“Here, it’s over”, sang Jean-Louis Aubert in 1989. This Monday, April 24, the third season of I promise you ended with the broadcast of the last two episodes on TF1. A few hours before this final which brought together 2.8 million followers, the first channel announced the end of the soap opera, taken from the original This Is Us broadcast in the United States, on the Puremedia site.
For three seasons (over a soundtrack from the 80s to today), I promise you told the adventures of the Gallo family. The public discovered the life of the couple Paul and Florence (Hugo Becker and Camille Lou) and their three adopted children, Maud, Michaël and Mathis (played by Marilou Berry, Guillaume Labbé and Narcisse Mame as adults). Several of them notably “bade farewell” to their characters on social networks before the final last night.
Like Marilou Berry, whose heroine participated in The Voice in the series, who shared some shooting memories on Instagram. “It is with joy that I leave Maud, Mika, Mathis and all the smala … How I loved playing this character! Finding this family for 3 years … thank you for all these meetings”, writes the daughter of Josiane Balasko quoting the members of the series team.
Same nostalgia for Camille Lou, who gave the reply to his “extraordinary partner” Hugo Becker. “Goodbye Florence, Paul, goodbye the Gallo family. And thank you for all these moments of life, these great emotions, and all this madness”, can we read on his public page. Or Guillaume Labbé who said in his short-lived 24 Hours story: “I didn’t expect to be so sad to leave Michaël Gallo. I liked growing up with him (and changing my hair style, let’s be honest…)”, he joked before concluding. “And thank you to everyone who followed us.” Planet reveals three points that could explain the end of the soap opera.
Launched in 2021, I promise you was the phenomenon series of the moment. In order to renew the catalog of fiction on TF1, the channel relied on the successful American format (with 6 seasons until 2022) to offer its French version. After 3 seasons and 32 episodes, however, we notice that the audience was constantly declining over the years.
According to figures from Médiamétrie, quoted by Puremédias, the 12 episodes of season 1 attracted an average of 4.04 million viewers. After a great success, the second salvo of a dozen episodes is back in sharp decline with only 2.74 million followers on average. Before falling to 2.68 million fans for season 3. A final component only composed of 8 episodes.
This year, I promise you came back with 8 episodes for the third season broadcast on TF1. Why such a choice of rewriting on the part of the teams of Authentic Prod, the company that produces the series? Its president Aline Panel had responded to Télé-Loisirs.
“Faced with a plethoric offer, the current trend is to reduce the number of episodes per season”, advanced the producer to our colleagues. “This allowed us to strengthen the link between the past and the present. We managed to faithfully follow season 3 of the American version by focusing on the fate of the family and sacrificing certain secondary characters”.
We also learn that certain scenes and events have been omitted from the plot in the French version compared to the American version (followed up to 12 million fans in season 2 in the United States) on NBC. A finding that has not escaped the faithful of the program, who have reacted a lot to the episodes of season 3 on social networks.
Between differences and similarities with the original version, the French series wanted to offer a more satisfying plot to viewers. Character developments, mysteries, secrets of the past and twists and turns animated this season, which aired in the spring of 2023. Did the audience take part?
Under a publication shared by TF1 on Instagram, where we find the Gallo family one last time, opinions are divided among fans. “Why not continue this series. It was great”, “Why did you end the filming of this magnificent series? The messages carried real meaning about life. Really sad. Thank you to the wonderful actors, you moved me to the tears”, can we read on the social network.
Others, less enthusiastic, were more critical of the end of the series. “The end was weird, it lacked characters”, “A priori a sloppy end, because less audience. It’s a shame…”, “I loved the 3 seasons, but I found the end a little sloppy, especially the period in 2040…”, believe these Internet users. Unless there is a potential return, such as Research Section, soon to be filmed, TF1 preferred to seal the fate of the Gallo family by canceling season 4.
