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.
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Cast
Seasons
- Ep 1
1.The Press Conference
17-08-199826mBarrie Cassidy analyses John, Bryan and Gina's performance at their recent press conference.
- Ep 2
2.Athletics Schedule
24-08-199826mJust 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 athleti...
- Ep 3
3.Funding
31-08-199825mFunding 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 cor...
- Ep 4
4.Robbo and the 100 Metres
07-09-199826mJasmine 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 cont...
- Ep 5
5.Past Sports Stars and Gender
14-09-199826mThe 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.
- Ep 6
6.Millennium Bug
21-09-199827mGina'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 does...
- Ep 7
7.Dead Man
28-09-199827mThe 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 D...
- Ep 8
8.Rural and Environment
05-10-199827mJohn 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 Aus...
- Ep 9
9.J'Accuse
12-10-199828mGina 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 whi...
- Ep 10
10.A Management Course
19-10-199828mJohn, 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 enc...
- Ep 11
11.A Conflict of Interest
26-10-199827mJohn 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...
- Ep 12
12.Horse and Dream Team
02-11-199827mJohn 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...
- Ep 13
13.Transport!
09-11-199827mJohn 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 pus...
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