La Petite Vie

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Canadian TV series or program

La Petite Vie
Created by	Claude Meunier
Country of origin	Canada
Original language	French
No. of episodes	59
Production
Running time	23 minutes
Original release
Network	Radio-Canada
Release	1993 (1993) – 1999 (1999)

La petite vie was first a stage sketch of the comedy duo Ding et Dong, formed by Claude Meunier and Serge Thériault, and later a hit Quebec television sitcom aired by Radio-Canada from 1993 to 1999. In total, 59 episodes were created plus 3 specials, two for Christmas and one for New Year's 2000.

Widely considered a classic of the Quebec television, it was the first Canadian TV show (of either English or French language) to ever gather more than 4 million viewers, a performance it achieved twice in 1995 (since surpassed by Bye Bye 2018 with 4.41 million).^[1]

A new 6-episode series will be aired in early 2024 featuring nearly all the main actors except Serge Thériault, who made a cameo appearance at the end of the final episode.

Synopsis

The stories of La petite vie, sketch and television show, revolve around the strange couple simply known as Pôpa and Môman (Quebec Joual for pa and ma). The sketch was memorable for the pillow talk scenes with the beds comically placed straight up so the actors, seemingly laid on the bed but still standing (a pun with the French saying «histoire à dormir debout» "story to sleep standing-up", a story that doesn’t make sense), would be clearly visible to the theater public. This would be kept in the sitcom, where the context made it even more surreal.

While the sketch usually featured only the couple, the sitcom introduced a vast array of relatives, creating very bizarre but endearing caricature of a Québécois working class family.