THE UNKNOWN TF1. Bernard Campan, Didier Bourdon and Pascal Légitimus are reforming in “All Unknowns”, a program broadcast on TF1 on November 14, 2022. Will the trio return for new sketches and films?
[Mis à jour le 14 novembre 2022 à 14h11] After 30 years of absence from the small screen, Les Inconnus is making a comeback on television. The trio of comedians is in the spotlight of “All Unknown” this Monday, November 14, 2022, on the TV program on TF1 from 9:10 p.m. In this fiction, Didier Bourdon, Bernard Campan and Pascal Légitimus find themselves in a parallel reality where the Unknowns never existed. But their cult sketches are taken up by other artists, such as Elie Semoun, Pierre Palmade or even Arnaud Ducret.
Will this emission in the form of a tribute allow the Unknowns to reform? According BFM-TV, Didier Bourdon, Bernard Campan and Pascal Légitimus do not plan to return to television to interpret new sketches of their making. TF1, however, plans to broadcast a documentary on the trio of comedians, while a second issue of “All Unknowns” could see the light of day “if this first program meets its audience.
If a return to television is not planned, Didier Bourdon and Pascal Légitimus have expressed their desire to go back on stage. For Bernard Campan however, who believes that “it would be too much of a headache”, it is out of the question. And the cinema? In June 2022, Didier Bourdon revealed that there was “an idea” for a third episode of “The Three Brothers”, which would be renamed “The Three Grandfathers”. “It’s just an idea like that, in the air”, however specified the actor with BFM TV, nothing has yet been formalized.
Les Inconnus was formed in the early 1980s. The various members, Didier Bourdon, Bernard Campan, Pascal Legitimus but also Smaïn and Seymour Brussel, met in café-théâtres or castings, but mainly saw each other on the program “Le théâtre de Bouvard” then on Antenne 2. When the program stopped, they made the decision to continue their career together and created “The Five” in 1984. The following year, they released their first film, “The Telephone Always Rings Twice”, which was a commercial failure. Smaïn then decides to leave the group, thinking that this comedy troupe has no future.
Didier Bourdon, Bernard Campan, Pascal Légitimus and Seymour Brussel then form a new group, “Les Cat Car and Co” and pursue a career as comedians and musicians. The group then ended up renaming itself “Les Inconnus” and acquired a start of notoriety thanks to the program “Les Inconnus de l’après-midi” on Europe 1. In 1988, Seymour Brussel decided to devote himself to a career as a bioenergetician and osteopath and in turn left the band.
Les Inconnus made the heyday of stage and television in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1995, “Les Trois frères” was also a success in the cinema. But from this date, the trio of comedians no longer occurs. Indeed, they encounter contractual problems with their former manager, Paul Lederman. The latter owns the rights to their stage name and prohibits them from performing together. This signals the end for the Unknowns. The dispute was only settled in 2001, which allowed Bernard Campan, Pascal Légitimus and Didier Bourdon to reform for “Les Rois Mages”. Subsequently, each member leads his career on his side, before meeting for “The three brothers: the return” in 2014. They also reform on stage for an appearance at Les Enfoirés in 2019.
The hunters, Télémagouilles, Isabelle has blue eyes… Les Inconnus made many sketches on stage or on television in the 1990s that have become cult today. But where to see them? A selection is available on the Youtube channel “Les Inconnus”, while several DVDs featuring their shows and sketches are available for sale. Most are found in the DVD box “Ze Inconnus Story – The complete, the best bôcoup”, available on most merchant sites.