The Best TV Shows on France 2

Short video animations giving a bird's eye view of insects' day to day existence, distorted through a burlesque, yet poetic lens.

Le Grand Échiquier is a French variety television program created and presented by Jacques Chancel. It aired at 8:30 pm on the first channel of the ORTF from January 12, 1972 to July 12, 1972, then on the second color channel of the ORTF from September 1972 to December 1974, and finally on Antenne 2 from January 1975 to December 21, 1989. The program returned to France 2 on December 20, 2018 and is hosted by Anne-Sophie Lapix.

Astrid Nielsen works in the library of the judicial police. She has Asperger's syndrome. With an incredible memory, she excels at analyzing files of ongoing investigations. The district commander decides to use it to the fullest, entrusting her with very complex investigations which have remained unsolved to date.

The pragmatic, reserved and refined Maigret investigates murders in his singular unhurried manner and inevitably discovers the truth.

At a top Paris talent firm, agents scramble to keep their star clients happy—and their business afloat—after an unexpected crisis.

Taratata was a French TV show showcasing live and pre-recorded footage of current rock acts. Presented by Nagui since its début in 1993, the show was initially shown on France 2. The show often involved surprise and unlikely duets, as well as brief interviews with the artists. Taratata was cancelled in 2000, but returned in April 2005 on the public French network France 4 once a week on prime time, France 3, and late night once a month France 2 and Virgin Radio. Artists including Devendra Banhart, Katie Melua, and Ayo made their French TV debut on the show. The show's chief lighting technician, Jean-Philippe Bourdon, was awarded two Sept d'or in 1994 and 1995. The show featured unique duets and highlights new artists and uses different presenters for each episode. These aspects, and the general emphasis on original music, led the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel to identify Taratata as a uniquely creative show on French TV in April 2009. The show aired throughout Europe on TV5MONDE Europe on Saturday nights. The show is also franchised to Dubai Television in Arabic with an almost identical format to its French counterpart. On 31 May 2013, France Télévisions announced that the show was cancelled. Despite the announcement, the show will continue in a web only format and that a concert will be oragnized at Zénith de Paris on 10 October 2013. The last show was recorded on 13 June 2013 and was broadcast on 12 July 2013.

French adaptations of the stories by Agatha Christie.

A game show set and filmed on the real Fort Boyard in France. The contestants have to complete in physical and endurance challenges to win prize money.

Candice Renoir had put her career on standby for 10 years. When she returns from Singapore to resume service in a port town in the south of France, she feels a bit “rusty”. Despite the obvious defiance of her unit and a cynical superior who doesn’t make her job any easier, she is determined to turn her so-called weaknesses into strengths, solving the most complex cases with her common sense, her acute observation and her practical nature seasoned by a busy daily routine. Only Candice can catch a killer because she knows the chemical composition of a window-cleaning product or determine the hour of a murder from the cooking-time of kebabs… Candice is only naive on the outside, and nobody can resist her!

This series tells the daily life of a couple : Jean and Alexandra. From easy cases: in bed, in the living room, in the kitchen, by phone... to rare ones: lost on an island or in the country, in Hong Kong, during a wedding... Jean and Alexandra's life is not exactly a long, quiet river.

Claire is surprised when she gets arrested for the murder of her childhood friend after she returns to Montpellier.

French current affair show

Beneath her eccentric appearance, Captain Marleau is a formidable detective. Her Sherlock Holmes deerstalker cap, her character, her unusual appearance, her humor, her unpredictable behavior--Captain Marleau is not your average gendarme. She never rushes an investigation; she becomes the investigation and relentlessly pursues the suspects.

On n'est pas couché was a French talk show broadcast on France 2 on Saturdays at 11 p.m., hosted by Laurent Ruquier assisted by various columnists.