Television: "More beautiful life", it's over!

Technicians on set during the last day of filming for the television series "Plus belle la vie" at the Belle de Mai studios, in Marseille, on September 28, 2022. AFP - NICOLAS TUCAT

Text by: Isabelle Chenu Follow

3 mins

France is saying goodbye to its soap opera

, which has been broadcast on France 3 for 18 years.

Declining audiences got the better of this popular series shot in studios in Marseille and which stuck without taboos to French society.

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Plus belle la vie

 has ensured good audiences at France 3 previews for almost two decades, with peaks exceeding six million viewers.

A television adventure on which, when it was launched in 2004, few would have bet.

The series has generated an incredible breeding ground for actors, given a second life to actors who have sometimes broken down, and developed a team spirit that is rare on television.

The 4,665 episodes were always linked to current events in the country and developments in society, which allowed debates in families, since it was really the prototype of the intergenerational soap opera.

Plus belle la vie

 has also created hundreds of jobs, particularly local ones, and served as a model for the launch of other soap opera formats of the same genre (such as

 or

,

).

The air of nothing,

More beautiful life

 has dared everything

It's a bit of the paradox of this good-natured series, with its village square, its bar Le Mistral, where conflicts always end up being settled, but where all subjects are discussed.

From homosexuality to abortion, including drugs, sexual violence, transidentity, euthanasia...

A way to talk about all real-life situations in a simple, educational and sometimes therapeutic way, despite its share of far-fetched intrigue.

The highlights of the life of the country, such as the presidential elections, the baccalaureate, the major football competitions, invite themselves into the series.

We remember the first kiss between two men shown on television at prime time in 2005. Or a gay marriage, barely two months after the adoption of the Taubira law;

it was completely new in France and had been reserved until then for American series.

A reflection of France in the 2000s

Several theses by sociologists have been devoted to this series.

But wear and tear has taken its toll and ratings have plummeted in recent years.

Only 2.4 million viewers on average in 2022, no doubt the fault of competition from other French series, but also of the establishment of Netflix-type platforms, and perhaps also because the series had become too societal precisely – in the sense that she began to defend causes – which may have alienated some viewers.

What can also be said is that the longevity of the series has enabled the creation of Anglo-Saxon scriptwriting workshops.

Authors who have trained in fast television writing.

Sometimes they did it under pseudonyms, because the genre was a little despised, but all in all, it was very formative because you have to write 25 minutes of stories a day, five big plots a week, which means say two teams of screenwriters, including one dedicated to the dialogues.

 Buses visited

studios .

For fans, a last pilgrimage to the site will be possible until December.

The Marseille film studios are gradually emptying out, but remain open to the public.

Final episode on Friday evening on the small screen followed by a documentary on the

adventure .

►Read also: The madeleines of television (Media Chronicle)

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