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The Games (television)

The Games
Thegames.jpeg
Created by John Clarke
Ross Stevenson
Written by John Clarke
Ross Stevenson
Directed by Bruce Permezel
Starring John Clarke
Bryan Dawe
Gina Riley
Nicholas Bell
Composer(s) Jeremy Smith
Country of origin Australia
No. of series 2
No. of episodes 26 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Denise Eriksen
Editor(s) Wayne Hyett
Running time 26 minutes per episode
Production company(s) ABC Television
Beyond Television Productions (1998)
Release
Original network ABC TV
Picture format 4:3
Audio format stereo
Original release 7 August 1998 (1998-08-07) – 11 September 2000 (2000-09-11)
External links
Website abc.net.au/tv/thegames

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 centered on the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) and satirized corruption and cronyism in the Olympic movement, bureaucratic ineptness in the New South Wales public service, and unethical behavior 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.

John Clarke played the "Head of Administration & Logistics", an undefined but important subsection of SOCOG. Clarke was apparently a former Olympic champion, but ducked the question whenever asked about which event. Gina Riley played the "Manager Marketing & Liaison" role, and Bryan Dawe played the "Manager Accounts, Budgeting & Finance" position. The series also featured actor Nicholas Bell as the conniving Secretary to the Minister for the Olympics, a foil for Clarke's character. He was a guest in the first series but was made a main cast member for Series 2.

Guest stars included John Farnham, Dave Gray, Frank Woodley, Barrie Cassidy, Maxine McKew, and actor Sam Neill.


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