On June 25, 1966, the Journal de la nuit on the first channel ended with a report on the award of the Prix de la Chronique Parisienne to the youngest literary critic. He has worked for 8 years at Le Figaro and his name is Bernard Pivot. In the presence of the members of the jury, including his colleague Philippe Bouvard, he receives his weight in a bottle of champagne. It’s his first appearance on the small screen and no one, starting with him, imagines the television destiny that awaits him.
His talent is nevertheless obvious. The trust shown in him by the writers he interviews allowed him to quickly climb the ladder leading to the management of the daily literary services. Until 1974, he devoted himself mainly to this task. His budding fame, however, earned him a guest appearance, from time to time, in À la vitrine du libraire, then in Italiques. These literary programs broadcast late, intended for an audience as targeted as they are modest. Every time, Pivot breaks the screen. The clarity of his words, the relevance of his remarks and his sense of humor are noticed by the management of the ORTF. This is how at the beginning of April 1973, he became the host of Ouvrez les guillemets, a program produced by Claude Barma, broadcast every Monday at 9:15 p.m., that is to say at a key time, which today we call “prime time.”
Also read “An old remorse, which became a very close friend”: Régis Debray’s tribute to Bernard Pivot
In addition to literary news, of course, there are reports on cultural life and debates on the themes of the time. The title was not chosen at random: “Open the quotation marks” is an expression dear to teachers during dictation. It therefore symbolizes a meeting that aims to be resolutely popular. Success is immediate. The breakup of the ORTF into seven companies put an end to the adventure on November 25, 1974. Pivot did not find itself unemployed. Upon her appointment as president of Antenne 2, Marcel Jullian offered her the Friday evening slot at 9:40 p.m. Pivot accepted and suggested a title that was inspired by Françoise Giroud when faced with a particularly aggressive interlocutor, she is exclaimed, “Sir, you are calling me!” This is how on January 10, 1975, he presented the first of 724 numbers which would go down in television history.
Barely a few weeks are enough for the producer to measure a success that he absolutely did not imagine. The small world of publishing is becoming aware that the day after an interview with an author, the book is sold out in bookstores as well as in supermarkets. Evenings devoted to a single guest, including Georges Simenon, Marguerite Duras or Alexandre Soljenitsyn, became media events.
There are also live confrontations like the one which led Serge Gainsbourg to shout “shut up!” to Guy Béart, around a subject that they consider essential: should a song be composed on guitar or piano? Another evening, Paul Guth, who defends military service, the wearing of uniform and tie, is interrupted by Daniel Cohn-Bendit, who, slumped in his armchair, automatically addresses the novelist by saying, mockingly, “ This is deep France waking up! “. The tone rises until, contrary to his usual habit, Jean-Edern Hallier manages to restore calm. There is also this student who managed to enter the set with a knife, interrupting a debate by threatening to cut his throat if we did not let him speak about National Education reform projects.
Finally, and above all, there is this sequence from 1978 that Madelen invites you to discover or rediscover. During the 159th broadcast around the theme “On the margins of society”, Marcel Mermoz, author of an essay on self-management, and Cavanna, who is releasing Les Ritals are interrupted by Charles Bukowski, an “underground” American writer whose the reputation of an alcoholic crossed the Atlantic. He will be faithful to it by making incomprehensible remarks before leaving the set staggering, supported by members of the security service. An incident that, like all the others, Pivot handled while always displaying a calm and politeness worthy of praise. The consequence undoubtedly of the experience of a journalist who did not need alcohol to drink from the bottle.