Teacher François Plante will soon no longer be in trouble. The scathing comedy Happiness will indeed conclude at the end of its third season, expected from January on TVA.
Michel Charette, who carries the series on his shoulders with Sandrine Bisson, believes that the project could have continued “for a long time”, as the authors François Avard and Daniel Gagnon have material to sink their teeth into by examining our imperfect society, but at the same time, he is at peace with this decision.
“We went around the garden and covered several topics. We are very happy and we feel like our duty has been accomplished. I had a lot of fun playing this. We have hit many of society’s failings in the hamstrings and the authors are not shy in the third season either,” he told the QMI Agency.
Visit to the set of the very first season in November 2021 in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu: we recognize the director Alain DesRochers, the actors Sam-Éloi Girard, Michel Charette, Sandrine Bisson, the author François Avard as well as Michel productions Trudeau and Fabienne Larouche.
Joël Lemay / QMI Agency
The one we can see at the helm of a special show celebrating the 25the anniversary of the popular franchise The Boyson Sunday December 17, on TVA, still hears about the very first scene of the Happiness, when his character loses his temper (solid!) in class, insults his students and knocks over his desk. A scene which completely drained Michel Charette, but which hit the nail on the head by showing the exhaustion of teachers, several of whom are currently on an indefinite general strike.
“The filming took three hours, from all angles and with this intensity. I can tell you that at the end of the day I didn’t stay up late! I’m not an actor of half measures, so when I go there, I go there!”
This nervous breakdown caused François to leave the profession – like many teachers – and settle in the countryside to lead, he thought, a quiet life. However, he bought a farmhouse (the “cuvette”) located near a pig farm emitting strong odors, and it took him a long time to produce the book he so wanted to write.
PHOTO BY ERIC MYRE PROVIDED BY TVA
This book has now been published and François will benefit from new visibility, which will make him easy prey for unscrupulous people. “Did his novel have the expected success? You’ll have to watch the series to find out,” said the actor.
At school, François will cross swords with the Minister of Education (Philippe Laprise) in a debate and he will meet the French teacher who replaced him.
Mélanie (Sandrine Bisson) will take care of the renovations of the farmhouse, a real obstacle course for the duvet and coffee. She will also meet a “face designer” through real estate broker Karol-Ann Lapoynte-St-Jacques (Monika Pilon).
Étienne (Sam-Éloi Girard) will be happy to learn that an old telephone line will connect the bowl using a 56K modem, like in 1995… His relationship with Manon (Romane Denis) will take on an “unexpected” boost. . Carole (Louise Bombardier) and Jocelyn (Guillaume Cyr) will still be around. There will also be several flash appearances in these last 10 episodes directed by Stéphan Beaudoin (Classified secret).
Michel Charrette was also “roasted” last summer during the ComediHa! festival in Quebec. We will be able to see the result of this Grand bien-cuit on December 19, on the Vrai platform. He will also star in the new series Marco Lachanceon Noovo, and Cloakroomson AMI-Télé and Radio-Canada.
Michel Charette during the filming of his Grand bien-cuit ComediHa! on August 19, in Quebec.
Marcel Tremblay / QMI Agency
Produced by Aetios, the company of Fabienne Larouche and Michel Trudeau, in collaboration with Quebecor Content, the comedy Happiness will be back for a third and final season starting Wednesday, January 10, at 9:30 p.m., on TVA and TVA+.