Crackerjack! The Boys are Back in Town
Originally written for Thirteen Magazine
Crackerjack! is back and after a successful run of ten episodes, a second series has been confirmed (yesssss!) While we wait, let’s take a look back at some highlights from the first season. Let me tell you, this Friday night mess-fest has more mayhem than a moose named Bruce, let loose with a pint of tomato juice. And that’s the truth.
In a call-back to the original 1950s show, the Crackerjack (crackerjack!) pencils are everybody’s favourite consolation prize, but this time… they’ve only gone and made them JUMBO! That’s right, what were mere engraved HBs have had a makeover so grand, you’d better buy a whole new pencil case. In fact, don’t bother; with almost as much fame as the Blue Peter badge, only a fool would zip it away.
This isn’t the only reference to the original version — ‘Double or Drop’ is still the featured finale game (ask your parents). But this, too, has been given an upgrade! Contestants now not only have to worry about keeping a hold of their cabbages, but must also face a literal drop into a foam pit if their chair reaches the end of their conveyor belt before they give a correct answer. Questions, cabbages and conveyer belts — if you haven’t watched Crackerjack!, it’s a definite see-to-believe kind of show. ‘Take a Letter’ is very much the same as your mum and dad will remember, only messier — usually at least one round involves a bucket of gunge or a shaving foam pie. It’s so messy, in fact, that health and safety must be up to their eyeballs in paperwork from all the slips and falls that have occurred during this game.
But it’s not nearly as messy as the stand-out segment on the show, Splatterjack! The basic premise of the new game is this: an adult (usually a parent, sometimes a celebrity guest) is strapped to a chair with a pin on top and hoisted into the air towards a giant balloon of gunge until it bursts, quite spectacularly, with obvious messy consequences. At this point, anarchy breaks out, everybody starts screaming and ducking out of the way. It’s truly iconic telly.
Our favourites, Sam & Mark, are the main presenters and do a fantastic job of keeping everybody entertained. But adding to the cast, the Crackerjack! Players perform sketches once or twice an episode. From terrifyingly tricky tongue twisters to wreaking havoc in the local police station, this band of thespians are both super talented and have hilarious comic timing.
Throw in a whole heap of celebrity guests and performers — from soaps stars, to dance troupes, to good ol’ Basil Brush — and you’ve got yourself a truly cracking show… see what we did there?
Thirteen says… ★★★★★
