Jean-Pierre Descombes, one of the figures of the “20 Hour Games”, died at 76

The host of the very popular show, which made the heyday of FR3 in the 70s and 80s, has passed away as a result of Parkinson’s disease.

Jean-Pierre Descombes, who was the presenter of the famous television show Les Jeux de 20 heures on FR3 (the predecessor of France 3) from 1976 to 1987, died Sunday June 30 at his home, his son Romain Descombes told AFP on Monday. Aged 76, he had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease for more than ten years.

A France 3 team met him in 2023. He spoke about his daily life with this neurological disease. With courage and great strength of character, he forced himself to stay active and he took care of his garden in particular.

After the 8pm Games, Jean-Pierre Descombes had been the voice-over for other successful entertainment shows in the 80s and 90s, The Right Price and Une famille en or on TF1. From 2018, he participated in Cyril Hanouna’s shows on C8, such as Touche pas à mon poste! and The big laugh.

But Jean-Pierre Descombes remains best known for The 8 p.m. Games, born at a time when there were only three channels in France. In this program which competed with the television news of TF1 and Antenne 2, general knowledge questions were asked of celebrities on set and anonymous candidates in duplex from a provincial town.

The show was hosted by Jean-Pierre Descombes, microphone in hand in the audience from the provinces, and other hosts on set, including Marc Menant, Jean-Pierre Foucault, Harold Kay and the legendary referee Maître Capello, aka the linguist Jacques Capelovici and his timbre of voice identifiable in a second. In the 2000s, Jean-Pierre Descombes had reconverted to hosting trade shows, galas or events such as the tour of former glories of the 60s and 70s Tender age and wooden head in 2012.