8.6 /10 1 Votes
Voices of Max Rowley (1985–1987) Country of origin Australia Genre Game show Audio format Stereophonic sound | 8.6/10 IMDb Composer(s) Rick Turk Original language(s) English Language English | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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No. of seasons 3 (1985–1987)1 (2011–2012) Similar Game show, Cruise Mode, Ridgey Didge, Perfect Match, Magic Circle Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
It's a Knockout was an Australian game show that was adapted from the original British version of the same name, which in turn was adapted from the French show, Intervilles. It originally ran from April 1985 to September 1987. It was later revived albeit less successfully on 27 November 2011 on Network Ten and hosted by HG Nelson
Contents
History
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 Queensland-based personalities Billy J Smith along with Fiona MacDonald (the sister of Hey Hey it's Saturday's, Jacki MacDonald), with Max Rowley as announcer, for the duration that it aired in Australia. They would arrive to the show in a golf buggy with the show's mascot Combat the Dog (an Old English Sheepdog), and introduce the teams to compete in various athletic timed tasks. The show was filmed in a field in Dural, New South Wales, however due to numerous noise complaints from local residents the show was dropped in 1987.
This version also aired in Mexico on the TV Cable Network Multivisión and was a success during 1992. It was also adapted and shown in Argentina known as Supermatch. This version was heavily edited, and the anchors were replaced by off-screen commentators.
In the original series, an individual game win was awarded 4 points and second place 2 points (any ties were split between all tying teams). A nightly winner gave a team 6 points for the individual state ladder and $1,000 (first runners-up win 4 points and second runners-up win 2 points). After each team in each division played three times, the leading team in each state qualified for the semi-final worth $5,000. After each of the three semi-finals were conducted, the champions of each state qualified for the preliminary final worth $10,000. The same process was conducted again in pursuit of the teams for the grand final worth $20,000.
A famous feature of this run was called the "Joker" which was used by a team to double any points they could get in only one individual game. The use of the Joker was self-contained to the individual episode.
2011/12 return
On 17 October 2011, it was announced that Channel 10 Australia was re-launching a new version of It's a Knockout for its 2011/12 Summer programming lineup hosted by HG Nelson, Charli Robinson and Brad McEwan. Nelson and McEwan would arrive on-set in a golf buggy and would announce each team and the point tally as well as commentate each match whilst Charli would introduce each game and explain the rules. Due to insurance costs however the show would be filmed offshore in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and it ran for eight 1-hour episodes and featured teams of 15 from each state of Australia. The teams would be competing for the Billy J. Smith cup as the grand prize. It premiered on 27 November 2011.