It’s A Knockout to return to Australia
It’s A Knockout is returning to Australian TV screens.
The family show is the first production from Spring, FremantleMedia’s low budget arm launched last month that “is to Fremantle what Jetstar is to Qantas”.
It’s A Knockout is set to air on Ten over the summer in eight one-hour episodes “to fill a yawning hole in Ten’s sports schedule”.
It will be fronted by comedian HG Nelson, Ten sports presenter Brad McEwan and former Hi-5 member Charli Robinson.
The show is being funded by McDonald’s in a deal brokered by media agency OMD’s content division Fuse.
In the show, four teams of 15 members will compete. Each team will have a summer theme in what will play out as a state versus state smack-down, according to a Ten press release.
David Mott, Ten’s chief programming officer said: “Summer is a time for light, fun, family viewing and It’s A Knockout is the perfect show to offer all that and more. Our line up of HG, Brad and Charli is sure to bring the right mix of social commentary, humour and dare I say sporting acumen…to this contemporary take on TV’s ultimate arena showdown.”
The show was first broadcast on Ten in 1985 to 1987 and ran for 107 episodes.
It’s A Knockout joins Young Talent Time in Ten’s nostalgia-based programming lineup for 2012.
HG Nelson said: “It’s a Knockout is The People’s Olympics. This hour of fun features contestants with no real athletic abilities having a crack at events that should be starters on London’s gold medal agenda. ‘Knockout’ fills the yawning hole in Ten’s sports schedule now that it has moved on from its top rating AFL coverage. Personally it is a dream come true to be packing down with Brad and Charli trackside calling the fund raising mayhem.”
McDonald’s will have exclusive sponsorship of the show.
Joanne Liddell, director of Fuse Sydney said “It’s great to see such an ambitious idea come to life. This new way of working with production partners and networks to this scale is a milestone for branded content in Australia.”
The baby boomers are out of ideas and the new guard love their borrowed nostalgia from an unremembered 80s…
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AK, the best part about knocking nostalgia is not having to come up with your own original ideas.
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Have to agree AK. Australian television has no bright sparks anymore to create shows, all they do is rehash BAD ones. Even Europe has better TV viewing quality. What an absolute joke……………………well, i suppose i’ll be spending that hour outside or on Foxtel (which is just as bad at re-running the same show, time and bloody time again).
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Tim, no the best part about defending nostalgia is not having to come up with your own original ideas…
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Hey I remember that show! Makes me feel old 🙁
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Whats a knockout?
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Haha, awesome! That was one of my fave shows as a kid.
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HELLS YEAH!!!!!!!!!
Its a knockout.. thats the name… its a knockout thats… the game… its knockout thats the name of the gammeeeeeee
WOOT!
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All ideas are stolen from somewhere, it goes back centuries.
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where are all the creative genius’ that are getting paid millions a year to produce new, exciting and innovative shows! Come on…….get with it……..next we will be watching a new version of “Pick a Box”
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I loved this show growing up but the thing I loved most was that the whole family sat down together and all got to have a laugh. How many shows can you say that about nowawdays?
As a mother now, I’m delighted Ch 10 is bringing back the nostalgia and providing me with my own opportunity to sit down with my son (who is young enough to think it is the funniest thing ever) and share a laugh together.
Last night we were watching Merlin and he turned to me and said the best bit of watching Merlin is that we watch it together. It is enjoyable enough for me to watch and deals in the simpleness of make believe rather than dogs looking for drugs and crash scene investigations. I just want something entertaining I can share with my family to create their own nostalgic moments.
It may be unoriginal but bring on the memories Ch 10. I’ll be watching!!
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See? *grroooaan*
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I know, I know … it’s a cynical marketing exercise aimed squarely at Gen X. IAK with H G Nelson at the helm has ’35-49 Year Old Male’ written all over it … and all those 35-49 year old dads will watch it with their kids, and then the cycle will begin all over again …
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I can’t wait to see Eddie “It’s an up and under” Waring again.
Oh wait he was on the pommie version and died in 1986.
It’s suggested that this rehash of a knock-off of an British re-work of a very bad French summer fill-in fromthe 1960s will “fill a yawning hole in Ten’s sports schedule”. The time slot still be a “yawning hole” with the audience of nursing home patients nodding off within 5 minutes of the start. of the show with its fatuous hosts, ridiculous “games” and confected interstate rivalries.
The fact that they will be filming this farce in Malaysia in order to save on costs says it all really.
How embarrassment..
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I for one cant wait. Yes it might be old and from the 80’s but its fun, light hearted and something that everyone in the family can watch.
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I believe the original show was filmed in the outskirts of Sydney? Rather ironic that the original host was Jacqui McDonald and now the sponsor is McDonalds! So I guess that Grimace, The Hamburgular, Ronald McDonald and the other charectors of Maccas will be participating?
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Funded by McDonalds?
What?
So not only will we have this tripe on air, it’ll just be a thinly veiled vehicle for rubbish “food” as well.
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^^ The original host wasn’t Jackie McDonald. It was her sister Fiona….along with Billy J Smith.
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sorry it was Fiona McDonald not Jacqui. There should be a celebrity Its a knockout. May I suggest Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd?
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I understand the strategy behind this but it’s a pitty they didn’t (or couldn’t) create some original content.
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Aren’t all TV shows ‘funded’ by advertisers? What makes this so special and what is the ‘miIestone’ in branded content that has been achieved? I thought branded content involved a clever link to the brand, smart integration or leverage across channels. How is this different from being another another sponsorship deal and why did it need a specialist team to broker?
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@jimbo james – contestants will be bouncing off inflatable big Macs, knocked off pedestals by giant French Fries, and knocked into giant Chocolate Shake pool.
Hence the milestone status has been applied to overt content branding.
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Loved this show back in teh 80’s. Only negative thing i can say about this show now is that it is being filmed in Kuala Lumpa. Why can’t they produce it in Australia.
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