LAX

You sound surprised…

A bad TV show starring Heather Locklear? How can this be possible? Is the Earth still turning on its axis?

Without being snide, it is kind of a given that a show produced by and starring Heather Locklear is probably going to suck bigtime.

Since I do understand just a little bit of French, my viewing options in Quebec are widely expanded. This means I can watch bad French shows (“He Shoots, He Scores” is back this year in a third incarnation), but also some really interesting and different shows.

My favourite new show this year so far is called “Tout le Monde en Parle”. It’s based on a French (from France) show that is sort of like a cross between “Politically Incorrect” and “This is Your Life”. It’s a roundtable format where guests sit and drink wine and talk about their lives and issues of the day, and also participate in wacky role-playing games (e.g Gilles Duceppe was asked to answer interview questions pretending he was Paul Martin). The host is famous quebec comedian and actor Guy A. Lepage, who is funny and smart and not too suckupy with his famous guests. There is also a clever sidekick, another comedian, who is mroe confrontational with the guests.

What was really interesting about the first show (it’s two hours) was the eclectic roster of guests, including:

- Veronique Cloutier, impressario, former MusiquePlus VJ, former host of Radio-Canada’s highest rated program La Fureur (essentially a celebrity karaoke party), whose careeer was started bu her high-powered producer father, who himself is currently facing charges for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor

- Rock star Eric Lapointe, perhaps the springsteen of Quebec

- Gilles Duceppe, leader of the Bloc Quebecois

- Anne-Marie Losique, an actress who is currently starring in a Quebec version of the Paris Hilton/Nicole Ritchie show “The Simple Life”

- Stephane Quintal, former Montreal Canadien let go by the team last year

- Nelly Arcand, a Montreal author who has become famous writing about her past experiences working as an escort

- Corneille, pop singer who came to Montreal from Rwanda in 1987; most of his family was killed in the genocide; he is now a huge superstar in France

Somehow, maybe because this is Quebec, or maybe because of the wine, or the good mix of guests, this rose above the vapidity of the normal celebrity gabfest and became something occasionally spontaneous and interesting, which is rare on TV. Parts of the show are boring and inane, too, but at least it’s different. It airs nationally on Radio-Canada Sunday nights at 8:00.