What makes this clip better is knowing what was happening off camera.
I found out later that Mike, our director, was arguing with the field producer, who wanted to stop this scene. She felt that I was pressuring Jean FranƧois to chug the Champagne. (To be clear, I was) When Mike asked her why she wanted to stop it, she said, āThatās not what the showās about.ā
Mikeās response was āThatās exactly what the show is about.ā
She didnāt see the show as comedic. She saw it as a conduit for information. Mike and I, thank God, disagreed.
She was replaced with Christina for all future episodes, and the rest is history.
Mike and I understood that the show was entertainment first. The education was snuck in. If viewers learned something, fantastic. If they laughed while learning it, even better.
What we ended up with was a show that was fun, funny, and truly authentic. We never tried to be anything that we werenāt. I wasnāt an expert. I was there to soak (and drink) it all in. The education was a byproduct of the show.
In the end, the most valuable lesson I learned about Champagne had nothing to do with terroir, mƩthode champenoise, or proper glassware. It was far simpler and far more universal.
If you drink enough of it, you will absolutely get a hangover⦠no matter what you paid for the bottle.
For the 20th anniversary of Three Sheets, we are releasing a new remastered episode in HD every week!
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