H (TV series)

H
Genre	Comedy
Created by	Abd-el-Kader Aoun Éric Judor Xavier Matthew
Written by	Éric Lavaine
Directed by	Éric Lartigau
Starring	Éric Judor Jamel Debbouze Ramzy Bedia Catherine Benguigui Sophie Mounicot Jean-Luc Bideau
Theme music composer	DJ Abdel
Country of origin	France
Original language(s)	French
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	71 (list)
Production
Running time	22 minutes
Production company(s)	Canal+
Release
Original network	Canal+
Original release	October 24, 1998 – April 20, 2002

H is a French sitcom with seventy-one, 22-minute episodes. The series was created by Abd-el-Kader Aoun, Xavier Matthew and Éric Judor, and produced by Phillippe Berthe, Édouard Molinaro, Jean-Luc Moreau and Charles Némès. It ran from 24 October 1998 to 20 April 2002 on Canal+. In Canada, it is shown weekly on TV5.

The title "H" comes from the three words that characterize the series: Humour, Histoire et Hôpital (Humour, Story and Hospital).

Premise

The lives of the carelessly incompetent medical team at a hospital in the Parisian suburbs explode in surreal humour as they go about their daily duties.

Cast

• Jamel Debbouze as Jamel Driddi
• Éric Judor as Aymé Cesaire
• Ramzy Bedia as Sabri Saïd
• Catherine Benguigui as Béatrice "Béa" Goldberg (seasons 1 and 2)
• Sophie Mounicot as Clara Saulnier
• Jean-Luc Bideau as Professor Maximilien « Max » Strauss
• Linda Hardy as Charlotte, Professor Strauss' daughter (season 3)
• Edgar Givry as the Director of the hospital

Guest appearances

In four seasons, many notable French actors appeared in guest starring roles or cameos.

• Marie-Christine Adam as Philippe's Mother
• Bernard Blancan as a food critic
• Richard Bohringer as St. Peter
• Anne Charrier as Jessica
• Isabelle Bouysse as a prostitute
• Alain Bouzigues as a friend of Aymé
• Thomas Chabrol as The sales representative
• Gerard Chaillou as an elevator repairman
• Gerard Darmon as the police chief
• Mouss Diouf as a thief
• Gustave Kervern as Clément Dufresne
• Lorànt Deutsch as a young intern
• Jean-Claude Dreyfus as Cyril Strauss
• Claire Nadeau as Eliane Strauss
• Maureen Dor as one of Aymé's exes
• Stéphanie Lagarde as Aymé's lover
• Augustin Legrand as a skinhead
• Serge Riaboukine as The Godfather
• Jeanne Savary as a nurse
• Bruno Solo as a depressive patient
• Joey Starr as the devil
• Jean-Paul Rouve as The steward
• Matthieu Delarive as the Cool Guy
• Vincent Desagnat
• Frédéric Bouraly
• Richard Gotainer
• Thierry Henry
• Philippe Khorsand
• Urbain Cancelier
• Pierre Palmade
• Patrick Poivre d'Arvor
• Micheline Presle
• Christine Ockrent
• Jean Dell

Characters

• Djamel Driddi - Switchboard operator in Orthopedics. He is ready to do anything to earn money and willing to place himself in difficult situations: cross-dressing, selling rats, trafficking expired pizzas in the hospital, disguising himself as Santa Claus, etc. He is a pathological liar and often uses the expression “dis-moi pas que c’est pas vrai” (Don't tell me that it's not true!)
• Aymé Césaire - a male nurse. He is the son of an Austrian woman (who ends up having an affair with Sabri) and a man from Guadeloupe. He is a cowardly hypochondriac, often cynical and arrogant. He is obsessed with women and suffers from hyper-sexuality. He claims to be fluent in "Ebonics" but is instead fluent in German. He is named after the Martiniquais poet, Aimé Césaire.
• Sabri Saïd - a stretcher-bearer and later a barman at the bar "Barbylone" near the hospital. Although a comic character, he can be a "bad guy" : he poisons Aymé, Clara, and Professor Strauss, and locks Jamel out on his balcony.
• Clara Saulnier - the chief nurse in Orthopedics. An older woman, she is domineering and persistent. Before becoming a nurse, she was an alcoholic prostitute and porn star. She shares a love-hate relationship with Aymé.
• Beatrice “Béa” Goldberg - a doctor. She is a nice but unattractive young woman. She can also be considered the most "normal" of the characters. Unlucky in love, she finally falls for Jean-François Nguyen, a French-Vietnamese lawyer, but their wedding is broken up on the day of the marriage.
• Professor Maximilien "Max" Strauss - Head surgeon. He is obsessed with sports, collectibles, money, and various sexual fetishes. Because of his incompetence, he is the defendant in several malpractice suits. He is unable to manage his group (who spend most of the day goofing off) and cannot remember their names correctly. He has a daughter named Charlotte, and the show hints that he may be the son of Hitler.
• Edgar - the hospital administrator. Intelligent and ambitious, his plans are always thwarted by Professor Strauss, Aymé, or Sabri.

