French in Action

[ahenobarbus]

Did anyone ever watch this on PBS, one of the greatest educational programs of all time? Mireille Belleau and her "jolie jupe rouge"?

For years there was an internet rumor that Valerie Allain (Mireille) was killed in a car wreck in 1997 - that was the date of her last IMDB credit until a year or so ago - but apparently she's still alive after all.

[cyclonevkc]

Mon Dieu! I was JUST thinking about this yesterday! You can always find someone here who shares your quirky interests, can't you?

I took a couple years of French in college and still have the books and audio tapes... I have seriously been thinking about tracking down the video and brushing up un petit peu.

We all thought it was pretty lame at first, but I must admit I love Mirielle and Robert and their wacky adventures in gay Paris.

[lallybroch]

I took Spanish in college and experienced cheesy educational soap opera nirvana with Destinos, so this show's just a blur now. I only remember someone not looking where they were going and flying off a bike (French in action, all right), and everybody in class laughing hysterically. And there were ugly clothes, too, even by the standards of the time.

[Ladybug]

I liked Mirreille's bratty little sister, Marie-Laure.

[carrier76]

I can't believe you guys started a thread on this. This is the program we "learned" with in French 1. It's on one of my educational cable stations at 9 p.m. on Saturdays. I've turned it on before when I'm getting ready to go out, and I may turn it on tonight and watch it since I'm sick. The professor is a weirdo. This show reminds me of the German-by-satellite class I took in high school w/ Dr. Wohler. Deutsch Heute!

[ahenobarbus]

I only remember someone not looking where they were going and flying off a bike (French in action, all right), and everybody in class laughing hysterically.

It was pretty corny (and badly acted), on the surface, but they managed to tuck a lot of subtle stuff into the dialogue. There are a lot of hidden literary references: Mireille always says "Comme c'est bizarre, comme c'est curieux, et quelle coincidence," and it was years later when I was reading The Bald Soprano that I realized it was a quote from that play.

They also poked very subtly at French and American habits. Robert eats a French breakfast, and then can't help stopping to look at food shops as he tours Paris: the implication being that Americans are weird for eating so much at breakfast.

They have all the episodes at at this site.