''Alles Kan Beter (Everything Can Be Better)'' was a
Belgian
Belgian may refer to:
* Something of, or related to, Belgium
* Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent
* Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German
*Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...
comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
TV series produced by
Flemish
Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
production house
Woestijnvis
Woestijnvis (literally: ''Desert Fish'') is an independent Flemish television production company based in Vilvoorde.
History
The name of the company refers to a famous mistake of a quiz-candidate in the Flemish version of Wheel of Fortune: the re ...
between the end of 1997 and 1999. It was broadcast on the public TV channel
Canvas, directed by
Jan Eelen and starred TV presenter
Mark Uytterhoeven, chief editor of ''
HUMO
''HUMO'' is a popular Dutch-language Belgian weekly radio and television supermarket tabloid.
History and profile
''Humoradio'' (meaning a portmanteau of 'humor' and 'radio' in English) was first published in 1936 as a Dutch-language counterpa ...
''
Guy Mortier
Guy Mortier (born 24 March 1943) is a Flemish journalist and radio and television personality. He is known as former chief editor of magazine ''HUMO'' for over thirty years (1969–2003). He was also jury member in the radio programs ''De taalstr ...
and the newcomer on television at that time
Rob Vanoudenhoven as regular hosts. The fourth presenter was a different guest every week. The program was a combination of humoristic commentary on archive footage taped from the Flemish TV channels
VRT and its rival
vtm and sketches starring the four hosts. The show achieved
cult status and is still repeated regularly.
Concept
Mark Uytterhoeven already enjoyed high popularity with TV audiences thanks to his humoristic presentation during the FIFA World Cup coverage in 1990 and 1994 and programs like ''
Het Huis van Wantrouwen'' (1991-1992) and ''
Morgen Maandag'' (1993), which all achieved high ratings. The programs were notable for his use of sketches and playful use of pre-recorded video footage. ''Alles Kan Beter'' had a similar set-up, but aimed at a smaller audience. The show presented footage taped from the TV channels VRT and VTM, usually from news reports, but talk shows or advertisements weren't uncommon either. The footage often focused on
lapsus
In philology, a lapsus (Latin for "lapse, slip, error") is an involuntary mistake made while writing or speaking.
Investigations
In 1895 an investigation into verbal slips was undertaken by a philologist and a psychologist, Rudolf Meringer and ...
, language errors, verbal tics, new media trends, odd mono- and dialogues or
unintentionally funny moments. Uytterhoeven provided ironic commentary to this footage and sometimes he and his co-host, tried to surpass it, either in the studio itself or in pre-recorded sketch films. Their studio sketches often spoofed the verbal style of the footage they had shown before, complete with
word play
Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, pho ...
, while the sketch films were more visual parodies.
The production was very intense. Uytterhoeven had three video recorders running at home to make sure he wouldn't miss any suitable material. Many lines were scripted beforehand, but there was also room for improvisation since Uytterhoeven didn't want to rehearse anything, nor inform his co-hosts beforehand of what they were about to see or do. He only left them with vague instructions, which they could prepare at home. Each episode was recorded Thursday evening, one day before the actual broadcast.
Impact
''Alles Kan Beter'' was a
cult show from the start.
Guy Mortier
Guy Mortier (born 24 March 1943) is a Flemish journalist and radio and television personality. He is known as former chief editor of magazine ''HUMO'' for over thirty years (1969–2003). He was also jury member in the radio programs ''De taalstr ...
, who was mostly a famous face to readers of his own magazine ''
Humo
''HUMO'' is a popular Dutch-language Belgian weekly radio and television supermarket tabloid.
History and profile
''Humoradio'' (meaning a portmanteau of 'humor' and 'radio' in English) was first published in 1936 as a Dutch-language counterpa ...
'' and people who'd listened to the 1980s radio show ''
De Taalstrijd'' became more well known with the general public.
