Show of the Week: Good Morning Chuck (Or The Art Of Harm Reduction)

Good Morning Chuck

Fact meets fiction in this French-language comedy-drama from Quebec that tackles the perils of substance abuse, addiction and rehabilitation with equal doses of humour and compassion.

The show is inspired by the life of actor Nicolas Pinson, who stars as the titular Chuck, the host of a popular morning show whose nice guy public persona is shattered due to a drug scandal.

With his reputation destroyed, Chuck checks into a rehab facility to persuade his girlfriend, his agent and his audience of his good intentions. There’s only one problem – Chuck doesn’t really think he needs help and would rather be out partying.

“I struggled with addiction for about 15 years of my life and went to rehab three times. I rehabilitated myself in humour, you know,” Pinson tells TBI. “I was telling my story to my friends about what I’ve been through, when I was doing drugs, and everybody was laughing. It helped me to make peace with my past.”

Jean-François Rivard, who wrote and directed the 10 x 60-minute series, reveals that he set out to bring his close friend Pinson’s perspective to the screen – and to be respectful to others who have struggled with addiction.

“I want people who went through the same process that he did to laugh about it. I want to make them feel good instead of reliving what they did,” Rivard says. “We didn’t want to put on screen what people think addiction is. I don’t want it to be miserable. I want it to show that everybody around you can be inadequate.”

Picking up the point, Pinson says that he hopes the show will open up the conversation around addiction: “Everybody has a story of addiction, even if you’re not an addict; you know someone, you care about someone. And that’s what we try to show – and if you can bring humour, it’s easier to talk about it.”

James Durie, head of scripted at Cineflix Rights says that in Quebec, Rivard – whose previous series Happily Married has been an international success for the distributor – is often compared to the Coen brothers for his storytelling style and ability to mix comedy and drama. “This really feels like a standout piece of TV, topical yet different, local yet universal and with the ability to make the viewer laugh and cry.”

“Addiction is a universal topic, and a high-profile celebrity scandal is a story everyone recognizes, so I’m sure this will have a lot of appeal to viewers globally. But ultimately, it’s the depth of the characters Jean-François and Nicolas have created, along with the laugh out loud moments their stories provide, which makes Good Morning Chuck such a great series,” says Durie.

On the stylistic front, the series is strikingly shot in both a black and white version with some sparing moments of colour – as well as being available in a full colour version – a choice that Rivard says is both because it is “cool” thematically and it “puts people visually on the same level in front of addiction, they’re all equal.”

Pinson adds: “It’s like the addicts’ vision of their life. We see the heart of Chuck seeing it black and white.”

Producers: St-Laurent TV and Connect3 Media, in collaboration with Crave (Canada)
Distributor: Cineflix Rights
Broadcaster: Crave (Canada)
Logline: Comedy-drama about a TV show host whose career is derailed by a drug scandal and who must go into rehab to put his life back on track – whether he wants to or not