“The Master of the Game” on TF1, presented by Laurent Ruquier, gave an impression of déjà vu

TELEVISION – A novelty that feels like déjà vu. During the broadcast on Friday October 11 of the first episode of the new TF1 show, “The Game Master”certain details did not escape viewers. It is indeed difficult to ignore some of the inspirations of this new program.

The poster, first of all, looks exactly like that of the film “At loggerheads”. Same font, same text color and above all same way of presenting the casting. The reference is not trivial: the show hosted by Laurent Ruquier wishes to create an atmosphere similar to that of the American police thriller directed by Rian Johnson. As in this film with Daniel Craig, the guests are brought together by their doubts and suspicions in a grandiose mansion. Only difference: this time, there is no corpse.

The principle is as follows: twelve personalities have received a mysterious invitation and must carry out the investigation to find the identity of their common host. The cast is essentially composed of “ of people who played police officers, investigators”, explained to Puremedias director of development and creation of the TF1 group, Julien Degroote.

We find, among the guests, the actresses Chantal Ladesou and Sarah Mortensen, as well as Frédéric Diefenthal, Arnaud Ducret and Francis Perrin. The mysterious host also invited the dancers Claire Francisci-Ducret and Elsa Bois, and three comedians: Max Boublil, Cartman, and Jeanfi Janssens. Host Valérie Damidot was also invited.

A “Game Master” reminiscent of “La casa de papel”

Thanks to clues won during events, the first six of which are “JT”, “Chameleon”, “Diving”, “I Will Survive”, “Tulips”, and “Ballroom Dance”, the guests will be able to episodes unmask the “game master”. The latter appears on the wall of 100 faces, which you can discover below.

The game master appeared on screen during the first episode anonymously, with an outfit and in a dark atmosphere reminding Internet users The Money Heist. In this Netflix series, the mysterious “Professor” recruits eight accomplices, who will hide behind identical masks and outfits, to organize a spectacular heist. It was also hidden behind a mask that the master of the game appeared during the presentation of his famous recruits.

Due to its atmosphere and settings, the show has also been compared to the program The traitors developed by M6. But for Laurent Ruquier, “the content is different”. “It’s like comparing two variety shows or two talk shows”he said in an interview with Tele-Leisure.

Furthermore, it did not escape certain fans of the Youtube star Squeezie that the location of the show had already been used by the latter to shoot a game, “Who is the murderer?” ».

Promising first audiences

The TF1 group seems in any case satisfied with this launch, and is pleased this Saturday with the audience shares achieved by its new show. The first part, broadcast at 9:10 p.m., attracted 2.67 million viewers according to figures from Médiamétrie, which corresponds to an audience share of 14.6%. The second part, which began at 10:15 p.m., captivated 2.5 million viewers, with an audience share of 19.0%.

At the same time, the broadcast of the first episode of Werewolveson Canal+, had more mixed success. The first part, broadcast unencrypted, attracted 498,000 curious people, or 2.7% audience share. Viewers will still have something to look forward to this Saturday: the launch of the new season of Star Academy is scheduled at 9:10 p.m. on TF1, while the semi-final of Beijing Express will be broadcast on M6, also from 9:10 p.m.

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