The new comedy drama Come to the living room highlights complex family relationships and the rivalry between two brothers forced by circumstances to work together in the family business, a funeral home. The death of the uncle, owner of half of the salon, complicates things: which of the two brothers will receive his inheritance?
• Also read: Discover the cast of the new series by Jean-Michel Anctil
As in several regions of Quebec, the funeral home of the Ostiguy clan is located in the family residence. The ground floor is used for the exhibition of the bodies, the basement houses the laboratory, and there are the family quarters upstairs.
Two brothers at odds
Daniel Ostiguy (Jean-Michel Anctil), an old boy who still lives in the family residence where he works as a thanatologist, is nicknamed the Sidney Crosby of embalming. He would like to succeed his mother, Paulette (Chantal Baril), who has managed the funeral home since the death of his father. “Daniel fell into formalin when he was little,” says lead author Maxime Caron. He makes people uncomfortable; he’s not very good with the living. Let’s just say he has more talent with the dead.”
As for his brother, Luc (Louis-Philippe Dandenault), he left home at the age of 15 to pursue his dream of playing hockey. He managed to make it to the National League, in which he only played one season. “He’s a goon,” explains Maxime Caron. He made his mark with his fists more than with points. He was happy to leave his village and the living room behind, among other things because he is afraid of the dead. He enjoyed some fame during his youth, but his career is far behind him. The money hasn’t come in for a long time, and he lives beyond his means. He started businesses that didn’t work and made investments that weren’t successful either. Additionally, he repeatedly borrowed money from unsavory people.”
Affinities
According to Maxime Caron, although Daniel and Luc are fundamentally different, they are complementary. “Where Daniel is rigid, Luke is “loose”. Two of them make a man.” Indeed, although they have reached fifty, the two brothers are not quite settled in life, and their mother, aged 72, has to deal with two sons who still behave like teenagers.
The death of uncle Pierre-Guy (Vincent Bilodeau), which occurs in the first episode, pushes Luc to return home. Paulette, who is facing a labor shortage since the death of her brother-in-law, invites her son – given his financial problems – to join the family business, forcing the brothers to cooperate in living room. “It’s the funeral that brings Luc back to the village,” explains the author. As usual, he wants to borrow money from his mother, who decides not to lend him any more. She offers him a job at the funeral home instead. Luc ends up accepting and stays in the village, but his financial problems will eventually catch up with him, and his creditors will visit him. Claudio (Claude Despins), one of them, is not laughing.”
Travel, travel
Paulette, who had planned to take a vacation in Florida with her lover, Rénald (Roger Léger), finds herself forced to postpone her plan. “Throughout the series, Rénald will become obsessed: he wants to go to Florida.” Furthermore, the death of the uncle raises the question of inheritance. “The uncle owned half the salon. Will one of his nephews inherit it?” asks the author.
Camille (Emi Chicoine) comes to the village on the day of Pierre-Guy’s funeral, with whom she was to do an internship. Fascinated by the profession of embalmer, she will become Daniel’s intern and bring a little freshness to a rather austere environment.
For 10 years, Daniel has harbored a secret love for Estelle Bouquet (Myriam Fournier), the village florist who also does business with the salon. Awkward in society, he never dared to come forward, but everyone in the village knows his attraction to Estelle. “She’s a bit New Age,” confides the author, “and claims to receive visits from missing people. It will bring a kind of balance and calm.”
Later, Michaël Gouin will join the cast. A descendant of the Deschênes family, which owns a large network of mortuary parlors, he will represent a threat: a potential competitor for the Ostiguy family.
