Bouillon de culture was a weekly, cultural, prime-time, talk show on French television created and hosted by Bernard Pivot. The show ran from January 12, 1991 to June 29, 2001 (407 episodes[1]); it was broadcast on the channel France 2 (which was called "Antenne 2" until 1992). The show originally aired on Sunday evenings, but it was quickly moved to Friday nights, taking the same time-slot as Pivot's previous literary talk show Apostrophes (1975–1990) which it had replaced. The show covered a wide range of cultural topics, especially literature.

Bouillon de culture
GenreTalk show
Created byBernard Pivot
Presented byBernard Pivot
Theme music composerJerry Brainin
Opening themeThe Night Has A Thousand Eyes (Sonny Rollins, sax)
Country of originFrance
Original languageFrench
No. of episodes407
Production
Camera setupMultiple
Running time60 minutes
Original release
NetworkFrance 2
ReleaseJanuary 12, 1991 (1991-01-12) –
June 29, 2001 (2001-06-29)

The show had an average of 850,000 weekly viewers (about 11.6% of total viewers).[1] The series finale had 1,163,000 viewers (19.3%).[1]

The name of the show comes from the French expression meaning "nutrient broth", "fertile ground", "breeding ground", or "culture/growth medium", but playing on the word "culture".

Among the guests invited for the series finale, Pivot invited James Lipton, the host of the U.S. TV program Inside the Actors Studio, to participate with him in answering the Proust Questionnaire that Pivot had made famous.[2]

Awards

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The show won a "7 d'Or" for Best Cultural or Artistic show (Meilleure émission culturelle ou artistique) in 1995[3] and 2001.

References

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  1. ^ a b c (in French) "'Bouillon de culture': la dernière de Pivot", Le Nouvel Observateur, June 30, 2001.[1]
  2. ^ (in French) "James Lipton guest star du dernier 'Bouillon'", Le Nouvel Observateur, June 29, 2001.[2]
  3. ^ IMDb
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