person or book cover
Screen cap from opening credits
form y separately published work icon The Games : Series 1 series - publisher   film/TV   satire   humour  
Issue Details: First known date: 1998... 1998 The Games : Series 1
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

A irreverent comedy drama series that takes the form of a pseudo-documentary series, The Games sees a film crew given carte blanche access to the fictional managing body of the Sydney Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (SOCOG). The cameras are therefore present at meetings, briefings, site inspections, and press conferences.

Season One is set early on in the lead up to the Sydney Olympics. The ABC then scheduled Season Two so that the thirteen episodes ran until the week before the opening of the Olympics on 15 September. As outrageous as many of the storylines were, they were allegedly nothing compared to the real-life SOCOG.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Form: screenplay
    • Sydney, New South Wales,: ABC Books , 1999 .
      Extent: 232p.p.
      Description: illus., ports
      ISBN: 073330799X

Works about this Work

John Clarke : The Man, the Mask and the Problem of Acting Anne Pender , 2019 single work criticism
— Appears in: Comedy Studies , vol. 10 no. 1 2019; (p. 8-20)

'John Clarke delighted audiences with his satire for many years.He was both a writer and an actor, but in many ways, particularly in his early years, he was a reluctant actor. This article examines the development of Clarke’s unique approach to performing and his solution to the problem of establishing a direct connection with an audience. It explores Clarke’s development as a performer and writer from his beginnings in university revue in New Zealand in the 1960s, his association with Barry Humphries and others in London during the early 1970s, and his work in Australia from 1977 until his death in 2017. This article charts Clarke’s distinctive contribution to Australian comic drama as writer and performer in The Games (1998–2000) and in Clarke and Dawe (1989–2017). Drawing on numerous interviews the author conducted with Clarke between 2008 and 2017, it also investigates the unique ways in which Clarke prepared for comic performance, and his approach to collaboration with other writers and performers on scripts for television and in film.'

Source: Abstract.

Inspiration or Plagiarism? Michael Idato , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 21 March 2011; (p. 2)
Michael Idato reports on suggestions that BBC Television produced the mockumentary Twenty Twelve without the 'participation or permission' of the authors of the Australian Olympic Games-inspired satire, The Games.
BBC Imitation No Flattery: Clarke Karl Quinn , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 16 March 2011; (p. 8)
y separately published work icon Witnessing Australian Stories : History, Testimony and Memory in Contemporary Culture Kelly Jean Butler , Melbourne : 2010 6037495 2010 single work thesis

'This book is about how Australians have responded to stories about suffering and injustice in Australia, presented in a range of public media, including literature, history, films, and television. Those who have responded are both ordinary and prominent Australians–politicians, writers, and scholars. All have sought to come to terms with Australia's history by responding empathetically to stories of its marginalized citizens.

'Drawing upon international scholarship on collective memory, public history, testimony, and witnessing, this book represents a cultural history of contemporary Australia. It examines the forms of witnessing that dominated Australian public culture at the turn of the millennium. Since the late 1980s, witnessing has developed in Australia in response to the increasingly audible voices of indigenous peoples, migrants, and more recently, asylum seekers. As these voices became public, they posed a challenge not only to scholars and politicians, but also, most importantly, to ordinary citizens.

'When former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered his historic apology to Australia's indigenous peoples in February 2008, he performed an act of collective witnessing that affirmed the testimony and experiences of Aboriginal Australians. The phenomenon of witnessing became crucial, not only to the recognition and reparation of past injustices, but to efforts to create a more cosmopolitan Australia in the present. This is a vital addition to Transactions critically acclaimed Memory and Narrative series.' (Publisher's blurb)

The Games He Plays Richard Yallop , 1999 single work column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 20-21 November 1999; (p. 2-3)
BBC Imitation No Flattery: Clarke Karl Quinn , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 16 March 2011; (p. 8)
Inspiration or Plagiarism? Michael Idato , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 21 March 2011; (p. 2)
Michael Idato reports on suggestions that BBC Television produced the mockumentary Twenty Twelve without the 'participation or permission' of the authors of the Australian Olympic Games-inspired satire, The Games.
The Games He Plays Richard Yallop , 1999 single work column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 20-21 November 1999; (p. 2-3)
y separately published work icon Witnessing Australian Stories : History, Testimony and Memory in Contemporary Culture Kelly Jean Butler , Melbourne : 2010 6037495 2010 single work thesis

'This book is about how Australians have responded to stories about suffering and injustice in Australia, presented in a range of public media, including literature, history, films, and television. Those who have responded are both ordinary and prominent Australians–politicians, writers, and scholars. All have sought to come to terms with Australia's history by responding empathetically to stories of its marginalized citizens.

'Drawing upon international scholarship on collective memory, public history, testimony, and witnessing, this book represents a cultural history of contemporary Australia. It examines the forms of witnessing that dominated Australian public culture at the turn of the millennium. Since the late 1980s, witnessing has developed in Australia in response to the increasingly audible voices of indigenous peoples, migrants, and more recently, asylum seekers. As these voices became public, they posed a challenge not only to scholars and politicians, but also, most importantly, to ordinary citizens.

'When former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered his historic apology to Australia's indigenous peoples in February 2008, he performed an act of collective witnessing that affirmed the testimony and experiences of Aboriginal Australians. The phenomenon of witnessing became crucial, not only to the recognition and reparation of past injustices, but to efforts to create a more cosmopolitan Australia in the present. This is a vital addition to Transactions critically acclaimed Memory and Narrative series.' (Publisher's blurb)

John Clarke : The Man, the Mask and the Problem of Acting Anne Pender , 2019 single work criticism
— Appears in: Comedy Studies , vol. 10 no. 1 2019; (p. 8-20)

'John Clarke delighted audiences with his satire for many years.He was both a writer and an actor, but in many ways, particularly in his early years, he was a reluctant actor. This article examines the development of Clarke’s unique approach to performing and his solution to the problem of establishing a direct connection with an audience. It explores Clarke’s development as a performer and writer from his beginnings in university revue in New Zealand in the 1960s, his association with Barry Humphries and others in London during the early 1970s, and his work in Australia from 1977 until his death in 2017. This article charts Clarke’s distinctive contribution to Australian comic drama as writer and performer in The Games (1998–2000) and in Clarke and Dawe (1989–2017). Drawing on numerous interviews the author conducted with Clarke between 2008 and 2017, it also investigates the unique ways in which Clarke prepared for comic performance, and his approach to collaboration with other writers and performers on scripts for television and in film.'

Source: Abstract.

Last amended 30 Aug 2017 11:49:43
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