Din a galaxy near you, Watatattoo, Princess astronaut or Tele-Pirate are to his credit as the author of successful youth programs of the 1990s and 2000s. Nearly two decades later, Pierre-Yves Bernard signs for Télé-Québec Like the chicken headsa new family series with wacky humor aimed at 9-12 year olds and their parents.
We follow the adventures of the Babin-Bibeaus, a “perfectly imperfect” family whose mother, Évelyne (Mélanie Pilon), wants to give up her job to become a joiner-carpenter. To do this, she resumes her studies… at the same school as Victoria (Estelle Fournier) and Félix (Tristan Clouâtre), her two teenagers. An incongruous situation that makes Flavie laugh a lot, the youngest of the siblings. “I am much older than when I was Tele-Pirate, but my ability to make young people talk and to connect with their candor, their naivety and their innocence comes to me spontaneously, explains the screenwriter. This crazy humor that I carry within me can be found in each of my youth projects, up to Like chicken heads, the most recent child in my filmography. »
I am much older than when I was on Télé-Pirate, but my ability to get young people talking and to connect with their candor, their naivety and their innocence comes to me spontaneously.
When asked to take a look at his entire career in the youth series, Pierre-Yves Bernard remarks on a certain constancy, like that which inhabits the playful spirit characteristic of childhood. young audiences when I’m working on a screenplay, maybe because I never lost that carefree energy,” he remarks. And even if times have changed since the adventures of the Romano Fafard, his love for freedom and the writing of children’s series is intact. “The fact that we are in a comedy feel good rather than in a drama does not prevent us from reflecting or questioning ourselves on important subjects. Drawing a contemporary portrait of young people and their families allows us to reflect on the world in which we live. We wanted each episode to be substantial, unifying and light to allow us to address different themes without the tone being didactic or pamphleteer. Living better together, the notion of family, mutual aid, difference and perseverance are thus as many themes brought together in Like chicken headswhile avoiding judgments and a moralizing register, adds the author.
Towards the edges of society
We are in 2022. The situation on Earth is not entirely catastrophic, because the ozone layer has not been completely destroyed in the end. But the time has come to tell the different social developments that have emerged in recent years, believes Pierre-Yves Bernard. “Relationships between parents and their children have changed a lot, genders are redefined, relationships with technology and screens are worrying… For me, who is a sociologist by training, it is very interesting to observe this world which moves without stoppage, which inevitably leads to turmoil and to which we must adapt”, he continues, fascinated by the infinite creative possibilities offered by this fertile ground.
“ Like chicken heads is a comedy series with an emotional and affective grounding. This was essential for us, and Télé-Québec was seduced by the idea. In each episode of about twenty minutes, there is a moment when one of the characters experiences a certain distress or an important questioning which forces him to pivot and reposition himself”, explains Pierre-Yves Bernard. In the series, this openness and this modern posture are also reflected through the role of the father, Ian (David Savard), who is the one in the family who worries the most, whereas this personality trait is generally attributed to the protagonists. feminine. “I am a concerned father myself and I find that I am underrepresented on screen,” he finally says, faithful to his piquant, but always benevolent humor.