Trivia / Les Minikeums

• Cancellation:
  • The first iteration of the show (as MNK) was cancelled in 2002 due to abysmal audience ratings that indicated clear audience rejection of its revamp.
  • The revival was quietly cancelled in 2021 amidst the restructuring of the France 4 channel, which wasn't profitable. The channel itself was almost going to be terminated in 2021 but it is on life support since.
• Creator Backlash: Regarding the MNK revamp in 2000 under the Executive Meddling of Eve Baron:
  • The writer of the original version of the show, Arnold Boiseau, wrote a letter to Baron to express his reprobation about the revamp.
  • France 3 youth programs advisor Marie Guillemain felt "sick" when she saw what was done to the show.
• Dueling Works: From 1993 to 1997, Les Minikeums came to rival the Club Dorothée on TF1, which also had a cast of goofy hosts (albeit real persons instead of puppets), comedy skits and music videos. The Club Dorothée was dogged by controversy (the kind of thing Les Minikeums managed to completely avoid) and was eventually terminated in 1997, Les Minikeums ended up the biggest French kids show from 1997 to 2000 as a result. That being said, both shows ended up being fondly remembered for people who grew up in The '90s.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes:
  • Don't expect an official reissue of all the old Minikeums material to be released anytime soon. Just trust devoted fans.
  • And God help you if you want to find the obscure younger-kid-oriented spinoff Les Zamikeums.
  • The revival was cancelled in 2021, and all of the sketches that were uploaded on the show's official YouTube account were deleted. Good on you if you saved them before that happened.
• Prop Recycling: Les Guignols de l'Info sometimes used puppets (or their molds) from Les Minikeums as young extras or incidental characters, as the shows shared a workshop (that of Alain Duverne) and some puppeteers.
• Screwed by the Network: In 2000, France 3 youth programs head manager Eve Baron (the very person the Diva puppet was based upon) decided, despite strong audience ratings, to 'modernize' the show, citing "You don't play the Goose Game at the time of the Game Boy" (other reasons that were not officially mentioned were the fact that the show was costly to produce, up to 10 million francs each year towards the end, and France 3 being a public channel there was heavy government scrutiny). The show was renamed "MNK", the lineup was reduced to 6 puppets, there were no more comedic skits and short films, the colorful and practical sets were replaced with a grey futuristic city background in CGI, and the show only aired in the afternoon plus Saturday and Sunday mornings, instead of every morning and five afternoons out of seven. Audience ratings predictably plummeted, and the show was terminated in 2002.
• Sequel Gap: The show was revived 15 years after being cancelled.
• What Could Have Been: Back in 2017, the producer of the revival talked about bringing the old cast back in the first episode to introduce the new characters. It didn't happen.

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