| The Games | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Reality sports game show |
| Presented by | Jamie Theakston |
| Starring | Jayne Middlemiss (2003–5) Kirsty Gallacher (2006) |
| Voices of | David Goldstrom |
| Theme music composer | Dobs Vye |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 4 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 51 minutes (including adverts) |
| Production company(s) | Endemol UK |
| Distributor | Endemol UK |
| Release | |
| Original network | Channel 4 |
| Picture format | 16:9 576i |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | 7 September 2003 – 25 March 2006 |
The Games is a British reality sports game show that ran on Channel 4 for four series, in which 10 celebrities competed against each other, by doing Olympic-style events, such as weight lifting, gymnastics and diving. At the end of the series, the contestants with the most points from each round were awarded either a gold, silver or bronze medal. The show was mainly filmed in Sheffield, at the Sheffield Arena, Don Valley Stadium and Ponds Forge. In later series, the English Institute of Sport – Sheffield, iceSheffield and in series 4 the National Watersports Centre in Nottingham were used for the first time.
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents supposedly unscripted real-life situations, and often features an otherwise unknown cast of individuals who are typically not professional actors. Reality television exploded as a phenomenon in the late 1990s and early 2000s with the global success of the series Survivor, Idols, and Big Brother. These shows and a number of others became global franchises, spawning local versions in dozens of countries. The genre has various standard tropes, including "confessionals", or interview segments, used by cast members to express their thoughts, which often double as the shows' narration. In competition-based reality shows, there are other common elements, such as one participant being eliminated per episode, a panel of judges, and the concept of immunity from elimination.
A game show is a type of radio, television, or stage show in which contestants, individually or as teams, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles, usually for money or prizes. Alternatively, a gameshow can be a demonstrative program about a game [while usually retaining the spirit of an awards ceremony]. In the former, contestants may be invited from a pool of public applicants. Game shows often reward players with prizes such as cash, trips and goods and services provided by the show's sponsor prize suppliers.
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster that began transmission on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the station is now owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation, a public corporation of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which was established in 1990 and came into operation in 1993. With the conversion of the Wenvoe transmitter group in Wales to digital on 31 March 2010, Channel 4 became a UK-wide TV channel for the first time.
Contents
- Series 1 (2003)
- Series 2 (2004)
- Team 2003 vs Team 2004 - Champion of Champions 2004
- Series 3 (2005)
- Team 2003 vs Team 2004 vs Team 2005 – Champion of Champions 2005
- Series 4 – 2006
- Contestants
- Scores
- Team 2004 vs Team 2005 vs Team 2006 – Champion of Champions 2006
- References
- External links
The Games was presented by Jamie Theakston for the entirety of its run, with track-side reports from Jayne Middlemiss in series 1–3 and Kirsty Gallacher in series 4.
Jamie Theakston is an English television presenter, producer, and actor. He hosted Top of the Pops, co-hosts the breakfast show on Heart and also narrated the BBC documentary series Traffic Cops and Motorway Cops. He has also hosted several television programmes for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5.
Jayne Middlemiss is an English television and radio presenter. She began presenting music television shows such as The O-Zone and Top of the Pops in the mid-1990s, before presenting a variety of other television and radio shows, including on BBC Radio 6 Music. She has won both Celebrity MasterChef and former reality show Celebrity Love Island.
Kirsty Jane Gallacher is a British television presenter.
The Games also had an after-show called The Games: Live at Trackside, aired on Channel 4's sister channel E4. The first series was presented by Dougie Anderson, whilst the second was hosted by Gamezville presenters Darren Malcolm and Jamie Atiko. Justin Lee Collins and Caroline Flack took over as presenters for the third and fourth series. For the final series an extra one-hour show was added on E4 in the afternoon called The Games: Live at the Heats, and the evening show changed title to become The Games: Inside Track.
E4 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by Channel Four Television Corporation. The "E" stands for entertainment, and the channel is mainly aimed at the 16–34 age group. Programming includes US imports such as Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Goldbergs, The O.C., Smallville, Veronica Mars, Everwood, What About Brian, Desperate Housewives, How I Met Your Mother, 90210, Gotham, Rules of Engagement, The Big Bang Theory, RuPaul's Drag Race, 2 Broke Girls, Scream Queens, Revenge, and previously Friends. Other programming includes homegrown British shows such as Skins, Misfits, The Inbetweeners, Shameless,Hollyoaks, Coach Trip, Celebs Go Dating and Made in Chelsea.
Douglas James "Dougie" Anderson is a Scottish radio and television presenter and voice-over artist.
Gamezville was an entertainment video games show that was broadcast on Sky One and ran for two series from 2003 to 2004. It was presented by models Jamie Atiko and Darren Malcolm. The non-studio segments of the show were also shown in the United States between 2003 and 2004 on the digital cable channel Nickelodeon GAS as part of a Saturday night gaming block, under the show title Play 2Z. In this version, some segments were redubbed with an American voice.
