History Series / TheyThinkItsAllOver

** In a Series 7 episode with Jonathan Ross (in Lee Hurst's old seat), Curtis Walker, and Steve Cram, Jonathan Ross (still a recurring guest at the time) went on an extended TakeThat during "Excuses" at how badly Gary Lineker had aged after seeing a video montage of him attempting to head the ball into the goal in three different matches and missing completely each time. He ended by forgetting which team captain was which and saying, "David, my heart's with you."

** In both 1999 and 2001, the series crossed over with ''Series/HaveIGotNewsForYou'' and ''Series/NeverMindTheBuzzcocks'' for a UsefulNotes/ComicRelief special entitled ''Have I Got Buzzcocks All Over''. Nick Hancock was a captain on both specials (accompanied by Phil Tufnell and newsreader Carol Barnes in 1999, and by David Gower and Creator/StephenFry in 2001), and in both specials his team played variations on "Feel the Sportsman" ("Feel the Pop Star" in 1999 with guest Samantha Fox, "Feel the Politician" in 2001 with guest Roy Hattersley[[note]] who, in a nod to one of the most famous ''Series/HaveIGotNewsForYou'' episodes, appeared on stage carrying a tub of lard[[/note]]), while the 2001 special finished with "The Name Game" but with names from politics and pop music as well as sport.
** For Sport Relief in 2002, the series crossed over with its spiritual predecessor, ''Series/AQuestionOfSport'', in a special entitled ''They Think It's a Question of Sport'', presented by Creator/StephenFry. ''A Question of Sport'' was represented by Sue Barker, Ally [=McCoist=], and John Parrott (at the time, the presenter and the two team captains, respectively), while ''They Think It's All Over'' was represented by Nick Hancock, Gary Lineker, and Frank Skinner. Rounds imported from ''They Think It's All Over'' included "Excuses" and "Feel the Sportsman" (with guests Jimmy Hill and Burnley FC mascot Bertie the Bee, the latter a CallBack to a "What Happened Next?" clip in which he tackled a streaker).

** Invoked by both teams in the 2002 Christmas special, in which the clues for "The Name Game" had to be given in mime. When giving a clue for Boris Becker, Jonathan Ross mimed playing tennis, made a "shagging" motion with his arms,[[note]] A reference to an incident in which Becker allegedly impregnated a Russian model in a linen cupboard, an encounter that lasted 45 seconds.[[/note]] then put his finger on his upper lip and did a Nazi salute while goose stepping; when giving a clue for Michael Schumacher (again), Rory [=McGrath=] mimed driving a car and then made the same finger-on-lip-Nazi-salute gesture.

** Invoked by both teams in the 2002 Christmas special, in which the clues for "The Name Game" had to be given in mime. When giving a clue for Boris Becker, Jonathan Ross mimed playing tennis, made a "shagging" motion with his arms,[[note]] A reference to an incident in which Becker allegedly impregnated a waitress in a linen cupboard, an encounter that lasted a matter of seconds.[[/note]] then put his finger on his upper lip and did a Nazi salute while goose stepping; when giving a clue for Michael Schumacher (again), Rory [=McGrath=] mimed driving a car and then made the same finger-on-lip-Nazi-salute gesture.

** After David and Gary left the series, their replacements were fodder for many jokes as well. Phil Tufnell was teased for his marijuana habit and poor batting record, David Seaman was mocked for his ponytail and error-prone performances as England goalkeeper (especially for letting the deciding goal in the 2002 World Cup quarter-final against Brazil go over his head), Ian Wright was ribbed endlessly when Thierry Henry de-throned him as Arsenal's most prolific goalscorer, and Boris Becker was never allowed to forget his alleged sexual tryst in a linen cupboard with a waitress that supposedly lasted under a minute.

*** In a Series 9 episode with Shane Howarth and Rich Hall, Gary's team were the winners, but it was discovered that Rich had sneaked a look at the cards for "The Name Game" before the round began, and the following week, David's team were declared the winners instead. At the next recording, Gary was replaced as team captain by his ''Series/MatchOfTheDay'' co-presenter Mark Lawrenson for, according to Nick Hancock, "bringing the programme into disrepute".

** As the series' run coincided with the rise in prominence of David and Victoria Beckham (to the point that they were the subjects of recurring quickfire question rounds in Series 16), both of them came in for frequent verbal kickings from the panel, with many jokes about David being very thick and Victoria being very thin and having little talent for singing. Victoria was not amused, and in a Series 9 episode with Iain Lee and Shane Warne, a bonus question in "Author, Author" quoted an interview she had given ''Heat'' magazine lambasting Rory [=McGrath=], calling him an "ugly bastard" and a "prick". Rory [=McGrath=] was clearly less upset by her insults than she was by his, as the mockery continued unabated.

