Meilleur, which is aptly named, then goes from best to worst, from hero to zero. The man known for his kindness and gentleness then becomes, in the eyes of his hitherto unconditional audience, the worst of the violent, who now nickname him “dog beater.”
Because as we all know, our society tolerates violence against anyone, especially not against an animal!
The affair takes on disproportionate proportions; Poor Biscuit – who nevertheless bit him badly in front of the cameras – becomes the new victim that the news media of the province and even beyond have been waiting for, and Antoine Meilleur, his heartless executioner.
This is the starting point for Temps de chien, a new comedy by François Bellefeuille and Olivier Thivierge, whose 12 30-minute episodes will be available on ICI Tou.tv Extra on Thursday November 16th and then broadcast on ICI Télé on Wednesdays from January will be 9:30 p.m
Before becoming a comedian, François Bellefeuille worked as a veterinarian, a field he knows well enough to describe the dangers.
On Sunday night’s “Everyone’s Talking About” show, he talked about a high suicide rate among vets, a very sad reality, but his show will not address that topic. We’re still dealing with the shortage of vets from the first episode, while Meilleur has to endure the worst of the incompetents among his staff.
Since his business partner Manon (Nathalie Breuer) strongly suggests that he go into exile on the Magdalene Islands in order to be forgotten, a large part of the series was filmed there, in François’ real house: Bellefeuille.
A shoot that wasn’t easy, especially since the weather didn’t cooperate at all because of the tourism, as you’ll see in the first episodes. It really was a hell of a time! However, we are promised beautiful sunsets and postcard landscapes afterwards.
Due to his bad reputation, Antoine Meilleur is very poorly received on the islands, where they even refuse to sell him a single lobster. It’s only fair if we agree to let him use the phone in the supermarket, and then again.
His stay there may drag on longer than expected when declining local vet Armand Lapierre (Gaston Lepage) is asked to give him his place. Without the resources of the big city, Antoine will have a lot of work to do.
Émilie Bibeau plays Meilleur’s wife Kim, a psychologist specializing in couple relationships. Together they have a son, Félix, played by Tom Gohier, who was cute in milk commercials during Christmas 2020.
The scandal will bring the vet, who let his career get the better of him, closer to his family.
Besides, this mishap could be good and bring him back to basics, while things at Meilleur Santé Animale, his company, got too big and we no longer know what derivative product to invent to satisfy the public.
The next idea in the running: a relaxation center for dogs where you can get a massage together with your pet.
Add to this keto dog treats that turn out to be poisonous, and you have another nasty scandal on your hands.
Meilleur’s archenemy, Dr. Jolicoeur (Ariel Ifergan), will see this as the perfect opportunity to steal his colleague’s status and in return become the Ricardo of animal health.
While the whole thing is nice and unpretentious, I can’t say I enjoyed watching the first three episodes.
There are some good flashes – the marketing of the “Je suis Biscuit” eye patch to support the beaten dog – but it lacks a little finesse and is often very large.
On the islands, Antoine Meilleur has one of the craziest neighbors, Stéphane (Robin-Joël Cool), who lives in a trailer and invites himself to use his toilet. A kind of New Brunswick poet straight from a surprise box.
The comedian offers a fairly folkloric vision of the places, which he believes corresponds to reality. Producer Guillaume Lspérance also believes that local people will appreciate it.
“It was done with a lot of love and a lot of respect,” says the man who also produces “Conversations with My Parents.”
In particular, we avoided imitating the Madelinot accent. “There is nothing worse for them, it is insulting.” We included as many people from the islands as possible in the series,” explains François Bellefeuille.
The comedian, who insisted on continuing to perform on stage while working on “Temps de chien”, had to forego his participation in “Bye bye”, where we will not see him this year.
A second season of Dog Time is currently being written. François Bellefeuille particularly wants to address the climate changes that are affecting the islands and could potentially force him to move his own house as the erosion of the banks threatens him.
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