403:, gave a public apology to Aboriginal people. The message was accompanied by John Clarke's saying "that's not the Prime Minister", to which Gina Riley replied, "He never said he was. He said he was John Howard." The confusion between the two men has become a frequent joke in Australia. In an interview after the real Games John Clarke commented that most of the shows were inventions by the writers. He went on to say that if they had used some of the things that had happened at SOCOG, people would have criticised them for being unrealistic.
494:
makers as bearing a strong resemblance to the earlier
Australian series, with Clarke saying, "We worked very hard on that project and we had long conversations with these people who've now done a show like that in Britain". The BBC denied claims of plagiarism, saying: "It is a very different show,
302:
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
33:
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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.
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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.
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The final episode was broadcast days before the opening ceremony of the real Games. In this episode, the three stars and Bell were forced to stand in for
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by the
Australian government. In the episode, a group of overseas countries threatened to boycott the Games unless the prime minister, also named
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writers "John and Ross
Stevenson, who run a charitable institute supplying formats to British television".
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289:(SOCOG) and satirized corruption and cronyism in the Olympic movement, bureaucratic ineptness in the
423:. Season 1 was released on DVD by Umbrella Entertainment in December 2004, Season 2 was released by
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played the "Manager
Accounts, Budgeting & Finance" position. The series also featured actor
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415:. John Clarke and Ross Stevenson won Best Screenplay in a Television Drama at the 43rd
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the only similarities between them are that they are both set around the
Olympics".
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and had two seasons of 13 episodes each, the first in 1998 and the second in 2000.
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Macklin, Robert (6 July 2000). "ABC Wins Hearts With Its Moving 'sorry From PM'".
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appeared on a video message intended for overseas release and read an apology to
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380:". The Seekers did indeed perform this song, but at the closing ceremony of the
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Dodd, Andrew (23 April 2001). "Saints above, Georgie ends Lisa's golden run".
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Clarke and Riley were due to reprise their roles in a spin-off series
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Mitchell, Susan (10 July 2000). "Satire puts our leaders to shame".
796:"BBC in plagiarism row over 'Australian Olympics show copy claims'"
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715:"How television works: a heart-warming story for all the family"
16:
Mockumentary about preparations for 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney
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867:'The Games' in the Australian Television Information Archive
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In New
Zealand, the series was one of the first programs on
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The Games was named Most
Outstanding Comedy Program at the
770:"BBC denies Olympics comedy stole from Australian TV show"
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Murphy, Kerrie; Creedy, Steve (1 January 2005). "DVDs".
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Logie Award for Most Outstanding Comedy Program winners
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on 30 September 2007, the day of the channel's launch.
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in December 2009. All episodes are on PAL format VHS.
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in Sydney. The series was originally broadcast on the
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Television shows involved in plagiarism controversies
461:, in which the characters became consultants to the
963:Television series by Beyond Television Productions
570:"Fed – Full list of tonight's AFI award winners".
287:Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games
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713:Clarke, John; Stevenson, Ross (11 March 2011).
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465:. The series did not go into production by the
948:Australian workplace comedy television series
877:'The Games' on John Clarke's official website
872:John Clarke & Bryan Dawe fan MySpace page
857:Text of John Howard's apology on 'The Games'
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632:"Cooking shows to whet TV appetite in 2011"
441:currently airs the series as part of their
376:at the closing ceremony rehearsal to sing "
449:. The show has since returned to the ABC.
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943:Australian mockumentary television series
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913:1990s Australian comedy television series
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923:Television shows set in New South Wales
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698:: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
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602:Wilder, Gabriel (12 December 2009).
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738:"BBC imitation no flattery: Clarke"
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953:Television series about television
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768:Plunkett, John (16 March 2011).
417:Australian Film Institute Awards
968:Works about the Summer Olympics
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794:Hough, Andrew (15 March 2011).
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269:along with Australian comedian
882:Bryan Dawe's official web site
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651:Knox, David (17 August 2011).
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397:crimes committed against them
190:Beyond Television Productions
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285:. The series centred on the
247:television series about the
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591:(1 ed.). p. B.21.
572:Australian Associated Press
542:. News Limited. p. 13.
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862:IMDb entry for 'The Games'
612:(1 ed.). p. 19.
368:List of The Games episodes
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852:'The Games' Official Site
637:The Sydney Morning Herald
609:The Sydney Morning Herald
459:The Games: London Calling
387:In one moment, the actor
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177:26 minutes per episode
476:plagiarism accusation
310:Guest stars included
918:2000 Summer Olympics
653:"Where is Episodes?"
463:2012 Summer Olympics
413:Logie Awards of 2001
378:The Carnival Is Over
277:. It was written by
249:2000 Summer Olympics
182:Production companies
801:The Daily Telegraph
640:. 22 December 2010.
574:. 17 November 2001.
522:The Canberra Times
490:was criticised by
439:The Comedy Channel
384:some weeks later.
261:starred satirists
243:was an Australian
158:Executive producer
393:Aboriginal people
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225:11 September 2000
116:Original language
108:Country of origin
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480:In 2011, the
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831:. Retrieved
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774:The Guardian
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751:. Retrieved
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719:. Retrieved
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682:. Retrieved
678:the original
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656:. Retrieved
646:
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607:
604:"DVD Review"
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559:. p. 3.
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467:Nine Network
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328:Maxine McKew
312:John Farnham
309:
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258:
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245:mockumentary
239:
238:
237:
174:Running time
102:Jeremy Smith
24:
18:
824:"The Games"
684:20 December
443:Aussie Gold
401:John Howard
389:John Howard
382:Paralympics
374:The Seekers
356:Dave Graney
352:The Seekers
348:John Howard
344:Tony Martin
340:Kim Gyngell
279:John Clarke
263:John Clarke
169:Wayne Hyett
138:of episodes
80:John Clarke
68:Directed by
58:John Clarke
44:John Clarke
902:Categories
833:9 November
779:9 November
658:13 October
506:References
500:The Games'
492:The Games'
273:and actor
271:Gina Riley
267:Bryan Dawe
229:2000-09-11
219:1998-08-17
153:Production
88:Gina Riley
84:Bryan Dawe
54:Written by
40:Created by
888:The Games
618:0312-6315
407:Reception
332:Sam Neill
316:Dave Gray
259:The Games
240:The Games
127:of series
111:Australia
25:The Games
807:15 March
753:16 March
721:12 March
694:cite web
453:Spin-off
362:Episodes
98:Composer
76:Starring
743:The Age
425:ABC DVD
227: (
223: –
217: (
212:Release
202:Network
119:English
616:
432:TVNZ 6
206:ABC TV
192:(1998)
166:Editor
421:Solar
835:2012
809:2011
781:2012
755:2011
723:2011
700:link
686:2011
660:2011
614:ISSN
395:for
354:and
298:Cast
281:and
265:and
891:at
482:BBC
253:ABC
141:26
136:No.
125:No.
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826:.
798:.
772:.
746:.
740:.
696:}}
692:{{
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702:)
688:.
662:.
620:.
231:)
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147:)
143:(
130:2
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
