Why French shows are so in vogue
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Spiral (Engrenages)
Stuart Kemp explores why the UK is not alone in enjoying an affaire du coeur with French TV BBC
hrough the comedy- drama chic of Call My Agent! (Dix Pour Cent), the down and dirty cop-show grit of Spiral (Engrenages), the adventures of gentleman thief Assane Diop in Lupin or the political thrills and spills of The Bureau, international viewers are devouring subtitled French sass with gusto. But this current crop of French hits does not share a formula or any commonality of genre or theme. “What the successful international French shows have in common is that they have nothing in common,” says Frédéric Pittoors d’Haveskercke, a Paris-based executive producer and go-to fixer, who helps European producers develop their international slates and development projects. What they all share is being “absolutely, quintessentially French”, says Walter Iuzzolino of Walter Presents, the international TV drama partnership between Channel 4 and the acquisitions and distribution company Global Series Network. “The shows all have a funny, blasé, raucous sense of humour. And they don’t mind stabbing a cigarette in your hand if you irritate them,” he suggests. Dominic Schreiber, SVP for co- productions and acquisitions at Newen Connect (the distribution arm of TF1 Group-owned Newen), agrees: “Even with the sound down and the subtitles off, you could look at a show such as Call My Agent! and know that it is French.” Vive la différence, then. Sometimes, efforts to capture Frenchness have caused Gallic shrugs among subjects and audiences alike: Emily in Paris, a comedy-drama streaming series created by Darren Star, debuted on Netflix in October 2020. The show stars Lily Collins as an American who moves to Paris to work for a French marketing firm, and it was criticised for its stereotypical view of all things French.
