« Bip-bip ! » Those nostalgic for the 90s/2000s will certainly be in front of their televisions this Thursday, January 2, 2025. More than twenty years after its cessation, The Bigdil makes its comeback in prime time with always Vincent Lagaf’ at the controls. If the animator, the mechanics, the decor and Bill the Extraterrestrial do not change, the program, offered between 1998 and 2004, is no longer broadcast on TF1 but on RMC Story.
In an interview given to TV 2 WeeksVincent Lagaf’ admits that he awaited the return of Bigdil with great impatience: “Resuming the game twenty years after stopping with my team is a great source of pride. What excites me the most is to tell myself that with each project to take over Bigdil (by another presenter, editor’s note) for twenty years, no one has wanted to go there. The guys all said to themselves: ‘I’m not going behind the lit’. This is my baby”.
“Redoing Le Bigdil to make money didn’t interest me”
For this return to take effect, Vincent Lagaf’ admits: “I had to have confidence. I had said no three times because people weren’t doing it for the right reasons. Doing Le Bigdil again to make money didn’t interest me – besides, I earn seven times less than before. Then I met Antoine Henriquet (director of Ah! Production, behind the return, editor’s note) who told me he had bought the rights to the game..
The host, who recently returned to the time he almost killed Gérard Vivèsspecifies: “I told him: ‘You’re crazy, you buy the rights and you talk to me about it later!’ When he offered to take it back, I asked him if he had the means. He told me he was going to give them to himself.”. For this return of bigdil Vincent Lagaf’ imposed some conditions.
-What Vincent Lagaf’ imposed on production for the return of Bigdil on RMC Story
The facilitator explains: “It was essential that this was done with my teams and that the setting was exactly what it was on TF1. I wanted the fireman’s pole, the stairs, the saucer… Same on a human level. It’s a show that works thanks to the complicity of a group who have worked together for thirty-five years for the oldest. When I called them saying we were going back, they responded. We rediscovered the magic that existed between us.”.
On the other hand, Vincent Lagaf’ admits having made some concessions “especially financial”. He admits: “The workforce is smaller and we have had to invest in premises which are not 100% designed for television. It was also necessary to transform certain games because of security standards. Twenty years ago, we wouldn’t have asked anyone for anything. But I moved on. The only concession that I have not made is on the excess of energy. I was told to let go of the dogs”.
The Bigdil makes its comeback in a new way this Thursday, January 2, 2025 in prime time on RMC Story. The following week, the program will switch to Friday, January 10, 2025. In total, five new issues are planned.
