“Completely high school” graduated to TV
The delirious series Completely high school is back on your screens. But beware, the project has grown! First a web series, the show designed by Rosalie Vaillancourt and Pierre-Yves Roy-Desmarais now offers 10 episodes in a 22-minute format, on Crave.
It must be said, the first season of Completely High School,released in 2021, was a resounding success. And its concept goes back a long way. A few years ago, Rosalie Vaillancourt and Pierre-Yves Roy-Desmarais presented a show at Zoofest which they opened with a video sketch in which the duo made a parody of shows from their youth, such as Les frères Scott. The pair found the extreme drama and emotion, over-presented, found in these series funny.
This satirical humor, sometimes very silly, inspired in particular by the series of parody films Fear film, knew how to charm. The project has won prizes at several festivals, including the Canneseries, in addition to attracting more than half a million listeners on the web.
Photo credit: Crave
An important step
No wonder this series can today take it to the next level.
“I think it's great that broadcasters have decided to bring this humor, on the fine line of politically correct, to a wider audience. I never would have thought that this type of humor could be on TV,” rejoices Pierre-Luc Lafontaine, actor who joined this new version of the show, in an interview with Métro.
For comedian Katherine Levac, this is a step in the right direction. It is in our interest, according to her, to give a chance to less cautious projects: “It’s funto have this audacity. So much the better if this series can give an example.
She believes that, despite the show's parody tone, any manifestations of homophobia, sexism, or grossophobia found in it aren't even that far out of line with what was presented at the time and was considered completely normal. In this regard, by raising this ridicule, the series Complètement lycée is, according to her, “very committed”.
AndComplètement lycéeis where it belongs today, where its creators originally intended it to be.
“It's a parody of a TV show, so it makes perfect sense whether it's on TV”, proclaims Pierre-Yves Roy-Desmarais. “It's cool to see that we are in the big leagues, that we are taken seriously”, he adds.
Photo credit: Crave
Not just jokes
With this format , it was essential for the creators of the show that viewers could follow the plot presented in a coherent way, as one does when listening to a series and not as a simple succession of sketches funny, which many of the comedians involved have already delivered in the past.
“It was important that it really look like a series for teenagers with characters you cling to, who can make you go through several emotions,” says Rosalie Vaillancourt.
The author Charles-Alex Durand adds: “we start with a story that we find strong and catchy and then we graft the stupid things”.
“I had this same relationship while listening < em>The Scott Brothers, says Pierre-Yves Roy-Desmarais. I found it funny that everything was so serious and dramatic, but I still followed the story and the development of the characters. »
A crazy pleasure
The consensus is clear among all the actors interviewed by Métro: the shooting was very pleasant.
“It was so fun to do, remembers Antoine Pilon. There's a lightness to doing this thing. We work hard, but it's not serious. »
The performers would first perform their scenes in English (which in itself created some very comedic moments for the cast) and then, in turn, would go to the studio with director Alec Pronovost to record the dub in international French, as it was heard in translated productions of the 2000s.
A dubbing that allowed them, once again, to rant all sorts of nonsense, “while having to mourn certain jokes that were already funny in English”, says Katherine Levac.
“ We try to see how to translate by bringing the funniest ideas. At each stage, everyone was very open to improvisation and to the ideas of others, since everyone knows the codes of this kind of series,” she continues.
For Antoine Pilon and Pierre-Luc Lafontaine, who have already starred in the teen series Le chalet and Jérémie, it was particularly enjoyable to satirize the type of characters that they themselves have already embodied.
Rosalie Vaillancourt aspires to see her series continue for several seasons. “There are a lot of topics that we haven't covered yet.” Above all, she believes that usually, the more this kind of series advances, the more incredible things happen, towards which she wants to go. “The Scott Brothers, by the fifth season, it no longer made sense what was happening,” she laughs, enthusiastic for what's next.
High School is featured on Crave now with two new episodes every week. As of January 11, the series will begin its telecast on Noovo.
