The Games

One of my best friends in Canberra has close friends who were on the Sydney Olympic organising committee and he told me that they would cringe at the accuracy of what was depicted in this show which was aired in the lead-up to the 2000 Olympics - they were SURE there must have been leaks to Clarke and co because so many of the issues that are covered in the episodes are painfully close to issues they were experiencing at the same time. This show is brilliant!!!!!!! Clarke, with his wonderfully articulate grasp & delivery of intelligent dialogue done in an Aussie (even though he's a Kiwi) almost ocker tone gives this show its intellectually different edge. Nothing compares to Clarke delivering lines like "I have nothing against likability Byran. Actually I like likability but it might have been more helpful, Byan, if we had of got hold of an an objectionable, arrogant, obstreperous individual who actually KNEW SOMETHING ABOUT HORSES!!!!!!!!" How many ockers would know the meaning of obstreperous?? Intelligent dialogue delivered in a down-to-earth manner like this is what pushes this show into a comic realm that is a cut (way) above the rest!!!! Actually, I'm watching a taped episode as I type this. It was even better watching it for the first time during the run-up to the 2000 Olympic Games being held in "our fair city".

The Games is one of the best Australian television series. It managed consistent biting humour, excellent performances and superb writing - and was made all the more amusing when real life mirrored many of the events portrayed in the show. Guest appearances from many of Australia's best known personalities (including John Farnham) contributed to the show's professional look.

If there could be one comment to come out of this show, it would be "Where do all these people go?" There is clearly significant talent around Australia, as evidenced by the likes of The Games and Frontline, yet once these shows are gone we are left with nothing. Nonetheless, The Games is a delightful show, and certainly deserved the strong audience it received.

First of all let me declare that I am a John Clarke fan and the man has maintained a level of consistency in satire and irony that has not been equalled in Australia or New Zealand. Many in the US would not understand this brand of humour but I accept that we only see the dross coming out of the United States and we miss out out on many of the fine programs that PBS televises. PBS programmes support the argument that there is a discerning audience somewhere in that country. I think he lives Connecticut.

This program started as a satire but as others have noted, was so close to the truth that it could be mistaken for being an actual documentary. It depicts with cruel accuracy the incompetence, back-stabbing and utter corruption of many of the bureaucrats involved in Australia's running of the 2000 Olympic Games as they scrambled up the ratlines in vainglorious pursuit. Incidentally, and by way of salute, those games were to be declared, at the Closing Ceremony, to be the best ever and this was almost entirely due to the contributions of tens of thousands of volunteers who freely gave their time to ensure that everything worked as it should.

The dry, witty script delivered in flawless fashion by Clarke perfectly supported by Dawes and Riley, should have, and did, hold up the mirror so that our politicians, the bureaucrats, the Sydney Olympic Committee and the IOC, could see themselves for what they were.

Unfortunately, the program dealt with a specific event in time and therefore will age quickly but it should be used as learning tool for anyone wanting to learn the scriptwriting art or as an example of understated satire that has all the subtlety of a stiletto.

The Games would rank with Frontline as probably the best Aussie satire of the past 10 years.

The show revolves around the Games Orginisational Team. John Clarke is the logistics officer and oversees the operation, which he does with able cynicism towards anything that comes towards him in a cloak of privilege and/or arrogance ( ie. the IOC ), while at the same time showing an idealistic view towards what the actual events themselves entail. Gina Riley is the Private Liason Officer and has a a more rounded view of how the Olympics will function as an orginisation where as Bryan Dawe is the Financial Officer, a long time friend of John, ( an in-joke to their time spent together in the 7:30 Report ) and concerned about the Olympics' ability to make a deficit. If it was their own abilities they may have a chance but they also have to deal with an inept Minister, represented by his secretary, Nicholas Bell, who comes up with all sorts of ideas and dumps them at the doorstep of Clarke, Riley and Dawe; mainly if they go pear shaped; he won't take the blame.

The Games is a wonderful show, with some great guest stars, including a wonderful spot by the illustrious Sam Neill as a oily transport CEO and some weird and wondrous scenarios- like 100 metre tracks that...don't measure up. If you have the chance see it. If you then have another chance, buy it.

"The Games" is a satirical comedy about the Sydney Olympic Organizing committee. The show stars the great John Clarke who is famous in Australia for his comical political role-playing.

If there ever was a show which is so ridiculous you start to wonder how close to the truth it could be - this one would be it.