When Sylvie Lussier and Pierre Poirier finish 5th place later this year, they will perhaps say goodbye to the television industry. After seven seasons of 4 and a half…, fifteen of L’auberge du chien noir and (soon) four of the criminal-rural soap opera with Maude Guérin, the author couple feels “deadline fatigue”. “I would be surprised to write anything else,” declares Pierre Poirier firmly.
In an interview, Sylvie Lussier hesitates to completely close the door. She prefers to keep it ajar. She refuses to return to the 24-episode annual format, but could be tempted elsewhere.
“I will always write, but I would like to write without obligation of result,” she points out.
The decision to close 5th is the result of a number of factors, the authors say. In provoking a rethinking, the pandemic played a role, as did their move to Charlevoix, by the river. The arrival of three grandchildren also has something to do with it, as does “the desire to take the time”. “It’s not because we lack inspiration,” insists Sylvie Lussier.
Although they finished 5th on their own terms, Sylvie Lussier and Pierre Poirier did not find the exercise any easier. “There is not a series that we have stopped without crying,” admits Pierre Poirier. We live with characters for years, we live with humans for years, and suddenly those humans no longer exist. It always hurts a lot. »
5e rang is not the only fiction that will disappear from the airwaves at the end of the fall-winter 2023-2024 calendar. Three other departures are already confirmed: The Perfect Moments, Between Two Sheets and Without Appointment.
In each case, the decision to stop the series comes from the authors… except in that of Perfect Moments. Unlike Sylvie Lussier and Pierre Poirier, Marc Robitaille wanted to extend the adventure. TVA had other plans.
The finale of Perfect Moments will air in December, after two and a half seasons. Marc Robitaille says he toiled – with his team of six screenwriters and script-editors – to complete the series in 13 episodes. But after having “closed doors that he had opened”, the author is happy with the work accomplished. “Viewers won’t feel cheated. As authors, we feel the rush because we know where we couldn’t go and what we couldn’t do. They will think it was planned like that. »
“Our series may not have had the support it should have had from certain critics, among others, continues the author. We are happy with what we have achieved. Because it is a series that is not like the others. Our victory is to have made a series that is not a police thing, which is not a doctor thing. »
Marie-Andrée Labbé is also proud of the work accomplished on Sans rendez-vous, which will bow out in November on ICI Tou.tv Extra, before being broadcast on ICI Télé next winter. Not long ago, the author had difficulty seeing how writing a third and final season could fit into her ultra-busy schedule due to a certain busy daily life: STAT.
“I would have found it a shame to do just two. It would have hurt my heart. For the story, but also for the team. I would have been left with the impression of something unfinished. »
To achieve her goal and complete her hat trick, Marie-Andrée Labbé took great measures by retaining the services of Pascale Renaud-Hébert (M’hears-tu?) and Suzie Bouchard (Bye bye 2022) as collaborators on the script. During a brainstorming session also bringing together sexologist Myriam D. Asselin and Magalie Lépine-Blondeau, the quintet determined the broad outlines of the last 10 episodes.
Since she did not have much time to write the texts for Sans rendez-vous, Marie-Andrée Labbé admits to having “censored herself less”. “I was coming off a week off after STAT. I was a little… I was sluggish! »
For Matthieu Pepper, the decision to stop Between Two Sheets after four seasons was a natural one. And yet, the sketch comedy continues to be successful on Noovo, as does its Canadian-English adaptation.
“I felt we had to close the patent,” says the comedian. I was afraid that we would stretch the sauce and develop patterns that were too blatant. And as a creator, I wanted to challenge myself. I wanted to move on to the next project. »
For Matthieu Pepper, the post-Entre deux draps period will be made up of shows. In October, he will officially launch his first solo show, entitled En attendant la fête au village. He also reveals that he “started developing an idea for a series.”
Like Matthieu Pepper, Marc Robitaille caresses writing projects (film and series) after Les moments parfaits. But nothing is officially on the way yet, unlike Marie-Andrée Labbé, who is pursuing STAT more than full time.
As for Sylvie Lussier and Pierre Poirier, they still have six episodes of 5th place to lay. If the future seems hazy after the fact, in the meantime, their goal is clear.
“We want to finish in style,” says Sylvie Lussier. If this is our swan song, we want to sing loud. »
Authors Sylvie Lussier and Pierre Poirier announce many, many adventures for this final season. Just one look at the synopsis of the next episodes is enough to realize this. We talk in particular about Marie-Jeanne (Catherine Renaud), now eight months pregnant, who is rushed to the hospital, then the death of Joe, which still resonates in Valmont, four months later.
“We want to wrap up every character. At least the main ones. We want to find interesting destinies for them. We also want to do justice to the talent of the performers,” comments Sylvie Lussier.
The keyword of the last 12 episodes for each of the couples of Entre deux draps? Change. Things are moving as much with Antoine and Lydia as with Virginie and Marco, Marie-Ève and Luc, Jean-Pascal and Simon, Valère and Thomas, Carole and Jean-Pierre. We talk about moving, career reorientation, returning to school, aging, etc.
“It’s perhaps a reflection of everything I’m experiencing, leaving such an important project,” says comedian Matthieu Pepper. There is change… positive and heartbreaking. But it wasn’t forced. It happened naturally. »
The Perfect Moments faithful will see Louis (Émile Proulx-Cloutier) discovering fatherhood, Catherine (Catherine Trudeau) and Alex (Gabriel Sabourin) in reconciliation mode, Philippe (Jean-François Pronovost) finding his bearings, and above all, Georges (Denis Bernard ) experience health problems. The doctors talk to him about a heart transplant. “Georges is sick, confirms Marc Robitaille. His end is near. He will be forced to see his children as full adults, to ensure the handover. »
The trailer also shows new friction between Annie (Bianca Gervais) and her irresponsible father (Jean L’Italien).
It is with “an overflow” that this third and final season opens, reveals Marie-Andrée Labbé. “Sarah [Magalie Lépine-Blondeau] took a lot in the first two seasons: betrayals, lies… She decides enough is enough, and she chooses to speak out. But obviously, it comes out all wrong, it’s clumsy and it’s destructive…”
As for the patients we will meet, let us mention Jean-Philippe Wauthier in his own role, a misogynistic influencer with weak advice, and two young people with Down syndrome who want to live their sexuality freely.
