NOW GET OUT OF THAT can be seen as the forebear of two types of TV shows-- the "Survivor" types and the "Junkyard Wars" types. And given the number of creative offspring this show has, it is criminal it appears to be pretty much forgotten. (Am I really the first person to express any thoughts on this long-lost gem?) The format was fairly simple. A team of four contestants was dropped at one end of a picturesque British countryside and given a map and compass. The idea was they were on a mission and had to find their way to their goal somewhere out there in the aforementioned picturesque British countryside. They were dropped off one morning and were expected to complete the mission by the following afternoon. Thus some outdoor roughing it was involved.
The contestants were subjected to a variety of puzzles and challenges as they made their trek. For example, the team's directions might lead them to the center of a very tall, very picturesque stone viaduct. There they found four sets of repelling gear. They needed the gear to get to the bottom of the viaduct where four ATVs waited. But on the way down they had to find the ATVs' keys, which were hung halfway down the viaduct. As none of the keys were hung together, each contestant was forced to make the perilous-looking descent.
After a long day, the contestants would find a stash of supplies they could use to make dinner and shelter. What the contestants made of the supplies could vary widely. For example, when British and American teams were faced with dinner in the form of a joint of meat, the announcer described their actions thusly, "In proper British fashion, the British team decided to boil the meat to death. In typical American fashion, the y decided to have a barbecue." (The BBQ worked, the boiled meat was barely edible, by the way.) The narrator was a hoot to listen to as he alternated described and mocked the contestants' efforts. The narration for JUNKYARD WARS definitely copied this.
On the second day, the tasks increased in complexity until the contestants finally reached their goal. For example, in one episode the team had to use available parts to devise a "time bomb." One solution I recall was a leaking sandbag attached to a lever that somehow triggered the "bomb." The filming format was straight forward. One team of contestants participated at a time, accompanied by the film crew. That would occupy two days. Then the area would be reset for the second team's mission on the third and fourth days. Afterwards, the two team's footage was edited to give the illusion of a head-to-head competition. (The occasionally wildly different weather conditions were the giveaway.) Each half hour episode dealt with one day of the mission. The show aired in the US as a one-hour package, combining the two episodes that formed a competition. In the original run, the teams were strictly British. Later seasons added teams of expatriate Americans in order to give the series a wider appeal for the newly emerging American Cable market. (I watched this on the early ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Channel.) Looking at the show now, one can see numerous shows that owe a creative debt to the NOW GET OUT OF THAT. JUNKYARD WARS owes its tinkering and puzzle solving aspects. CASTAWAY and SURVIVOR owes its outdoor roughing it aspects. FEAR FACTOR owes its outdoor stunts aspect. And of course ALL Reality Shows owe it the development of a omnipresent but invisibly off-camera production crew dutifully recording everything.
While it has been a quarter-century since the series aired, it has a timeless quality that makes me hope some dish programmer, desperate for series to fill their schedules, will revive it. Or at least air the original episodes.
The contestants were subjected to a variety of puzzles and challenges as they made their trek. For example, the team's directions might lead them to the center of a very tall, very picturesque stone viaduct. There they found four sets of repelling gear. They needed the gear to get to the bottom of the viaduct where four ATVs waited. But on the way down they had to find the ATVs' keys, which were hung halfway down the viaduct. As none of the keys were hung together, each contestant was forced to make the perilous-looking descent.
After a long day, the contestants would find a stash of supplies they could use to make dinner and shelter. What the contestants made of the supplies could vary widely. For example, when British and American teams were faced with dinner in the form of a joint of meat, the announcer described their actions thusly, "In proper British fashion, the British team decided to boil the meat to death. In typical American fashion, the y decided to have a barbecue." (The BBQ worked, the boiled meat was barely edible, by the way.) The narrator was a hoot to listen to as he alternated described and mocked the contestants' efforts. The narration for JUNKYARD WARS definitely copied this.
On the second day, the tasks increased in complexity until the contestants finally reached their goal. For example, in one episode the team had to use available parts to devise a "time bomb." One solution I recall was a leaking sandbag attached to a lever that somehow triggered the "bomb." The filming format was straight forward. One team of contestants participated at a time, accompanied by the film crew. That would occupy two days. Then the area would be reset for the second team's mission on the third and fourth days. Afterwards, the two team's footage was edited to give the illusion of a head-to-head competition. (The occasionally wildly different weather conditions were the giveaway.) Each half hour episode dealt with one day of the mission. The show aired in the US as a one-hour package, combining the two episodes that formed a competition. In the original run, the teams were strictly British. Later seasons added teams of expatriate Americans in order to give the series a wider appeal for the newly emerging American Cable market. (I watched this on the early ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Channel.) Looking at the show now, one can see numerous shows that owe a creative debt to the NOW GET OUT OF THAT. JUNKYARD WARS owes its tinkering and puzzle solving aspects. CASTAWAY and SURVIVOR owes its outdoor roughing it aspects. FEAR FACTOR owes its outdoor stunts aspect. And of course ALL Reality Shows owe it the development of a omnipresent but invisibly off-camera production crew dutifully recording everything.
While it has been a quarter-century since the series aired, it has a timeless quality that makes me hope some dish programmer, desperate for series to fill their schedules, will revive it. Or at least air the original episodes.
