Why does it seem Star Trek has not really taken off in France?

[childofdarkness]

I occasionally peruse the French Trek sites to get another perspective on things. As far as I can tell, to date there have been only 2 Star Trek conventions in France, whereas the U.S., for instance, has had cons without number. There does not seem to be a large or very vocal French fan base. Germany, on the other hand, does have a large and vocal fan base. For some reason, it seems odd to me that Trek has not gotten much of a following in France. Does anyone have ideas as to why?

 

[Joshua Howard]

Jean-Luc Picard travelled back in time to the 21st century to make sure that Trekkies of the past would not mess up his future birthplace by over-fandomizing it. There is nothing more important to him than the knowledge that, upon his retirement, there will be at least one place in the galaxy where he can go and not be chased relentlessly by fans desiring his signature on their limited edition Spock plates.

 

[Nerys Myk]

ennui

 

[Biggshow]

Not enough Jerry Lewis.

 

[JarodRussell]

Well, I like Trek, that's all I can say.

Always wondered why La Barre never called itself the future birthplace of Picard, like Riverside did with Kirk.

 

[Steve Roby]

Well, according to the French language version of wikipedia:

N'ayant été acquise par aucune chaîne en France à l'époque, cette série américaine fut doublée en français au Québec à partir de 1969 par la firme québécoise Sonolab de Montréal. Les textes en français étaient une adaptation faite par Michel Collet et par Régis Dubost qui prêtait également sa voix à M. Spock. Au Québec, cette série est connue sous le nom de Patrouille du cosmos. En France, diffusée seulement à partir de 1982 (3 ans après la sortie dans les salles du premier film), elle est connue sous son nom original Star Trek et, fait rare, est toujours diffusée avec le doublage québécois.
​

So, first, Star Trek didn't make it to TV in France until 1982, and, second, the version aired there was the Quebecois French dubbed version. I've read that Quebecois-dubbed shows and movies don't go over well in France, and vice versa; it's not unusual for movies and TV series to be dubbed separately for the two markets. So France was getting a series that was pretty old and it had the less desirable Quebec French dubbing instead of local French. That may have prevented it from catching on.

 

[Jonas Grumby]

My guess is they're still pissed off that Gerard Depardieu wasn't cast as Jean-Luc Picard.

And, of course, as Biggshow already pointed out, not enough Jerry Lewis.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Jerry would have made for some good technobabble

 

[Jonas Grumby]

^ Or just calling up to a female transporter chief for a beam up. "Hey, Laaady!!"

 

[Elias Vaughn]

I can't imagine the French were too big on giving a man who grew up in a French vineyard an English accent, either.

Also, Jerry Lewis.

 

[KimMH]

Seems like Germans who collectively seem to like orderliness and technology (at least when I was there last a jillion years ago) might be attracted to space travel and the idea of an orderly future. No idea about the French but I sure do like their fries. Oh wait never mind - those are freedom fries aren't they ?

 

[DevilEyes]

I can't imagine the French were too big on giving a man who grew up in a French vineyard an English accent, either.

Also, Jerry Lewis.

What, you think they'd prefer if he talked an American accent?

 

[Hneftafl]

Let's face it: the French are snobs. They don't seem to like much of anything that isn't French (except the aforementioned Jerry Lewis, of course). I didn't know they were even averse to things Quebecois, but it doesn't surprise me.

 

[Mysterion]

Not enough Jerry Lewis.

Or snails. Or cheese. Picard did surrender in the very first episode, though, so they shulda just latched right on to that.

 

[elbarto]

Well, according to the French language version of wikipedia:

N'ayant été acquise par aucune chaîne en France à l'époque, cette série américaine fut doublée en français au Québec à partir de 1969 par la firme québécoise Sonolab de Montréal. Les textes en français étaient une adaptation faite par Michel Collet et par Régis Dubost qui prêtait également sa voix à M. Spock. Au Québec, cette série est connue sous le nom de Patrouille du cosmos. En France, diffusée seulement à partir de 1982 (3 ans après la sortie dans les salles du premier film), elle est connue sous son nom original Star Trek et, fait rare, est toujours diffusée avec le doublage québécois.
​

So, first, Star Trek didn't make it to TV in France until 1982, and, second, the version aired there was the Quebecois French dubbed version. I've read that Quebecois-dubbed shows and movies don't go over well in France, and vice versa; it's not unusual for movies and TV series to be dubbed separately for the two markets. So France was getting a series that was pretty old and it had the less desirable Quebec French dubbing instead of local French. That may have prevented it from catching on.

i don't think the dubbing was a problem, it was a very good international french and it didn't sound too much Quebecois

 

[SFRabid]

Hmmmmm. Jerry Lewis as Data. ... That might have worked.

 

[Steve Roby]

i don't think the dubbing was a problem, it was a very good international french and it didn't sound too much Quebecois

Ah. Well, it's been a hell of a long time since I last saw Patrouille du Cosmos at my grandparents' place in Ancienne-Lorette, and I wouldn't have really picked up on the accent thing myself...

 

[I am not Spock]

I can't imagine the French were too big on giving a man who grew up in a French vineyard an English accent, either.

Also, Jerry Lewis.

This. The French probably didn't like a Brit playing a Frenchman.

 

[I am not Spock]

Picard did surrender in the very first episode, though, so they shulda just latched right on to that.

LOL!

 

[Count Zero]

Seems like Germans who collectively seem to like orderliness and technology (at least when I was there last a jillion years ago) might be attracted to space travel and the idea of an orderly future.

Gee, got any more stereotypes?

No idea about the French but I sure do like their fries. Oh wait never mind - those are freedom fries aren't they ?

Actually, they're Belgian fries, not French.


The lack of popularity of Star Trek doesn't seem too surprising to me, considering they only got it in 1982 when it must have appeared pretty outdated.
What about TNG, though, and the rest of modern Trek? The 24th century series didn't require any significant knowledge of TOS. Were those series shown in France?