SNL Québec

SNL Québec
GenreSketch comedy
Based onSaturday Night Live
by Lorne Michaels
Starring
Country of originCanada
Original languageFrench
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes10
Production
Production locationsMontreal, Quebec
Original release
NetworkTélé-Québec
ReleaseFebruary 8, 2014 (2014-02-08) –
March 21, 2015 (2015-03-21)

SNL Québec is a Canadian television sketch comedy series, which aired on Télé-Québec in 2014 and 2015.[1]

A French language adaptation of the influential American sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live, the series featured both translated recreations of sketches from the original series and original material written for the Quebec series: the show's first episode included a translation of the iconic Schweddy Balls sketch,[2] and a sketch in the second episode recast the leaders' debate from the 2014 provincial election as an episode of Un dîner presque parfait, the French-language version of Come Dine with Me.[3]

Cast

The show's core cast members were Katherine Levac, Virginie Fortin, Léane Labrèche-Dor, Pier-Luc Funk, Mathieu Quesnel, Guillaume Girard, Mickaël Gouin and Phil Roy.[4] Quesnel served as Les nouvelles SNL anchor for the first two episodes,[2] with Girard and Gouin taking over thereafter.

Production

Initially announced as two standalone comedy specials,[5] several further episodes were produced in 2014 and 2015 as a once-a-month series.[6] Ten episodes, nine originals and a "best-of" compilation of sketches from the earlier episodes, were broadcast overall. As advance publicity for the first two specials, hosts Louis-José Houde and Stéphane Rousseau each recorded segments in which they visited the New York City set of the original Saturday Night Live, including brief interviews with some of SNL's cast.

Episodes

No.Hosted byMusical guest(s)Original air date
1Louis-José HoudeRadio RadioFebruary 8, 2014 (2014-02-08)
2Stéphane RousseauLes Trois AccordsMarch 22, 2014 (2014-03-22)
3Normand BrathwaiteLisa LeBlancSeptember 20, 2014 (2014-09-20)
4Antoine BertrandRandom RecipeOctober 18, 2014 (2014-10-18)
5Patrick HuardDamien RobitailleNovember 22, 2014 (2014-11-22)
6Guy A. LepageDJ ChampionDecember 13, 2014 (2014-12-13)
7Véronic DicaireVéronic DicaireJanuary 31, 2015 (2015-01-31)
8Charles LafortuneAlex NevskyFebruary 21, 2015 (2015-02-21)
9Guylaine TremblayDumasMarch 21, 2015 (2015-03-21)
10Magalie Lépine-BlondeauDaniel BélangerJanuary 6, 2018 (2018-01-06)

Cancellation

Télé-Québec announced in early 2015 that due to cutbacks to its budget, the series would not be renewed for another season.[1]

Ici Radio-Canada Télé subsequently announced that it had signed the show's production team and cast to produce a new series, Le nouveau show, for that network.[7]

The show was revived for a one-time special hosted by Magalie Lépine-Blondeau, aired on January 6, 2018.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b "SNL Québec victime des compressions à Télé-Québec". Radio-Canada, March 3, 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Here's what we thought of SNL Québec". Cult MTL, February 10, 2014.
  3. ^ "SNL Québec was an honourable experiment". Cult MTL, March 24, 2014.
  4. ^ "SNL Québec: opération sauvetage réussie". La Presse, April 10, 2015.
  5. ^ "Saturday Night Live comes to Canada (en Francais)". canada.com, May 8, 2013.
  6. ^ Brendan Kelly (May 13, 2014). "SNL Quebec is returning for a second season". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  7. ^ "Radio-Canada repêche les comédiens de SNL Québec". La Presse, April 9, 2015.
  8. ^ Mathieu Valiquette, "Magalie Lépine-Blondeau et Daniel Bélanger pour le retour de SNL Québec". Ici Radio-Canada, January 3, 2018.