Since its launch a month ago, Martin Matte’s talk show has lost steam with almost 100,000 viewers per week.
Posted at 7:00 p.m.
The first episode, featuring Patrick Huard and his infamous Organigrain, was seen by 875,000 people. The second with Stéphane Rousseau dropped to 784,000 followers. The third, that of Pierre-Yves Roy-Desmarais, fell to 682,000 die-hard viewers, while the fourth, which welcomed Julie Le Breton, fell to 610,000 viewers. A third drop in viewership in four weeks.
We agree: the ratings for Martin Matte live are not disastrous, especially in the current context of multiplatform distribution, which is reducing the market share of traditional television. Compiling the lagged ratings, the first two episodes of the TVA talk show increased to 1,094,000 and 991,000 curious viewers, respectively. There are still people in the mass, let’s say more than at Christian Bégin in Télé-Québec.
Nevertheless, the downward trend at Martin Matte Live is not slowing down and is certainly worrying the station bosses who have placed a lot of faith in their comical headliner.
PHOTO TAKEN FROM THE SHOW’S FACEBOOK PAGE
Martin Matte received Pierre-Yves Roy-Desmarais in the third episode.
There remains a significant gap between the character of Martin Matte’s wild and extremely self-confident man and the content of his show, which does not do justice to the arrogance he displays.
That’s where it sticks, I think. Martin Matte cannot call him an “excellent presenter” or “best presenter”, even if it is mockery or exaggeration, and conduct such an incoherent and choppy interview with the young comedian Pierre-Yves Roy-Desmarais. That doesn’t work, and people at home notice that quickly.
If he is truly superior to his comrades, he should prove it in his work. Point bar. The figure of the “man who has his affairs under control” has served Martin Matte for years and inspires his work as a comedian. Translated into a talk show context, a television exercise that requires more humility and involves singling out someone other than oneself, this haughty character reaches his limits.
Martin Matte had a sincere and lively exchange with Julie Le Breton, who was a guest last Thursday. We didn’t feel like he was trying to pull out a pre-written joke or hit at any cost. It must be said that Julie Le Breton, a golden guest, did not hesitate to reinterpret the presenter when he spoke to her about his fear of aging on screen, a topic that he did not discuss with Patrick Huard, for example.
The fourth episode of Martin Matte Live was unfortunately spoiled in the teleprompter sketch at the end. In the lines written in advance for Julie Le Breton, she talked about her heavy periods, which resemble the Saguenay flood – a real crime scene! – when menopause approaches.
Was it necessary to go below the belt to make the audience laugh? Not so much, no. It was funnier when Julie Le Breton made fun of non-actor Martin Matte on the set of Beaux malaises.
Clip to this section on the teleprompter: Martin Matte did not borrow it from Marc Labrèche’s show “I’m coming to you”. In December 2022, Martin Matte tested this concept with Fabien Cloutier and posted an excerpt on his Facebook page in March, just before I come to you on Noovo. End of the paternity bracket.
What Martin Matte does best on his talk show? The opening numbers, which mix elements of current affairs with jokes about Masked Singers. He goes through the introduction with a good mix of intelligence, arrogance and elegance.
What works less well: the sketch series The Last Link, which doesn’t work despite all the talent it brings together: Geneviève Schmidt, Isabel Richer, Roy Dupuis, Marc Labrèche, Matthieu Pepper, Jean-François Provençal and Marie-Lyne Joncas . It’s not particularly funny.
The collaborators, including Pierre Brassard, Maude Landry and Katherine Levac, are doing well, as is Les Appendeux. Martin Matte also tests pantomimes and improvisation games to escape the rigid framework of the traditional interview. It’s okay, he’s trying things. Another positive point: his burst questionnaire always contains some well-delivered nonsense, like this one to Pierre-Yves Roy-Desmarais: “Would you rather be poor and happy or be rich and play another season of Sans rancune?” That’s the one drooling Martin Matte, who we love.
Stéphane Rousseau learned the hard way at V in 2018: running a talk show is complex and challenging. Martin Matte is currently in a strange situation. He cannot take a step back and behave modestly because that is the complete opposite of his public image. Nor can he limit himself to the position of the condemned to excellence, since there is a lack of evidence in his file.