The creators of the wildly popular Têtes à claques Internet site – which has emerged as the biggest pop culture phenomenon to hit la belle province since the TV talent show Star Academie – are taking a major risk this week: they are launching their satirical online skits en anglais.

The much-anticipated English version of TAC.TV reached out to the English-speaking world Aug. 16 with little fanfare, says its creator, former adman Michel Beaudet.

‘When I did the French version I sent an e-mail to 50 friends. Three months later it was the most popular French-language site in Canada,’ Beaudet told Playback from his studio in suburban Montreal, Salambo Productions. ‘We aren’t making a big deal out of it. The media are waiting for us. Even if we have a quarter of the success we had in French, we will be happy. The English market is huge.’

TAC.TV, which spoofs everything from infomercials to flying on commercial airlines, follows the exploits of ugly but oddly compelling clay animated characters with human lips and eyes. Beaudet’s cast of creatures includes a farting frog, a greasy want-to-be playboy named Raoul and a paranoid, dimwitted airline pilot.

Millions of mainly francophone viewers have visited the TAC site since its launch 24 months ago. The popular website – which counts Quebec Premier Jean Charest among its fans – has been blocked by wary employers and school administrations across the province. The DVD version of the first 45 clips sold 100,000 copies in Quebec by the end of 2007.

Têtes à claques means ‘Faces you’d love to slap’ in French.

While TAC.TV may appear exceedingly cultural-specific to an outside observer, Beaudet maintains his irreverent humor will cross linguistic and cultural lines.

‘This is a natural step,’ says Beaudet, who uses his own voice – and lips and eyes – for most of the French-language clips. ‘Now we are trying to conquer the world. The main media are in English, and English dominates the web. My clips are universal. I’m sure they will do well.’

While the skits will remain the same as in the French version, the characters on English TAC.TV will be voiced by actor Bruce Dinsmore (The Myth of the Male Orgasm) and will have several accents. ‘We have Scottish, British, Texan, Indian. The accents will make it interesting for people from all over the world,’ says Beaudet.

‘These characters aren’t specifically Québécois. They are everyday people in everyday situations which we take to the extreme,’ says writer Howard Schrier, who helped adapt the French-language clips for an English audience.

Beaudet says one of the biggest challenges he faced in producing the English site was finding the right face to superimpose over his animated characters. ‘We auditioned a number of talented people, but then I would put their nose and lips on the clay figures and it wouldn’t work. It was very scary actually. But Bruce was perfect.’

No companies have signed up to sponsor the new site.