Scribbling in obscurity as a novelist and TV scriptwriter in a seedy downtown Montreal neighbourhood, François Avard thought up a way to stick it to the man: a fictional down-and-out family that would finally “get the big end of the stick – and use it to take on the system.” The family would consist of two scheming parents, a prostitute daughter, an obese son, a Chinese adoptee, a sponging uncle, a grandfather… and a dog named after Osama Bin Laden. The Bougons would live in a ratty apartment, guzzle beer for breakfast, chain-smoke, eat and dress badly (and talk even worse), terrorize their landlord and swindle anything that walked. “I’ve known people just like them,” claims their 37-year-old creator.

Since its premiere in January 2004 on the French network of the CBC, the sitcom Les Bougon, co-written by Avard’s friend Jean-François Mercier, has become mandatory water cooler talk in Quebec for its colourful language and graphic scenes. (In one controversial episode, a cat was even dismembered.) More than 2 million viewers peek in on the eponymous family each week. Aetios Productions, producer of the popular Quebec sitcom Fortier, took a risk with the show that has paid off handsomely: It won five Gémeaux Awards in its first season.

Now Bougon fever is spreading beyond Quebec. Last December, The New York Times ran a full-page article about the family “that makes the Simpsons look like saints.” Canada’s Global Television Network has bought the show, which will be dubbed in English. And American networks like Fox have also sniffed around.