List of episodes

First season (1998-1999)

1. L'Anniversaire (The Birthday)
2. Trop Moche pour être belle (Too ugly to be beautiful)
3. Un manuscrit (A manuscript)
4. Un meilleur copain (A best friend)
5. Une grossesse (A pregnancy)
6. No Clowning (No Clowning)
7. Une thérapie de couple (Couple's Therapy)
8. Une belle maman (A mother-in-law)
9. Une promesse (A promise)
10. Une vie de chien (A Dog's Life)
11. Un mensonge (A lie)
12. Un flacon rouge (A red bottle)
13. Une histoire de comédienne (An Actress' Tale)
14. Une histoire de professeurs (A Professor's Tale)
15. Une histoire de héros (A Hero's Tale)
16. Un coup de froid (A cold chill)
17. Une histoire de famille (A Family's Tale)
18. Une histoire de mari (A Husband's Tale)
19. Une histoire de lapin (A Rabbit's Tale)
20. Une différence (A difference)

Second season (1999-2000)

1. Une histoire d'intelligence (A Tale of Intelligence)
2. Une histoire de croyance (A Tale of Belief)
3. Une histoire de démission (A Tale of Resignation)
4. Une histoire de discorde (A Tale of Discord)
5. Une histoire d'amours (A Tale of love)
6. Une histoire de cassette (A Tale of a cassette)
7. Une histoire d'humanitaire (A Tale of humanitarian)
8. Une histoire de vacances (A Tale of holidays)
9. Une histoire d'amnésie (A Tale of amnesia)
10. Une histoire de frère (A Brother's Tale)
11. Une histoire de mec formidable (A Tale of a Cool Guy)
12. Une histoire de champignons (A Mushroom's Tale)
13. Une histoire de cousine (1/2) (A Cousin's Tale)
14. Une histoire de cousine (2/2) (A Cousin's Tale)
15. Une histoire de chasse (A Tale of the hunt)
16. Une histoire de père (A Father's Tale)
17. Une histoire de théâtre (A Tale of the Theatre)
18. Une histoire de poste (A Tale of a Job)
19. Une histoire de show-bizz (A Showbiz Tale)
20. Une histoire de cobaye (A Tale of a Guinea Pig)

Third season (2000-2001)

1. Une histoire de garderie (A Nursery Tale)
2. Une histoire de paternité (A Tale of paternity)
3. Une histoire de génération (A Generation's Tale)
4. Une histoire de ski (A Ski Tale)
5. Une histoire de corde (A Tale of a cord)
6. Une histoire d'assurance-vie (A Tale of life insurance)
7. Une histoire de fauteuil (A Tale of an armchair)
8. Une histoire de cadeau (A Tale of a gift)
9. Une histoire d'enlèvement (A Tale of removal)
10. Une histoire de service militaire (A Tale of military service)
11. Une histoire de VRP (A Tale of the VRP)
12. Une histoire d'appartement (A Tale of an apartment)
13. Une histoire de boîte de nuit (A Tale of a nightclub)
14. Une histoire d'uniforme (A Tale of a uniform)
15. Une histoire de film (A Tale of a film)
16. Une histoire de collection (A Tale of collection)
17. Une histoire de voiture (A Car's Tale)
18. Une histoire de livre (A Book's Tale)
19. Une histoire de président (A President's Tale)
20. Une histoire de parrain (A Godfather's Tale)

Fourth season (2002)

1. Une histoire de dentiste (A Dentist's Tale)
2. Une histoire de preuve (A Tale of Proof)
3. Une histoire de compétence (A Tale of Competence)
4. Une histoire de curé (A Priest's Tale)
5. Une histoire de Blanche-Neige (Snow White's Tale)
6. Une histoire de chiot (A Puppy's Tale)
7. Une histoire de détective (A Detective's Tale)
8. Une histoire de fraude (A Tale of fraud)
9. Une histoire de permis (A Tale of license)
10. Une histoire d'obsession (A Tale of obsession)
11. Une histoire de purgatoire (A Tale of purgatory)

Distribution

A DVD featuring the "Best of H" as well as a box set featuring all four seasons have been released.

External links

H at the Internet Movie Database