Plus belle la vie
| Plus belle la vie | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Soap opera |
| Theme music composer | Maidi Roth |
| Country of origin | France |
| Original language(s) | French |
| No. of seasons | 11 |
| No. of episodes |
2720 + 14 special (as of 27 march 2015) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Hubert Besson , Telfrance |
| Location(s) | Marseille, France |
| Running time | 24 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | France 3 |
| Picture format | 16/9 |
| Audio format | stereo |
| Original run | 30 August 2004 – present |
Plus belle la vie is a French soap opera based on an idea by Hubert Besson and characters created by Georges Desmouceaux, Bénédicte Achard, Magaly Richard-Serrano and Olivier Szulzynger. On air since August 30, 2004, it currently plays on France 3 Monday to Friday evenings at 8:15pm. The show started out with seventeen main actors and gained more over time.[1]
On July 11, 2008 Plus belle la vie aired it's one thousandth episode, a milestone in French television. The series set a second record when on June 8, 2012 it aired it's two thousandth episode.[1]
Plot
The series follows the daily lives of the inhabitants of Le Mistral as their love lives and friendships evolve. It also focuses on the criminal intrigues that certain residents of the neighbourhood are involved in. Le Mistral is a fictional neighbourhood in the Mediterranean port city of Marseille, where wealthy and less than wealthy families coexist.
Cast
| Actor | Character | Seasons |
|---|---|---|
| Colette Renard | Rachel Lévy | seasons 1 — 5 |
| Cécilia Hornus | Blanche Marci | seasons 1 — present |
| Sylvie Flepp | Mirta Torres | seasons 1 — present |
| Hélène Médigue | Charlotte Le Bihac | seasons 1 — 5 |
| Serge Dupire | Vincent Chaumette | seasons 1 — present |
| Michel Cordes | Roland Marci | seasons 1 — present |
| Thierry Ragueneau | François Marci | seasons 1 — 2 and 8 |
| Pierre Martot | Léo Castelli | seasons 1 — 9 |
| Rebecca Hampton | Céline Frémont | seasons 1 — present |
| Geoffrey Sauveaux | Lucas Marci | seasons 1 — 2 |
| Dounia Coesens | Johanna Marci | seasons 1 — present |
| Ambroise Michel | Rudy Torres | seasons 1 — 9 |
| Aurélie Vaneck | Ninon Chaumette | seasons 1 — 9 |
| Sofiane Belmouden | Malik Nassri | seasons 1 — 4 |
| Ibtissem Guerda | Aïcha Djella | season 1 |
| Lætitia Milot | Mélanie Rinato | seasons 1 — present |
| Richard Guedj | Charles-Henri Picmal | seasons 1 — 2 and 7 |
| Juliette Chêne | Juliette Frémont | seasons 1 — 4 and 8 |
| Anne Décis | Luna Torres | seasons 1 — present |
| Alexandre Fabre | Charles Frémont | seasons 1 — present |
| Laurent Kérusoré | Thomas Marci | seasons 1 — present |
| Virgile Bayle | Guillaume Lezerman | seasons 1 — present |
| Thibaud Vaneck | Nathan Lezerman | seasons 1 — present |
| Fabienne Carat | Samia Nassri | seasons 1 — present |
Impact
At first it was difficult to attract spectators. However, after striving to create more dynamic story lines, by the second season Plus belle la vie had an audience of five million viewers. On Valentine's Day 2006 a plot involving Nicolas Barrel's death drew an audience of 6,329,600.[2] On November 17, 2008, Plus belle la vie received its highest ever ratings, with over 6.8 million viewers and a 24.9% audience share.[3]
The series regularly averages an audience of 5.3 million viewers with a 23.2% audience share each weekday evening.[4]