The good mood was contagious on Wednesday around the table where the actors of “La petite vie” were gathered to confirm their upcoming return in six new original episodes.
The author Claude Meunier, who plays Ti-Mé / Popa in the cult comedy was surrounded by Josée Deschênes (Lison / Creton), Bernard Fortin (Rod), Rémy Girard (Pogo), Marc Labrèche (Rénald / Pinson), Diane Lavallée (Thérèse), Marc Messier (Réjean), Sylvie Potvin (Linda) and Guylaine Tremblay (Caro), to announce this “gift” that the band is getting, that of playing together again on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of this series which has already attracted four million followers in front of their television.
“Everyone wanted to do it,” said Claude Meunier, speaking of the excitement of reading the new texts together in view of the filming scheduled for mid-April.
PHOTO QMI AGENCY, MARIO BEAUREGARD
The only thing missing is Serge Thériault, alias Moman, who declined the offer to resume his role alongside his friend Claude Meunier, with whom he performed the 400 shots on stage in Paul et Paul and Ding et Dong.
“Serge Thériault won’t be there, but Moman will be there all the time”, especially in the first episode, rightly titled “L’absente”, said Claude Meunier. “Moman is present in our hearts. Moman is very present in the year, it motivates all directions of each episode.
Mr. Meunier does not want to advance too much on the situation of his old accomplice.
“I won’t talk about Serge today, because I think it’s up to him to talk about it eventually when he gets the taste.” According to the latest news, the 74-year-old artist is confined to his home due to severe depression, the subject of the documentary “Outside Serge outside”.
PHOTO QMI AGENCY, MARIO BEAUREGARD
Two years of gestation
It was the co-president of Avanti Groupe, Monique Lamoureux, who suggested that Claude Meunier return to work in front of his computer, two years ago, to lay other tasty dialogues from “La petite vie” for the 30th anniversary. “I thought it was over,” said Claude Meunier who, after the original four seasons, had ended the project “because it was a lot of work” to write alone, he who also felt of “had been around”, even if the characters have never ceased to inhabit it.
The latter will of course have aged in the new episodes, but we will find the same sets, the same extravagant costumes, the laughter of the public in the studio (no, we have never used cane laughter, swore director Pierre Séguin) and there will be guests, one of the trademarks of the comedy broadcast from 1993 to 1996, in addition to the three special episodes. The covers, which have never stopped in recent decades, continue to attract hundreds of thousands of viewers every week.
PHOTO QMI AGENCY, MARIO BEAUREGARD
Claude Meunier says Moman’s fate will come as a surprise. As for his character, Ti-Mé, he mopes and misses his wife with whom he slept standing up. Rénald lives a “agonizing retirement”, Lison has landed a “secondary” job in advertising, Réjean “comes out of a strange place”, Thérèse is very spiritual, Pogo is starting to have memory problems, Caro has just returned from away and Rod also had a rough time. “I finally just followed the characters who are aging, keeping their characteristics, they are alive, in my head they exist,” suggested Claude Meunier.
Produced by Avanti-Toast, the six new episodes of “La petite vie” will be directed by Pierre Séguin and directed by Josée Fortier, two pillars from the start. They will be available on ICI TOU.TV EXTRA during the 2023-2024 season.
They said…
Claude Meunier, author and performer of Ti-Mé / Popa about the absence of Serge Thériault to whom he promised to send the new texts: “Well yes, it is a mourning. I spoke to Serge not so long ago and it’s sad, then he himself finds it sad. But he’s not there and I can’t go into the details of that. But life goes on, the family goes on.
Pierre Séguin, director: “We are going to shoot two more times in front of two different audiences, in the studio, with lighting that cannot be too targeted like in the cinema, because poles are moving around. We stay in the American sitcom which has always been done. […] The assembly will perhaps be a little tighter because we are all a little elsewhere”. He added: “We all have a Réjean, a Lison, a Caro in our family, but it’s never us!”
Marc Labrèche, alias Rénald / Pinson: “The timing is good, the intentions are good. […] Six half-hours is just perfect, you don’t stretch the sauce.
Marc Messier, alias Réjean: “The fact that Claude writes something that happens nowadays, but in the context of ‘La petite vie’, which has a timeless side too because it’s so 10th degree, it’s very funny, I can tell you it’s as funny as it was”
Josée Deschênes, alias Lison / Creton: “It’s a gift that we make and that we make ourselves!” She added: “I heard a new word, which is called “cretonner”, or to dress all in the same color!”
Bernard Fortin, alias Rod: “I’ve been told for 30 years: ‘Do you want us to do your washing!'”
Diane Lavallée, alias Thérèse “streak-wheat-from-India-potatoes”: “We all love each other, it’s family”