Têtes à claques (French pronunciation: [tɛtza klak]) is a French-language humour website created on 16 August 2006.

Over one million short videos are watched per day, making it one of the most popular francophone websites in Quebec (and eventually Canada as a whole).

The creator, Michel Beaudet, has expressed surprise at the popularity of his site, saying it has reached an audience he never anticipated.

In 2010, Mondo Media picked up the English version of Têtes à claques and began broadcasting it under the name TAC.

It was partly remastered to make jokes understandable for an English-speaking audience (for example, the Prime Minister was made similar to Stephen Harper).

The clips are produced by Salambo Productions, a company Beaudet formed in order to capitalize on the success of Têtes à claques.

Michel Beaudet creates the figures himself, by superimposing his own moving eyes, mouth, and sometimes nose on their faces with a computer.

The phrase tête à claques translates loosely as "a face so dumb, you want to slap it".

This differs greatly from pronunciations used in France, and thus provides its own humour, in addition to the frequent anglicisms (English words or expressions inserted into speech).

Previously a professional advertiser, he wanted to create an educational program for children by making animals using modelling clay.

Beaudet says he quickly discovered that "90% of the time it takes to animate is spent moving the eyes and mouth."

The popularity of the show surged to the point that Beaudet employed two other people, video editor Simon Parizeau and artistic director Hugo Caron, to help with the production at his home in Boucherville.

[2] The same year, they also signed a deal with the American company Topps and produced several clips for their candy brand Vertigo.

[3] A series of figurines, sweaters, and accessories with Têtes à claques images went on sale on Beaudet's official site.

In June 2007, the animators listed a Body Toner Platinum Edition, a Willi Waller 2006, and an LCD shovel 2007 on eBay.

In addition to the subsequent 45 clips from the series, the DVD contains supplementary material such as a documentary on the history of the series titled Têtes à claques: une histoire "unbelievable" (Têtes à claques: an "unbelievable" story), a clip created for the 40th birthday of singer Celine Dion, deleted scenes, and others.

In 2017, new videos were released on the site titled Ne Paniquez Pas, Restez Calme, and later in English as Don't Panic.

Stay Calm, in which they parody educational videos instructing people on how to act in life-threatening situations.

The same year, a set of older Têtes à claques videos dubbed in Spanish appeared on the site under the name Los Caraculo (The buttfaces).

Beaudet has recently admitted that making English versions of the comedy shorts is in his "game plan".

[6] The first English version of most dialogues is interpreted by Canadian voiceover actor Bruce Dinsmore, best known for the PBS series Arthur.

Beaudet still performs the voices of some of the characters (Captain Cooper, Raoul, and a fast food drive-through worker).

Some fans have complained that the jokes are meaningless since one of the main purposes of the series is to poke fun of the Quebecois accent, which the English version does not replicate.

Just like TAC.tv, Knuckleheads made several edits and changes in order to make jokes understandable for English-speaking audiences.

The series finally premiered on Adult Swim Canada in January 2016, making it the first time Têtes à claques aired on English-speaking television.

On 12 November 2006, Beaudet appeared on the Quebec television show Tout le monde en parle (Everyone's Talking About It) hosted by Guy A. Lepage.

[7] Monique, a character from the clip, nicknames one of the cannibals Kunta Kinte, an ironic nod to the African slave whose life was the subject of the Alex Haley book and TV miniseries Roots.

Le 100 mètres [The 100 Meter Run] (Clip created in honor of the 2008 Olympic Summer Games) 103.

Napoléon le magnifique [Napoleon The Magnificent] (Created for Quebec’s cousins in France, in honor of French cinema) B07.

Le rigodon du gros dindon [The Big Turkey Hoedown] (Created as a commercial for SFR-France) C11.