Skatoony

Skatoony (stylized as SkatoonY) is a children's live action/animated game show, pitting live-action kids against cartoons. The series was co-produced with FremantleMedia Animation (for the British version), Blink Studios (for the Arabic version), and Marblemedia with Smiley Guy Studios (for the North American version). The series used to air on Cartoon Network in the UK. Reruns are still occasionally shown on Teletoon in Canada. Now it is online in the US on Toon Goggles. On US television, the show aired on Starz Kids & Family until 2019.
The show is hosted by 'Chudd Chudders' (voiced by Rupert Degas in the UK and Jonathan Wilson in North America) and 'The Earl' (voiced by Lewis MacLeod in UK and James Rankin in North America).
History.
In 2001, "Skatoony" began as a competition microsite on the Cartoon Network UK website co-developed by James Fox and Brian Boyle, who the latter left Cartoon Network before the series premiered. In 2006, the first full-length Skatoony TV show premiered on the Cartoon Network UK channel. However, a few phone-in shows such as Skatoony Quizmas, Ready Steady Skatoony and Skatoony Truckatoony existed before as a sort of continuity during school holidays. These phone-in shows ended in 2005. The British version of Skatoony was filmed at MTV Studios at Camden and in London with schoolchidren from around the world auditioning as contestants.
According to creator James Fox, the process of producing a Skatoony episode was very complicated and developed over all of the series.
On February 9, 2009, Marblemedia announced they would be producing a North American version of the series "Skatoony" (in English and French) for]. The Canadian adaptation, titled Skatoony North America to differentiate it from other adaptations follows the same format. The North American version of "Skatoony" is filmed in Toronto, while the French version is filmed in Montreal with a different set of contestants; however, the outcome of the animated contestants remains the same between both versions. Jonathan Wilson voices Chudd Chudders while James Rankin provides the voice of The Earl, and new addition to the North American release, a NA replacement for Skatoony boss Tony Eagle-Eyes (also voiced by Degas) named Charles La Puck, which is voiced by Jeff Lumby. A Middle Eastern adaptation of "Skatoony" debuted on April 5, 2011 on Cartoon Network Arabic. Original Skatoony creator James Fox serves as an executive producer for all Skatoony releases and met every single kid contestant on the show.
In addition to the British format, one contestant in each episode of "Skatoony North America" will be a guest contestant from a show from a Canadian animated series. Accordingly, a significant figure from the series will also be seen in the "Skatoony" opening sequence. Other children's series (including but not limited to shows on the Teletoon lineup) are often the subject of the questions asked on the shows. Guest contestants are taken from the following series:
A similar situation occurs in "Skatoony Arabia" where guest contestants were taken from the animated series, Freej instead. With the exception of "Skatoony North America", all non-English language Skatoony releases uses animation footage from the original British version, which is why Tony Eagle Eyes are the hosts' boss instead of Charles La Puck.
Guest contestant replacement.
In "Skatoony", the quizblock has 6 colored squares - green, red, pink, purple, blue and yellow. The children get the green, pink and blue squares (occasionally they get purple, red and yellow squares), and the cartoon contestants get the red, yellow and purple. The guest contestants take the place of a cartoon character from the UK version. In the episode 'Skeleton Crew in Da House' in NA, Scabz was originally a contestant but he left before the 1st round and was replaced by Harold.
Season 2.
Note: The episodes "Space: The Final Souffle", "Pre-School Problem", and "It Could Be You!" are all skipped because they have no guest.
Factories in which eliminated contestants are ejected into.
Season 1.
1) "Knights and Daze" - Sandpaper Factory
2) "Invasion" - Dentist's Convention
3) "I Stink, Therefore I Am" - Manure Factory
4) "Pirates" - Sewage Factory
5) "Skeleton Crew in Da House" - Porcupine Sanctuary
6) "Xcquankly" - Mousetrap Factory
7) "To the Quiz Cave" - Really Hard Mattress Company
8) "Quizoo" - Africa, Australia, and The North Pole
9) "Hoo Loves Ya, Baby!" - 80's Disco Nightclub
10) "Quiziatori Gladihost" - Secondhand Sock Depot
11) "Superheroes" - Broken Glass Factory
12) "Dinosaur" - Liver and Onion/Chopped Liver & Tripe Ice Cream Factory / Tar Pit
13) "Hooray for Bollywood" - Rat Perfume Factory
Season 2.
