It's a Knockout
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It's a Knockout was a popular British television gameshow. Commentators included Eddie Waring, David Vine and Stuart Hall - who was famous for collapsing into genuine hysterical laughter mid-way through commentating on any particular game on a regular basis.
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[edit] History
It's a Knockout was adapted from the French show Intervilles, that ran from 1966 to 1982 and then again from 1999 to 2001, featuring teams, each representing a town or city, competing to complete bizarre tasks in absurd games, generally while dressed in outlandish costumes (often large latex suits). Games were played in the home town's park, with English weather often adding to the entertainment by turning the grassland into a mud bath. Teams would be awarded points for their performance in each round, with the team scoring most points winning the game and advancing to the next stage. Teams could double their points in one round by choosing to "play their Joker". The theme tune was Bean Bag by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.
[edit] The Games
For example, team members would attempt to carry buckets full of water over greasy poles or rolling logs to fill up a receptacle. Often, members of the other teams would be allowed to interfere; for example, members of one team may have been permitted to squirt the other teams with water cannons or throw custard pies at them. Limited budgets meant that games were often a variation on what could be done with a long piece of elastic, a lot of water, including the use of a portable swimming pool and a roundabout.
In its earliest form, however, the show tried to emphasize skill or organization applied in a bizarre way, for instance picking up eggs with an industrial excavator, as well as more traditional village sports such as climbing a greasy pole. The location of the contest might resemble a building site more than a stadium, especially with games like piano demolition, where a piano had to be passed through a small hole. Games of strength were included, for example, carrying a mini-moke without wheels along a course. From the beginning, a long term contest known as the "mini-marathon" ran for the length of the programme, with updates on progress between the shorter contests. The shift to spectacular displays of silliness, with or without costumes, came later, probably to improve audience appeal, and also to be in line with European traditions which feature more use of bizarre costume than in Britain.
The winner of each series was awarded the It's a Knockout Trophy (see [1] for the trophy won by Shrewsbury in 1969).
[edit] Eurovision
It's a Knockout was extended into other European countries in 1967 under the French name Jeux Sans Frontieres, a change of name which inspired Peter Gabriel's song "Games Without Frontiers." It was very popular in the UK, acquiring audiences of up to 19 million.
[edit] The 1970 Series
17.07.70 - Second Heat
Jeux Sans Frontieres 9.10pm (75 mins)
Great Britain - Exmouth, Belgium - Zelzate, France - Aix-les-Bains, Germany - Velzen, Holland - Assen, Italy - Acquasparta, Switzerland - Poschiavo
from Lugano, Switzerland with Mascia Cantoni and Tiziano Colotti
Commentators David Vine, Eddie Waring and UK referee Arthur Ellis
31.07.70 - Fourth Heat
Jeux Sans Frontieres 9.10pm (75 mins)
Great Britain - Aberdeen, Belgium - Namur, France - Lille, Germany - Delmenhorst, Holland - Genemuiden, Italy - Siracusa, Switzerland - Vevey
from Namur with Paul Herreman and Michel Lemaire
International referees Genra Olivieri and Guido Pancaldi
Commentators David Vine, Eddie Waring and UK referee Arthur Ellis
[edit] The 1976 Series
This is a full series listing. Most series followed the same format.
[edit] UK Heats
21 May 1976 8pm-9pm
Teams from Morecambe, Blackpool and Liverpool compete for a place in the first heat of Jeux Sans Frontieres.
28 May 1976 8pm-9pm
Teams from Stoke-on-Trent, Birmingham and Tamworth compete for a place in the second heat of Jeux Sans Frontieres.
04 June 1976 8pm-9pm
Teams from Winchcombe, Cirencester and Newbury compete for a place in the third heat of Jeux Sans Frontieres.
11 June 1976 8pm-9pm
Teams from Kirklees, Leeds and Doncaster compete for a place in the fourth heat of Jeux Sans Frontieres.
18 June 1976 8pm-9pm
Teams from Harlow, Lee Valley Park and Thurrock compete for a place in the fifth heat of Jeux Sans Frontieres.
25 June 1976 8pm-9pm
Teams from Redcar, Carlisle and Durham compete for a place in the sixth heat of Jeux Sans Frontieres.
02 July 1976 8pm-9pm
Teams from Stirling, Edinburgh and Linlithgow compete for a place in the seventh heat of Jeux Sans Frontieres.
[edit] Celebrity It's a Knockout
09 July 1976 8pm-9pm
Members of the Lord's Taverners take on a team of celebrities.
[edit] Championship It's a Knockout
04 August 1976 7.15pm-8.30pm
The seven winning towns of the 1976 domestic series compete for the Radio Times Trophy at Park Hall, Charnock Richard, Lancashire.
The competing towns are: Blackpool, Tamworth, Newbury, Kirklees, Thurrock, Redcar and Edinburgh.
[edit] Jeux Sans Frontieres
Jeux Sans Frontieres 11 August 1976 7.15pm-8.30pm
from Nimes in France. GB team Blackpool - who won.
Jeux Sans Frontieres 18 August 1976 7.15pm-8.30pm
from Milan. GB team Tamworth.
Jeux Sans Frontieres 25 August 1976 7.15pm-8.30pm
from Caslano, Switzerland. GB team Newbury.
Jeux Sans Frontieres 01 September 1976 7.15pm-8.30pm
from Roundhay Park, Leeds. GB Team Kirklees
Jeux Sans Frontieres 10 September 1976 7.15pm-8.30pm
from Liege, Belgium. GB team Thurrock
Jeux Sans Frontieres 17 September 1976 7.15pm-8.30pm
Bad Mergentheim, Germany. GB team Redcar
Jeux Sans Frontieres 24 September 1976 7.15pm-8.30pm
from Groningen in the Netherlands. GB team Edinburgh
[edit] Christmas Edition
It's a Christmas Knockout 26 December 1976 4.35pm-5.35pm
A festive competition between teams from Belgium - represented by Waterloo, Great Britain - represented by Leeds, the Netherlands - represented by The Dutch 'All Stars' and Italy - represented by Cortina D'Ampezzo, from the Olympic Ice Rink, Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy.
[edit] It's a Royal Knockout
In 1987, It's a Knockout was revived for a one-off charity, It's a Royal Knockout, involving members of the British Royal Family.
[edit] UK Revival in the 90's
In 1999 the show was revived again, this time by Channel 5. This series was hosted by Keith Chegwin, Lucy Alexander and Frank Bruno. It lasted until 2001.
[edit] Australian It's a Knockout
An Australian version of It's a Knockout ran on the Ten Network 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 is being somewhat revived by the same network for 2006 with the title Friday Night Games. This version aired in Mexico on the TV Cable Network Multivisión and was a success during 1992. The show was hosted by Poul Nielson along with Jacki MacDonald for the duration that it aired in Australia. They would arrive to the show in a golf buggy but after an unfortunate incident with a stray cow they were forced to use push bikes. Nielson went on to host the Danish version of the same show but this was unsuccessful as they didn't have swimming pools and large oversized novelty playing cards in Denmark. "http://www.youtube.com/v/J5p5ddiJI44
[edit] US It's a Knockout
An American version, called Almost Anything Goes ran on ABC in the summer of 1975, handily winning the time slot on Thursday nights against reruns of The Waltons on CBS and whatever NBC aired. The show replaced the late, un-lamented Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell in January of 1976 as a mid-season replacement. 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 in the Saturday morning slot in the fall of that same year, and a syndicated celebrity version, hosted by Bill Boggs ran in 1977.
