Working on television programming content is something of a second life for Caroline Lemieux, who worked in broadcast design for several years. As she says, she switched from visual to content and first wrote the lyrics of The beautiful tour and web capsules Guyves receiveswhere Guy Jodoin's alter ego as a puppet cooks well for his guests.
For six years she oversaw the content of Cheater, a popular game that aired in 2000 and of which she is a judge and champion. A job that allows her to develop her humorous skills in order to surprise the guests, the viewers, but also his host who likes challenges.
Photo agency QMI, Joël Lemay
The scammer is on the 13the Season. What makes it successful?
It’s such a “feel-good” feeling. This is the first time in the day that you can “turn off the switch.” There is a childish side where everyone surprises themselves. You learn, you have fun, you see people you love. Everyone is on the same level.
How are the episodes designed?
We are a small team. I work with Simon Leblond, who designs the questions. We are like a couple. He filled a question bank with all sorts of general topics. We have almost 20,000! But when we know the artists who come to play, it's fun for us to ask questions about their interests and hobbies. We want to create an experience. The motto is “Family Festival”. We generally invite five people who know each other. We recently toured with Mathieu Baron, Peter Miller and Louis-Philippe Dandenault, who are friends. We added Marie-Ève Perron and Mylène St-Sauveur. We thought it was a good “fit” energetically. They got along like thieves! We often ask guests who they would like to play with. Here we decide on the surprise guest, an artist who comes to sing. When we received Alain Dumas, Patricia Paquin and Francis Reddy, we thought of Flash and the Telethon and invited Luc De Larochellière to sing. It's always nice to see the impact surprises have on our guests. When we welcomed the Red Bracelets gang, someone was singing about Mixmania. When Julien Clerc came to Montreal, he sang for our guests, who were fans. At the end we have seven questions per show to completely create the atmosphere. A week becomes a day.
How does it work behind the scenes? Does the madness last all day?
This energy remains during the breaks. They continue playing and looking for the impostor. Between shows they have fun and chat. For them, who are so busy, it's an opportunity to spend a day with friends and meet people. This is a show where there is no stress about performance. No matter how much they know, the only way to make money for their foundation is to discover the scammer.
What is it like working with Guy Jodoin?
The guy is super prepared. He works through the 35 questions independently in case someone asks him a question. He always has lots of ideas for guests and surprises. We “brainstorm” with him. Guy comes from improvisation, so he always says yes to ideas, even the craziest ones. Sometimes we enjoy surprising him. I decide in each episode who the imposter is. Two years ago, for April Fools' Day, I told all five players that they were the impostor.
What to expect in the year 2000e Emission?
We have an hour-long show. We play with Julie Ringuette, Sonia Vachon, Yves P. Pelletier, Dave Morissette and Jean-Michel Anctil. These are players who love gaming as much as Guy does. “Willing” people. Guy told us he didn't want any surprises. There is one per block to keep Guy always alert. We let him live dreams he never thought he would experience. We are completely in the absurd. For example, we have him as a spoon sleeping in a bed with a disguised Claude Legault in La petite vie, and that's very funny. Without knowing what's going to happen, Guy is like a little guy.
► The fraudsterduring the season from Monday to Friday 6:30 p.m. on TVA
► The impostor: the 2000eSunday, December 17, 6:30 p.m. on TVA