Universal television programmes

I knew, when coming to France, that one of the things I would miss the most about my home in England was English television. One of the things which England does best is its TV shows!

Every year in the run-up to Christmas I watch Strictly Come Dancing with my mum. Strictly Come Dancing is a talent show in which celebrities are paired with professional dancers and they compete each week to impress the judging panel by learning and performing a new ballroom or Latin dance routine. The judges give their scores out of 10 and the general public can also vote for their favourite. One celebrity couple is eliminated each week. I was saddened by the thought of missing out on the sparkly dresses and the great dance moves of some of my favourite celebrities this year.

But as it turns out, my favourite programmes on English TV have been recreated in countries all over the world! I guess what makes a hit in one country makes a hit in others too!

The French version of Strictly Come Dancing is called Danse Avec les Stars and they are very similar programmes: the opening music is the same, the celebrities open the show by walking down a similar sparkly staircase and even the judging panel is made up of similar personalities. Craig Revel Horwood, the English ‘baddie’ of the judging panel, is replaced by the French Chris Marques who gives equally low marks to the dancers. The overenthusiastic Bruno Tonioli, who is an eccentric judge on Strictly Come Dancing, is very like Jean-Marc Généreux on Danse Avec les Stars; both judges often jump up out of their seats to demonstrate to the celebrities how they should be dancing. With English music being so well known globally I often find that celebrities from the programmes in both countries dance to the same songs too. What’s more, there are even similar spin-off shows during the week to keep audiences up to date with the show-biz gossip.

And so, when I ring my mum to catch up with her, she can tell me all about what happened on Strictly Come Dancing that week and I can tell her the news from Danse Avec les Stars and it makes up for not being able to watch our favourite TV programmes together! I thoroughly recommend that you search to find the foreign versions of your favourite TV programmes. It’s a great way to learn a language!