Lhe latest rumor of a “big return” to television? The “Bigdil”, this supercharged game presented by Vincent Lagaf and followed by nearly 6 million viewers between 1998 and 2004. The host, who said in 2022 that he had been contacted by the producer of the show for a possible revival, then seemed to brush aside the idea, for fear of having to make a “sub-Bigdil”. However, the RMC Story channel will offer a “special evening” at the end of December for the 25th anniversary of the game, a way to take the temperature.
Because observers of the small screen have noticed: the 2000s are back, and their flagship programs with them. As it has reached fashion and music, “Y2K” nostalgia – or “2000s” – does not spare television. From “Star Academy” to “Only the truth that counts” via “Plus belle la vie” (back in January), the small screen seems to have become around twenty years younger.
Covid-19 had already shown it in 2020: the more uncertain and worrying the world is, the more we tend to take refuge in the past. Research has looked into the question and a German study published in 2022 in the journal Psychology of Popular Media confirmed that “people may be particularly motivated to consume nostalgic media during times of crisis”. “Looking for brands from the past in a context where we don’t really know where we’re going, between recession, wars, conflicts… It’s very reassuring for the consumer”, underlines Alexandra Vignolles, director of teaching at the Institute of Advanced Economic and Commercial Studies and author of a thesis on the influence of nostalgic perception in the relationship with brands. The winning return of the “Star Academy” in 2022 demonstrated this, “with the same codes, the same rituals, the same facilitator, the same castle, this allows us to cling to things we know”she continues.
But not all memories are good to come out of the closet: no more arguments or harsh teachers, the new “Star Academy” emphasizes cooperation between students and the kindness of the teaching staff. If M6, for its part, prepares to revive the “Bachelor”, a romantic dating reality TV show, it will be for a formula ” senior “ in which production promises ” second degree “ rather than a parade of naive young ingenues being rejected one after the other by a playboy. In the same way, it is difficult to imagine seeing the return of certain programs with a mocking or aggressive tone, such as “Everybody speaks about it”, with Thierry Ardisson, or the infernal duo of Eric (Zemmour and Naulleau) from the heyday of “On is not lying down.” Beyond the fact that nostalgia always goes with a form of idealization, the period calls for even more gentleness. “Last year, we were coming out of Covid, then there was the start of the war in Ukraine, inflation and now the war between Israel and Hamas, it is obvious that it is goodwill that is necessary “estimates Alexia Laroche-Joubert, producer of “Loft Story” and “Star Academy” when they were launched and today boss of Banijay Productions France.
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