‘We Take the News, Then Twist and Torture It’ : Beastly Satire Tops French TV Ratings

For millions of French television viewers, the nightly news begins when Kermitterrand the Frog discusses the day’s events over aperitifs with a long-haired pig in pearls and an anxious eagle called Black Jack.

This is the “Bebete (Dumb Animals) Show,” five minutes of Gallic wit and sarcasm broadcast nightly on the private TF1 station before the 8 p.m. news and featuring France’s favorite political puppets.

The takeoff on Sesame Street’s Muppets is not intended for children only.

The undisputed star of the show is Kermitterrand, a wide-mouthed bright green frog who combines the face of President Francois Mitterrand with the body of the Muppets’ Kermit. He also is known as God.

The show has become a must for about 36% of the television audience--7.2 million homes--making it France’s most-watched show. Taxi drivers and doctors tune in, but no one follows it as closely as politicians.

A single episode can touch on half a dozen news items ranging from the firing of Daniel Barenboim as artistic director of the new Opera-Bastille to an insider-trading scandal.

“We take the news, then twist and torture it,” Jean Amadou, a well-known satirist and one of the show’s creators, said in an interview.

“By having the puppets talk in down-to-earth, everyday language we show that the coded, esoteric talk of politicians is worn out.”

Mitterrand, who is a Socialist, reportedly is amused by Kermitterrand’s ranting and raving and has aides record the frog’s antics when he can’t watch them himself. The president has also been known to regale intimates with imitations of Kermitterrand, and references to the show have crept into his speeches.

The anxious eagle, Black Jack, is a play on former Premier Jacques Chirac. The long-haired pig in pearls (Miss Piggy in the Muppets) is supposed to be Georges Marchais, the French Communist leader.

Their colorful cohorts include Rocroa the crow (Premier Michel Rocard, also a Socialist); Barzy, the kind, cuddly bear (former Premier Raymond Barre), and a curly-haired goat (Culture Minister Jack Lang).

“Please excuse this question which might seem idiotic, Oh Great Monarch of Triumph, but weren’t you supposed to be in Bulgaria today, baa-baa,” Lang the Goat asked Kermitterrand in a recent episode.

“Of course I’m in Bulgaria, puerile lamb,” Kermitterrand snaps. “What’s the point of being God, if you can’t be in two different places at the same time, eh?”

Another memorable segment found humor in the release of three French hostages from Lebanon a few days before the first round of presidential elections last May.

Charles Pasqua, interior minister in Chirac’s conservative government then in office, took the credit. Chirac was criticized on ground that he was trying to manipulate voters.

“How did you get them to release the hostages?” one incredulous puppet asked a long-tusked walrus (Pasqua).

“Simple,” the walrus replied. “I promised to give them back on Monday.”

Amadou said he never dreamed that the show would be so successful.

Kermitterrand has graced magazine covers, “Bebete” watches are the latest chic souvenir and co-creator Jean Roucas, who appears on the screen with the puppets, is stopped frequently for autographs.

“People realize more and more that politicians are conniving wheeler-dealers, on the left and the right, and we say so on the show,” said Roucas, 36, who does the voices for all the puppets.

France recently was following the news of an insider-trading scandal that touched friends and associates of Mitterrand and forced the resignation of a high-ranking Finance Ministry official.