Rob Vanoudenhoven had only appeared on television before in some sketches of the game show ''
De Drie Wijzen'' and was thus a complete nobody to most viewers. He addressed this by introducing himself in the pilot episode as ''I'm the man of whom half Flanders now wonders: "Who the fuck is Vanoudenhoven?"''. He gained such popularity with audiences that he received his own TV show a year later, ''
De XII Werken van Vanoudenhoven'' (1998-1999), which managed to become a colossal ratings hit. By the time the second season of ''Alles Kan Beter'' aired Vanoudenhoven was a huge media star, which irked Uytterhoeven somewhat since it destroyed his original intention of introducing an unknown face in the show. Some of the guest hosts also gained more fame with TV audiences by appearing in the program.
''Alles Kan Beter'' won ''Humo's Prijs van de Kijker'' (1999), the Prijs van de Radio- en Televisiekritiek for ''Best TV Show'' (1999) and the ''
HA! van Humo'' (1999).
After two seasons Uytterhoeven felt they had done enough with the concept. The production process had been so intense that he specifically stated no third season would ever be made. Yet there have been some one-off specials in the decades beyond, including during Humo's Pop Poll Night in 1999 and the 50th anniversary of the Flemish public channel in 2002. In the fall of 2001 Uytterhoeven and Vanoudenhoven also hosted the humoristic talk show ''Alles Komt Terug'', which also combined amusing archive footage with parody sketches. Between 2003 and 2005, when Uytterhoeven was host of ''De Laatste Show'', he also had a weekly segment with Guy Mortier called ''Gefressenes Funden'', where they gave ironic commentary to footage recorded on TV earlier that week.
''Alles Kan Beter'' has never received an official DVD release, since so much of the footage parodied in the show was taken from rival TV channel VTM, which would lead to copyright issues. In the fall of 2008 a one-off DVD was released as a gift with the magazine ''
Humo
''HUMO'' is a popular Dutch-language Belgian weekly radio and television supermarket tabloid.
History and profile
''Humoradio'' (meaning a portmanteau of 'humor' and 'radio' in English) was first published in 1936 as a Dutch-language counterpa ...
'', compiling the best and most popular moments. Many episodes can also be watched on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
, albeit illegally. And they are still rebroadcast regularly on both Canvas and also on its sister channel één.
Guest hosts
*
Warre Borgmans Warre is a surname, and may refer to:
*Edmond Warre (1837–1920), English rower and head master of Eton College
* Émile Warré, French beekeeper who invented the Warré Hive
* Francis Warre Warre-Cornish (1839–1916), British scholar and writer
...
.... Himself
*
Stany Crets Stany may refer to the following places:
* Stany, Lubusz Voivodeship (west Poland)
* Stany, Silesian Voivodeship (south Poland)
* Stany, Subcarpathian Voivodeship (south-east Poland)
{{Geodis ...
.... Himself
*
Jan De Smet .... Himself
*
Martin Heylen .... Himself
*
Carl Huybrechts .... Himself
*
Wim Opbrouck
Wim Opbrouck (born 5 February 1969) is a Flemish actor and singer. He is especially known for his work on stage.
Opbrouck comes from Bavikhove, part of Harelbeke and studied at the Herman Teirlinck Studio. As an actor, he joined the Blue Mon ...
.... Himself
*
Barbara Sarafian .... Herself
*
Dirk Sterckx .... Himself
*
Dirk Tieleman .... Himself
*
Adriaan Van den Hoof .... Himself
*
Tania Van der Sanden Tania is usually a given name. It may refer to:
Given name
* Tânia Alves, Brazilian actress and singer
* Tania Brishty, Bangladesh actress and model
* Princess Tania de Bourbon Parme, French designer
* Tania de Jong, Dutch-born Australian sopran ...
.... Herself
*
Tom Van Dyck .... Himself
*
Frieda Van Wijck .... Herself
Sources
External links
*{{imdb title, id=0281413, title=Alles Kan Beter
Flemish television shows
Belgian comedy television shows
Belgian satirical television shows
Belgian television sketch shows
1990s satirical television series
1990s Belgian television series
1997 Belgian television series debuts
1999 Belgian television series endings