Bonjour! Allô! Salut!note
Téléfrançais! is a French-language Canadian Edutainment Show produced by TVOntario from 1984 to 1986 that ran for 30 episodes. The series was made as a tool to help teach French as a second language to children, especially in Canadian and American schools.
It follows two children named Jacques and Sophie, as well as their talking pineapple friend Ananas, solving problems and having everyday adventures. Sophie would later move away, with another girl named Catherine taking her place. Other recurring characters include the pilot Pilote, her cousin Ginette, and the skeleton band Les Squelettes.
Oh, alors cinq secondes: cinq, quatre, trois, deux, un zéro. Commençons ! C'est l'heure !
- Ambiguous Gender: Ananas has a gender neutral voice and also seems to be wearing lipstick and have long eyelashes. However, he has been addressed as Monsieur Ananas, so he is probably male.
- Animated Credits Opening: The title theme is animated, and shows Ananas dancing and singing. His cartoon appearance is a little less disconcerting than the puppet.
- Anthropomorphic Food:
- Ananas is an anthropomorphic pineapple.
- Brigitte Banane is an anthropomorphic banana.
- Art Shift: The show is live action with puppets, but becomes 2D with Limited Animation during the comic segments.
- Book Ends: The first twenty episodes begin and end with the clock counting down.
- The Bus Came Back: Just five episodes after moving away, Sophie comes to visit Jacques and Ananas again.
- Camping Episode: One story has Jacques and Sophie go camping, but they get lost in the forest and have to be saved by Pilote.
- Character Catchphrase: "Ce n'est pas possible !" "Oui, c'est possible !"
- A Dog Named "Dog": Ananas is Pineapple in French.
- Everyone Calls Her "Barkeep": Pilote the pilot.
- Fake Interactivity: Not nearly as much as other shows of this type, but in some episodes there will be a segment where the Announcer will quiz Jacques, Sophie, and Ananas on French words and phrases that were taught in the past few episodes, clearly meant to encourage the viewers at home to answer the questions too.
- Parodied in Episodes 1 and 2. In the former, Pilote sets up a vote to see if it's possible for Ananas to do a parachute jump. She and Ananas vote "Oui" (yes), but Jacques and Sophie vote "Non" (no). As the vote ends up in a tie, Pilote instructs the viewers to vote too, and the votes end up being 2864327 for "Oui" and just three (counting Jacques and Sophie) for "Non" in the next episode.
- Free-Range Children: Jacques and Sophie seem to live in a junkyard with no parents and go wherever they please by themselves.
- Hypocritical Humor: In the first Monsieur Pourquoi segment, the narrator mentions that the titular detective is ready and loves action... as the latter is shown sleeping on his desk.
- Inanimate Competitor: In the spelling bee episode, Ananas wins the match against the other team mascot, a stuffed bear.
- Interactive Narrator: The Announcer often converses and interacts with the characters in the show, such as giving them quizzes or even gifts.
- Job Song: In an episode where Jacques and Sophie get jobs, Les Squelettes perform a song about various jobs.
- Mad Libs Catch Phrase: Jacques and Sophie often tell Ananas "Les ananas ne [action] pas!" ("Pineapples can't (do) [action]!")
- Music for Courage: When Jacques and Sophie get lost in the woods during a camping trip and are afraid they'll never get out, Ananas sings a song about being courageous.
- Never Say "Die": Averted, which is rare for a show meant for this demographic. Pilote takes the main characters for a ride on her plane because Ananas wants to skydive, and Jacques fearfully but humorously says he's going to die.
- No Title: The episodes don't have titles and are simply known as Episode (number).
- Portmantitle: Of télévision and français.
- Put on a Bus: Sophie moves away to Paris in episode 15. She comes to visit Jacques and Ananas again in episode 20.
- Rapid-Fire Interrupting: The first episode opens much like most such edutainment "learn a foreign language" shows ("Bonjour. Je m'appelle Jacques, et bienvenue à Téléfrançais!"note or something to the effect)... except that Ananas won't let Jacques finish a sentence.
- Spelling Bee: One story has Jacques and Sophie participate in a spelling bee, with Ananas as their mascot. They end in a tie with the other team until a tiebreaker is called with each team using their mascots, and Ananas gets the winning point.
- Spelling Song: In an episode where Jacques and Sophie are participating in a spelling bee, Les Squelettes perform a song about spelling words that begins with each letter from A to H.
- Strictly Formula: Most of the episodes tend to be as follows: The Announcer counts down to the beginning of the show with the clock. The plot of the episode is set up, often by Jacques and Sophie finding out about an event taking place that day, for example. The main plot pauses to cut to one of the comic segments, such as Monsieur Pourqoui or Petit Christophe Colomb (Little Christopher Columbus). Les Squelettes perform a song relating to the main plot. The story is either resolved or to be continued in the next episode as the Announcer tells the characters to say goodbye quickly, as the clock counts down to the show's ending.
- Starting from Episode 20, the clock was replaced with the TV, which would introduce aspects of the episode at the beginning.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Catherine was this to Sophie after the latter moved away.
- That's All, Folks!: Every episode ends with the main characters saying “au revoir” to the viewer.
- Title Theme Tune: “Téléfrançais! Téléfrançais! Bonjour! Allô! Salut! Téléfrançais! Téléfrançais! Lisez! Parlez avec nous!”
- Two-Part Episode: While they aren't titled or noted as such, most of the stories in the show are resolved in two episodes.
- You Can Talk?: This is what happens when Jacques meets Ananas for the first time, understandably in utter disbelief seeing a talking pineapple.Jacques: Tu parles ? Mais... tu es un ananas !... C'est vrai! Tu es un ananas.note
