| Jeux Sans Frontières | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Game show |
| Broadcast | |
| Original airing | 1965 |
Jeux Sans Frontières (English: Games Without Frontiers or Games Without Borders) was a Europe-wide television game show. In English speaking countries, the show is also known as It's a Knockout, the title of the BBC's domestic version.
In its original conception, it was broadcast from 1965 to 1999 under the auspices of the European Broadcasting Union and featured teams from different European countries in outlandish costumes (often large latex suits) competing to complete bizarre tasks in funny games. The original series run ended in 1982 but was revived a few years later with a different complexion of nations and hosted by smaller broadcasters.
In the United Kingdom, participants came from the heats of It's a Knockout. The original presenter was Macdonald Hobley, but he stayed for just one season before handing over to Katie Boyle, who in turn was replaced by David Vine and Eddie Waring. It was not until 1971 that the presenter most associated with the role Stuart Hall, took over presenting the UK heats and also provided the British commentary for the international version along with Waring, who was better known as the BBC's Rugby League commentator. Wales had its own team between 1991 and 1994 and the programme was broadcast on S4C in Welsh by Iestyn Garlick.
The idea of the show came from French President Charles de Gaulle, whose wish was that French and German youth would meet in a series of funny games to reinforce the friendship between France and Germany. The games were inspired by the matches between French cities. Some games were played in swimming pools. In 1965, three French men (Pedro Brime, Claude Savarit, Jean-Louis Marest) brought the idea of the games to all Europe with success. Teams representing France, Germany, Belgium, and Italy took part in the first edition of the show called Inter Nations Games.[1]
Each participating country hosted one round of the games, presented by the host broadcaster. Every game was umpired by one or two "international" judges. The first judges became household names in the UK Gennaro Olivieri (1922–2009) and Guido Pancaldi (1922-2011). Both were Swiss and had been international ice-hockey referees (although Pancaldi is often wrongly referred to as being Italian, probably due to his coming from the Italian speaking Canton of Ticino). Olivieri, from the French speaking Canton of Neuchatel, referreed the Olympic Ice Hockey Final at the Winter Games in Innsbruck in 1964.
Contents |
Between the span of 1965 and 1999, 20 countries participated in 30 editions of JSF (considering Czech Republic and Czechoslovakia as separate participants):
| Country | Years of participation | Editions | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 1965–1982, 1988–1989 | 20 | 2 |
| Germany | 1965–1980 | 16 | 6 |
| France | 1965–1968, 1970–1982, 1988–1992, 1997–1999 | 25 | 3 |
| Italy | 1965–1982, 1988–1999 | 30 | 4 |
| Switzerland | 1967–1975, 1977–1982, 1992–1999 | 24 | 2 |
| United Kingdom | 1967–1982,1991–1994 | 20 | 4 |
| Netherlands | 1970–1977, 1997–1998 | 10 | 0 |
| Liechtenstein | 1976 | 1 * | 0 |
| Yugoslavia | 1978–1982, 1990 | 6 | 0 |
| Portugal | 1979–1982, 1988–1998 | 15 | 5 |
| Spain | 1988, 1990–1992 | 4 | 1 |
| San Marino | 1989–1991 | 3 | 0 |
| Tunisia | 1992 | 1 | 0 |
| Czechoslovakia | 1992 | 1 | 1 |
| Czech Republic | 1993–1995 | 3 | 2 |
| Greece | 1993–1999 | 7 | 1 |
| Hungary | 1993–1999 | 7 | 3 |
| Slovenia | 1994, 1996–1997, 1999 | 4 | 0 |
| Malta | 1994–1995 | 2 | 0 |
When a team from Belfast represented Great Britain, they were identified as 'NI' for Northern Ireland rather than GB. Wales participated from 1991 to 1994 on behalf of the United Kingdom, and were identified by the code GB in mainland Europe and by C (Cymru, the Welsh name for Wales) in Wales itself. Welsh was the transmission language of the participating broadcaster (S4C).
Czechoslovakia participated in 1992 with Czech teams only. There was no Slovak participation in JSF that year. In 1993 the Czech Republic entered the show as an independent country.
The show inspired Peter Gabriel's 1980 hit single, "Games Without Frontiers" (the direct English translation of the title), in which backing vocalist Kate Bush sings "jeux sans frontières" during breaks. The lyrics also refer to the original title: "It's A Knockout".
The EBU announced plans to relaunch the series in summer 2007 with Belgium, Croatia, Spain, Greece, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Italy thought to be participating countries. However due to financial setbacks, the plans were put on hold - originally for 12 months but later abandoned altogether.
The BBC Radio 4 comedy programme I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again featured a version called Guerre Sans Frontieres where gallant little Belgium always had to play the Joker.