"Scoop" (1992/I) TV series

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

George Mihalka

Writers:

Arthur Holden (writer) (1992)
Fabienne Larouche (writer)

Release Date:

22 September 1998 (France)

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Macha Grenon	...	Stéphanie Rousseau
Roy Dupuis	...	Michel Gagné
Rémy Girard	...	Lionel Rivard
Francine Ruel	...	Leone Vigneault
Martin Drainville	...	Richard 'Tintin' Fortin
Raymond Bouchard	...	Paul Vézina
Michel Barrette	...	Serge Vandal
Claude Léveillée	...	Émile Rousseau
Andrée Lachapelle	...	Yolande Rousseau
René Gagnon	...	François Dumoulin
Charlotte Laurier	...	Gabriella Salvatore
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Manuel Arangue	...	Enrique Lopez
Catherine Beaudoin	...	Serveuse
Michel Beaudoin	...	Annonceur radio
Lorne Brass	...	Dr.Peterson
Yvan Canuel	...	Albert Touchette
France Castel	...	Louise Duguay
Suzanne Champagne	...	Marcelle St-Amant
Deano Clavet	...	Jimmy Fontaine
Gilles Cloutier	...	Vincent Gilbert
Philippe Cousineau	...	Claude Dion
Brian Dooley	...	Principal
Jacques Drolet	...	Pierre
Julie du Page	...	Sophie / Carla
Patrice Dussault
Jean Harvey	...	Louis Rousseau
Germain Houde	...	Rémi Chagnon
Louise Laparé	...	Monique Dubé
Plume Latraverse	...	Tramp
Denis Levasseur	...	Maisonneuve
Sophie Lorain	...	Manon Berthiaume
Fanny Mallette	...	Fille de Serge Vandal
Gabrielle Mathieu	...	Rachel Malouin
Denis Mercier	...	Gilles Bernard
Joëlle Morin	...	Alex
Richard Niquette	...	Bertrand Simard
Pierre Powers	...	Roméo Vachon
Diane Robitaille	...	Caroline
Paul Savoie	...	Claude Dubé
Yves Soutière	...	Philippe Charlebois
Jacques Tourangeau	...	(1992)

Country:

Canada

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company:

SDA Productions Inc.

Great, moving series about the written Media world

The authors of the successful "Lance et Compte" series, Fabienne Larouche and Rejean Tremblay (both real journalists), wrote this fiction about the world of journalism through its oldest form: the daily newspaper.

The intrigue evolves mainly about two caracters: Michel Gagne (Roy Dupuis, from Nikita fame...), comes fresh from rural Quebec to Montreal and gets a job in the prestigious newspaper L'Express (a send-off of real Montreal French newspaper La Presse). There, trying to find stories in all layers of society (including the Mob...), he falls in love with Stephanie Rousseau (Macha Grenon), the daughter of the newspaper magnate Emile Rousseau (Claude Leveille) who owns L'Express. Though he does not approve of this, he must resignate to his daughter's choice as the couple gives birth to the future heir of the Rousseau huge fortune, a son named Francis.

For the rest: a star journalist, Dumoulin (Rene Gagnon), wonders if his future remains with L'Express, as he is also tangled with his daughter's Alex (Joelle Morin) adventures and the love relationship he has with a sexy but tough accountant of L'Express (Sophie Lorain). The chief editor, Rivard (excellent Remy Girard), is a Lou Grant-type guy: tough but straight, always arguing with the tv critic (Francine Ruel) but at the end, stays fair (however, he's hiding a gay life...). A rather klutzy journalist, Tintin (Martin Drainville), makes also its way into this world, falling in love with a colleague called Gabriella (Charlotte Laurier). And the president of the Express, Louise Duguay (France Castel) must face a tough decision of Mr.Rousseau to include a former Union Leader, Vezina (Raymond Bouchard), to increase the sales volume of the newspaper by any means, including job cuts and the menace of a strike, as the newspaper has hidden financial problems due to new and upcoming electronic media (we are in 1992 here, Internet was just close to become a "in" thing...)

Add on some intrigues, like a Canadian government MP's suicide, the management of a boxing champ by the Mob and other stories (even hockey is involved) and you got a passionnate, moving story about the journalistic world and its implication. You might be surprised how they can influence the People's way of thinking...

I've seen all the four series and it's great. Good acting, well written, and gives you a thought of how it is hard to deliver a good story to the public...

Only journalists can do that...