nelson
Greig Pickhaver
alt=Greig Pickhaver|thumb|In May 2010Greig Pickhaver AM is an actor, comedian and writer, who forms one half of the Australian sports comedy duo Roy and HG...
, Charli Robinson and Brad McEwan
Brad McEwan
Brad McEwan is an Australian television personality and sports journalist.McEwan is currently sports presenter on Sydney's Ten News at Five and probably best known for his hosting duties on Network Ten's Sports Tonight....
. Due to insurance costs the show will be filmed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and will run for eight 1-hour episodes and feature teams of 15 from each state of Australia.
New Zealand
In New Zealand, a series based on It's a Knockout called Top TownTop Town
Top Town was a New Zealand game show series where teams from different towns in New Zealand competed in various obstacle challenges against each other, along the lines of the earlier British series It's a Knockout. The show first ran in New Zealand between 1976 and 1990 and made a return in a...
ran from 1976 to 1990, and was revived in 2009.
United States
Almost Anything Goes aired on ABCAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in America from 31 July to 28 August 1975 - handily winning the time slot on Thursday nights against reruns of The Waltons
The Waltons
The Waltons is an American television series created by Earl Hamner, Jr., based on his book Spencer's Mountain, and a 1963 film of the same name. The show centered on a family growing up in a rural Virginia community during the Great Depression and World War II. The series pilot was a television...
on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
and a short-lived Ben Vereen
Ben Vereen
Ben Vereen is an American actor, dancer, and singer who has appeared in numerous Broadway theatre shows. Vereen graduated from Manhattan's High School of Performing Arts.- Early years :...
variety show (Comin' At Ya!) on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
.
For its second season (24 January to 2 May 1976), AAG moved to Saturday nights after the cancellation of the short-lived Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell
Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell
Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell was a program that ran on ABC from September 1975 to January 1976, hosted by Howard Cosell and executively produced by Roone Arledge. The series ran for 18 episodes before being cancelled...
variety show
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
. Sports announcers Charlie Jones
Charlie Jones (sportscaster)
Charlie Jones was an American Emmy Award-winning sportscaster for NBC and ABC.-Education:Born in Fort Smith, Arkansas, Jones earned an undergraduate degree at the University of Southern California and a law degree at the University of Arkansas.-American Football League/National Football...
and Lynn Shackelford were the play-by-play and color men
Color commentator
A color commentator is a sports commentator who assists the play-by-play announcer, often by filling in any time when play is not in progress. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, when the play-by-play announcer is not describing the...
on this version which featured small towns across America playing the games. Sam Riddle, who was one of the producers, served as field reporter in 1975 along with Dick Whittington, the latter being replaced by Regis Philbin
Regis Philbin
Regis Francis Xavier Philbin is an American media personality, actor and singer, known for hosting talk and game shows since the 1960s. Philbin is often called "the hardest working man in show business" and holds the Guinness World Record for the most time spent in front of a television camera...
in 1976.
Boulder City, Nevada
Boulder City, Nevada
Boulder City is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States. It is approximately from the City of Las Vegas. As of the 2010 census the population of Boulder City was 15,023.Boulder City is one of only two cities in Nevada that prohibit gambling....
won the 1975 series and Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
Chambersburg is a borough in the South Central region of Pennsylvania, United States. It is miles north of Maryland and the Mason-Dixon line and southwest of Harrisburg in the Cumberland Valley, which is part of the Great Appalachian Valley. Chambersburg is the county seat of Franklin County...
won the 1976 series. In a showdown, Boulder City beat Chambersburg and a celebrity all-star team. However, it was up against The Jeffersons
The Jeffersons
The Jeffersons is an American sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, through June 25, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of 253 episodes. The show was produced by the T.A.T. Communications Company from 1975–1982 and by Embassy Television from 1982-1985...
on CBS and Emergency!
Emergency!
Emergency! is an American television series that combines the medical drama and action-adventure genres. It was produced by Mark VII Limited and distributed by Universal Studios...
on NBC, and was shortly cancelled thereafter due to low ratings.
A children's version called Junior Almost Anything Goes hosted by Soupy Sales
Soupy Sales
Soupy Sales was an American comedian, actor, radio-TV personality and host, and jazz aficionado. He was best known for his local and network children's television show, Lunch with Soupy Sales; a series of comedy sketches frequently ending with Sales receiving a pie in the face, which became his...
ran on Saturday mornings from 11 September 1976 to 4 September 1977; After this, a syndicated celebrity version (All Star Anything Goes) hosted by Bill Boggs
Bill Boggs
William "Bill" Boggs III is an Emmy Award–winning American television presenter and journalist.Boggs was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania...
ran from 16 September 1977 to September 1978.
It's A Knockout UK Tournament Format
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Jeux Sans Frontières International Tournament Format
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Specials
| Date | Entitle |
|---|---|
| 26 December 1970 | It's A Christmas Knockout |
| 8 May 1971 | It's A Cup Final Knockout |
| 27 December 1971 | It's A Christmas Knockout |
| 6 May 1972 | It's A Cup Final Kockout |
| 26 December 1972 | It's A Christmas Knockout |
| 5 May 1973 | It's A Cup Final Knockout |
| 26 December 1973 | It's A Christmas Knockout |
| 4 May 1974 | It's A Cup Final Knockout |
| 23 December 1974 | It's A Christmas Knockout |
| 3 May 1975 | It's A Cup Final Knockout |
| 11 July 1975 | It's A Celebrity Knockout |
| 26 December 1975 | It's A Christmas Knockout |
| 1 May 1976 | It's A Cup Final Knockout |
| 9 July 1976 | It's A Celebrity Knockout |
| 4 August 1976 | It's A Championship Knockout |
| 26 December 1976 | It's A Christmas Knockout |
| 21 May 1977 | It's A Cup Final Knockout |
| 16 August 1977 | It's A Celebrity Knockout |
| 7 September 1977 | It's A Championship Knockout |
| 26 December 1977 | It's A Christmas Knockout |
| 14 April 1978 | It's A Miners' Knockout |
| 21 August 1978 | It's A Celebrity Knockout |
| 13 September 1978 | It's A Championship Knockout |
| 26 December 1978 | It's A Christmas Knockout |
| 29 August 1979 | It's A Celebrity Knockout |
| 4 September 1979 | It's A Championship Knockout |
| 24 December 1979 | It's A Christmas Knockout |
| 11 July 1980 | It's A Celebrity Knockout |
| 2 August 1980 | It's A Championship Knockout |
| 27 December 1980 | It's A Christmas Knockout |
| 31 August 1981 | It's A Celebrity Knockout |
| 11 September 1981 | It's A Championship Knockout |
| 2 January 1982 | It's A Christmas Knockout |
| 6 August 1982 | The Knockout Championship |
| 30 August 1982 | The Knockout Star Gala |
| 29 August 1983 | The Knockout Star Gala |
| 27 December 1983 | It's A Christmas Knockout |
| 28 December 1984 | It's A Christmas Knockout |
| 19 June 1987 | The Grand Knockout Tournament It's a Royal Knockout The Grand Knockout Tournament was a one-off charity event which was shown on British television on 19 June 1987... |
| 25 December 1988 | It's A Charity Knockout From Walt Disney World |
| 28 May 1990 | It's A Telethon Knockout |
| 24 December 1994 | 25th Anniversary Knockout |
| 24 December 1999 | The Best Of It's A Knockout |