

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.

The series follows the adventures of lighthearted Jean-Paul Moulin, a police Commissaire, and his team as they solve crimes.





Dany Longo is red-haired, beautiful, disturbed, passionate--and nearsighted. As she speeds through the south of France in a purloined Thunderbird on an errand for her employer and his wife, no one, including Dany herself, knows where she is headed--or why she is going there.

A burglar joins the circus to escape the police. Yet, he continues his thefts during his off-hours and gets involved in the problems of people around him, while also romancing one of the other circus performers.



The widow Champbaudet believes herself loved by an architect. But the young man actually has views on the neighbor upstairs. Cunning, he multiplies his visits to the widow with the sole aim of getting closer to the beautiful Aglaé. It was without counting on the husband of this one, whose jealousy could well play nasty tricks on the heartthrob of these ladies!


