Spring in front of the screen | The Press

Forget your spring cleaning. This season, it’s in front of the screen that we have to get active. The Press has examined the programming for the next few months to find a thousand and one good excuses for you to abandon your cleaning aspirations.

Reality TV

Reality TV competitions are booming. We are carefully watching for the arrival of Traitors (Noovo, Monday April 8 at 8 p.m.), the Quebec adaptation of the popular Dutch format in which Karine Vanasse plays a sort of modern-day baroness who welcomes 20 strangers to the Manoir Rouville-Campbell. They will have to cooperate to accomplish missions and raise a common prize pool of up to $100,000. After a first season as frustrating as it was captivating, Survivor Quebec returns to the air (Noovo, Monday to Thursday at 7 p.m., Sunday at 8 p.m.), just like The Chiefswhich will offer a version of star candidates from the first 12 seasons (ICI Télé, Monday April 8, exceptionally at 7:30 p.m.).

Fictions from here

When it comes to fiction, spring has never been recognized as a season rich in novelties. This year, however, a few new titles appear on the menu. Besides In Memoriama family saga launched last Thursday, Crave will offer Beautiful flower, a series by Sarah-Maude Beauchesne and Nicola Morel which will talk about “good and devoted” men with Guillaume Laurin, Marc-André Grondin, Guillaume Cyr, Charlotte Aubin and Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse. On view from May 16. For its part, ICI TÉLÉ will relay two series previously reserved for ICI Tou.tv Extra subscribers: From Pierre to girl (Tuesday, April 2 at 8:30 p.m.) with Julianne Côté and Patrice Robitaille, and Lakay Nou (Monday April 15 at 7:30 p.m.) with Frédéric Pierre and Catherine Souffront.

Fictions from elsewhere

The double strike of 2023 in the United States (actors and screenwriters) may have slowed down production for months, but new American releases will flood in. Among them, we note Ripley (Netflix, April 4), a black and white series based on the novel The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith, who had already been the subject of two film adaptations, one with Alain Delon in 1960 (Full sun) and the other with Matt Damon in 1999. The Veil (Disney+, April 30), a spy thriller starring Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale, Mad Men) written and directed by the man behind Peaky BlindersSteven Knight, and fallout (Prime Video, April 11), a series inspired by one of the greatest video game franchises in history starring Ella Purnell (Yellowjackets), add to the list of expected big guns.

A new channel

The popularity of crime documentaries, a.k.a. true crime, refuses to give in. No one will therefore be surprised to learn that a channel entirely devoted to “crimes and scandals” will emerge. From April 9, MOI ET CIE will become Témoin, a network which will present titles (docurality, documentaries, films, fiction series) likely to “shake the viewer” and “satisfy their voyeuristic side”. We can find there The other side of the coin, an investigative documentary series led by Jean-Luc Brassard in which the ex-freestyle skier will explore the culture of physical and psychological abuse in sport. Among the channel’s other headliners are Paul Arcand, Claude Poirier and Annie-Soleil Proteau.

Returns from here

In fiction, we will definitely watch the second season of Black beast (Séries Plus, Wednesday April 3 at 9 p.m.). After painting the portrait of a grieving mother who seeks to understand why her teenage son perpetrated a mass killing in his school, the series by authors Patrick Lowe and Annabelle Poisson, this time directed by Louis Bélanger, will tell the story of a mother (Charlotte Aubin) having committed infanticide. Still in Quebec, we are also awaiting the consequences of World of Gabrielle Roy (ICI Télé, Tuesday April 2 at 8 p.m.), from Raspberry time (Club illico, Thursday April 4; Guillaume Lonergan succeeds Philippe Falardeau behind the camera) and The complicated life of Léa Olivier (Club illico, May 2).

Returns from elsewhere

After two years of waiting (and a spin-off series, Gen V), the quirky superheroes of boys (Prime Video, June 13) are back in action. The description of the eight new episodes suggests a chaotic fourth season, with Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) dangerously approaching the Oval Office, Homelander (Antony Starr) in great shape and Butcher (Karl Urban) in disarray. Elsewhere, we welcome the return of Bridgerton (Netflix, May 16) and, above all, Hacks. The comedy starring Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder returns to Crave on May 2. Notice to those who have never taken a look: the first two seasons will be offered as a catch-up, in French version, from Wednesday April 24.

Documentaries

Several promising documentaries will hit the airwaves – as well as online – in the coming months. In the category “Title that did not appear anywhere on our bingo card for 2024”, the big winner is undoubtedly Patrick Norman in Rwanda: the duty to remember (Historia, May 25 at 7 p.m.). Directed by Charles Domingue, this 120-minute film will retrace the astonishing link between this African country, victim of a genocide in 1994, and the Quebec artist. Let us also point out Québec Rock – Offenbach vs. Crow (True, April 9), Father of 100 children (Canal Vie, April 22 at 8 p.m.), In a galaxy near you: 25 years of mission (Crave, 1^er May) and Be a Hilton (Crave, June).

Finals

Get your recorders ready! The season finales of the two most-watched series on the 2023-2024 calendar will be presented simultaneously on Thursday, April 25 at 7 p.m.: those of STAT (ICI Télé) andIndefensible (VAT). Details surrounding the premiere are being kept under wraps. Will it involve the mysterious man (Jacob’s father?) whose car Emmanuelle (Suzanne Clément) damaged? Father St-Cyr? Marco’s patient love interest (Anglesh Major)? Another metal object ingested by Marie-Lyne Joncas? The bets are open. As for Indefensiblethe broadcaster mentions a memo from the jury which “causes a stir in the courtroom” and, above all, a “bad surprise” which awaits Léo (Sébastien Delorme) when he takes on a new client…