** After David and Gary left the series, their replacements were fodder for many jokes as well. Phil Tufnell was teased for his marijuana habit and poor batting record, David Seaman was mocked for his ponytail and error-prone performances as England goalkeeper, Ian Wright was ribbed endlessly when Thierry Henry de-throned him as Arsenal's most prolific goalscorer, and Boris Becker was never allowed to forget his alleged sexual tryst in a linen cupboard with a waitress that supposedly lasted under a minute.

* JustAStupidAccent: In the Series 17 opener with Barry [=McGuigan=] and Thomas Castaignède, Jonathan Ross welcomed Thomas to the show in English, but affecting a bad French accent, leading Nick Hancock to say he had learnt all his French from ''Series/AlloAllo'' and Rory [=McGrath=], who actually did speak French, to suggest to Thomas that Jonathan was an "enculé" ([[BilingualBonus an obscenity which roughly translates into English as "cocksucker"]]).

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Creator/StephenFry delivered quite a blistering one to Nick Hancock and the producers on his appearance in Series 4 when he, Gary, and Rory had to explain a clip of the Albanian game of well defending in "What's Going On?". He asserted that countries all over the "Second and Third World" (as they once were) were deliberately inventing ridiculous "traditional" games so that Creator/TheBBC would buy footage of them for the ''They Think It's All Over'' team to use for easy laughs while the people in the footage pocketed the profits and laughed at how gullible the British were for thinking these were real games.

* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: Since Jonathan Ross had little talent for impressions, his attempts at foreign accents always landed squarely in this territory. For example, in a Series 9 episode with Paul Merson and Lawrence Dallaglio, his team's "Handbags" question concerned David Ginola and his manager at Aston Villa, John Gregory. Jonathan attempted an impression of Ginola; Paul Merson's reaction of "He's not German!" should convey how successful his French accent was.

There was a one-off revival for UsefulNotes/ComicRelief in 2011 as part of Creator/DavidWalliams' ''24 Hour Panel People'' with a returning Nick Hancock as chairman and teams captained by broadcasters Dave Berry and Richard Bacon; Berry's teammates included Walliams and a returning Lee Hurst, while Bacon's teammates included Gabby Logan and a returning Phil Tufnell. The recording was streamed live as part of the ''24 Hour Panel People'' marathon on the website of cable channel Dave.

Gower and Lineker both left after fifteen series in May 2003 to focus on their careers as commentators/pundits, and were replaced by cricketer Phil Tufnell and goalkeeper David Seaman. Seaman only stayed for two series before being replaced by his former Arsenal teammate Ian Wright, while Tufnell left after another series and was replaced by German tennis star Boris Becker. Hancock was replaced as presenter by Creator/LeeMack at the same time Tufnell left, and finally Ross left after another series and was replaced for two specials by comedian Sean Lock. This frantic revolving door of personnel and the gradual shift in tone of ''Series/AQuestionOfSport'' (of which ''They Think It's All Over'' was conceived as a more irreverent version) from serious game show to light-hearted comedy contributed to the series' cancellation in 2006. There was a one-off revival for UsefulNotes/ComicRelief in 2011 as part of Creator/DavidWalliams' ''24 Hour Panel People'' with Hancock as chairman and Hurst and Tufnell on the panel.

Gower and Lineker both left after fifteen series in May 2003 to focus on their careers as commentators/pundits, and were replaced by cricketer Phil Tufnell and goalkeeper David Seaman. Seaman only stayed for two series before being replaced by his former Arsenal teammate Ian Wright, while Tufnell left after another series and was replaced by German tennis star Boris Becker. Hancock was replaced as presenter by Creator/LeeMack at the same time Tufnell left, and finally Ross left after another series and was replaced for two specials by comedian Sean Lock. This frantic revolving door of personnel and the gradual shift in tone of ''Series/AQuestionOfSport'' (of which ''They Think It's All Over'' was conceived as a more irreverent version) from serious game show to light-hearted comedy contributed to the series' cancellation in 2006. There was a one-off revival in 2011 as part of Creator/DavidWalliams' ''24 Hour Panel People'' with Hancock as chairman and Hurst and Tufnell on the panel.

