The Best TV Shows on France 2

Every France 2 Show Ranked From Best To Worst

From 1958 through to 2023, France 2 has accumulated a diverse collection of over 20 television shows. Les Cinq Dernières Minutes and Le Grand Échiquier represent the pinnacle of France 2’s programming, launching in 1958 and 1972. Stay up-to-date with over 20 of France 2’s elite series, with our list refreshed for July 2026.

  • Minuscule: The Private Life of Insects
    Minuscule: The Private Life of Insects (2006)8.1

    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
    Le Grand Échiquier (1972)8.0

    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 & Raphaëlle
    Astrid & Raphaëlle (2020)8.0

    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.

  • Maigret
    Maigret (1991)7.9

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

  • Taratata
    Taratata (1993)7.8

    Live performances, more live performances. Every episode features a lineup of French and international artists, cult classics, unexpected duets, and original covers... A truly prestigious music stage, graced by both the biggest names and those on their way to stardom.

  • The Little Murders of Agatha Christie
    The Little Murders of Agatha Christie (2009)7.4

    French adaptations of the stories by Agatha Christie.

  • Fort Boyard
    Fort Boyard (1990)7.3

    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.

  • Fan School
    Fan School (1977)7.2

    Host Jacques Martin invites different talented children from various backgrounds to showcase their beautiful voices. The participants entertain and wow the audience with their lovely performances.

  • Candice Renoir
    Candice Renoir (2013)7.2

    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!

  • Champs-Elysées
    Champs-Elysées (1982)6.8

  • Chronicles of the Sun
    Chronicles of the Sun (2018)6.6

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

  • Infrarouge
    Infrarouge (2006)6.0

    French current affair show

  • Télématin
    Télématin (1985)5.8

    Télématin is a French breakfast television news show, broadcast on France 2 since January 7, 1985. It is broadcast in Metropolitan France weekdays from 6:30 to 9:00 am CET. TV5 broadcast the show in Canada in its entirety until September 2011: it now shows a 90 minute version between 6:30 and 8:00 am Eastern Time, when the French original version is now 2h30 long. Télématin is hosted by William Leymergie. The show is daily seen by around 40% of the French morning audience, a very high percentage for French TV. In Metropolitan France, the newscasts are presented at 7:00, 7:30 and 8:00, with newsflashes at 6:30 and 8:50, and two press reviews at 7:20 and 8:30. The 6:30, 7:30 and 8:50 newscasts are usually presented by a female reader and the hourly newscasts by a male. The usual readers are Nathanaël de Rinquesen, Sophie Le Saint, Julien Benedetto, Sophie Gastrain, Patrice Romedenne and Frédéric Vion.

  • Complément d'enquête
    Complément d'enquête (2001)5.8

    Complément d'enquête is an investigative newsmagazine presented by Benoît Duquesne and shown in Metropolitan France on France 2 weekdays late in the evening, and, in Canada, bi-monthly on TV5. A similar investigative programme, Panorama, is shown in the UK on BBC television.

  • Quelle époque !
    Quelle époque ! (2022)5.0

    Talk show hosted by Léa Salamé, featuring incisive, funny, and surprising personalities debating current events in culture, society, politics, and the media. The set is designed as an arena where artists, polemicists, intellectuals, politicians, top athletes, and powerful figures come together. Permanent guest Christophe Dechavanne can intervene at any time during the show. Comedian Philippe Caverivière is also present with a segment dedicated to the political week and another devoted to celebrity news and social media.

  • Vivement dimanche prochain
    Vivement dimanche prochain (1998)4.3

  • Vivement dimanche
    Vivement dimanche (1998)3.6

  • Beau geste
    Beau geste (2023)1.0

  • Les Cinq Dernières Minutes
    Les Cinq Dernières Minutes (1958)N/A

    Les Cinq Dernieres Minutes is a crime based French television series

  • Le monde est à vous
    Le monde est à vous (1987)N/A