La petite vie will live again at Radio-Canada

You can’t take the worn covers of The little life Saturday night? Good news, then. Claude Meunier is concocting new episodes of his cult sitcom, which Radio-Canada will revive to celebrate its 30th anniversary in the fall.

According to my spies, all the actors in the original cast of The little life would resume their roles, except Serge Thériault, 74, who has serious health problems. The interpreter of Jacqueline Paré, alias Moman, suffers from a major depression which locks her up in her house for more than seven years, as revealed by the touching documentary Outside Serge outsideby Martin Fournier and Pier-Luc Latulippe, released in 2021.

And in what form will the Paré family and its patriarch Ti-Mé, a big fan of garbage cans and vertical beds, come back to life at Radio-Canada? Difficult to determine precisely. Sources speak of four brand new episodes, others of six.

The creator of this absurd universe, Claude Meunier, was not available for an interview on Thursday. I’ve also contacted all of the comedians’ agents on this classic show and no one has commented. For its part, Radio-Canada does not wish to confirm anything for the moment.

Now how will unfold The little life without her beating heart, that of the matriarch Jacqueline, famous for her nightcap and her succulent turkey? The mystery hovers. It would be a very bad idea to entrust this role to another actor.

Moman is Serge Thériault, full stop, with the facial expressions and intonations that the actor has created. The person who would succeed him would seem to make a pale imitation.

One way around Serge Thériault’s absence would be to make Ti-Mé (Claude Meunier) a widower, which would allow the author to plunge his bearded hero into even more confusing family situations.

According to my information, Marc Labrèche would have been the most reluctant to wear the costume of the credit union manager Rénald “Pinson” Paré, the husband of the very colorful and ethereal Lison (Josée Deschênes), known by the nickname of Creton.

The Paré family also gathered around the Formica table Thérèse (Diane Lavallée), Madame steak-corn from India-potatoes, as well as her lying husband Réjean Pinard (Marc Messier), who talks about himself in the third person. singular.

The eldest of the Paré children, the adulescent Rod (Bernard Fortin), has always been Moman’s darling, while Caro (Guylaine Tremblay) has carried the clan’s rebel label.

The little life played for four full seasons on Radio-Canada between 1993 and 1998. In March 1995, the comedy broke a record with an estimated rating, live, of 4,098,000 viewers. Outside of Byewe no longer see such astronomical figures since Numeris measured audiences electronically, rather than relying on diaries that volunteers filled in with mittens.

The popularity of The little lifeeven after the 72^e recovery, do not loosen up. Since January, the old episodes lodged before Live from the universe attract an average of 624,000 addicts, which beats several big winter novelties, which the networks relay on weeknights.

Claude Meunier brought back his dysfunctional characters from The little life in three specials (The Year 2000 Bug, Christmas at the Paré And Christmas Story), in addition to screwing up his patriarch at the helm of a talk show, The Ti-Me Showwhich ran for two seasons in 2015–16.

As for the moving documentary Outside Serge outside, it has not yet been deposited on digital platforms, which hinders its influence, I find. To watch it, you have to go to the room, where it plays sporadically. For example, this Friday at 7:30 p.m., filmmakers Martin Fournier and Pier-Luc Latulippe are presenting it at Station Vu, a neighborhood cinema in Pointe-aux-Trembles, in eastern Montreal.

For 68 minutes, Outside Serge outside follows Serge Thériault’s spouse, Anna Suazo, his teenage daughter Mélina, as well as the actor’s two neighbors, Robert and Jolande Racicot. We only see Serge Thériault once, from behind and in a wide shot, when he decides to consult a psychiatrist.

Since 2015, Serge Thériault rarely leaves his house in the Joliette region. Suffering from severe depression, he spends his days lying on the sofa in the living room, unable to move.

This intimate and not at all voyeuristic film shows the impact of mental illness on the entourage of a loved one who refuses to seek treatment. The spouse of Serge Thériault, with whom he has lived for more than 18 years, is exhausted, drained. The neighbor Robert, an angel who lives in the apartment under that of Serge and Anna, has not abandoned his “artist friend”, even if the latter never opens the door for him.

AT The week of the 4 Juliesat the end of January, Anna Suazo confided that Serge Thériault was getting better, but that he had not seen his psychiatrist for two years.

This story is truly heartbreaking. The Moman of all of Quebec is suffering before our eyes and there is nothing to do, except tell her that we love her and that we wish her well.