Look it sort of works.
An interesting story came out over the weekend, Yann Le Gac, the man who has played Fort Boyard‘s Pere Fouras for 34 of the last 36 years, is thinking about joining close friend Olivier Minne (who is having to leave thanks to signing to a different network) out the door – basically he’s 72-years-old, it hurts to do the voice, the costume is heavy and there are so many flights of stairs, also he *really* got on with Minne and they’d often stay chatting until three in the morning during filming periods. Le Gac also works for Adventure Line in a producer and game designer capacity for things like Koh-Lanta (the domestic version of Survivor).
Minne leaving is a loss, he’s been a popular and successful frontman for the show since 2003 – over twenty years, but the story of him leaving for another network came too close to recording for him to be replaced, as such this being his last season is being acknowledged on the show. Whatsmore there are at least three people off the top of my head who could front it more than adequately (Feraud! Rovelli! Riccio!). Replacing Pere Fouras will be much harder – he’s the soul of the show, the one season in his otherwise continuous run Yann wasn’t playing him, 2002, the show was almost axed and it felt like someone cosplaying the role (actor and impressionist Didier Hervé).
What to do? Same character with a different actor is only going to invite likely unflattering comparisons, and if it happens next year they also have to deal with a new host as well. Doctor Who style regeneration? New character? It was always a pity that Francis Lalanne fell out with the show when they couldn’t have him on during COVID – his professor character felt like a natural person to pass the Master of Fort Boyard baton over to – and it’s not like this wasn’t coming! The character might be 200-years-old or whatever but the person playing him was always going to be limited.
I *suspect* the channel will be able to sweet talk him into doing one more year next year, for continuity, for the kids, to have a proper goodbye. This puts off the problem rather than solves it but at least buys time, for all we know next year might be a disaster in terms of ratings or the current high-profile renovations not going as planned and they might have to rest it anyway, then it could come back in a few years in Year Zero capacity, but I’ve always thought if they stop making it it’ll be really hard to start making again years down the line, and it’s not like loads of countries are chomping at the bit to make their own versions at the moment (this year is France and Belgium and that’s it). But if there’s one thing it will always have going for it is that you can have lots of shows that are *a bit like* Fort Boyard, but there’s only one show that has the broadcast history and the location, and that’s Fort Boyard. Until the Russians have done their knock-off, obviously.
The last episode of the season, Minne’s final episode, featuring table tennis prodigies the Lebrun Brothers and host of the recently axed Des Chiffres et Des Lettres Laurent Romejko, airs on France 2 August 30th.
Aww, Minne’s valediction episode was fun, basically the production team trying to make him cry with surprises between games (some really good guest appearances they seemed to keep secret from him, including both Riccio and LeLouch!), and Passe-Muraille trying to fast track his exit.