Rabat – The new Netflix original show, “Huge in France,” tells the semi-autobiographical story of Moroccan-French comedian Gad Elmaleh.
In the show, the French comedian wants to reconnect with his son in Los Angeles, but when he moves to the United States he must deal with culture shock, co-parenting, and dating.
“Huge in France” premiered its first season on Netflix on April 12, 2019. The eight-episode season has since received mixed reviews. Sophie Gilbert of the Atlantic calls the show “unconvincing” and criticizes it as a lost opportunity “to say something meaningful about fame.”
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According to Joel Keller, a critic for Decider, “Huge In France isn’t a laugh riot, but it has an appealing mix of comedy and sincere emotion, and Gad Elmaleh is a compelling lead.” Criticisms of the show stem from the bland nature of the episodes and repetitive jokes.
Throughout the first season, Elmaleh’s character struggles making the transition from being a star in the French comedy scene to a nobody in the American comedy scene. However, this storyline is similar to many other comedies.
“Huge in France” is the third Netflix show for the Moroccan-French stand-up comedian. His first two specials on Netflix, “Gad Gone Wild” and “American Dream,” were largely successful. “Gad Gone Wild” was performed in French to a crowd in Montreal and “American Dream” was his first Netflix show in English.
In his Netflix special, “American Dream,” Elmaleh jokes, “I’m sure you’ve heard this story so many times about the man who moved to America with one dollar in his pocket, and he worked so hard and he made a fortune. I moved here with a fortune. Same story guys, I just did it backwards.”
Elmaleh was born in Casablanca to a Jewish family and attended high school in Quebec. At the age of 21, Elmaleh moved to Paris to pursue his dream of acting. The 47-year-old comedian performed comedy in France for over 23 years and gained wide fame there.
The stand-up comedian and actor has starred in several feature films, including “Coco” (2008), “Priceless” (2006), and “La Doublure” (2005). He was voted the “funniest person” in France, and France’s Minister of Culture named him knight of the Order of Arts and Letters . Elmaleh also became a knight of the National Order of Quebec.
