The “coviewing”. TV bosses insist on this word as often as guru Jean-Simon (Steve Gagnon) repeats the word “trapeze” in The breakaway. It’s super important, “coviewing”, in our programming strategy, we must focus more on “coviewing”, “coviewing” hooks the youngest to traditional TV, blah blah blah.
In French, “coviewing” means that children and parents watch the same program, at the same time, on the same device. In the good old days of UHF and Brown Jerrold, it was called watching TV with the family. But OK. With the proliferation of screens and digital platforms, this phenomenon is becoming as rare as an appearance by Jean Brière (Jeff Boudreault) in District 31.
The last television season proved the renewed strength of “coviewing”. Shows like Revolution and Masked singers have been a hit at TVA, captivating all generations. On Noovo, the show Who can sing? by Phil Roy rallied young and old alike. On Radio-Canada, the excellent quiz 100 Geniuses fulfilled the mission of sitting grandparents and grandchildren on the sofa, just like the game Brilliant ! at Télé-Québec.
You will not be surprised to learn that other similar productions will slip into the schedules for the next few weeks. Radio-Canada will put the charming and funny program into orbit on Friday, January 7 at 8 p.m. The little tanners, which derives from the British concept What Would Your Kid Do?
It’s really, really, really fun. The host Pierre Hébert knows how to talk to children without being loud or too squeaky, as Charles Lafortune did in The fan school. The comedian perfectly measures the level of mockery allowed with toddlers.
Each of the one-hour episodes of Small tanners brings together three children from 4 to 6 years old as well as their parents. To sum it up quickly, the show could have been called: Do you know what your offspring is up to when you turn your back on them? Because The little tanners does not test the children, but their parents, who try to guess how their Thomas / Éliane / Zach will act in a situation of cheating or lying.
Nothing better than an example to better understand. In a playroom filled with hidden cameras, Pierre Hébert announces to the three children that they will win slime and one squishy if they manage to pin the donkey’s tail in the right place. And the three children really want to earn slime and one squishy.
The trick? The facilitator blindfolds them with a piece of transparent fabric. Now, will the children admit to Pierre Hébert that they can see through the blindfold? Or will they pretend to be blind to put the donkey’s tail in the right place and win the prizes? Parents earn a point for predicting their child’s good behavior.
Disclosure: Children cheat far more often than they admit the truth. It’s hilarious, especially since the games are played in a good mood and not in a spirit of humiliation.
Even funnier: it is the child who chooses the final jackpot alone, without any kind of influence from his parents. On the one hand, the child is offered a trampoline, a huge dollhouse or attractive toys. On the other, there’s a high-end washer-dryer set, a $ 1,000 barbecue, or a 75-inch TV.
What do you think the child will take? Here. This is exactly the discouraged reaction that we decode on the faces of parents.
Really, they are cute, the children who participate in Small tanners. Funny, talkative and enthusiastic, they never stop surprising their parents and viewers.
On the Noovo channel, Rachid Badouri grabs the levers of the improvisation talk show Impostors, which is in line with Skeletons in the closet. It starts on Monday January 10 at 8 p.m., in the box of Who can sing?, which will return in fall 2022.
PHOTO PHILIPPE BOIVIN, THE PRESS
Rachid Badouri will pilot the show Impostors on Noovo.
Concept of Impostors, which is suitable for the whole family? Rachid Badouri welcomes three stars on its splendid circular plateau. The friendly humorist does not know the identity of his guests and discovers them at the same time as us. He does not know what the guests are going to talk about either and learns it by reading his boxes.
In the first show, Arnaud Soly confides that he refused to appear in an advertising campaign with Ricardo, PA Méthot recalls the time he played checkers with Peter Gabriel without ever recognizing him, and Mélissa Bédard presents the choir of children she directs in Quebec.
What is right or wrong about this? This is what Rachid Badouri, very comfortable in his role as host, tries to unravel.
Like the children in The little tanners, our artists are pros in the art of lying. And excellent improvisers, too.
I thought I would find the hour-long episodes a bit long, but no. Each of the guests tells three or four anecdotes, and one does not feel at all that it is necessary to fill up time.
Is it that Impostors revolutionize TV? No. Is the show fulfilling its entertainment mission? Perfectly. Did Mélissa Bédard meet James Hetfield at the Dominion hotel in Quebec? It’s up to you to find the fallacy among the last three statements. Hint: my taxes, Metallica!