They grew up with Vrak, followed all the cult series that made it famous, from A grenade with that? at Mixmania. Less than a month before its withdrawal from the airwaves, ex-loyalists remember the golden age of the evil channel.
After all these years, Andréanne Leblanc-Demers is surprised not to have forgotten anything. The show schedule, lines from his favorite comedians — even the lyrics to the song where Jon mourns the removal of his third nipple in an episode of Once Upon a Time in Trouble. “Vrak is the summary of my adolescence. I listened to all the shows, even the weekend reruns! exclaims the 25-year-old.
This fall, it is a part of his youth that will disappear. A section of a whole generation as well. Vrak will be taken off the air on October 1, as recently announced by Bell Media. In recent years, the specialty channel was only a shadow of what it once was: an unparalleled meeting place for young Quebecers.
Nevertheless, the announcement of his withdrawal from the airwaves caused a shock wave. For a whole generation of teenagers who grew up with “station 16” on all day long, a symbol dies. As a final tribute to the channel, former followers shared their best memories of Vrak at La Presse.
You had to grow up at the beginning of the millennium to experience the reign of Vrak. It was the good years of the chain, the time when all the young people shared the same routine after school. “As soon as I got home, I was listening to Vrak! says Sabrina Langlois, 29.
His favorite show? The psychosocial worker struggles to choose. Too difficult. She really liked Phenomenon Raven. And once upon a time he was in trouble. And In a galaxy near you.
As a teenager, she even had the chance to participate in the program Ça plane pour moi, in which the host, Alexandre Morais, organized a surprise party for a young person. “I loved Quebec shows that gave young people the opportunity to experience stuff,” says Sabrina Langlois.
In 2001, Vrak.TV replaced Canal Famille, whose audience ratings had been falling since the arrival of Télétoon. With a new image and new programming, the channel targeted preteens and teens.
For more than a decade, the specialty channel has chained the successes, Mixmania, Frank vs Girard, Bad change, Vrak la vie, without forgetting the holy Trinity, Once upon a time in trouble, A grenade with that? and In a Galaxy Near You, whose reruns aired until 2006.
There have been a few hiccups along the way (Anomalous, does that ring a bell?), but nothing to tarnish its impressive catalog. Even that is what made the mark of Vrak, this willingness to take risks, to explore fragmented concepts, even if it means sometimes missing the mark. “It was one hit after another. Once in a while, a program did not rise, but there was this possibility of trying, “said Simon Portelance, humorist and co-author of the book Génération Canal Famille.
As a child, he experienced the transition from Canal Famille to Vrak.TV.
In Quebec, Vrak was one of a kind. Both a laboratory for artists at the start of their career and a meeting place for young people. “Nothing looks like that today for teenagers,” said Sabrina Langlois.
Nor can we talk about Vrak without talking about Karv l’anti-gala, who arrived in the media landscape in 2004. You should have seen the thousands of teenage girls gathering in front of the Théâtre Denise-Pelletier, in Montreal, in the hope to see Joey Scarpellino, Yan England or Mariloup Wolfe on the red carpet.
Each summer, the cult event of the channel gave young people the chance to vote for the actors who would form the most beautiful couple or the Quebec personality they would like to have as a mother or father.
Andréanne Leblanc-Demers attended the anti-gala twice, including her last presentation in 2015.
That’s what hurts the most about unplugging the bad channel. The lost closeness between teenagers and their idols. When she was younger, she communicated regularly on social networks with her model, the animator Pascal Morrissette, who motivated her to continue school in difficult times.
Now, young people become attached to the actors of big budget series produced by Netflix or Prime. “You can’t have the same closeness with artists who have 100 million followers on Instagram,” she laments.
Today, the good years of Vrak already seem far away. In recent years, the channel offered almost no original content, its programming mainly comprising American series. Since 2016, Vrak has been trying to reposition itself in the television landscape by presenting more mature content, aimed at young adults, which has not prevented the channel from slowly dying. “It’s been five years since Vrak has done anything for young people. Maybe it’s a good thing they’re unplugging it,” Portelance said.
At the very least, his retirement from the air will have achieved what has long been lost, “productions that hook young people to Quebec culture,” he says.
Simon Portelance has no illusions. The days of young people all watching the same episode of Once Upon a Time in Trouble at the same time will not return. But it’s not too late to bring young people back to Quebec shows, he believes. Just be inventive. And to pick up young people where they are. Online. “The end of Vrak is the first domino to fall. Others will fall. Something has to be done to make our programs more accessible to young people. »
On the air since 1988, the Canal Famille channel is changing its identity. On January 2, at 7 p.m., it officially becomes Vrak.TV with the aim of reviving the declining ratings since the arrival of Télétoon.
It’s Mixmania fever! Two groups of four girls and four boys compete in a musical competition. The unexpectedly successful finale of the show attracts 700,000 viewers.
The same year, the first episode of the cult series A grenade with that? is broadcast on the airwaves of Vrak. The Captain Creighton employees would remain on screen for nearly ten years.
The broadcast of the first Karv l’anti-gala marks the beginning of a long tradition on Vrak’s airwaves. Comedian Louis-José Houde is the winner of this first edition hosted by Patrick Groulx.
Once Upon a Time in Trouble makes its debut in Vrak’s fall lineup. In total, the series will have more than 250 episodes.
Bell acquires Astral Media, which operates Vrak.TV, for $3.2 billion.
The channel is renamed Vrak. This is also the start of Vrak2, whose content is aimed at a more mature audience and is broadcast in the evening.
One of the channel’s latest major Quebec productions is added to the lineup: Le chalet. Like Jérémie, the series is a great success and will be broadcast until 2019.
Official end of Vrak, which will be taken off the air.
