French Game Shows

A little something different that can help you learn the culture, and the language. And another give away at the end.

You’re in for a treat today, as John weighs in on one of his favorite ways of getting to know French culture. Game shows! But first, the winner of last week’s giveaway.

Congratulations, Debra Shelton! Debra, I will message you about where to send. Read to the end for those of you who’d like to enter again.

John:

Of the many casual ways to explore another culture–grocery shopping, walking in a park, getting a haircut, taking coffee at a cafe–television is an important resource. Not that you’d want to spend a significant amount of time staring at a screen when so much is happening around you. But let’s not underestimate television either. It’s a useful way to learn the interests and obsessions of a country. To say nothing of the lives and personalities of ordinary citizens. And maybe above all, to learn the language itself. What people actually say and how they say it. A French class might prepare you for this, but watch a French tv show and see how quickly what you learned in the classroom morphs before your eyes. It isn’t ever exactly as how it was explained. Any sort of television program can help you this way, but for me, an especially entertaining go-to are French game shows. 

As a child growing up in 1970s America, I watched a lot of now-classic game shows (Match Game, Password, The Price is Right, To Tell theTruth, Let’s Make a Deal, The $25,000 Pyramid)–too many I’ll admit—yet as an adult I lost the taste for them. But every time I travel to France I’m newly enthralled. For one thing, game shows thrive over there. In the United States game shows used to represent a significant chunk of daily programming, filling those long, slow hours in the middle of the morning and late afternoon. Now, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a regularly repeating game show outside Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune. In France, though, they persist in droves. Indeed, turning on the tv in France–at least the standard French national channels (TR 1, TR 2, TR 3, TR 5, and TR 6)--feels a bit like going back in time. 

One thing I like most about French game shows is their spirit of play. There are several French singing contest game shows, but on any “normal” game you can expect a musical clip to play and for the entire studio audience to get up and start swaying. Of course the host too, depending on how youthful they are. Some of them (like Cyril Féraud) you can barely contain.

Then there is the fact that French game shows can stretch the borders of the genre in ways you wouldn’t expect. The popular midday show Les Douze coups de Midi  features mini-concerts put on by visiting musical celebrities or book interviews with viewing celebrity authors. Questions about that author or musical artist will then work their way into the day’s contest. Bending the genre like this surprised me at first–Hey, what happened to the game?--but then I realized Why not? Why not stake out new territory?

And finally there is again the language learning aspect. If you are someone like me who still remains far more fluent in written than spoken French, you will be pleased to find the questions–in almost any show–appearing on screen. This allows you to know exactly what is being asked, guess the answers yourself, and also figure out why some questions are downright risible. 

Below is a list of shows I find myself watching regularly in France. It is difficult bordering on impossible to watch these shows in the United States (I’ve tried), but you can sample excerpts on YouTube; to that end I include the links here. Watch and be entertained!

Les Douze coups de Midi 

This show has been running for almost as long as we’ve been traveling to France, and is hosted by the energ​​etic and ever-plucky Jean-Luc Reichmann, who is also the show’s producer. It basically comes down to a series of battles in which the contestants face off and are eliminated one-by-one until there is only one left. It’s a quiz show, but what’s fascinating is how at a moment the questions can range from serious artistic and historical ones to those about popular songs or world geography or sports stars. You have to know a bit about everything to succeed on this show. And, in fact, someone does. Since September of 2023, one young man named Émilien from Toulouse has won every time, a string of over 500 straight weekdays. Along the way, he’s collected more than 2 million euros and become a folk hero. A cute aspect of the show is that each contestant is accompanied by a guest family member who is piped in via a big tv screen; not to give answers but just to watch, support, and occasionally comment. Usually, for Émilien it’s his life partner Jessica, who has become famous in France too. When she does not appear for several episodes, viewers start to worry if she and Émilien have split. Not yet!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG50iTaZq0c

Duels en familles

This is a version of America’s Family Feud, but not exactly, although two families do square off in a battle to answer questions correctly. The questions become more and more difficult as each family’s turn proceeds. What’s fun about the show, though, is that the casually dapper host, the aforementioned Cyril Féraud–who is apparently 40-years-old, but looks like he is 17–will break into song and dance at the drop of a hat. The audience immediately follows suit. They all sure look like they are having a ball.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCLnRN8b_hQ

Slam

This show immediately follows Duels on FR 3, and is also hosted by Féraud (who somehow finds time to host several other programs as well). It’s a bit less freewheeling than Duels, as Féraud adopts a more subdued, academic air. He presents questions about language to the contestants, who then use the answers to figure out a crossword puzzle. But just you wait, because at any moment a song might play, and just try to keep Féraud from joining in. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvq2jY4_T3U

Questions pour un champion

This long-running show on FR 3, based on Britain’s Going for Gold and currently hosted by Samuel Étienne, seems geared toward an older crowd. Meaning the show follows the kind of format we might automatically think of when we hear the term “quiz show.” The questions are broad-ranging, generally sober, inquiries into French history, culture, and politics. But if a clip plays from a 70s or 80s classic rock song, you’ll see the mild-mannered Samuel begin to wiggle and push out his elbows, the picture of an old guy trying to get into the swing of things. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE09VxmjeNM

(Émilien on set. Photo by Jean Phillipe Baltel.)

(Cyril Renaud. Photo by Bertrand Rindoff Petroff.)

(Jean-Luc Reichmann on screen.)

This week’s giveaway is Home Sweet Maison: The French Art of Making a Home. Like and comment on this post to be in the drawing.