** As the series' run coincided with the rise in prominence of David and Victoria Beckham, both of them came in for frequent verbal kickings from the panel, with many jokes about David being very thick and Victoria being very thin and having little talent for singing. Victoria was not amused, and in a Series 9 episode with Iain Lee and Shane Warne, a bonus question in "Author, Author" quoted an interview she had given ''Heat'' magazine lambasting Rory [=McGrath=], calling him an "ugly bastard" and a "prick". Rory [=McGrath=] was clearly less upset by her insults than she was by his, as the mockery continued unabated.

* TemptingFate: Twice, once for each team, during "Feel the Sportsman" in a Series 7 episode with Jonathan Ross, Jeff Green, and Gary [=McAllister=].
** As David Gower and Jonathan Ross took their positions and donned their blindfolds, Jonathan declared, "I pray it's a young lady." He did ''not'' get his wish; their guest was retired footballer Bernie Slaven, who had bared his backside in a shop window as part of a bet earlier in the year after his old club, Middlesbrough, beat Manchester United 3-2 at Old Trafford. Slaven proceeded to lift up the kilt he was wearing to reveal "3 2" painted on his backside,[[note]] Luckily for the audience, he was wearing underwear as well.[[/note]] and Jonathan got several handfuls of Slaven's rear end while David [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere retreated back to his seat.]]
** After Jonathan registered his horror at having accidentally groped a man's behind, Gary Lineker and Rory [=McGrath=] took their places, with Gary audibly wondering how they could possibly follow that. He got his answer when rally drivers Nicky Grist and Colin [=McRae=] pulled up in a car which launched a shower of oil over the entire panel (except for Jonathan and, mostly, David), with Gary getting the worst of it.

''They Think It's All Over'' was a sport-themed PanelShow which began airing on [[Creator/TheBBC BBC Radio 5]] in 1992, chaired by sport broadcaster Des Lynam, with two teams of two panellists each, captained by comedians Rory Bremner and Rory [=McGrath=] and featuring guests from the world of sport. After two series and a ChristmasEpisode in 1992 and 1993, the format [[SoundToScreenAdaptation made the jump to television]] in 1995, airing on [=BBC1=] for 155 episodes across nineteen series and several specials.

The series was to sport what ''Series/HaveIGotNewsForYou'' is to politics and ''Series/NeverMindTheBuzzcocks'' was to pop music: ostensibly a quiz about the people and events in sport, but really a showcase for the comedic talents of the regulars and an excuse to poke fun at the world of sport. Each episode featured four or five rounds chosen from among the following:

** In 1998, after Lineker had been replaced as the face of Walker's Crisps by Michael Owen, Hancock declared at the beginning of a Series 6 episode with Jo Brand, Greg Rusedski, and Fred [=McAulay=] that [[CensoredForComedy the word "Walker" would be treated as a swear word and bleeped]]. Inevitably, ''every'' person Gary and Fred had to identify in "The Name Game" was called "___ Walker" (goalkeeper Ian Walker, Formula 1 commentator Murray Walker, cricketer Max Walker, footballer Des Walker, etc.), which was asterisked out.

''They Think It's All Over'' was a sport-themed PanelShow which began airing on [[Creator/TheBBC BBC Radio 5]] in 1992, chaired by sport broadcaster Des Lynam, with two teams of two panellists each, captained by comedians Rory Bremner and Rory [=McGrath=] and featuring guests from the world of sport. After two series and a ChristmasEpisode in 1992 and 1993, the format [[SoundToScreenAdaptation made the jump to television]] in 1995, airing [=BBC1=] for 155 episodes across nineteen series and several specials.

''They Think It's All Over'' was a sport-themed PanelShow which began airing on [[Creator/TheBBC BBC Radio 5]] in 1992, chaired by sport broadcaster Des Lynam, with two teams of two panellists each, captained by comedians Rory Bremner and Rory [=McGrath=] and featuring guests from the world of sport. After two series on the radio, the format [[SoundToScreenAdaptation made the jump to television]] in 1995 and began airing on [=BBC1=].

* SoundToScreenAdaptation: ''They Think It's All Over'' began life in 1992 on BBC Radio 5, with Des Lynam as the chairman and Rory Bremner and Rory [=McGrath=] as captains of two-person teams. The radio version ran for 14 episodes and a Christmas special across two series before making the jump to television in 1995. David Gower made three appearances as a guest panellist on the radio edition; other guests included Alan Hansen (four appearances), Roger Black, Will Carling, Steve Davis (three appearances each), Trevor Brooking, Lee Champan, Garry Herbert, Gary Mason (two appearances each), Steve Cram, Lucinda Green, Brian Johnston, Gary Mabbutt, Adrian Moorhouse, and John Motson (one appearance each).

