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In 2025 it was TVE again keeping Knockout-style games
shows going, long after they had run out of steam in other countries, with
Grand Prix returning for a third series since it returned in 2023.
Grand Prix had originally run on TVE from 1995, when it debuted as
Cuando Calienta el Sol, assuming the regular title Grand Prix del
Verano from the following year. Presented by Ramón García, the series
aired on Spanish television each summer until 2005. It returned for three further summers on FORTA TV in
2007, 2008 and 2009, with Bertín Osborne taking over as host and commentator.
After a 14 year absence, it relaunched to great success back at its original
home on TVE La 1 on Monday 24th July 2023. In a nod to its past,
original host Ramón García returned to present the revived series. Strong
ratings led to 2024 Summer and Christmas runs.
For 2025,
series talisman Ramón García returned to present his 14th
season of Grand Prix at 63 years of age. Alongside him this year were
Lala Chus and Ángela Fernández, with Cristina López (Cristinini) moving on
after being involved in the 2023 and 2024 programmes.
Grand Prix teams played in blue or yellow. The decision regarding team
colours was determined each week based upon the distance between the
respective towns and the sea. Each week, the town nearer to the sea would play
in blue.
But
that was not all, as the series that pretty much started it all (we'll
overlook Campanile Sera in this instance) - Intervilles - made a surprise return
in July 2025, presented by Nagui and Bruno Guinon. It had been off the air
in France since its 2009 series, although it did make a one-off return in 2013 for a 50th
Anniversary Special and continued for a short while after as Intervilles
International.
Its
2025 return was billed as a "version modernisée" (or modernised version) of
the cult hit, and this spelt the end for Intervilles vachette, at least
as a living and breathing animal. Live animals had been banned from Jeux
Sans Frontières in 1969 but they continued to be used in Intervilles
well into the 21st century. The retirement of the vachette was a sensible
decision in light of modern popular opinion concerning animal welfare.
by Alan Hayes
with thanks to David Laich Ruiz |
