It's Academic (Australian game show)

It's Academic
It's Academic logo
Format	Game show
Created by	Seven Network
Presented by	Simon Reeve (Revived version)
Country of origin	Australia
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	13
Production
Running time	30 minutes (including commercials)
Broadcast
Original channel	Seven Network
Picture format	576i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV)
Original run	1968–1978 2005 – present

It's Academic is an Australian children's game show airing on the Seven Network. The show is based on the long-running American version of It's Academic, and pits students from different schools against each other in a test of knowledge covering a number of diverse subjects including English, mathematics, science, geography, sport, music and popular culture.

History

The show originally aired on Seven Network from 1968 to 1978. In the years 2001 to 2004, Seven Perth revived the show, where it was broadcast locally, leading to a national relaunch in 2005.

The early incarnation of It's Academic was the basis for a series of sketches from The Late Show in which Santo Cilauro, Rob Sitch and Tom Gleisner, who all claimed to have gone to the same school, competed on the program with incredible but humorous incompetence. Coincidentally their sometime collaborator, actor/comedian Magda Szubanski had actually captained a team while a Year 10 student at Siena College in Melbourne, in 1976.

Hosts in the 1970s included Dan Webb (HSV-7), Andrew Harwood (ATN-7 and HSV-7), Sandy Roberts (ADS-7), Alec McAskill (ADS-7), Jeff Newman (TVW-7) and John Bailey. In recent years, Jeff Newman once again hosted Perth's version of It's Academic while Simon Reeve fronts the national version.

The current version features primary school children in Grade 6 aged around 12 years old.

Format

Original format

The 1970s version of It's Academic was conducted on a state basis with episodes featuring teams of three from three different schools. Contestants were aged around 16 years, in Year Ten at High School. Winning teams would progress through to state semi-finals and finals. In many years, state champion teams met in a national finals series.

In early rounds, team captains would 'pick a packet' (a numbered pack of ten questions) from a board of numbered options. Teams could answer these questions with no penalties for incorrect answers. All team members could respond to questions; in cases where two answers were given at the same time, the host would ask the captain to confirm the team's response. A video-clip round and 'beat the buzzer' segment completed the contest. In cases of ties, captains would pick tie-breaker packets for their team to answer.

State contestants usually received Parker pen sets as mementos, with additional prizes (often dictionaries or encyclopedias) awarded to the winning school. National prizes differed but were of a similar financial value.

Revived format

The 2008 version features three new schools every week, the winning schools to reappear later in the season for semi-finals and Grand Finals. Each individual episode features three teams (green, red and purple), each made up of three members from each school.

The show is set out as follows:

• Segment 1
  • Green team question round
  • Red team question round and Random Spotlight
  • Purple team question round
  • Home viewer question (various formats)
  • Commercial break
• Segment 2
  • Answer to home viewer question
  • Red team question round.
  • "Random Spotlight" and Purple team question round.
  • Green team question round.
  • Beat the Buzzer
  • Commercial break
• Segment 3
  • Information segment (presented by Sally Stanton, formerly Lizzy Lovette)
  • Purple team question round.
  • Green team question round and "Random Spotlight"
  • Red team question round.
  • Unscramble this Picture Puzzle (All teams)
  • Fact or Fiction? (All teams)
  • Commercial break
• Segment 4
  • Watch This Space
  • Beat the Buzzer
• End of show

NOTE: There is a new feature called the "Clean Sweep" it only occurs when a team answers all questions correct in the first round. The correct answer will award the team with 20 points.

The question rounds consist of a series of 5 aimed at one team only. Players are given five seconds to answer, or longer for a spelling question, and may confer amongst themselves before giving an answer. If two students answer differently at once, the team captain is asked to select one answer.

The Random Spotlight selects a member of the team at 'random'. They are then asked a question about their chosen topic, which can be absolutely anything ranging from academic subjects such as spelling or history, to more specific topics such as capital cities or outer space, to pop culture themed topics.

Unlike the question rounds, Beat the Buzzer is open for all teams to answer. Simon Reeve reads out questions to all contestants, who buzz in to answer. This is the most competitive segment of the show as teams attempt to buzz in before other teams in order to score points (10 per correct question). Beat the Buzzer is a speed round lasting for 45 seconds. If the team answers a question after time is up, the team would not gain or lose 10 points regardless if it's right or wrong.

