“Beep-beep!” More than twenty years after its last broadcast on TF1, “Le Bigdil” is reborn from its ashes on RMC Story! Vincent Lagaf’, emblematic figure of French entertainment and former host of “Juste Prix”, returns to the set which made him famous at the end of the 90s. A return which sparked real enthusiasm with more than 17,000 applications received from the announcement of the project.
The return promises to be spectacular from the first minutes. In a careful staging, the host enters in the dark, equipped with a simple flashlight. He discovers a sleeping audience and Bill’s ship hidden under a tarpaulin. A simple click on its remote control, carefully preserved for twenty years, is enough to awaken the magic. The moving reunion with Bill, the blue alien, precedes the famous gimmick: “Beep-beep!” by Vincent Lagaf’ which officially marks the return of the show. The emotion is palpable in the host, his eyes teary, visibly touched by this “outpouring of friendship and love” as he confides in the columns of Ouest-France.
The production (Ah! Production) wanted to stay as close as possible to the original formula. Almost nothing has changed, the setting is identical, as is the credits which have only been very slightly remixed. Bill, still animated by the voice of Gilles Vautier, returns with his famous curtain but also with some new features: a more rounded design and with a mobile phone. Two historical “gafettes”, Nadia Anebri and Fanny Veyrac, also accompany the host in this new adventure.
For this premiere, it’s Adrien, 26, who inaugurates the show, provoking an amused comment from the host: “I’m going to be everyone’s darling here.” The young man faces the formidable centrifuge, this legendary test where the candidate, shaken in all directions, must memorize images. His victory allows him to access the “final dil”, a historical rule of the show where the candidates are classified according to their winnings, from the most important to the least. Only winners of an event can participate and redeem their prize. A decisive moment for Adrien who, after unfortunately winning a simple game of cards worth 12 euros at the start of the show, finally leaves with a car!
The show, now weekly, is broadcast every Thursday in prime time until 10:45 p.m. “It’s as if I was doing a one-man show for 7 hours every day! Because “Bigdil” is not a show, it’s a show,” emphasizes the 65-year-old host to Ouest -France. And for good reason: broken sets, dirty jokes, arriving by car at full speed on the set, destruction of concrete with a jackhammer… The spectacle is total. A return to basics which is already causing a sensation on social networks.
“This show is just pure joy”
A successful return in time! The enthusiasm of Internet users is immediate. On X, nostalgic and enthusiastic messages are multiplying. “I’m amazed, I feel like I’m going back to my adolescence. So happy to see Bigdil again,” enthuses one tweeter. A return in time which feels good and which is widely shared: “The return of Bigdil feels so good, I feel like I’m back in 1998. The old feeling I’m feeling here “, we can read.
Nostalgia is taking over all social networks: “We go back 20 years, it reminds me of family evenings when I was a child, the crazy experience of experiencing that!”. A feeling confirmed by other messages: “It’s something to watch this show again, nothing has changed! To think that I had Bill’s stuffed animal when I was little.” Rarely has the return of an old television show caused such a reaction, this revival of “Bigdil” seems to have touched the heart of this generation of yesterday’s children who have become today’s adults.
In this wave of emotion the evening ends on a particularly moving note. Vincent Lagaf’, overwhelmed by emotion, pays a vibrant tribute to four deceased former colleagues who marked his career. With tears in his eyes, the host shares this moment of contemplation with the public, reminding us that Bigdil is much more than a simple entertainment program. A moment of sincerity which crowns this long-awaited return which seems to have touched the hearts of an entire generation of viewers.
