While season 6 of “Sam” ends tonight, a season 7 is already in writing and only awaits validation from TF1. And the plot will take place again in the countryside, as told to us by the producer of the series, Aline Panel.
What future for the school in the small village of Saint-Paul-Le-Truchon? This is the question that will arise this evening in the last two episodes of the new season 6 of Sam on TF1. With a lot of surprises and unexpected twists on the program for the characters of Natacha Lindinger, Barbara Cabrita, or even Chantal Ladesou.
And the good news for fans of the most rock’n’roll of French teachers, who left Franconville this year to make a new start in the countryside, is that all the lights seem to be green for the moment so that Sam is coming back next year for a seventh season, as confirmed by series producer Aline Panel.
“Season 7 is in the process of being written. We are always getting ahead of the game, we start writing when we are filming. And as soon as we have the audiences, TF1 confirms the production for us. And there, as the audiences are good, the channel should soon validate the production of a 7” season, explains Sam’s thinking head.
Once season 7 has been officially ordered by TF1, eight new episodes should therefore logically begin filming during the year for an expected broadcast in early 2023 on TF1. And if the end of season 6 casts doubt on the possible return of certain characters, including Sam herself, but also Anne-Marie Valadier camped by Chantal Ladesou, everyone should be back in season 7!
“Everyone wants to come back (laughs)”, admits amused Aline Panel, who seems delighted to see that all the actors loved participating in this “reboot” of Sam in the countryside. “So everyone will be there in season 7. And we stay in the countryside”. In short, a return to Franconville is not on the agenda, and that’s good.
JEAN-PHILIPPE BALTEL / AUTHENTIC PROD / TF1
A successful bet for Sam with this reboot
By relocating the plot to the countryside, and saying goodbye to many characters to welcome others embodied by Barbara Cabrita, Thierry Neuvic, Noom Diawara, or even Chantal Ladesou, TF1 and Authentic Prod were taking a real risk. But the audiences (4.05 million viewers on January 3 for the launch of season 6, or 26.8% of women responsible for purchasing under the age of 50) gave reason for all these changes.
“The bet is totally fulfilled”, enthuses Aline Panel when asked about her assessment after three evenings of broadcasting. “We are as strong in volume as season 3, stronger in housewives and replay than last season. So purely in terms of audience success, it’s a success. And in terms of esteem success too, because we had a lot of press which welcomed all the changes, while finding ourselves on what has not changed”.
For Sam’s producer, the series led by Natacha Lindinger had come to the end of a cycle in 2021, and it was therefore important to bring changes and novelty to the series in order to surprise and not tire viewers.
“I am very proud because I fought for this change. I think that too often we try to rekindle the flame too late, when it is extinguished. On the contrary, we must change things while it is a success , so that it lasts. And there I felt that we were coming to the end of the cycle. Sam was queen at home, in Franconville, everyone knew her by heart. There was a form of automatism that had installed and which took away a bit of the charm of the series”.
JEAN-PHILIPPE BALTEL / AUTHENTIC PROD/TF1
“And then I make this series to reflect on education”, continues Aline Panel. “And it’s still been seven years since we launched the series. There have been a lot of reforms, it remains a hot topic in France”.
“And there was the Covid too, and a lot of people have already changed their way of life to go to the countryside. A lot of people are wondering about nature. So I thought we had to resituate ourselves in our time, so as not to make us old-fashioned. Hence the idea of the campaign and this different school. A school frozen in time, which allows us to question the type of education we want for our children”.
“This revival after six seasons was a risk but obviously it paid off”, concludes the producer of Sam, who is also preparing to unveil season 2 of I promise you, which will arrive on January 31 on TF1 and whose first episodes are already available on Salto.
“You always have to offer surprises to viewers while preserving landmarks. We keep the students, Sam very “fish out of the water”, comedy, colorful figures. But at the same time we bring a lot of surprises and changes. Village life, which somewhat replaces Sam’s family life at home. As Sam’s children grew up, we lacked this family pillar around Sam, so we replaced it with the village life”.
A village life that we will therefore find, if all goes well, next year in season 7 of Sam on TF1.