Caméra Café
| Caméra Café | |
|---|---|
 Logo of Caméra Café, French version. | |
| Created by | Bruno Solo Yvan Le Bolloc'h Alain Kappauf |
| Starring | Bruno Solo Yvan Le Bolloc'h |
| Country of origin | France |
| Original language | French |
| No. of episodes | 700 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producer | Jean-Yves Robin |
| Camera setup | Single camera |
| Running time | 7 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | M6 |
| Release | 3 September 2001 – 31 December 2004 |
Caméra Café is a French-born format of comedy television series exported around the world. Two movie spin-offs have been made in France under the titles of Espace détente and Le Séminaire. It was originally a French television show created by Bruno Solo, Yvan Le Bolloc'h, and Alain Kappauf and it was broadcast from September 2001 to December 2004 on the M6 channel.
700 episodes of 3 minutes each have been produced and were broadcast again on M6 in 2004. The show revolves around a dysfunctional office. Its originality stems from the fact that, within the fiction, the camera is fixed into the automated coffee machine of the office space.
The title is a French pun on "Caméra Cachée", (literally "hidden camera", or Candid Camera for the related TV show).
Plot
[edit]The main originality of the series is the coffee machine, located in the relaxation area of the company, which becomes the point of view of the viewer during each episode. In front of it, parade the employees of the company "Geugène Electro Stim" (G.E.S.) all are caricatured to the grotesque humor, even cynical at times.
This place of choice allows the viewer to live from within the everyday atmosphere of the head office of a large company in the French (such as the presence of a driver for the president, a director of human resources and 'a full-time psychologist), with professional or private discussions that often turn into caricatures.
Some extras pass from time to time down the hall and sometimes serve as spectators in some skits at strategic moments.
Cast
[edit]Main
[edit]- Bruno Solo as Hervé Dumont, Purchasing director and Union representative
- Yvan Le Bolloc'h as Jean-Claude Convenant, Commercial
Secondary
[edit]- Armelle as Maéva Capucin, Head of archives and inventory and Carole's assistant
- Alexandre Pesle as Sylvain Müller, Accountant
- Jeanne Savary as Jeanne Bignon, Secretary and Jean-Guy's assistant
- Gérard Chaillou as Jean-Guy Lecointre, Chief human resources officer
- Valérie Decobert as Frédérique Castelli, Nancy's secretary
- Alain Bouzigues as Philippe Gatin, Network administrator
- Shirley Bousquet as Nancy Langeais, Chief financial officer
- Sylvie Loeillet as Carole Dussier-Belmont, Chief commercial officer
- Philippe Cura as André Markowicz, Chauffeur
- Noémie Elbaz as Julie Hassan, Switchboard operator
- Karim Adda as Vincent Schneider, Postal service employee
- Marc Andréoni as Serge Touati, Company psychologist
- Chantal Neuwirth as Annie Lepoutre, Trainee
- Tom Novembre as Stanislas Priziwielsky, Digix's accountant
- Sophie Renoir as Eva Kovalsky, Carole 's substitute during her illness
- Lucien Jean-Baptiste as Franck Marchand
Guest
[edit]- Catherine Benguigui as Mireille
- Catherine Jacob as The interior designer
- Chantal Lauby as Emma
- Valérie Mairesse as Anabelle, depressed cleaning lady
- Mathilda May as The Boss's wife
- Bruno Lochet as Didier Farjex, The chef of the canteen
- Pascal Obispo as himself
- Guillaume Depardieu as Simon, a former prisoner in reintegration
- Élie Semoun as The Security guard
- Fred Testot as The window cleaner
- Aïssa Maïga as Violette, Jean-Claude's ex
- Christelle Cornil as Yvonne, The maintenance employee
- Raphaël Lenglet as Dimitri, Eva's son
- Bruno Salomone as Thierry
- Riton Liebman as The director
- Gustave Kervern as The plumber
Adaptations
[edit]Caméra Café has seen great export success, having been adapted in:
United States of America (failed pilot) [1]
Republic of Ireland (2002–2003)
Canada / 
Quebec (2002–2012, 2021–)
Greece (2002)
Italy (2003–2008; 2011–2012; 2017)
Poland (2004)
Spain (2005–2009)
Portugal (2006–)
Philippines (2007–2009)[2]
Indonesia (2008-)
Chile (2008)
Australia
China (2008-2010)
Belgium / 
Flanders
Luxembourg
Switzerland (2008-)
Macedonia[3][4]
Brazil[5][6][7]
La Réunion, the show is both in Créole and French, depending on the origins of the characters.[8]
Colombia (2008-)[9]
Vietnam (2010-2011)
Tunisia (2013) Camera Cafe Tunisie Officiel
Turkey (2009-2010)
Morocco (2010-) the show is both in Darija and French, depending on the characters.
Algeria (2012-)
Cambodia (2012)
Romania (2015-)
Jordan (2019)
The length of an episode varies on the locale. In Quebec, where the shorter format is less prevalent than in France, episodes are 30 minutes long, commercials included (inversely, the Quebec show Un gars, une fille, originally half an hour long, was reduced to 9 minutes in its French version). Italy kept the 7 minute format and Spain chose a four - to six-minute format.[3]
Episodes
[edit]See also
[edit]General
[edit]- List of French television series
- List of Quebec television series
- List of Quebec television series imports and exports
- Culture of France
Similar works
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ https://vimeo.com/187211246 [bare URL]
- ^ Are local viewers ready for ‘Camera Café’? Archived 2011-09-30 at the Wayback Machine, Philippine Daily Inquirer, March 2, 2007
- ^ a b "Movie links for Caméra café (2001)" on the Internet Movie Database, retrieved on September 10, 2006
- ^ "Dans le monde", on the official French Caméra Café website, retrieved on September 10, 2006
- ^ "SBT official site"
- ^ In Quebec, for example, a typical episode pulls approximately 1,061,000 viewers in a population of seven and a half million people, according to Le Soleil.
- ^ "Qui formera le nouveau duo de Caméra café ?" Archived 2006-05-09 at the Wayback Machine by Richard Therrien, Le Soleil, November 3, 2005, retrieved September 9, 2006
- ^ Official website of the Réunion version on the Internet Archive, retrieved from the February 28, 2005 archive
- ^ Caracol TV, Cámara Café llega para alegrar nuestras noches Archived 2012-07-07 at archive.today, 13 November 2008, retrieved 15 November 2008
