20 years ago, this series invented a style of humor that defined an entire generation

It was January 3, 2005 at 7:35 PM. The Caméra Café series was discontinued and M6 released a new short format (3 minutes 25 minutes including credits) to give viewers a laugh. Three trumpets blasted and the first episode of Kaamelott began.

Re-watching this episode titled Heat – one of Alexandre Astier’s favorite films – one immediately notices that the tone of the entire series is already there. Whether we find it funny or not, because the series has its detractors, we have to admit that we have never heard it on television, and even more so in a short format on a terrestrial channel.

what worked

The heart of the episode sees Perceval, Leodaghan and King Arthur against (unnamed) enemies. Hiding behind the branches of the tree, they discuss what to do to escape from their opponents and get out of this delicate situation. Percival is distinguished by his inability to use the slightest effective tactic and even endangers his companions and incurs the wrath of the king.

In the episode’s introduction and ending, Caradoc and Bohort also discuss tactics and animal sounds. The character is not named, the sketch is based on the text, rhythm and interpretation of the actors. “Fools”, “Planted Like Radishes”, “Brown”, “Right In Their Faces”, “Stone” or even “wet him” and “they are angry”Like Michel Audiard, the vocabulary is slangy and colorful, and the public buys it.

The ubiquitous series

The period’s sometimes fantasy-tinged series (Lady of the Lake, Excalibur, The Magic of Merlin) find their audience, despite being radically at odds with what the competition is airing at the same time and even the pre-M6 show. which was about life in business.

From January 15, 2005, M6 began broadcasting new episodes not individually, but 6 by 6. Later in the year, the channel aired episodes 8, or about 24 minutes long. This near-loop broadcast throughout the year will do a lot for Kaamelott’s popularity over the years. Since 2009, the series has also aired on W9 (from the M6 ​​group) and there viewers are still watching the series, sometimes with no less than 70 episodes in a row on special nights!

The result: a generation grew up watching and re-watching the episodes and learning the lines by heart, just as their parents appreciated the Splendid movies. As a result, the Kaamelott fanbase of this era is often caricatured as expressing itself only in reference to the series, which is sometimes not entirely unfounded.

In 2025, after 6 seasons and 20 years of creation, the series begins to end in cinema. After the first installment crossed the million mark, proof that fans went to the cinema 12 years after the end of the series to find out what happened next. Alexander Astie is currently preparing the second part, which will be released in two parts, and the first is already scheduled for October 22, 2025.

Why are there three shots before each episode? There is a reason!

“I think this signal was made to immerse people in another world”Alexandre Astier told us about the horn blast that introduced each episode. “Very short, because I only had 4 minutes, but there was such a side: “Now it’s our turn to talk!” We will talk like at home, it’s not like before, it’s not something extra. We’re going to do a little interlude with Camelot on TV, and it starts like this, something very expressive. “

“In the kind of war that broadcasting was waging at the time,” he continues, “where there were a million of them at the same time, because of the weather or the end of the news that I was interested in, first of all, you called the people on TV (…) It’s a way of saying it quite loudly in the station.” Now it is!”.

And it works!