1) "Body Swap" - Concrete Pillow Factory
2) "Sports Academy" - Angry Pig World
3) "Space: The Final Souffle" - Planet Dung
4) "Pre-School Problem" - Dirty Diaper Factory
5) "Trash Talk" - Land o' Trash
6) "Vikings" - Toenail Warehouse
7) "Stop the Pop" - Faulty Bagpipe Superstore
8) "Inside La Puck" - Miniature Village
9) "It Could Be You!" - Compost World
10) "I Spy, You Quiz" - Spikey Spike Factory / Spikey Spike Shipping
11) "Out to Sea" -Super GassyGut Beans Shipping
12) "Freakshow" - Fernando Fernando Fernando and Xcquankly's Freakshow Circus / Human-Animal Hybrid Genetics Lab
13) "Destination: Moon" - Galactic Garbage
Season 3.
1) "CJ's Birthday" - Sweaty Footballer's Pants Depot / Faulty Bagpipe Superstore (UK Error)
2) "Amusement Park" - Rejected Hot Dog Meat Factory
3) "Follow that Quizblock" - Leftover School Dinners Dump
4) "Style Trial" - Pointy Pin Factory
5) "Pop Video" - Home for One Hit Wonders
6) "Quiz to the Future" - Broken Clock Factory / Tar Pit
7) "Broke Charles" - Worm World
8) "In Your Dreams" - Giant Frog Factory
9) "Unusual Suspects" - Gravy Recycling
10) "Café Le Quiz" - Hot Dog Factory
11) "Host of Doom" - Robo-World: Turning People Into Products for Over 20 Years
Seasonal episodes.
1) "Halloween" - Rotten Pumpkin World
2) "Stoopid Santa" - Fake Holly Factory
Format.
The show's format is that three child contestants and three cartoon character contestants, making 6 contestants in all, compete in a quiz show lasting three rounds. At the end of each of the first two rounds, the two lowest scoring contestants are eliminated. The first round is always Bang On! or Bogus?, a rapid-fire true-or-false questioning round; with "Bang On!" meaning true, and "Bogus!" meaning false. The last two rounds vary between episodes. As contestants are eliminated, they are usually catapulted out of their seats as the hosts (and the remaining contestants) sing "You're Outta Here!". The losing contestants are catapulted into a factory containing a nasty thing like 'Compost World' or 'Leftover School Dinners Dump' or 'Dirty Diaper Factory' or 'Concrete Pillow Factory', and then they are (sometimes) not seen for the remainder of the episode. Vignettes featuring eliminated animated contestants (and on occasion, eliminated child contestants) interacting with Chudd or the Earl (as well, on "Skatoony North America", Charles La Puck, their boss [Tony Eagle-Eyes in the UK]) also appear during the progression of the show; in "Skatoony North America", this extends to the web extras available on the "Skatoony" website. The first round always ends with having one live-kid and a cartoon contestant being eliminated.
At the end of the third round, only 1 of the 2 remaining contestants gets eliminated through ejection, based on who has the lowest score at the end of the round. At the end of three rounds, the remaining contestant takes on the Skatoony Quiz Champ Challenge, where they must answer ten questions correctly in 90 seconds. After 45 seconds, the clock will temporarily stop, and Earl's Halfway Deal will be offered, trading in time for correct answers (10 seconds per point to raise the contestant to a maximum of 7 points or 25 seconds for three points if fewer than five questions have been answered correctly at that point; the clock will stop briefly without a deal offered if the player already has at least 8 points. A contestant will be offered 1 point for 10 seconds if the player has exactly 7 points. If the contestant finishes with time remaining and gets ten questions right, the contestant wins a prize, offered at the start of each episode. If a contestant finishes with the ten correct answers in under 45 seconds, they are further honoured with being called "#1 "Skatoony" Quiz Champ Champion".
Note that the games used in each round and the contestants' interactions are based on the number of child contestants remaining, and that the game always ensures that a child contestant will always be the last remaining contestant. Sometimes, for the third round, it can be either 1 child vs 1 toon, or 2 children vs each other. In addition, it is typical for the second-round challenge to be rigged against an animated contestant, leading to their elimination as well.
In "Skatoony North America", the prize for winning the Skatoony Quiz Champ Challenge in the first season is an iPod touch; later seasons have refused to disclose the grand prize. Other merchandise from "Teletoon" shows are also awarded to the contestants for their participation.
In the British version, the Prizes were like this:
Rounds.
Beyond Bang On! or Bogus? (used in the first round) and the Skatoony Quiz Champ Challenge (when one contestant remains), the following challenges have been used: