Why Is Everyone Watching French TV Right Now?

Binge watching 'Lupin' and 'Call My Agent'? You're not alone.
Netflix/Getty/HuffPost

Vous aimez la télévision française?

You’re not alone. French TV is having a bit of a moment right now.

“Lupin,” Netflix’s French crime thriller about a heist at the Louvre, is predicted to reach 70 million households in its first month. That’s just 12 million shy of the record-breaking numbers “Bridgerton” achieved for the streaming giant.

That’s not bad for a ten-part series that requires reading subtitles or grapple with the dubbed English-language version.

And it’s not just “Lupin.” Loads of us are streaming the fourth season of French drama “Call My Agent” on Netflix, while “The Bureau” on Prime, which aired its final season last summer, is finally being discovered by a whole new audience.

So what’s with our French TV love affair?

Lupin is predicted to reach 70 million households in its first month
Netflix Sundance Now Original Series
Lupin is predicted to reach 70 million households in its first month

“Competition has been ferocious between France’s channels and producers these last few years,” explained Yves Bigot, TV producer and former editor-in-chief of the BBC’s French-themed Rapido series.

“Some of them have finally understood that they had to raise their game if they want to compete in the global television business brought on by Netflix and co.”

The New Yorker’s Alexandra Scwartz tweeted her love of “The Bureau” and shared a piece she wrote on the emergence of The “Bureau” and “Call My Agent” in the U.S.

The fourth series of Call My Agent has recently landed on Netflix.
Netflix Sundance Now Original Series
The fourth series of Call My Agent has recently landed on Netflix.

So what has France gotten so right?

“They have been studying the way that the Americans and British work and imported those techniques,” Bigot said.

“French fiction used to be made by one sole writer, one sole producer, inspired by God or the devil, very much working on their own as if they were novelists or painters,” he added.

Yves believes “Lupin” is Americanized and “The Bureau,” too, is inspired by “the very best American police shows,” which could be why, he joked, “Lupin” has received such lukewarm reviews.

Amazon's The Bureau is another French series that has found a whole new audience.
Amazon Prime
Amazon's The Bureau is another French series that has found a whole new audience.

Appealing to an international audience would have been a consideration for all of these shows, says HuffPost France entertainment editor, Louise Wessbecher.

“I think that Netflix and other streaming platforms have a big part in this success by sharing French TV all over the world, and dubbing is really easier than subtitles for a lot of people,” she said.

But Louise believes it might be a stretch labelling “Lupin” a French show.

“It’s produced by Netflix, the director is a French guy, Louis Leterrier, but he’s been working in Hollywood for years. The showrunner is British, and [actor] Omar Sy is well known abroad – so it’s more an international show,” she says.

On the other hand, Louise sees “Call My Agent” and “The Bureau” as examples of classic French TV.

Lupin is set to reach more households than Bridgerton.
Netflix Sundance Now Original Series
Lupin is set to reach more households than Bridgerton.

“For me they’re the archetype,” she said. “The setting, the dialogue and the humor are typically French, so the success abroad is more surprising.”

Netflix say they’ve seen the viewing hours of non-English content grow 90% from 2019 to 2020 in the UK, clearly indicating a rise in interest and demand for foreign storytelling.

It’s hard to assess how much of this growth is down to Netflix marketing shows like “Lupin” at UK audiences, as it won’t reveal that information, but either way, the thriller has likely whet British appetites for more French programming.

Constance Jamet, a writer for France’s Le Figaro TV Mag, agrees with Louise about the power of the streaming platform.

I think Netflix helps a lot,” she said. “It makes these dramas available to the whole world.”

Constance adds that the impact of the platform pushing out more foreign titles as well as word of mouth recommendations means “people are more ready to watch something with subtitles.”

Call My Agent
Netflix Sundance Now Original Series
Call My Agent

“‘The Bureau’ is a bit more mysterious, it is a really well-done thriller which speaks of contemporary issues,” said Constance of the show’s success.

And she believes “Call My Agent” offers something entirely different: “It’s very much a French comedy with slapstick, estrangements of the hearts and witty one liners, with a lot of French sentimentality about cinema d’auteur, the French movie Golden Age.”

Having binged already many of our favorite shows, is it simply a case of people experimenting more and taking a chance on shows they might normally pass on?

Certainly so,” believes Yves Bigot. “You go deeper into the platform’s offerings, including foreign shows. In the case of ‘Lupin,’ as with the excellent ‘Casa Del Papel’ from Spain, it also shows how Netflix can successfully promote the shows they want to make successful.”

The Bureau aired its final season last summer.
Netflix Sundance Now Original Series
The Bureau aired its final season last summer.

While Louise agrees French TV has become “a kind of trend” recently, she asserts that it’s “really not the first time that French TV is popular abroad… Once you’ve liked the atmosphere, the tone of a French TV show, you’ll be more open to others.”

And the feeling is mutual...

“I’m personally feeling the same thing with British TV,” Louise says. “I’m in love with the way you can build a dark ambiance with suspense. I’m always really enthusiastic when a friend recommends a British show.”

This article originally appeared on HuffPost UK.

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