The information segment was introduced in Season 2. It consists of Lizzy Lovette and later Sally Stanton giving a brief report on a particular topic. Teams are asked a 10 point buzz-in question on the topic to make sure they were listening. Initially the team who correctly answered the question also won the right to be the first team to get their question round, but was later dropped. No points are lost if a team answers the question incorrectly, but will be locked out in the next question. Should this happen, another question would be asked by Reeve for the remaining teams.

In Watch This Space, contestants are shown a one minute video clip on a certain subject, about which they are then asked three to five questions. All teams compete on the buzzer for the right to answer the questions: 10 points for a correct answer, 10 points off for a wrong answer. In later seasons, after each question, a screen shot from the video clip is shown to the audience that answers the question.

In Unscramble this Picture Puzzle, a 3 by 3 or a 4 by 4 sliding puzzle is shown on the screens, later it became a 5 by 5 sliding puzzle. The puzzle can be a person, a place or an object. When a team buzzes in, the puzzle freezes. The first team to identify the puzzle gets 10 points for their team and the puzzle is instantly revealed to the audience. If they get it wrong, no points are deducted but they get locked out allowing the other teams to answer it. If all three teams fail to identify the puzzle (scrambled or not), no points are given out and the answer is revealed.

The team who answers the Unscramble this Picture Puzzle question on the buzzer has the right to choose one of three topics for Fact or Fiction, a new round in 2006 and get five seconds to make that decision. Reeve then reads five statements about the topic for which schools buzz in to answer. These questions are simply true or false questions, however in this round for some reason they are labeled fact or fiction instead, and answering with "true" or "false" is accepted.

Scoring

• Each team begins with 100 points. (When the show first returned in 2005, it was impossible to lose points at any time during the show; this made these 100 points rather useless.)
• In the individual team question rounds, 10 points are awarded for a correct answer; no points are deducted for a wrong answer.
• If a contestant correctly answers his or her Random Spotlight question, 20 points are awarded instead of 10; once again, no points are deducted for a wrong answer.
• In any buzzer rounds, 10 points are awarded for a correct answer, and 10 points are deducted for a wrong answer. When the show was introduced in 2005, no penalties were given for incorrect answers.

The school with the most aggregate points at the end of the week is the winner, progressing to the semi-finals and then the Grand Final. The winning school on any one day does not compete for more points or prizes, and should there be a tie it need not be broken. However, should there be a tie after the week, a tie breaker would be given out for the Friday's teams. The team that gives the correct answer gets 10 points for their team and go through to the next round. An incorrect answer would lose them 10 points and the opposing team go through instead.

Episodes

The following is an incomplete list of episodes broadcast, participating schools and winning schools from the show. At the end of each season, winning schools from prior episodes are invited back to play in the finals.

Season 1

Episode	First Place	Second Place	Third Place
Heat 1	Sadleir 1990	Our Lady Queen of Peace 1010	St Michael's 840
Heat 2	Holy Spirit 1630	Birchgrove 1530	Seven Hills 1190
Heat 4	Denistone East 1520	Bert Oldfield Public 1470	Telopea 1260
Heat 5	Carlingford unknown	St Therese Primary unknown	Epping North unknown
Heat 6	St Ambrose 1500	Dundas 1460	OLOL 1440
Heat unknown	Castle Hill 1st Place	St Gerard's unknown	St Mark's unknown
Semi-Final 2	Denistone East 1600	St Ambrose 1520	Carlingford 1410
Semi-Final 3	Sadleir 1760	Balmain 1190	OLH 980
Grand Final	Sadleir 1870	Castle Hill 1210	Denistone East 890

Season 2

Episode	First Place	Second Place	Third Place
Heat 1	Matthew Pearce 1480	St Madeleine's 1410	Castle Cove 1160
Heat 2	Chatswood Public School 1460	MLC Burwood 1450	North Ryde 1360
Heat 3	Quakers Hill East* 1450	Bexley North 1440	St Mary's 1220
Heat 4	Artarmon Public 1570	Rouse Hill 1340	Ramsgate Public 1180
Heat 5	Colyton 1510	St Michael's Lane Cove 1440	Loreta Kirribilli 1370
Heat 6	Putney 1490	Blacktown South 1440	Gordon West 1400
Heat 7	Knox Grammar 1490	Forestville 1390	International 1350
Heat 8	Dural Public 1630	Westmead 1370	St Martha's 1340
Heat 9	Mount Colah 1460	St Patrick's 1390	Sacred Heart 1290
Semi-Final 1	Matthew Pearce 1600	Artarmon Public 1520	Chatswood Public School 1300
Semi-Final 2	Knox Grammer 1630	Colyton Public 1550	Putney Public 1340
Semi-Final 3	Dural Public 1520	Quakers Hill East 1400	Mount Colah 1300
Grand Final	Knox Grammar 1st place	Dural Public 2nd place	Matthew Pearce Public 3rd place

