No matter if you are in France, the United States or any other place in the world, male-female relationships are often complicated for one reason or another.  And this area is another where the French and the Americans can find common ground.  In both countries, men are often stereotyped in certain ways as are women and the essence of their relationships as affected by men’s and women’s different feelings, ideas of commitment, their families of origin, what they like to talk about and do in their free time, etc., etc. is very similar regardless of culture and language.  These differences can often be very humorous when seen from the outside.

One of my favorite French TV shows is called 1 Gars 1 Fille.  It is a comedy about the daily ongoings of a 30-something couple that lives together.  The main characters are Alex (nicknamed Chouchou) and Jean (nicknamed Loulou).  Alex represents the women of our times as she is very independent, attractive, charming, fashionable, ultra-feminist and obsessive about certain things like cleanliness and order, but still loves to cuddle, is mischievous and a bit annoying at times to the opposite sex.  Jean, on the other hand, is a typical very cool guy who likes cars, computers, sports, going out with his friends, hates his mother-in-law, the opera and intrusions into his privacy and even though he puts on a very masculine air, he ends up having to show his emotions and sensitivity at times.  He works a lot, but is very lazy at home and he loves to tease his significant other.

Just to give you an idea of the topics dealt with, some of the episode titles include “In Bed”, “Breakfast at Mother-in-Law’s”, “Shopping”, “Friends Over For Supper”, “In The Kitchen”, “In the Bathroom”, “Playing Cards”, “Playing Golf”, “Doing Exercise”, “At the Bookstore”, “At A Friend’s Wedding”, “Television Night”, “At the Bar”, “At the Spa” and “Valentine’s Day”.  There are many, many more titles as the series has been on the air for several years and some titles even have second and third parts given the amount of material that can be found in all of our ‘backyards’.

Although I found it in France, the show actually originated in Canada, where it focuses on a 40-something couple, but the idea is basically the same.  In Canada, it is a weekly 26-minute show, whereas in France it is on every day before the evening news for about 7 minutes.  Production companies in 13 countries have bought rights to the series.  Versions are also currently running on Portuguese, Greek and Spanish television.  And plans are underway to start production on shows in Italy, Germany, Israel, Bulgaria, Poland, the United Kingdom and of course the United States!

Click here to go to the official website where you can read more about the French television show 1 Gars 1 Fille.  If you happen to live in France, you can watch it Monday to Friday at 8:30 p.m. on France 4.

Watch one of the ‘Bathroom’ episodes and see what you think.

You can read more about male-female equality in France in official documents from the government of France by clicking here.

Salut les filles!