*** Gary and Rory's career of dishonesty began in Series 1. They were caught cheating during "Feel the Sportsman" in the 1995 Christmas special, as a result of which, even though Gary's team had won four episodes while David's team had won two and one had finished as a draw, victory for the series was awarded to David's team.

*** In a Series 9 episode with Shane Howarth and Rich Hall, Gary's team were the winners, but it was discovered that Rich had sneaked a look at the cards for "The Name Game" before the round began, and David's team were declared the winners instead. At the next recording, Gary was replaced as team captain by his ''Series/MatchOfTheDay'' co-presenter Mark Lawrenson for, according to Nick Hancock, "bringing the programme into disrepute".

''They Think It's All Over'' was a sport-themed PanelShow which began airing on [[Creator/TheBBC BBC Radio 5]] in 1992, chaired by sport broadcaster Des Lynam, with two teams of two panellists each, captained by comedians Rory Bremner and Rory [=McGrath=] and featuring guests from the world of sport. After two series on the radio, the format [[SoundToScreenAdaptation made the jump to television]] in 1995 and began airing on [=BBC1=]. The TV series was initially presented by Nick Hancock, and featured two teams of three panellists captained by former England cricketer David Gower (who made several appearances on the radio version) and former England footballer Gary Lineker, with regular spots taken by comedians Lee Hurst on Gower's team and Rory [=McGrath=] on Lineker's. The third members of each team were generally either athletes, commentators, or comedians, although occasionally politicians (such as Creator/AlastairCampbell or Jeffrey Archer) or broadcasters in other areas (such as [[Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire Chris Tarrant]] or [[Series/TopGear Richard Hammond]]) would appear. Hurst left the series in 1998 to concentrate on running his comedy club in Bethnal Green, and after two series of rotating guest comedians, his place was permanently taken by presenter Jonathan Ross.

''They Think It's All Over'' was a sport-themed PanelShow which began airing on [[Creator/TheBBC BBC Radio 5]] in 1992, chaired by sport broadcaster Des Lynam, with two teams of two panellists each, captained by comedians Rory Bremner and Rory [=McGrath=] and featuring guests from the world of sport. After two series on the radio, the format made the jump to television in 1995. The TV series was initially presented by Nick Hancock, and featured two teams of three panellists captained by former England cricketer David Gower (who made several appearances on the radio version) and former England footballer Gary Lineker, with regular spots taken by comedians Lee Hurst on Gower's team and Rory [=McGrath=] on Lineker's. The third members of each team were generally either athletes, commentators, or comedians, although occasionally politicians (such as Creator/AlastairCampbell or Jeffrey Archer) or broadcasters in other areas (such as [[Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire Chris Tarrant]] or [[Series/TopGear Richard Hammond]]) would appear. Hurst left the series in 1998 to concentrate on running his comedy club in Bethnal Green, and after two series of rotating guest comedians, his place was permanently taken by presenter Jonathan Ross.

Sport-themed PanelShow which aired on Creator/TheBBC from 1995 to 2006. The series was initially presented by Nick Hancock, and featured two teams of three panellists captained by former England cricketer David Gower and former England footballer Gary Lineker, with regular spots taken by comedians Lee Hurst on Gower's team and Rory [=McGrath=] on Lineker's. The guests were generally either athletes or comedians, although occasionally politicians (such as Creator/AlastairCampbell or Jeffrey Archer) or broadcasters (such as [[Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire Chris Tarrant]] or [[Series/TopGear Richard Hammond]]) would appear as the third member of the team. Hurst left the series in 1998 to concentrate on running his comedy club in Bethnal Green, and after two series of rotating guest comedians, his place was permanently taken by presenter Jonathan Ross.

Gower and Lineker both left the series in 2003 to focus on their careers as commentators/pundits, and were replaced by cricketer Phil Tufnell and goalkeeper David Seaman. Seaman only stayed for two series before being replaced by his former Arsenal teammate Ian Wright, while Tufnell left after another series and was replaced by German tennis star Boris Becker. Hancock stepped down as presenter at the same time Tufnell left and was replaced by Creator/LeeMack, and finally Ross left the series and was replaced for two specials by comedian Sean Lock. This frantic revolving door of personnel and the gradual shift in tone of ''Series/AQuestionOfSport'' (of which ''They Think It's All Over'' was conceived as a parody) from serious game show to light-hearted comedy contributed to the series' cancellation in 2006. There was a one-off revival in 2011 as part of Creator/DavidWalliams' ''24 Hour Panel People'' with Hancock as chairman and Hurst and Tufnell on the panel.

-->'''Jonathan Ross:''' I now wish I'd played more sport when I was little!