Season 3

Episode	First Place	Second Place	Third Place
Heat 1	Truscott Street 1390	St Patrick's 1350	Santa Sabina 1300
Heat 4	Redfield 1330	Lynwood Park 1300	Taren Point 1180
Heat 5	*Patrician 1440	Kings Langley 1440	Arden 1330
Heat 7	St Therese 1330	Masada 1320	St Peter's 1220
Grand Final	Patrician Brothers' College, Fairfield unknown	[Good Shepherd]	Kellyville Public unknown

Season 4

Episode	First Place	Second Place	Third Place
Heat 1	St Euphemia 1400	Mowbray Public 1310	Coogee Boys 1280
Heat 2	Pennant Hills 1680	Holsworthy 1260	Caves Beach 1240
Heat 3	Star of The Sea 1420	Castle Hill 1380	Pacific Hills 1310
Heat 4	Winston Hills 1280	Sadleir 1270	Sule College 1250
Heat 5	Blakehurst 1370	Beresford Road 1360	Warrawee 1340
Heat 6	Waverley College 1510	Northern Beaches 1280	OLR ST Mary 1270
Heat 7	St Gertrude's 1380	Oxford Falls Grammar 1350	Meriden Junior 1300
Heat 8	Sacred Heart Mosman 1290	Parramatta 1280	Athelstane 1070
Heat 9	Cranbrook School 1470	Roseville College 1430	St Aloysius Cronulla 1200
Semi-Final 1	St Euphemia 1300	Winston Hills 1280	Cranbrook 1250
Semi-Final 2	Pennant Hills 1410	Waverley College 1290	St Gertrude's 1240
Semi-Final 3	Our Lady Star of the Sea 1400	Blakehurst 1260	Sacred Heart Mosman 1200
Grand Final	Pennant Hills Public School 1430	Our Lady Star of the Sea 1420	St Euphemia College School 1180

Season 5

Episode	First Place	Second Place	Third Place
Heat 1	Narellan Public 1410	Bethel Christian Academy 1220	Holy Family Primary 1210
Heat 2	St Spyridon College 1520	St Mels Primary 1310	St Marys 1280
Heat 3	Al Zahra 1350	Camden South 1240	Maitland Public 1190
Heat 4	Alexandria Park 1380	O.L.M.C 1340	Covenant 1280
Heat 5	SCECGS Redlands 1440	Ryde East 1330	Barnier Public 1270
Heat 6	West Pennant Hills 1450	Ellison Public 1240	Al Noori 1210
Heat 7	Kensington 1490	Berowra 1400	Eastwood 1360
Heat 8	Marsden Road 1430	St Pauls Apostle 1370	St Pius X 1360
Heat 9	Strathfield South 1430	Widemere 1300	St Kevins 1280
Semi-Final 2	Alexandria Park 1480	St Spyridon 1330	Narellan Public 1190
Semi-Final 3	Strathfield South 1430	Kensington 1270	Marsden Road 1230
Grand Final	Strathfield South 1480	West Pennant Hills 1390	Alexandria Park 1200

Season 6

Episode	First Place	Second Place	Third Place
Heat 1	Rockdale* 1330	St Marks 1320	Riverview 1250
Heat 2	St Josephs 1270	Mascot Public 1150	Ruse Public 1150
Heat 3	Wattle Grove 1210	Cambletown East 1070	Crown Street 1050
Heat 4	Jannali Public 1270	Leura Public 1210	Parklea Public 1180
Heat 5	Hazelbrook* 1280	Winston Heights 1270	Clemton Park 1230
Heat 6	Sutherland Shire 1360	Narrabeen Lakes 1290	Glenmore Road 1190
Heat 7	Narellan Vale 1340	Bilgola Plateau 1250	Penrith Christian 1140
Heat 8	Burnside 1290	William Stimson 1280	AIA 1130
Heat 9	St Luke's Grammar 1290	Beaumont Hills 1230	Maitland Christian 1120
Semi-Final 2	Jannali Public 1280	Burnside Public 1160	Narellan Vale Public 1140
Semi-Final 3	Hazelbrook 1390	Sutherland Shire 1360	St Josephs 1330
Grand Final	Hazelbrook Public 1330	St Luke's Grammar 1280	Jannali Public 1220

