Hélène and the boys
"(Intro)Une fille
Ça a le coeur tout rempli de chansons Qui refleurissent à toutes les saisons
(JDG singing) Pour l'amour d'un garçon HAAAA BORDEL POURQUOI JE CONNAIS CE TRUC ALORS QUE JE DETESTAIS CA ???!!! Non parce que quand t'etais un garçon dans les années 90, ces séries ca voulaient dire une chose, ca piquait la place d'un épisode de DBZ (Dragon Ball Z) Bordel !!!
(HAAAA DAMN WHY AM I KNOWING THIS THING WHILE I HATED IT???!!! No because when you were a boy in the 90s, these series meant one thing, it took the place of an episode of DBZ (Dragon Ball Z) Shit !!)"
— Joueur du Grenier
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 You thought Nickcoms and Disney Channel sitcoms were terrible? Hey hey you haven't seen the masterpieces from AB Productions yet.
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Hélène and the boys (Hélène et les Garçons) is a French television series in 280 26-minute episodes, created by Jean-François Porry, produced by AB Productions and broadcast from May 11, 1992 to November 22, 1994 on TF1. This is a series derived from Premiers Baisers, centered on the character of Hélène Girard, played in both series by actress Hélène Rollès.
In turn, Hélène et les Garçons has been the subject of several spin-off series featuring the same main characters, namely Le Miracle de l'amour, Les Vacances de l'amour & Les Mystères de l'amour. Since the end of its filming, the series has been rebroadcast in particular on the antennas of AB1, NT1, Filles TV and NRJ 12. It is also available in full on the Generation Sitcoms YouTube channel since June 6, 2018.
The series has had its own 24/7 channel on the free Pluto TV platform since May 31, 2021.
Plot
Hélène Girard (the big sister of Justine Girard, the heroine of Premiers Baisers) has just entered her second year of sociology at the University of Paris-XIV. She lives in the university residence, where she shares a room with two of her classmates, Cathy and Johanna. In the first episode, the three young women meet three literature students, musicians in their spare time: Nicolas, Étienne and Christian. Quickly, the couples are formed: Hélène with Nicolas, Cathy with Étienne, Johanna with the one she nicknamed her "Cri-Cri d'amour". Over the course of the episodes, these couples fall apart and, eventually, reunite, according to encounters, deceptions and the appearance of newcomers within their group of friends.
Why It Failed The University
- Pathetic and ridiculous acting giving the impression that they were chosen from the street.
- A boring and stereotyped plot that only appeals to people in their forties.
- Some actors are not even actors like Phillipe Vasseur (José) even if he plays well he was not an actor but one of the workers who did the decoration but who was hired because he was handsome.
- Plot Hole: The characters are art students but they never teach or revise.
- Literally we see the pole falling sometimes.
- Boxes of laughter come out in times that are often not funny.
- The fighting scenes, especially the one in the finale, are ridiculous and give the impression that they are fiddling with each other.
- The actress who played Nathalie and perhaps the worst of all she plays extremely badly for example in one episode she must cry but it is so missed.
- There's literally a drug episode censored!
- Boring theme song that screams girl show on all floors.
- Scene change jingles often appear at bad times, for example there was a jingle at a time when a drunk guy was about to abuse one of the main characters.
- The boys are actually musicians and they form a music group but we never see their music only their end as if they did not know how to play music.
- In episode 208 Thomas announces to Hélène that she has AIDS and she reacts with a simple ho no as if she didn't give a damn.
- The characters are all irresponsible, for example in an episode where a person is about to stab a woman instead of calling the police they release him.
- Its sequels Les Vacances de l'Amour, Le Miracle de l'Amour et les Mystères de l'Amour are no better and make the series even worse.
- Quantity over Quality: Despite the overall reception it lasted far too long with 4 seasons 280 episodes and 3 equally bad sequels showing that AB Productions is blind to criticism.
Redeeming Qualities
- The show can be considered a "so bad it's good".
- It's still better than its 3 suites.
Reception
Helene et les Garcons received negative reviews from critics for its poor acting, lazy plot and generic characters, but it has earned a cult following. She holds a 5.6/10 on IMDb and a 2.7/10 on Senscritique.