The Best TV Shows on France 2

Jeux sans frontières ("Games Without Borders" in French) was a Europe-wide television game show, based on the French programme Intervilles which was first broadcast in 1962. In its original conception, it was broadcast from 1965 to 1999 under the auspices of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which owned the format. In non French-speaking countries, the show had alternative titles. It is also widely known as "It's a Knockout", the title of the BBC's domestic version and national selection for the programme.

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

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.

For more than twenty-six years, the show has offered reports abroad, surveys of social phenomena and portraits. Because it is sometimes difficult to understand the life of your neighbor or of everyone you meet in the street, Special Envoy will do it for you: listen, question, understand, investigate.

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

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.

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.

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.

Samantha oups! is a French sketch comedy series that was broadcast on France 2 from 2004 to 2007. The series deals with the life of a blonde young woman, Samantha Lo, and her brunette friend, Chantal Matieu. As part of the comedic nature of the series, the roles are played by men, with David Strajmayster playing Samantha, and Guillaume Carcaud starring as Chantal; Carcaud also plays various minor male and female roles in the show.

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

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.

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 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.