“When I see war, natural disasters and Blue Pocket, I say to myself “Is this the end of the world?” Let me reassure you: yes,” intones Pierre-Yves Roy Desmarais, at the opening of Bye Bye 2023 directed by Simon Olivier Fecteau. This show as well as that ofInfoman crowned a television evening on December 31 that was both biting and successful.
In the same vein as the byethe song that launched the show Infoman 2023 by Jean-René Dufort recalled that we “saw something never seen before” this year. Images of floods and smoky skies flashed across the screen as the group Bleu Jeans Bleu pushed the note. A “golden extinguisher 2023” was also given by the host to those who fought the forest fires in Normétal, Clova and Chapais. If the theme of climate change was very present in the review of the year by Mr. Dufort and his acolytes, it could have been more exploited by Simon Olivier Fecteau and his team.
The main actors of the Bye Bye 2023namely Claude Legault, Guylaine Tremblay, Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse and Pierre-Yves Roy Desmarais, however delivered a breathtaking performance throughout the 90 minutes.
This year’s edition took a while to take off, but the version of 2023 from Rooms in town — cult show from the 90s — however remedied the situation. Against the backdrop of the housing crisis with Pete Béliveau (Francis Reddy) unable to pay his rent “at $10,000 per month”, the sketch also shoots an arrow at all the “old series that we bring back 30 years later”, as A boy a girl Or The little life.
The fiasco of the digital transition of the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec was addressed with all the necessary bite during a segment called SAAQenheimer, featuring Claude Legault. This parody of the film Oppenheimer — about the father of the atomic bomb — begins with the assertion that in 2023, “Eric Caire is responsible for humanity’s greatest catastrophe.” The joke recalls the difficulties of the Minister of Cybersecurity and Digital Affairs in taking his share of the blame in this affair.
One of the most successful scenes of the show remains the one where Guylaine Tremblay plays a teacher exasperated by the reactions of outraged parents. “But let’s see, how do you see it in your heads, a mixed toilet? » This scene gives way to a hilarious mini-horror film inside the head of a frightened father.
Guylaine Tremblay also shines in her hilarious imitation of the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Pierre Poilievre, in search of a new style. In front of him, Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse’s character exclaims: “It’s incredible! Just by taking off your glasses, you went from a ridiculous conspiracy theorist to an almost normal guy. »
Baboons and broken promises
The segment ofInfoman on the subject of the “re-resurrection” of the third link by the Prime Minister François Legault was more successful than that of bye. In Jean-René Dufort’s show, the faces of the various politicians who starred in this “bad film” this fall are cleverly placed on the bodies of the characters from the 1977 miniseries Jesus of Nazareth.
The saga of this tunnel project in Quebec marked the difficult year for Quebec Minister of Education and Member of Parliament for Lévis, Bernard Drainville. The song from the feature film The Triplets of Bellevillewho becomes The Triplets of Drainville brilliantly deals with the many moments when the politician had to display a contrite face in front of the cameras in 2023. “It’s not clear that I’m going to make it to the end,” concludes the piece.
In the same vein, the podcast Let’s talk about babies ofInfoman succeeded in inviting the Minister of the Economy, Innovation and Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, to discuss with two copies of himself played by the excellent Marc Labrèche and Jean-René Dufort. “ Can we just chat a little to get comfortable? », Launches “FitzLabrèche”, after talking about the tense relations between the politician and journalists.
Mr. Dufort, however, ends his review of the year on a kind note, offering gifts of hugs to various politicians such as Bernard Drainville, François Legault, the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Pierre Poilievre, the mayor of Quebec Bruno Marchand, as well as as PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
To the tune of America cries of the Cowboys Fringants, Mr. Dufort reserves his last hug for the one who “needs it the most”, namely the former Speaker of the House of Commons, Anthony Rota. The latter resigned last September after inviting a former Nazi fighter to Parliament during the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The year 2024 cannot be “worse” than 2023, says Mr. Rota, before being embraced by the host.
Note among those absent (or almost)Infoman 2023the co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois as well as Jagmeet Singh, leader of the New Democratic Party.
Live New Year’s Day Emotions
Broadcast at 7 p.m., the show Live from New Year’s Day, hosted by France Beaudoin, was able to find the perfect balance between festivity and anecdotes delivered from the heart. The line-up of “kidnapped” stars for this edition was made up of Gino Chouinard, Élise Guilbault, Eve Côté, Mélanie Maynard and Benoît McGinnis.
In this December 31 version ofLive from the universe, the guests had wet eyes when actress and host Mélanie Maynard spoke about her mother suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. The guests were not able to dry their tears immediately, because Richard Séguin sang the song On my shoulder Cowboys Fringants, in tribute to the voice of the group who disappeared this year, Karl Tremblay.
The surprise appearance of singer and pianist Lawrence Gowan, member of the musical group Styx, however, ignited the evening. He performed his piece (You’re A) Strange Animal, to the great happiness of all.
Special mention to the number where Marie-Lyne Joncas descends from heaven dressed as the Virgin Mary while singing flowers by Miley Cyrus, causing laughter from her friend Eve Côté. The latter had just said that she had already performed this character at the Gaspé cathedral.
France Beaudoin concluded the 90 minutes of the program by inviting “our resurrected Christ of 2023”, namely the actor, host and comedian Christian Bégin. The man who had a benign brain tumor removed last March gently sang the song Sung by Michel Fugain.
Just after Live from New Year’s DayPhilippe Laguë was at the helm of the television edition of the radio show See you next week. Hats off to Véronique Claveau for her imitations of Céline Dion and Lynda Lemay throughoutSee you next year. Note also the performance of Pierre Verville as Minister Fitzgibbon who manipulates a puppet bearing the image of Michael Sabia, new president and CEO of Hydro-Québec.