Le Coeur a Ses Raisons

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
From left to right: Ashley, Brad, Criquette and Brett
All of this is of a rarely seen insignificance.
—Brad Montgomery, The fabulous Ball of the Montgomery family, last episode of the series

This comedy show originated from various skits in the French Canadian program Le Grand Blond avec un show sournois, which parodied various Soap Opera tropes through the lives of fictional archetypes of this kind of genre. The skits proved so popular that these characters finally got their very own TV series ; so was born Le Coeur A Ses Raisons.

The show is entirely dominated by Rule of Funny and is willingly trying to be absolutely terrible in terms of quality, in an hilarious way. Every single trope originating from soap operas is mercilessly parodied, although the creators confess that sometimes they failed to attain the degree of ridicule some actual soap opera shows possess.

The show more than often verges on absurd humour, surrealism and postmodernism. However it also has its own plotlines and shocking scenaristic twists, as strange as they may be, and many spectators actually grew to like the stereotypical characters. With three seasons, the show was cancelled after the incredible revelation of the series finale, due to lower ratings. However, good DVD sales and the growing legacy of the show have convinced the network to get a fourth season back in the works.

See also the Character Sheet.

Tropes used in Le Coeur a Ses Raisons include:

Crystale to Peter: "But you're an actor, right? Why are you wearing a wig?"

  • Air Vent Passageway : when they want to leave the hospital as fast as possible. They could have taken the door, but that would have been to simple, I guess. After taking the passageway, they get lost, find themselves exactly where they had been in the first place, and have to take the air vent passage once again to finally get out of the hospital.
  • Back from the Dead: One of the early exploits of the show was to kill off every single character in the first season's finale, only to see them resurrected in the second season. The shocking twist was actually that one character did die in the earthquake. The show pulled it off in a more classic way with Brittany and Brenda, who died in one season but returned in another through convoluted explanations. Granted, whe had not really seen their respective death scenes per se.
  • Backup Twin: Parodied with the return of Peter in trying to explain why the twin hadn't been mentionned before. Peter n°1 and Peter n°2 had the misfurtone of having the same clothes, so, when one wanted to go out, the other had to stay at home in his underwear.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: On occasion.
  • Brett, I am your mother: Madge.
  • Butt Monkey: Madge.
  • Calling Your Attacks: A Cat Fight between Criquette and Brenda features this, complete with dramatically echoing voices.
  • Cliff Hanger: Some of the episode endings. Played for laugh of course.
  • Converse with the Unconscious: Lampshaded when Brett says he probably look ridiculous talking to Criquette while she’s uncounscious. She nods.
  • Christmas Special: The Montgomery decide to make a Christmas TV show... in April. Because Christmas magic lasts all year long!
  • Death Is Cheap: Parodied.
  • Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: Brenda revealing her evil plans while Criquette right beside her. She was talking to the camera, so she probably thought Criquette could not hear her.
  • Dumb Blonde: Ashley and Googy, but most notably Megan.
  • Evil Laugh : Brenda and Becky share one in season two.
  • Evil Twin: Brad and Brenda.
  • Flash Back: Nearly every episode has at least one. One episode even has a flashback in a flashback.
  • Gag Boobs: Oh so much. From Criquette's and Ashley's inflatable breasts to Britany's pointy ones.
  • Gag Dub: The show actually manages to be a gag dub of itself. There are two reasons for this; the first to stick with the traditional reputation of soap operas in Québec, the actors do not speak with a Quebecian accent but with a French one, since most of these shows are dubbed in France. The only character with a Canadian accent is Brad. Criquette tries to pull off a French accent and constantly fails at it, making some of her words unintelledgible in the process (you have to speak French to understand how it's funny). Secondly, most of these shows are usually english ones, often badly translated. Therefore the writers of the show modify the wordings of the character's sentences in order to make them sound badly translated from English... although the characters do speak French in the first place. For example the characters always say je vais quitter (I'm going to break off) instead of je vais partir (I'm going to leave), which seems like a common bad translation of I'm going to leave where to leave can mean to break off or to exit a place depending on the context.
  • Jerkass: Ridge.
  • Line-of-Sight Name: "My colleague, Doctor... Bedside Lamp. Who studied at Bedside Lamp University of Texas. Married to Mrs. Beside Lamp Bedside Lamp."
  • Medical Drama : Brett, Ashley and Crystale played in a Medical Drama called Medical Drama.
  • Melodrama: Many jokes are based on the character's complete overreaction to mundane events (like the entire episode on a lack of pitchers).
  • Never Found the Body: Becky, Brenda
  • No Budget : It's a parody of a No Buget soap opera.
  • "No Respect" Guy: Madge.
  • Overly Long Gag
  • Overly Long Name: Doug Doug Skippy Bob Dracula Perceval Trevor Ricky Jack Lancelot Baby Bat Benny Benny Bo Benny Bananana Bo Benny Benny Bo Benny Montgomery-Rockwell.
  • That Makes Me Feel Angry: The characters keep saying out loud how they feel to make sure the audience understands.

Criquette: "I’m sad. You can understand that I am sad, because I’m crying while holding my sister’s picture."

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