Season 7

Episode	First Place	Second Place	Third Place
Heat 1	Woollahra 1540	Avalon 1350	Bexley North 1260
Heat 2	St Joseph's 1340	Soldiers Point 1230	St Felix 1220
Heat 3	St Andrews 1350	Mater Dai 1340	Shelly Public 1260
Heat 4	Hunter Christian 1420	Narrabeen North 1210	Liverpool Public 1330
Heat 5	Mona Vale 1420	CCAS 1340	Bonnet Bay 1230
Heat 6	Wentworth Falls 1360	Loreto Kirribilli 1340	William Clarke 1240
Heat 7	Wilkins Public 1540	Oakhill Drive 1370	John Warby 970
Heat 8	Blaxland East 1280	Double Bay 1180	Maria Regina 1170
Heat 9	St Mary St Mina 1440	OLOL 1230	TWPS 1140
Semi Final 1	St Mary St Mina 1410	Blaxland 1400	Mona Vale 1380
Semi Final 2	Wollahra 1460	St Joseph's 1420	Hunter Christian 1320

Season 8

Episode	First Place	Second Place	Third Place
Heat 1	Yagoona Public 1400	Prouille 1360	Panania Public 1190
Heat 2	Georges Hall 1490	Blaxcell Street 1460	Ermington West 1140
Heat 3	OLOR 1420	Cecil Hills 1180	St Francis 1030
Heat 4	Scots Colledge 1440	Macquarie Fields 1360	Norwest 1180
Heat 5	Pymble Ladies College 1450	Quakers Hill 1420	Busby West 1030
Heat 6	Cammaray 1500	Northcross 1320	Cobbity 1130
Grand Final	Pymble Ladies College 1390	Georges Hall Public 1350	Ironbark Ridge Public 1220

Season 9

Episode	First Place	Second Place	Third Place
Heat 1	Oatley West Public 1470	Gwynneville Public 1280	Blaxland Public 1190
Heat 2	Normanhurst Public 1390	Rosehill Public 1350	Bald Face Public 1240
Heat 3	Malek Fahd Islamic 1480	Birrong Public 1240	Unity Grammar 1100
Heat 4	Caddies Creek Public 1320	Glenwood Public 1260	Windsor Public 1170
Heat 5	Manly West Public 1410	St Francis of Assisi 1320	Revesby Public 1170
Heat 6	Penrith Anglican College 1310	Turramurra North Public 1300	Hannans Road Public 1020
Heat 7	Toongabbie Public 1480	Neutral Bay Public 1440	Matraville Soldiers Settlement Public 1150
Heat 8	Connells Point Public 1450	Tyndale Christian 1290	Briar Road Public 1070
Heat 9	Loftus Public 1230	Killara Public 1200	Oakville Public 1150
Semifinal 1	Malek Fahd Islamic 1410	Caddies Creek Public 1320	Manly West Public 1270
Semifinal 2	Toongabbie Public 1360	Normanhurst Public 1270	Loftus Public 1140
Semifinal 3	Connells Point Public 1420	Oatley West Public 1370	Penrith Anglican College 1240
Grand Final	Connells Point Public 1350	Malek Fahd Islamic 1260	Toongabbie Public 1250

Season 10 (Summer Series)

Episode	First Place	Second Place	Third Place
Heat 1	Oatley West Public 250	Gwynneville Public 230	Blaxland Public 210
Heat 2	Bald Face Public 260	Rosehill Public 250	Normanhurst Public 240
Heat 3	Birrong Public 290	Malek Fahd Islamic School 230	Unity Grammar 190
Heat 4	Glenwood Public 330	Windsor Public 210	Caddies Creek Public 180
Heat 5	St Francis of Assisi 290	Manly West Public 270	Revesby Public 180
Heat 7	Toongabbie Public 290	Neutral Bay Public 260	Matraville Soldiers Settlement Public 230
Heat 8	Briar Road Public 280	Connells Point Public 270	Tyndale Christian 190
Heat 9	Killara Public 230	Loftus Public 220	Oakville Public 210
Semifinal 1	Glenwood Public 240	Toongabbie Public 220	Penrith Anglican College 220
Semifinal 2	Gwynneville Public 230	Briar Road Public 210	St Francis of Assisi 210
Semifinal 3	Bald Face Public 310	Birrong Public 260	Killara Public 260
Grand Final	Gwynneville Public 440	Bald Face Public 430	Glenwood Public 360

