SMTV Live: Encyclopedia II - SMTV Live - Competitions

SMTV Live - Competitions

There were many competitions on SMTV. Unlike many other Saturday morning children's programmes, SMTV did give away impressive prizes, such as holidays to America for the family, as well as the usual televisions, games consoles and CDs. (Ant famously gave away his own car in one of the earliest episodes) Some of the competitions were phone-ins, though a few were more notable, and had a slot on the show every week.

SMTV Live - Wonkey Donkey

The premise of the game was very similar to that of Catchphrase. The example the presenters always gave to explain the game was 'Wonkey Donkey'. It was a small toy donkey with one leg missing. Thus, it was a wonkey donkey. Every week, something similar was shown to the viewers who rang in to guess what it was. The golden rule was it had to rhyme. Some weeks it was very easy, and the first caller got the answer right straight away. Other weeks it was not as straightforward with viewers blurting out anything, whether it rhymed or not. Dec found it very frustrating when the callers could not get the answer right, and he sometimes threw the toy and the stand it was placed on in anger, or ranting into the camera, which became a staple of the game. Once in the show's opening 'menu', when Ant & Cat mentioned that the game was coming up later, they said "And remember, for the sake of Dec's blood pressure, IT'S GOTTA RHYME!"

SMTV Live - Splattoon

Based on the title of Oliver Stone's film Platoon, the aim of the game was for a caller to direct a blindfolded celebrity to use a gun to 'splat' small model hot air balloons, filled with paint. For this game, Ant and Dec always dressed up as WWI fighter jet pilots, complete with fake moustaches and spoke with old-fashioned accents.

SMTV Live - Challenge Ant/Brian's Brain

Each week, a child would challenge Ant by asking him ten questions they had prepared. For every one Ant did not answer correctly, the child won a prize, such as a DVD or video game. One memorable live blooper came in this game when the child asked Ant the question "Who appeared naked on Channel 5 last week?", to which the answer was Keith Chegwin, referring to the show he hosted, Naked Jungle. Ant answered correctly, and that got a laugh, but then Dec, red-faced, nervously announced that the next prize up for grabs was a DVD of Free Willy, which reduced the studio to hysterics.

At the end of the ten questions, the child would have the chance to gamble the prizes they had won for the 'star prize', which was usually a DVD player or games console. They then asked Ant a further question, called the "Killer Question", with an accompanying dramatic sound effect. If Ant answered incorrectly, the child and audience would chant, "you're thick, you're thick, you're thick, you're thick you are, you're thick, you're thick!" and so on, and put a dunce cap on Ant's head. If, however, Ant answered the question correctly, the child would lose all their prizes, and Ant would be crowned "King of Common Knowledge", to the tune of Rockin' All Over The World, revelling in taunting the child, as he was crowned. In later episodes, the child would get a 'consolation prize' of a handkerchief reading "I lost on Challenge Ant".

There were also "celebrity editions", (called "Challenge Ant - Celebrity Style!") played by stars such as Robbie Williams. When Ant & Dec left the show, Brian Dowling took over the game, being the one asked the questions, with Cat and later Tess Daly taking over Dec's role as host, and it was renamed Brian's Brain. This game was played in the last-ever show, and was also played in Ant & Dec's first prime-time Saturday night show Slap Bang with Ant & Dec, (the forerunner to Saturday Night Takeaway) only this time played by elderly contestants.

After Ant and Dec's departure, the sketch became known as Brian's Brain.

SMTV Live - Eat My Goal

Celebrity guests would take it in turns to shoot penalties, with Ant in goal. Callers would back the celebrities they thought would win against Ant. The name comes from a song by Collapsed Lung, which they played when a goal was scored.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Competitions", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki