Why "It's a Knockout" Is Doomed to Fail

By now you've probably all heard the news that there are plans to bring back It's a Knockout. The show is scheduled to air this summer on Channel Ten, but all the signs point to a dismal failure. Here are some of my thoughts as to why.


1. It's Scheduled for the Summer

Summer is where shows go to die. It's the non-ratings season, and so any show scheduled to air during this part of the year isn't expected to perform all that well. Had Channel Ten been confident that the show was going to be a ratings bonanza, then the show would have been fast-tracked to begin airing in a couple of weeks, or delayed to start airing later on next year.


2. We've Essentially Already Had It For Years

The concept behind It's a Knockout is that people embark on a series of physical challenges for glory. Sound familiar? It should. Not because the show aired years and years and years ago, but because there's also this little show called Wipeout. Now, admittedly Wipeout is actually a pretty popular show, or at least was a few years ago, but there was a local spin-off called Wipeout: Australia. This was much less successful, and was quickly relegated to a digital secondary channel. I haven't seen a new episode of Wipeout: Australia for quite some time. Given the lacklustre reception that Wipeout: Australia received, and given the comparisons between It's a Knockout and Wipeout that were made as soon as Wipeout appeared on our screens, it seems likely that It's a Knockout is doomed to go the same way as Wipeout: Australia.


3. It's Not Exactly the Same Format As It First Was

The original show was shot in front of a huge audience, as they cheered on teams from different states competing against each other, or something like that. Like Wipeout however, the show is now going to be shot overseas (in Kuala Lumpur of all places), which means it's going to be even more like Wipeout than it was the first time around. People might be turned off by the fact that it's not just like the way they remembered it, because TV audiences can be selfish idiots like that.


4. Shows Brought Back on Nostalgia Don't Have a Good Track Record

Remember what happened when they brought back Hey Hey, It's Saturday recently? It failed miserably. No one seemed to care it had been brought back, it received dismal ratings and reviews, and wasn't given the dignified death it deserved. (This is, of course, assuming it actually deserved a dignified death in the first place.) The reason it failed was because it was a show from a different era that didn't fit in well with modern times and standards. The same thing happened to the remake of Charlie's Angels that lasted all of about four episodes before it was canned due to dismal ratings.

It's a Knockout seems doomed to go the same way.