The famous TV host, who left us on August 7, 2024, invented and carried during his long career games that wrote the history of the small screen. Madelen invites you to watch or rewatch some cult excerpts.
Fate has decided so. Patrice Laffont, who left us this summer, will not be on the set next week. Numbers and letters on the occasion of the filming of a final show, 52 years after the start of an adventure which is at the origin of his long television career.
It all began in 1972 when Pierre Sabbagh, recently appointed head of the second channel, asked Armand Jammot to take over The longest worda game show broadcast between 1965 and 1970. The producer smiles as he reminds his interlocutor of the origin of this formula. He had an appointment with an ORTF executive to talk to him about an idea, but in the taxi that was taking him to rue Cognacq-Jay, he had another one. Forgetting the first one, he suggests The seven letters,– who will become The Longest Word –without imagining for a single moment its future impact.
Watch the videoPatrice Laffont, the host and producer, died at the age of 84
On the occasion of this revival, Armand Jammot decided to give it an additional dimension by introducing a notion of calculation. This is how Numbers and letters. Keen to modernize the whole thing, he did not renew the original animators, Jean Valton and Christine Fabrega. The idea of entrusting the presentation to Patrice Laffont immediately came to mind. Jammot had met him at the end of the 60s, while working with him on the design of a games box. The longest wordedited by Robert Laffont, Patrice’s father. He immediately perceived in the then-actor a relaxed manner and a sense of humor that could reach a wide audience. As a test bench, he entrusted him with the production of a series of reports for Today madama daily show aimed at women, broadcast on the second channel.
The test is successful. Numbers and letters begins on January 4, 1972. Madelen invites you to discover or rediscover the first broadcast where Patrice Laffont recalls the rules of the longest word »and explains that of the account is good. He introduces Marie Noëlle Bocquillon, who is responsible for arranging on a board the six numbers, drawn at random, and the number that the candidates must get as close as possible. Finally, Max Favalelli adds details on the acceptance or refusal of certain words.
Concentration requires sobriety. The host pulls the letters from a shoe placed in front of him, arranges them before finding himself on screen for 45 seconds, without really knowing what to do. This is how Patrice quickly asks the director to multiply the cutaways on his accomplices or on the candidates.
At a time when there was no concern yet for the defense of the French language, the success exceeded the most optimistic forecasts. In addition to a high audience in the late afternoon on the small screen, cups and tournaments began to be added on screen, but also off-air, throughout France, organized by amateurs. Clubs were formed and the box inspired by the game became one of the best-selling Christmas gifts in stores. “I didn’t think it would last this long”admitted Patrice who, after 17 years, chose to pass the torch to Laurent Cabrol. As a farewell gift, he was given a clog that he would piously keep at home. He would make his comeback in the year 2000, but behind the scenes, taking over from Armand Jammot, who died in 1998. He became the producer of a formula that he would regularly develop by adapting it to the television rhythm of the time.
In the meantime, he presented other shows that were also successful. In 1977, he created a Five columns in the headlines for teenagers, baptized One in five. Every Wednesday, he provided the link between young columnists around current topics, from unemployment to the death penalty, including the hit parade. Between 1991 and 2004, he found himself every morning at the controls of Pyramid. This meeting fascinated him so much that, often, he played at the same time as the candidates and forgot to speak again afterwards!. It was also at this time that Jacques Antoine offered to entrust him with the keys to an innovative concept, the mechanics of which were built from a set. The perplexity of professionals judging this formula suicidal, made him hesitate for a short moment. He ended up agreeing to wipe the plasters of Fort Boyard. He never regretted it. Neither did the viewers.
