Games Without Borders… or sense
When you hear the phrase “games without borders,” something really noble comes to mind. Something that transcends cultural differences and brings people together through healthy competition. You probably don’t think of people in gorilla costumes beating each other up. Or people going down giant slides in ostrich costumes either.
It turns out the Europeans had the market cornered on ridiculous, stunt filled game shows way before the Japanese. Jeux Sans Frontières (or Games Without Borders) was broadcast on Eurovision from 1965 up until 1999. It featured contestants from different countries competing in ridiculous games, more often than not involving giant animal costumes. As the title implies, the games were intended to bring nations together. The idea came from Charles de Gaulle himself. He wanted the French and the Germans to compete in funny games to show the nations were friends.
Here’s another clip, which includes a very confused woman in a giant head costumes wandering into the ocean for several minutes.
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It”s a Knockout!
That”s what it was called when it started on the BBC in the UK before going Europe-wide a couple of years later.
I adored this show when I was a kid!
It actually went off the air for much of the 80s: the British stopped participating in 1982 and no new series was made until 1988 (this time without the Brits… well, the Welsh participated but the rest of the British stayed at home).
The best part was Stuart Hall”s commentary on the British version, complete with catchphrase “And here come the Belgians!”
For some reason, the Belgians were always last.
Comment left on November 23, 2009 @ 9:12 pm