Produced by the company EndemolShine, Les 12 coups de midi is an adaptation of the game El Legado (The Legacy in French) broadcast on the Argentinian channel Telefe. The mechanics of the original game are simple: six candidates compete on questions of general knowledge in order to win a kitty at the end of the show. Each eliminated player must give up his “inheritance” (his winnings) to the player who eliminated him.
Les 12 coups de midi is not the first French adaptation of the game El Legado. Indeed, TF1 had launched Crésus, animated by Vincent Lagaf’, between July 2005 and September 2006, whose format is very faithful to the Argentinian program with the exception of the number of candidates which was five.
If Les 12 coups de midi has kept the base of the Argentinian format, Jean-Luc Reichmann and EndemolShine have made many changes: the number of candidates to four, the presence of a champion called “maître de midi” who can return after each program won and the bonus test of the mysterious star which allows the “master of noon” to win the showcase of gifts if he manages to guess the personality, the monument or the place that hides behind the purple boxes. Jean-Luc Reichmann declares to TV Magazine that Les 12 coups de midi is not a simple adaptation but a “creadaptation”.
After 12 years of broadcasting, the famous TF1 lunchtime game has become popular with the public. But, even more incredible, Jean-Luc Reichmann revealed the origin of the name of his program which made him successful. “The 12 noon shots are because I have cuckoo clocks everywhere,” he revealed during a press conference Planet attended on June 15, 2022.
“As I was on the radio for years, I had a sacrosanct horror of arriving late. I have clocks all over the house which irritates everyone, all my children”. Between its clocks “that go ding dong” and its Big Ben chime, the unusual collection of Jean-Luc Reichmann gave inspiration to one of his sons. “When he was very small, he said ‘ah it’s the couscous of noon’. And, I called it the 12 noon shots, it went from there”.
A small family anecdote that has led to several variations, indicating the name at the stages of the show. Like “the kick-off, the heat stroke, the sunburn, the blow by blow”, gives us the host of TF1.
If the mechanics of the 12 noon shots appeal to TF1 viewers, Jean-Luc Reichmann also has a lot to do with the program’s success. At the head of the game Watch out for the step! for more than nine years, it was the host who took the initiative to raise the audience of the midday box by proposing this new adaptation of the game El Legado to the management of TF1 to cope with the success of Tout le world wants to take his place, broadcast at the same time on France 2. “I don’t think the game would survive without him. He has contributed enormously to what the format has become,” said Hervé Hubert, the producer of 12 coups de noon on TV Magazine. It was Jean-Luc Reichmann who had the idea of naming the program that way.
It is no coincidence that the number of contestants has been reduced to four contestants compared to the original format of the game. “I wanted to leave room for the contestants to express themselves. I am not here to put myself forward but to value my guests”, assures Jean-Luc Reichmann to TV Magazine. Before adding: “I like to go into each person’s universe so that it becomes a ‘game show’. It’s not just a general culture game, it’s real entertainment where everyone everyone has fun and where I have fun with people”.
A formula that is obviously very popular: more than 3.5 million viewers on average discover the stories and anecdotes of each candidate every lunchtime under the teasing gaze of the host. Some crisp or unusual sequences sometimes end up in TV zapping or bloopers!
TF1 broadcast Les 12 coups de midi for the first time on June 28, 2010. In his early days, Jean-Luc Reichmann was accompanied by an imaginary fairy named Eulalie. The character was dubbed by radio host and actress Véronique Le Nir. A bit like the “buddies” – these purple men who animate the screens of the game Watch your step! –, the animator liked the idea of being accompanied by a virtual character on the set to distill additional information on certain answers to the questions put to the candidates. “It didn’t take,” the host confessed to TV Magazine. The fairy Eulalie disappeared six months after the launch of the game to give way in January 2011 to a sparkling voice-over nicknamed Zette who quickly won her place in the hearts of game aficionados thanks to her humor and verbal jousting with Jean-Luc Reichmann. . The latter told Télé-Loisirs that the name of Zette was chosen in reference to the first name of his mother, Josette.
Behind this singular voice hides Isabelle Benhadj. Passionate about theatre, she became a presenter for the morning show of Fun Radio alongside Sam Choko at the end of the 80s before fully embarking on voice-over recording. It was while doing voiceovers for Fun Radio that she met Jean-Luc Reichmann. Before teaming up again with the host in the 12 noon shots, Isabelle Benhadj has forged a solid experience by becoming the voice-over of many programs: The Right Price, Mokshu Patamu, Defense to enter or even Witness number 1 Alongside her activities on television, she was the official voice of Bouygues Telecom and Carglass. “People are really amazed when I sing them the jingle ‘Carglass repairs, Carglass replaces’, they can’t believe it, it’s incredible the effect it produces, it’s my hit! she confided to the Sonacom site.
Do you think you can do better than Christian Quesada and his 193 participations in a row at 12 noon shots? Try your luck by becoming a candidate! How to proceed ?
There is a section on the TF1 site which explains the first part of the procedure. For details, you can call 01.49.34.50.20 or send your contact details (first name, last name, age, profession, region, telephone numbers, e-mail address) to the following address: casting12coups@endemolshine-production.fr . Casting registrations are reserved for adults only.
You will then have to wait for a response from the production so that it can give you the cities and casting dates closest to you.
Anthony Gonnet Vandepoorte, one of the authors of the site No Limits, shared his experience of the selections in a post published on April 5, 2018. He confided that he participated in the casting of Clermont-Ferrand in which he passed various tests based on the culture general, oral fluency and spontaneity in front of the camera. His profile quickly pleased the casters and was able to access the set of 12 noon shots.
If you just want to be part of the public, you can contact 01.49.34.50.10 to register.
The filming of the 12 noon shots takes place at Plaine Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis) at Studio n°107. The production of the game records several shows over half a day or more. “We start programs at half past twelve and we finish from time to time at 10:30 p.m.,” Jean-Luc Reichmann told Thierry Ardisson on the set of Salut les Terriens! on December 17, 2016.
Namely that a recording session covers 5 days of broadcasting. The filming of a single program varies between 1h15 and 1h30 for a broadcast format of 45 minutes on the air. As for the candidates of the day, they rehearse their entrance a few minutes before the start of recording with the production team. Regarding the public, some people are recruited by casters or through casting sites to make up the numbers. In exchange for their presence, these people receive a gift certificate in the amount of 10 euros offered by the production.
