Jeux sans frontières

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 games to reinforce the friendship between France and Germany.[1] In 1965, Guy Lux and Claude Savarit spread this idea to other European countries. Teams representing France, Germany, Belgium, and Italy took part in the first edition of the show called Inter Nations Games.

At the height of its popularity, the show was watched by 110 million viewers across Europe. The original series run ended in 1982. It was revived in 1988 with a different complexion of nations and in its latest editions was hosted by smaller broadcasters, with the notable exception of Italy's RAI, which hosted three editions with a fixed location in 1996, 1998 and 1999.

In its original conception, it featured teams from different European countries in outlandish costumes (often large latex suits) competing to complete bizarre tasks in funny games. Each of the teams receive a score for each game, which are umpired by one or two "international" judges, with an overall winner at the end of each series. Each participating country hosted one round of the games, presented by the host broadcaster. The games were inspired by the matches between French cities, with some played in swimming pools.

Between 1965 and 1999, 20 countries participated in 30 seasons of Jeux sans frontières (considering Czech Republic and Czechoslovakia as separate participants):

Table key

  Former – Former countries that have been dissolved.

Country	Broadcaster	Years of participation	Editions	Finale wins	Heat wins
Italy	RAI	1965–1982, 1988–1999	30	4 (1970, 1978, 1991, 1999)	33
France	ORTF, Antenne 2, France 2	1965–1968, 1970–1982, 1988–1992, 1997–1999	25	3 (1965, 1975, 1979)	20
Switzerland	SRG SSR	1967–1982, 1992–1999	24	2 (1972, 1974)	24
Belgium	BRT, RTBF	1965–1982, 1988–1989	20	2 (1965, 1982)	28
Germany	WDR (ARD)	1965–1980	16	6 (1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1976, 1977)	31
United Kingdom[lower-alpha 1]	BBC	1967–1982	16	4 (1969, 1971, 1973, 1981)	12
Portugal	RTP	1979–1982, 1988–1998	15	5 (1980, 1981, 1988, 1989, 1997)	37
Netherlands	NCRV, TROS	1970–1977, 1997–1998	10	0	13
Hungary	MTV	1993–1999	7	3 (1993, 1996, 1998)	15
Greece	ERT	1993–1999	7	0	3
Yugoslavia	JRT	1978–1982, 1990	6	0	9
Spain	TVE	1988, 1990–1992	4	1 (1990)	4
Slovenia	RTVSLO	1994, 1996–1997, 1999	4	0	8
Wales[lower-alpha 2]	S4C	1991–1994	4	0	4
Czech Republic	ČT	1993–1995	3	2 (1994, 1995)	4
San Marino	SMRTV	1989–1991	3	0	4
Malta	PBS Malta	1994–1995	2	0	0 (Best: 3rd)
Czechoslovakia[lower-alpha 3]	ČST	1992	1	1 (1992)	2
Liechtenstein[lower-alpha 4]	No broadcaster	1976	1	0	0 (Best: 4th)
Tunisia	ERTT	1992	1	0	0 (Best: 2nd)

Each country was assigned a unique colour which it used on its uniforms and equipment. In the original series which ended in 1982, the colours were: Belgium - Yellow; Germany - Light Blue; Great Britain - Red; Italy - Dark Blue; Yugoslavia - White. France were originally assigned Purple, but this changed to Green after 1973. Switzerland were assigned Light Brown, but during the 1979 series, they switched to Red and White combined, confusing their teams with the British participants. The Netherlands were assigned Orange, but when the nation left the series after 1977, the colour was reassigned to Portugal from 1979.

Winning cities

Year	Final Host town/city	Winner	Runner-up	Third place
1965	Ciney Saint-Amand-les-Eaux	Ciney Saint-Amand-les-Eaux	No runner-up	No third place
1966	Eichstätt Jambes	Eichstätt	Jambes
1967	Bardenberg	Bardenberg	Nogent-sur-Marne	Cheltenham Spa Montecatini Terme
1968	Brussels	Osterholz-Scharmbeck	Stans	Vannes
1969	Blackpool	Shrewsbury Wolfsburg	No runner-up	Brugge-Zeebrugge
1970	Verona	Como	Alphen aan den Rijn	Radevormwald
1971	Essen	Blackpool	Alphen aan den Rijn	Willisau
1972	Lausanne	La Chaux-de-Fonds	Città di Castello Venray	No third place
1973	Paris	Ely	Marburg an der Lahn	Chartres
1974	Leiden	Muotathal	Marostica	Nancy
1975	Ypres	Nancy	Riccione	Knokke-Heist
1976	Blackpool	Ettlingen	La Neuveville	Geel
1977	Ludwigsburg	Schliersee	Uccle	Olivone
1978	Montecatini Terme	Abano Terme	Sandwell	Fontainebleau
1979	Bordeaux	Bar-le-Duc	Zrenjanin	Lierde
1980	Namur	Vilamoura	Rhuddlan	Merksem
1981	Belgrade	Dartmouth Lisbon	No runner-up	Pula
1982	Urbino	Rochefort	Versoix	Madeira
1988	Bellagio	Madeira	Profondeville Seville	No third place
1989	Madeira	Azores	Monte Argentario	Nice
1990	Vrnjačka Banja[2]	Jaca	Bor	Treviso
1991	Saint-Vincent	Vigevano	Leiria	Megève
1991-'92		Nové Město na Moravě	Santa Caterina di Valfurva	Canton du Jura
1992	Ponta Delgada	Třebíč	Breuil-Cervinia	Lisbon
1993	Karlovy Vary	Kecskemét	Šumperk	Le Bouveret
1994	Cardiff	Česká Třebová	Wrexham	Olivone
1995	Budapest	Brno	Eger	Vallemaggia
1996	Stupinigi	Kecskemét	Lamego	Gran San Bernardo
1997	Lisbon	Amadora	Val di Sole	Schattdorf
1998	Trento	Százhalombatta	Komotini	Vlieland
1999	Le Castella	Bolzano-Südtirol	Patras	Budapest XII. District

In 2006, the EBU announced plans to relaunch the series in summer 2007, in collaboration with Mistral Production and Upside Television.[3] Belgium, Croatia, Spain, Greece, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Italy were thought to be participating countries. However, due to financial setbacks, the plans were put on hold—originally for 12 months, but later they were abandoned altogether.

In December 2016, the EBU in strategic planning for 2017–2020 included a new format based on the show, called Eurovision Super Games, a new attempt to revisit the TV program last aired in 1999.[4] Twelve countries had joined and were involved in the project, a competition between eight countries each represented by four athletes playing a series of mental and physical challenges. The audiences at home would have the possibility to elect the 2 athletes of their country to participate in the proposed challenge. However, due to the lack of financial guarantees, the EBU announced in June 2017 that it would not be created.[5]

• 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 title of the BBC version of the show, It's a Knockout.
• The last album of the popular Macedonian pop singer Toše Proeski is named Games without borders (in Macedonian Cyrillic: Игри Без Граници).
• The Endeavour episode "Quartet" (series 5, episode 5) features a fictional 1968 Jeux sans frontières competition held in Oxford, broadcast by Southern Independent Television (rather than the BBC).
• In Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights, the company that supplies the club with many of the fruit machines (including a Das Boot version that only pays out in Deutsche Marks) and other assorted gaming paraphernalia is called Jeux Sans Frontières.

• It's a Knockout
• Telematch
• Jeux sans frontières (1991–1992)

• JSFnet Italy
• JSFnet Great Britain
• It's A Knockout & JSF website
• JSFnet France