Season 11

Episode	First Place	Second Place	Third Place
Heat 1	Lane Cove Public 1420	Berala Public 1250	Bangor Public 1170
Heat 2	All Saints Grammar 1290	Balgowlah Heights Public 1170	Willoughby Public 1170
Heat 3	North Rocks Public 1380	Greenwich Public 1300	Newtown North Public 1230
Heat 4	Burwood Public* 1300	Sadleir Public 1300	Baulkham Hills North Public 1260
Heat 5	Mosman Church of England Prep 1510	Lindfield East Public 1280	Botany Public 1040
Heat 6	Gymea Bay Public 1280	Five Dock Public 1210	Green Valley Public 1070
Heat 7	Erskineville Public 1280	Harrington Park Public 1190	St Joachims Primary 1120
Heat 8	Tharawal Public 1240	Burraneer Bay Public 1220	Forest Lodge Public 1130
Heat 9	Bankstown Public 1430	Kent Road Public 1270	Kirrawee Public 1220
Semifinal 1	North Rocks Public 1470	Mosman Church Of England Prep 1350	All Saints Grammar 1200
Semifinal 2	Erskineville Public 1340	Lane Cove Public 1300	Burwood Public 1290
Semifinal 3	Gymea Bay Public 1400	Bankstown Public 1360	Tharawal Public 1140
Grand Final	North Rocks Public 1320	Erskineville Public 1270	Gymea Bay Public 1270

Series 12

Episode	First Place	Second Place	Third Place
Heat 1	Hornsby Heights Public 1510	Prairievale Public 1450	St. Bernadette's Primary 1190
Heat 2	St. Andrew's 1280	Belmore North Public 1260	Sydney Adventist College 1240
Heat 3	Harrington St. Public ?	Liverpool Public ?	Sadleir Public ?
Heat 4	St. Patrick's of Sutherland Primary 1510	Glenfield Public 1400	Terrey Hills Public 1180
Heat 5	Casula Public 1430	St. Monica's Primary 1290	Wentworthville Public 1210
Heat 6	Calare Public 1390	Galilee Primary 1360	Mary Immaculate Primary 1260
Heat 7	Berowra Public 1600	St. Aloysius Primary 1310	Turramurra Public 1280
Heat 8	Earlwood Public 1430	South Coogee Public 1310	Iqra Grammar 1120
Heat 9	Hurstville Public 1420	Murray Farm Public 1390	Lansvale Public 1350
Semi-Final 1	Calare Public 1420	St. Andrew's 1320	Hornsby Heights Public 1200
Semi-Final 2	Casula Public 1480	Harrington St. Public 1370	Berowra Public <?small>
Semi-Final 3	Hurstville Public 1500	Earlwood Public 1370	St. Patrick's of Sutherland Primary 1300
Grand Final	Casula Public 1460	Hurstville Public 1340	Calare Public 1210

Season 13

Episode	First Place	Second Place	Third Place
Grand Final	Crestwood 1440	St Johns Park 1390	West Ryde 1170

Season 14

Episode	First Place	Second Place	Third Place
Heat 6	Kingsgrove 1520	Caringbah North 1510	Hassal Grove 13somthing0

Notes

• Heat 3 of Season 2 ended in a tie. A student from Quakers Hill East Public answered correctly so they made it to the semi-finals.

• Heat 5 of Season 3 ended in a tie. A student from Kings Langley answered incorrectly so Patrician made it to the semi-finals.

• Heat 1 of Season 6 ended in a tie. A student from Rockdale Public answered correctly so they made it to the semi-finals.

• Heat 5 of Season 6 ended in a tie. A student from Hazelbrook Public answered correctly so they made it to the semi-finals.

• Heat 4 of Season 11 ended in a tie. A student from Burwood answered correctly so they made it to the semi-finals.

The highest individual team score so far is 400 points by caringbah north in heats

See also

• Australia's Brainiest Kid
• The Weakest Link
• List of Australian television series

External links

• It's Academic Official Site [1]
• It's Academic at the National Film and Sound Archive