About this season
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.
Episodes (13)
1. In the Public Interest
Aired 19 June 2000 • 26 min
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
Aired 26 June 2000 • 26 min
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
Aired 3 July 2000 • 28 min
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
Aired 10 July 2000 • 28 min
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
Aired 17 July 2000 • 27 min
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
Aired 24 July 2000 • 28 min
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
Aired 31 July 2000 • 28 min
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
Aired 7 August 2000 • 27 min
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
Aired 14 August 2000 • 28 min
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
Aired 21 August 2000 • 28 min
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
Aired 28 August 2000 • 28 min
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
Aired 4 September 2000 • 28 min
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
Aired 11 September 2000 • 27 min
The games team cope with the hype as the opening ceremony draws near, but there is a problem with the closing ceremony.