The series of the week | In a galaxy near you: 25 years of mission: nostalgic in orbit

In 1999, In a galaxy near you landed on the airwaves of the defunct Canal Famille. An entire generation grew up – and laughed a lot – following the crew of the Romano Fafard who was looking for a planet “to move six billion tatas”. Why was the series so successful? The host, comedian and fan of the show Matthieu Pepper examines the question in the three-episode documentary In a galaxy near you: 25 years of mission. Overview.

Back in the past

To begin his quest, Matthieu Pepper goes “where it all began”, to the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM), in the company of the creators of the series Pierre-Yves Bernard and Claude Legault. In the 1980s, it was here that the two friends met to write, even if they did not study there. In 1991, they submitted their project to different production companies. “It would never work in Quebec”, they are told, reveals Pierre-Yves Bernard. Stroke of luck, perseverance and support from various players in the sector, including Monic Lessard, vice-president of Canal Famille from 1994 to 2000, enabled the takeoff of the Romano Fafard, we learn, through the interviews presented in the documentary. And this, despite a catastrophic pilot episode filmed in “international French”, which was poorly received by the participants of a discussion group (focus group).

Great camaraderie

We suspected that it existed, but the documentary confirms it: a beautiful camaraderie links all the actors of In a galaxy near you. “It’s really like brothers and sisters,” says Guy Jodoin, during a segment where all the performers are gathered around a large table. This complicity is visible in the interviews carried out for the documentary, but especially in the numerous archive videos which will take fans back into their memories. We savor the different blooperslike this moment when Stéphane Crête is incapable of not laughing, while Guy Jodoin and Didier Lucien are in front of him dressed in cropped shirts with puffy, colorful sleeves.

Original crew

For those nostalgic, the documentary is also an opportunity to see three actors from the first season again: Pascale Montpetit (the doctor Mirabella), Paul Ahmarani (the mercenary Falbo) and Isabelle Brossard (the psychologist Valence, role subsequently taken over by Sylvie Moreau) . It was mainly scheduling problems that led them to withdraw from In a galaxy near you. “I had no choice, but I regret my choice,” confides Pascale Montpetit, her eyes moist.

Surprising revelations

The documentary includes some surprising revelations. Why did the authors integrate the concept of regeneration into the series, these periods where a character is absent from the screen because he is replenishing his energy? Because Claude Legault could not film in the first six episodes of the series since he had an advertising contract with the Labatt company. We also learn that the actor and author would have liked to write a fifth season, but that his accomplice Pierre-Yves Bernard preferred to move on.

Message still relevant

In 2019, during the climate march in Montreal with Greta Thunberg, many demonstrators held signs that referred to In a galaxy near you, underlines the documentary. “That’s when I understood the scope of this series,” says Guy Jodoin. Even though it was a show with absurd humor, it raised awareness among many young people (and those not so young) about the environmental cause. Claude Legault is saddened, however, that the starting point of the series according to which “the Earth is dying under the rays of the Sun” seems little by little to become a prophecy. “It’s crazy that we were talking about that on a TV show in the 1990s and that 25 years later, it’s the same message,” underlines aerospace engineer Farah Alibay, in the documentary.

Impact on a generation

Like her, many thirty-somethings, who were teenagers at the time of the first broadcasts, were marked by In a galaxy near you. Matthieu Pepper admits to having “fell in love with humor” thanks to the show. Even years after the broadcast of the series (from 1999 to 2002) and the release of the two films (2004 and 2008), the fans remain numerous and the enthusiasm around In a galaxy near you persists. “People talk to me about it almost every day,” says Guy Jodoin. And we will surely continue to talk to him about it, because a third film is in preparation.

The documentary series In a galaxy near you: 25 years of mission is available on Crave. It is also possible to rewatch the four seasons of the show on the TV5 Unis website.