Vosges. Intervilles in Epinal: Guy Lux's anger after a robbery, defeat never broadcast... anecdotes from the show
Intervilles returns to television this Thursday, July 3, after 16 years off the air. No Vosges city will be featured in the 2025 matches. However, the program has already visited Epinal several times in the 1990s, including for a major derby against Saint-Dié.
Intervilles in Epinal facing Vichy on July 19, 1991. Archive photo La Liberté de l'Est
Sure, there won't be any "Shana nana nana" this year (apparently due to rights issues), but Intervilles is back. No cows on the program, but still a bunch of hosts and a good dose of bad faith. Enough to revive memories in the Vosges, where the show has already, several times, set up its sand, its spinner, and its wall of champions.
Jean-Pierre Foucault , Thierry Roland, Nathalie Simon and Olivier Chiabodo are in place on the Champ de Mars in Epinal on July 23, 1997. And it's off to an intense encounter: Epinal faces Saint-Dié.
In the audience, 7,000 people and a fiery atmosphere . A little over two hours later, it was impossible to separate the prefecture and the sub-prefecture of the department. 16 points for everyone on the clock. A good opportunity for both camps to celebrate together for the rest of the evening.
Some images from the Epinal - Saint-Dié match in 1997
Bruno Retailleau's alleged "cheating" leads to a Vosges referee
Olivier Chiabodo's appearance in Epinal in 1997 was one of his last appearances on the show. A few weeks later, the scandal broke, marking the end of the collaboration between TF1 and the scapegoat referee.
During the July 2 broadcast, Puy du Fou qualified for the final after scoring a large number of points in the question game. As in the previous year's final, Chiabodo discreetly signaled the correct answers to the candidates, including Bruno Retailleau , then a local politician. This victory meant additional TV time for the park, but also the beginning of a scandal that led to the referee's dismissal. Bruno Retailleau, for his part, has never publicly denied the accusation of cheating.
The following season, a young presenter made his debut live in prime time: Laurent Mariotte . The Vosgien native, who came from Canal J, tried his hand at mainstream television, before specializing in cooking in the mid-2000s.
The temptation was too great after Epinal's defeat in 1991 against Vichy. La Liberté de l'Est headlined "Veni, vidi... Vichy" but also spoke of a "hard pill to swallow." A defeat by a single point against Guy Lux and Denise Fabre, which followed a victory a year earlier, in the summer of 1990 against Châteauroux.
The summary of these meetings and the anecdotes in our article
Almost everything was ready for this June 19, 1968, in Epinal. The date had been set for a long time: the city was to host the entire Europe for the Games Without Borders. But that was without taking into account the events of May 1968. Like other sectors, television was affected, and staff mobilized. ORTF technicians went on strike for over a month, starting on May 17. Under these conditions, it was impossible to imagine a broadcast from the Vosges mountains.
But, on the other side of the borders, we are still counting on summer entertainment and so it is a very special season which is taking place with French teams (including Epinal) but without Guy Lux and Simone Garnier and without broadcasting on French television.
The Epinal show has been rescheduled and will take place at the end of August in Germany, with the Vosges town still participating.
The city will be crossing swords with, among others, Gembloux. The latter is now well-known since the twinning between the two cities has been official since 1975. It was indeed the participation of the two cities in the 1968 Games Without Borders that linked them. Not by success, since the last two places went to the French and the Belgians tied.
But it was this defeat that brought the two mayors of the time closer together. They immediately took a liking to each other and formed a friendship... and a twinning agreement a few years later.
The full story of this Franco-Belgian friendship in our article
A little later, Vittel participated in the show, in 1974.
Our source: the “bible” of the program Jeux sans Frontières: jsfnetFrance
The 1968 show in which Epinal participated, as broadcast on German television
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Guy Lux without a bag: soap for everyone
In August 1989, Epinal faced Briançon. In Epinal, the after-show evening went from convivial to terrifying: Guy Lux's bag had been stolen. It was inconceivable for the host to remain calm. L'Est Républicain reports.
" At the end of the broadcast, Guy Lux turns to his most loyal collaborator with a frown: "Where's my bag?" It's almost 11 p.m., and the first searches begin near the official stand [...].
The aperitif and meal that follow promise to be convivial. The mayor leaves the room around midnight, escorted by the eccentric Bézu. Suddenly, the door opens like a saloon. Watch out for the grand return of Monsieur Lux! Purple with anger. A few late athletes remain glued to their tables in terror. But the storm doesn't pass. Even his loved ones can't calm his wrath. The septuagenarian stamps his feet. "I want my bag!" The Paris Saint-Germain supporter kicks cans, demands justice, and attacks the people of Épinal.
Meanwhile, a swindler has vanished with his credit cards, his three pairs of glasses, the keys to his powerful Mercedes coupe, the keys to his hotel room, as well as a precious address book that had recently been updated... "It will take me two years to do it again!" Mr. Lux is inconsolable.
Meanwhile, Mr. Lux, who had to break down his bedroom door with a crowbar, has come to his senses. His sedan is moving. "I won't press charges because everything went smoothly in Epinal, and especially so as not to upset the mayor. In any other town, I would have run to the police station, but not with a nice guy like that. On the other hand, the other smart guy, the one with the bag, I'm offering him a reward."
At City Hall, some are surprised to have been treated like "servants" and don't seem likely to forget this spoiled child's whim anytime soon. The spotlights are off. No more Intervilles glitz. Mr. Lux is gone. Without his satchel... "
Alain Dusart, in L'Est Républicain of August 20, 1989
"The bag was worth 100 francs. The medication hardly more. The sweater had a hole in it, and the glasses were unusable, yet I'm happy to offer 2,000 francs to anyone who, after sorting through the items, will be kind enough to return my car keys and credit cards stolen during the Intervilles program to the Epinal Police..... Thank you."
Le Républicain Lorrain
