Knockout (game show)
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Knockout was an NBC game show that aired from October 3, 1977 to April 21, 1978. A Ralph Edwards production, it was hosted by Arte Johnson, with announcing duties handled first by Jay Stewart and later by John Harlan.
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[edit] Gameplay
The object of the game was to find one thing from a list of four items that was not related to the other three. For example:
- New York Yankees
- Tampa Bay Devil Rays
- Miami Dolphins
- Texas Rangers
The players would be shown a question with the possible answers (like shown above) and the first player to buzz-in would try to figure out what did not belong (the answer for the example would be "Miami Dolphins"). A correct answer earned a player a letter in the word "KNOCKOUT" which was displayed on his or her podium.
In addition to the letter, the player with the correct answer had a chance to earn more letters by figuring out the common category of the remaining three words (which in this case would be baseball teams) or by daring one of his or her opponents to answer. If the contestant answered correctly or the dare was successful, he or she earned two letters. If the dared player identified the bond, he or she earned two letters for himself or herself.
If the dare was successful, there was one more choice to make. He or she could dare the third player for another two letters or just give the answer for only one letter.
The first player to light up his or her word (lighting up all 8 letters in the word KNOCKOUT) won the game and a chance to play for up to $5000 in the bonus round.
[edit] Bonus Round
The Knockout bonus round was played in two parts.
[edit] Part One
Three items with a common category were revealed to the winning contestant one at a time, with the contestant trying to identify the category. If the contestant did so on the first word, it was worth $500. $300 was given for doing so on the second word, and if it took all three words, the contestant won $100.
[edit] Part Two
The second part of the bonus (referred to on the air by Johnson as "The 10 to 1 Special Knockout Bonus") was played for 10 times what the player had won in the first half of the bonus game. A player was presented with a choice of the top line, the second line, or the bottom line, after which a clue was revealed. Using the clue he or she picked, the winning contestant had to identify the subject. Doing so won the money.
A player could stay on for five days or until he or she lost twice. All five-time champions won a car.
[edit] Scheduling/Ratings
Knockout marked Ralph Edwards' third attempt at a daytime game on NBC in three years. After failing with two different short-lived versions of Name That Tune, which had become a major hit off network, he banked on the appeal of former Laugh-In star Johnson, who had, in the intervening years since that show's cancellation, become a regular panelist on games like Hollywood Squares and Match Game. Knockout succeeded Monty Hall's short-lived It's Anybody's Guess.
Johnson's popularity, however, was no match for ABC's Family Feud, which was on its way to becoming daytime's most popular game at 11:30 a.m./10:30 Central. Knockout got only a six-month run before NBC replaced it with a revamped High Rollers. As for Edwards, he would never again attempt a daytime network show, preferring to stick to syndication for Tune and later shows like The People's Court.
[edit] Episode Status
The series is supposedly erased. One episode is known to survive among traders, and another exists at the Paley Center for Media.
[edit] Trivia
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A British version of the show called Odd One Out aired from 1982 to 1985.
A memorable blooper occurred in one episode: One board listed a famous athlete as "MOE DIMAGGIO". Johnson said that Moe "could be his older brother".
