It's a name that catches the eye and opens up a whole host of memories: a cult credits, a classy and popular actress and a cult supporting role.
Maguy
is undoubtedly the French series which had the greatest impact on television in the 1980s. Inspired by American sitcoms, the Antenne 2 program made the beautiful Sunday evenings of Antenne 2 from 1985. Light, amusing and choral, it must make us forget the blues of the end of the weekend and above all bring down TF1 and its legendary “7 sur 7” hosted by Anne Sinclair (first with Jean Lanzi then alone).
Mission accomplished.
To discover
TV program this evening: our selection of the day
The series narrates the adventures of Maguy Boissier, three marriages under his belt, and his little family living in Vezinet (with a real “z”).
A busy life which is disrupted by the arrival of Rose (Marthe Villalonga), the family's new housekeeper.
To interpret the lady of the house, Rosy Varte, a mixture of Chantal Nobel (
Châteauvallon
, the triumph of 1985) and Judith Light (Angela Bower in the very inspired
Madame est servie
, launched in 1984), is perfect.
A sassy middle-class woman, Maguy has many duos: with her last husband Georges (Jean-Marc Thibault), her servant (“
We have things in common, dear Rose
,” explains Maguy. “
Yes, you dirty the house, I clean it.
” , replies Villalonga), her ex-husbands (Henri Garcin and Robert Lamoureux), her daughter Carol (played by Sophie Arthur), her friend Huguette (Chantal Ladesou) or her grandson Jérôme (Tony Leteurtois).
7 million viewers
This comedy, written by two advertisers Stéphane Barbier and Jean-Guy Gingembre, is carried by laughter recorded in the American style, but without being intrusive - because ultimately, we laugh moderately.
It's a boulevard - each sequence resembles a very "At the theater tonight" skit - without explosions, witty words ("Maguy-Antoinette"), without flashes, funny situations, without the gags.
All without vulgarity - we are at 7 p.m. on the second channel in France.
The audiences are panicking: almost 7 million viewers.
“
We were applauded in the Tourmalet, as if we were the winners of the stage
,” remembered Rosy Varte in
Le Figaro
.
Maggy 1, Anne Sinclair 0.
But TF1 is organizing the response.
Already, on Saturday evenings, the first channel programs
Marc et Sophie
(with Gérard Rinaldi and Julie Arnold), a sort of
Maguy
for forty-somethings.
Same rhythm, same laugh, same success.
La Une launched in 1988,
Roll on Monday!
with Bernard Ménez, broadcast at 6:30 p.m. just before the Antenne 2 series. But Maguy resists and always resists.
In 1993, no more laughing.
The audience was halved and after 333 episodes, the series was canceled.
Other sitcoms have invaded the small screen: they are adolescent and silly (
The Girls Next Door
,
Honey and the Bees
,
Hélène and the Boys
).
Rosy Varte died in 2012 and Jean-Marc Thibault in 2017. Maguy and Georges are no longer there, but the nostalgia remains.
As the cheerful credits said: “
Maguy le jour, Maguy la nuit, it’s a poem.
A bit much, madly...she's the one we love.
»