The Games
The Games was an Australian mockumentary television series about the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. The series was originally broadcast on the ABC and had two seasons of 13 episodes each, the first in 1998 and the second in 2000. 'The Games' starred satirists John Clarke and Bryan Dawe along with Australian comedian Gina Riley and actor Nicholas Bell. It was written by John Clarke and Ross Stevenson. The series centred on the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and satirised corruption and cronyism in the Olympic movement, bureaucratic ineptness in the New South Wales public service, and unethical behaviour within politics and the media. An unusual feature of the show was that the characters shared the same name as the actors who played them, to enhance the illusion of a documentary on the Sydney Games.
Seasons
1. The Press Conference
Air Date: 1998-08-17
Barrie Cassidy analyses John, Bryan and Gina's performance at their recent press conference.
2. Athletics Schedule
Air Date: 1998-08-24
Just when the administration and logistics team have got things running smoothly, sport rears its ugly head. John, Bryan and Gina go through the steps of trying to organise athletics for the games.
3. Funding
Air Date: 1998-08-31
Funding for the games becomes a problem. John and Gina review a video designed to promote Sydney as an easy town to get around in, while Bryan meets with a mysterious potential corporate sponsor.
4. Robbo and the 100 Metres
Air Date: 1998-09-07
Jasmine presents some marketing ideas to clear out some ""dead wood"", Robbo holds a press conference on the environmental impact of the Games, and John and Bryan confront the contractor who built a 100 Metre track that doesn't quite measure up.
5. Past Sports Stars and Gender
Air Date: 1998-09-14
The team wrestle with the Asian meltdown, the GST, an athlete who has had a sex-change and a troublesome seating plan. Gina is placed on special phone duties.
6. Millennium Bug
Air Date: 1998-09-21
Gina's voice recognition software is causing difficulties and John is having trouble with technology. The millennium bug looks like it might threaten the games. A live webchat doesn't quite go to plan.
7. Dead Man
Air Date: 1998-09-28
The swimming schedule has been disastrously modified at the last minute. Meanwhile, Gina and John are asked to babysit an IOC member who has turned up dead the day before a major Dinner, while Bryan and Jasmine go to meet President Mandela and Princess Margaret at the airport.
8. Rural and Environment
Air Date: 1998-10-05
John attempts to explain the swimming schedule to the camera before going on Lateline to face the Spanish Athletics Association coordinator's concerns about the ozone hole over Australia. Meanwhile, Gina and Bryan meet with the Federation of Rural Progress delegation's proposal for an Opening Ceremony program which has already been awarded to the Germans.
9. J'Accuse
Air Date: 1998-10-12
Gina tries to explain the disastrous effect a 100% effective anti-doping system would have on athletic attendance at the Games, while Bryan discovers that the Lacrosse facility which Juan Antonio Samaranch is set to tour next week has not, in fact, been built. Meanwhile, John attempts to quell a particularly negative (and uncomfortably accurate) anti-Olympics reporter.
10. A Management Course
Air Date: 1998-10-19
John, Bryan, and Gina are sent to a training exercise at the Grand Vistas Conference Centre in the Blue Mountains where they are asked to solve hypothetical problems they might encounter during the Games. John utilises the "Athens Option" to deal with a petition asking that the gold medals be made of gold. The time has come to deal with the fact that no venue has been organised for fencing.
11. A Conflict of Interest
Air Date: 1998-10-26
John tries to keep a Sydney businessman from gaining a seat on SOCOG. Plans to sell Games venues to American interests trouble the crew. Gina suffers the aftereffects of conducting yet another tour for visiting dignitaries. The documentary film crew visits John at home on a Sunday morning.
12. Horse and Dream Team
Air Date: 1998-11-02
John plays hardball with the agent representing the American basketball team when the issue of special treatment is put forth. A "Civility Awareness" programme is proposed for the city's service industry to help make visiting Americans feel more at home.
13. Transport!
Air Date: 1998-11-09
John discovers that the aquatic center's diving pool has been built in the wrong place, while Gina does some digging into the new transport agency Nicholas and the Minister are pushing for and Bryan helps develop a brilliant new invention.
1. In the Public Interest
Air Date: 2000-06-19
John becomes the target of a TV documentary. He becomes a prisoner in his own house, after accusations of corruption are made by a former college.
2. Talking to the Troops
Air Date: 2000-06-26
The organisers address the troops to bolster morale. However the team find themselves facing a hostile and unhappy group of workers. As John, Bryan and Gina try to duck and weave the curve balls thrown their way, John reveals his ten-point plan that will ensure a smooth Olympic Games for everyone.
3. Reconciliation
Air Date: 2000-07-03
The team have to deal with a aboriginal land claim and a demand by a US senator for a formal apology by the P.M.
4. IOC Man
Air Date: 2000-07-10
The team look after an IOC man from the States. Many hundreds of thousands of internationals guests will be here with us as we celebrate the games of the (whatever) Olympiad of the Modern Era. This is the story of just one of them, and perhaps one or two others.
5. Inquiry
Air Date: 2000-07-17
Each member of the Games team must face an inquiry into their practices. The system of cheques and balances which operates in an organisation of this kind ensures that the public gets the very best service, open access to decision making and full recourse to the best legal system available anywhere in the world.
6. Pommy Visitor
Air Date: 2000-07-24
A visitor from the UK arrives from the London 2012 bid committee and highlights some airport shortcomings. Nicholas tries to sell all the furniture.
7. Immigration
Air Date: 2000-07-31
Any potential "Aussie Gold Rush" at these Olympics can be expected to profit, as gold rushes in Australia have done in earlier days, from immigration. Freedom-loving peoples everywhere who yearn to start a new life in this beautiful country, should apply directly to the Minister for Sport, stating their name, event and shirt-size. The Games team must deal with the lies coming out of the Minister's office regarding immigration.
8. Job Search
Air Date: 2000-08-07
In the uncertain world of international logistics and sports management, prospects for the future must be considered carefully. Meanwhile, at sea, the piranha play happily in the afternoon sun. The Games team consider what the future holds after The Games.
9. Strike
Air Date: 2000-08-14
The Olympics offer Australia an opportunity not just to showcase our wonderful country and a range of endangered marsupials. The event will also bring to this country an international Cultural Festival featuring the very best in the visual arts, music and dance. There will also be some sport. The Games team must try to avoid major industrial action which could ruin the impending Olympics.
10. Solar
Air Date: 2000-08-21
Head of Administration and Logistics, John Clarke, and his colleagues, Bryan Dawe, Head of Accounts, Budgeting and Finance, and Gina Riley, Marketing and Liaison Manager, are sizzling in the heat of the final countdown to the Opening Ceremony. As the Games draw closer, the Games team try to devise ways of supplementing their dwindling revenue.
11. Sponsorship and Media Discontent
Air Date: 2000-08-28
Would the person who borrowed the synopsis for this episode, please return it to the office immediately. To have this sort of thing happening at this stage is just an embarrassment. The whole world is watching and this is precisely the sort of problem we were trying to avoid. Grow up.
12. Four Corners
Air Date: 2000-09-04
The ABC's Four Corners is planning an expos on the games. John and Bryan have been secretly recorded advocating that the rich pay more taxes. A much bigger story overtakes the expos and leaves Nicholas with egg on his face.
13. The End
Air Date: 2000-09-11
The games team cope with the hype as the opening ceremony draws near, but there is a problem with the closing ceremony.
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Rating
7.0/10
Release Date
1998-08-17
Episodes
26 (2 seasons)
Status
Ended
