The return of Intervilles without the cows? It's no for the City of Bayonne. Contacted by France Bleu Pays, the town hall ruled. Just like Dax and Mont-de-Marsan before her, the town, which took part in the game four times (in 1962, 1964, 1970, the victorious year and 1996) announced in turn that it refused to participate in the new version of the show.
After 11 years of absence, Intervilles must make its comeback on television in 2025, but without the cult cow test. A decision that does not please Bayonne which, as a “bullfighting town”, positions itself like its Landes neighbors, historic municipalities in the program. The municipality specifies that it has not been contacted by production to date.
An “inconceivable” participation
An elected official from the City of Bayonne was nevertheless contacted personally by the show's hosts: “I actually had Nagui and Bruno Guillon on the phone“, begins Olivier Alleman, “but I moved on“. The digital assistant knows Intervilles well. For good reason, he was its leader from 2007 to 2011: “I am very happy with the return of Intervilles, it is a legendary show and all new generations must discover it.”
However, he believes that it is inconceivable that his municipality would participate in the absence of the cow test : “As an elected representative from Bayonne, I join the position of all the comrades of the South-West in saying ‘let’s not distort this beautiful program’”.
Cows are in the show's DNA
Olivier Alleman who supports this decision with a historical reminder. “Intervilles was created in 1962, a year when there was no Tour de France on TV. It was General de Gaulle who asked the head of the ORTF to find an equivalent program. Guy Lux and Claude Savary relied on all the traditions of regional games to be able to create Intervilles“. The former TV host takes the example of “ventriglisse where you slide your wet body onto a tarpaulin, it's a tradition in the North and in the South-West it's cows, so the return without a cow bothers me a little since it's obviously not in the DNA itself of the program“.
The chosen one will still be in front of his screen on the day of the first broadcast, because he trusts Nagui to carry out this project. Without now three bullfighting towns used to the program, what does the production have in store for the public in its new version? For the moment, except the end of the cow test, no other element has filtered.
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