L'école et le gang des explorateurs

***L'école et le gang des explorateurs*** is the French co-production of *School and the Backyard Gang*, premiering in 1966.

## The dubbed era (1966 - 1970)

After a short test run of a few original, undubbed *School and the Backyard Gang* episodes in 1965, the French version of the show premiered on April 18, 1966.

The first three seasons, or 250 episodes of *School and the Backyard Gang* consisted of the original American episodes dubbed to French. Merely the opening and closing songs and sequences were changed.

Yet from 1969 through 1970 the Studio C scenes were dropped. Instead a new framing story was created, following the antics of a boy named Yves and his mother. The show's title was temporarily rendered incomprehensible.

The most controversial moment of this early period was a film showing the unconcealed birth of a human baby.

Nearly a decade later, beginning in 1978, a number of the dubbed episodes were reaired under the title, "Une Réunion au Studio C" (A reunion in Studio C.)

## The studio era (1971 - 1981)

In 1971, a French studio set was built for French framing stories. The new version debuted on October 20, 1971.

Each episode featured two kids. The individual sketches of the original *School and the Backyard Gang* American inhabitants remained the dubbed main part of the show, but some were edited due to intros that exhibited English words.

In the years 1977 and 1978 no new episodes were taped; instead a wild mix of repeats was shown on TV. From 1979 onward new episodes with two new kids were produced.

In 1981, the studio set was destroyed in a fire.

## The farm era (1982 - 1992)

The new set was centered around the new barn that was introduced in 1980.

## The city era (1993 - 2005)

In 1993, the cast expanded anew.

In 1997 the French co-production's 30th anniversary was celebrated with a press conference, as the show gave a donation of € 12,271.00 to UNICEF.

For decades the show used to consist of around 50 percent of American material, like most international co-productions of *School and the Backyard Gang*. But from 2000 onwards, the American material has been used less and less, so that by today an average *L'école et le gang des explorateurs* episode only contains two or three American produced sketches. Beginning in 2001, the show was shot in high definition.

## The playhouse era (2005 - present)

For the show's 40th anniversary, the show changed settings to a colorful playhouse.

The new season debuted on September 6, 2005, with the special birthday themed episode airing on the anniversary date of April 18, 2006.

Starting December 25, 2006 (Christmas Day), newly produced *BYGDanse* segments with French celebrities began airing on *L'école et le gang des explorateurs*.

Beginning with the new opening sequence in 2006, the show has produced more and more segments utilizing green screen. In the years since, more of the original segments for the show have taken place away from the playhouse, returning now to a studio set.

In January 2016, the show celebrates its 50th anniversary with special appearances, a five-part retrospective series, museum exhibitions, and a special episode of the show commemorating its birthday.

## Cast

* Charlie Ramsay (1971 - 1978)
* Richard DeFaria (1971 - 1972)
* Jacques Duryea (1973 - 1975)
* Henry Proteus (1974 - 1978)
* Evelyne Jobling (1973)
* Béatrice Maulers (1975 - 1978)
* Georges Rosen (1978)
* Phillippe Gafaine (1980 - 1992)
* Catherine Lash (1980 - 1981)
* Lucien Robinaugh (1982)
* Regis Pesta (1985 - 1993)
* Franck Cogar (1988 - 1989)
* Francoise Walerysick (1988 - 1991)
* Daniel Emery (1990 - 1993)
* Barbara Aultz (1988 - 1993)
* Patrick Peele (1992 - 2002)
* Micheline Tocco (1992 - 1994)
* Elizabeth Babineau (1994)
* Alice Salinas (1994 - 1996)
* Christophe Warren (1993 - 2000)
* Lara Nockels (1996 - 1997)
* Martin Trilling (1996 - 2002)
* Patricia Biling (1996 - 2002)
* Liane Odell (1997 - 1998)
* Cecile Agee (1998 - 2002, 2007)
* Alexandra Croxton (2001 - 2002)
* Elie Berg (2005 - present)
* Cyril Nicklaus (2005 - present)
* Florent Bernsen (2005 - present)
* Sebastien Corti (2005 - present)
* Nikos Antoine (2005 - present)
* Sandrine DeFaria (2005 - present)
* Marco Fierlinger (2005 - present)
* Paul Kopf (2005 - present)
* Gérard Shickele (2005 - present)
* Francis Fillion (2005 - present)
* Michael Prins (2005 - 2013)
* Tina Chatzisarantis (2005 - 2006)
* Pascal Tukes (2005 - 2006)
* Florence Fitzgerald (2005 - 2008)
* Erwan Revish (2005 - 2009)