will you watch it Bye in two days ? Then a few days later, if not the next day, the media will be full of criticism and comments about what we liked and didn’t like Bye 2022. We will certainly think of criticizing the actors, the choice of themes, the success or the opposite of certain imitations. The bankruptcy of our health care system, the provincial election campaign, the Wokist speeches, systemic racism and references to Trump’s problems in the USA should undoubtedly have a prominent place in this year’s review. ‘Year. It’s always fun to watch a show from the Bye to compare the reading of the news that is being made with ours. Of course, there is also how this is approached. Sure, criticism of the Byeit’s the New Year’s routine. as usual. But if we ask ourselves, do we prefer to play the specialist critic of the Bye of this year, which is where this tradition of coming together as a family to see the highlights of the year comes from.

the Bye by Radio Canada

Some would rightly say of the year in review, the Byethat it is an established tradition, carried on by Société Radio-Canada since 1968.

Here is the story that can be found on Wikipedia :

“The show ran every year from 1968 to 1998. Due to the retirement of the team members of the Goodbye 1997, the special did not premiere that year. However, a look back at the best Bye had been broadcast. In 1998 Daniel Lemire took over the overall structure of the Bye Bye. This was the last special until Radio-Canada hired Véronique Cloutier for a new format in 2003. 2004 was a difficult year for Cloutier and Radio-Canada decided not to repeat the experience.

Due to popular demand and the realization that TV dominance was no longer a thing on New Year’s Eve, Radio-Canada commissioned the group Rock et Belles Oreilles (RBO) to conceive a new version of the Byethat of 2006 to mark the 25th anniversary of the group. It’s also RBO that designed this Bye 2007. However, in 2008, Radio-Canada turned to Véronique Cloutier again to host and produce this year-end television review.

Before receiving the designation Byethe concept was presented under a different name, viz Hello 57!aired December 31, 1956, December 31, 1957, and then for three more years, from 1959 to 1961, it was the show In the little cafe who takes care of the year in review that is coming to an end. Others like Zero Driving, It’s Going to Burst! and Les Couche-Tards were also used for year-end specials presented to broadcasters.

The actress and humorist Dominique Michel has taken part in no fewer than seventeen Bye 30 times throughout his career, including the 1997 special Bye. This was his last bye bye. »

This is certainly confirmed by those who answered it Bye is a television-only tradition founded by Société Radio-Canada. But that’s not the whole truth. If it is true that the formula of Bye Televisuals descended from Radio-Canada and television, the newsreel tradition is a pure product of the beginnings of theater and the beginnings of the stage in Montreal in the 19th century^e Century. Let’s take a closer look.

Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1900s

The first news magazines took a big place in Montreal’s cultural scene at the beginning of the 20th century^e Century. The populace found pleasure in these new cultural products, and there was a working-class audience as well as a middle-class audience. A true theatrical tradition will emerge from these newsreels in Quebec.

Current affairs reports are heterogeneous shows consisting of several skits, songs, skits and monologues. As a rule, these reviews deal with current events in the life and social life of the time and present politicians and well-known personalities. There are also unusual characters that have been reinvented from scratch, like the character House for Rent, Electricity Scandal. The narrative framework is usually a gossip or a friend who tells a story to the audience through locations and characters.

The best review of this time according to the authors is The devil in town by Alexandre Sylvio. The press reported this spectacle as follows: “The devil has returned to earth to see what is happening there, given the large number of mortals he is taking into his realm. He walks around the city and with his two characters who accompany him, we visit the Hotel Mont-Royal, we meet at the normal hour, the radio amateur, a theater, a cinema. The situations are funny and the humor is there. Here we find the essence of Bye of today, even if the cultural product has developed significantly.

French roots

“These news magazines have strictly French roots. They were the most important cultural attractions in Montreal from 1900 to 1930 and accompanied the arrival of modernism in Quebec. We owe the first local news magazines to Montreal-based Frenchmen like the Delville brothers, Numa Blès and Lucien Boyer. After that we find an American influence through variety shows and burlesque. Alexandre Sylvio produces There are some from 1927 in there. This show features sketches, dialogue, sketches, parodies, solo or duet songs, in addition to a burlesque of modern life entitled Progress in the Year 50. (Lacasse et al., p. 103.)

Current affairs enjoyed immense success and were supplanted by radio and theater in the late 1930s, which began to gain prominence on the Montreal stages. It was not until the late 1950s, 1957 to be precise, that these television news reports began to take shape again before becoming a tradition Bye that we know so well today.

the Goodbye 2022

As I write this column, I don’t know if the Goodbye 2022 will be a good year. However, I do know that in all probability it will give a big place to the war in Ukraine, the liberty convoy that took the city of Ottawa hostage, the Quebec elections, the toastgate, the odysseys of our television. Are we going to talk about Simon Jolin-Barrett and his war with the Chief Justice? How will we deal with new censorship gurus who are more sensitive to real or imagined injustices? Authors have many options Bye who are spoiled for choice with him. Sure, the output of the Goodbye 2022 will be the subject of many comments from all observers, as well as all television programs that still have the privilege of having a listenership of more than a million viewers. But what I do know is that this Goodbye 2022 comes from an old tradition of newspaper reports, which in their time had to take a lot of criticism and even censorship from the Catholic Church. A church that disliked the light-hearted theater and snarky humor of plays The devil in town. Different times, different customs, you will tell me.

One must not forget that if the criticism of our cultural workers is sometimes harsh, we can at least console ourselves with the fact that we no longer have the censorship of the Church, although we now have that of a new, irascible left. At the beginning of 2022, let’s remember how much freedom of expression is a great value for all of us…

HEALTH, Happiness and Prosperity for 2023!

Literature Recommendations : Germain Lacasse, Johanne Massé and Bethsabée Poirier, The devil in town, Alexandre Silvio and The emergence of popular modernism in Quebec, Montreal, Montreal University Press, 2012, 306 p.

NB The text of this chronicle has already been published, but this version has been revised.