MONTREAL – Quebecers who want to see their own take on the popular sitcom "The Office" will have to turn to Bell ExpressVu if they want to be the first to have a look.
After originating in the United Kingdom and finding an audience in the U.S., The Office will finally be offered to Québecers in a brand new version, produced entirely in French in Québec, called La Job.
Beginning today, ExpressVu will broadcast the show to its customers months before conventional networks. The Québec adaptation, entitled La Job, stars Antoine Vézina, Sophie Cadieux, Sébastien Huberdeau and Paul Ahmarani. La Job is to air on Radio Canada in Quebec but not until after Christmas.
A total of 12, 30-minute episodes of La Job were filmed in high definition (HD) by André St-Pierre (Les Francs-tireurs). Produced by Anne-Marie Losique (IDI), in association with Radio-Canada, ARTV and Bell, this new series brings together twenty-odd Québec actors and actresses. The scripts were adapted by Ian Lauzon and Jean-Philippe Granger.
In both the United Kingdom and the United States, The Office has received numerous prizes, including an Emmy Award for best comedy.
La Job follows the fortunes, both pathetic and touching at the same time, of a small group of employees facing the joys and miseries of office life. Les Papiers Jennings Papers, the leader in the Canadian paper industry, is in the throes of reorganization and its subsidiary on Côte-de-Liesse is in danger of closing its doors permanently.
"The threat of dismissal is one source of worry, but the very 9-to-5 atmosphere of the office is undermined by another problem, which goes by the name of David Gervais (Antoine Vézina) who is, as luck would have it, the boss of the subsidiary… His peculiar management style, ‘rock’n drôle’, is a concept as obscure as his sense of humour. Find it amusing to be told that you are being sacked ‘because you stole some post-it notes’? No? David Gervais thinks it’s hilarious," says the press release.
The first two episodes of La Job will be offered to ExpressVu customers for free while subsequent episodes will sell for $2.99 for two SD episodes or $3.99 for a pair of HD episodes.
"We thrive on partnerships and we like to develop for them new ways of doing things with industry players, in order to be able to provide an extensive range of options and experiences on each of our platforms," said Nicolas Gaudreau, Bell vice-president, Québec marketing and integrated markets, in the release. "Our association with IDI for La job is an excellent example of this approach, which holds much promise for our customers and for entertainment-sector stakeholders who want to innovate along with us."
