You get the feeling that many of my guests feel that the French language gives them entry into a more cultivated, more intelligent world, more highly civilised too, with rules.

Partial filmography
Apostrophes (1975–1986)
Bouillon de culture (1991–2001)
Double je (2002–2005)


Bernard Pivot and James Lipton
James Lipton was inspired to create Inside the Actors Studio by a chance viewing of a Pivot program on cable TV. At age 10 Pivot went to a Catholic boarding school where he discovered a consuming passion for sport; a passion which helped teachers overlook his general mediocrity in all traditional school subjects except French language and history. In 1970 he hosted a humorous daily radio programme that often raised political issues not appreciated by Georges Pompidou.

He is a member of the Académie Goncourt.