''De Fred Haché Show'' is a 1971 Dutch television show written and directed for the

VPRO The VPRO (stylized vpro; originally an acronym for ''Vrijzinnig Protestantse Radio Omroep'', lit. 'Liberal Protestant Radio Broadcaster', nowadays known as ''Omroepvereniging VPRO'') is a Netherlands, Dutch Public broadcasting, public broadca ...

by Wim T. Schippers,

Ruud van Hemert Ruud van Hemert (29 October 1938 – 5 July 2012) was a Dutch film director known especially for (dark) comedy. In the 1970s he helped produce and direct TV shows on VPRO before starting a career as a film director. Biography Ruud van Heme ...

, Wim van der Linden, and Gied Jaspars. The show marked the return to television for Schippers, van der Linden, and Jaspars, who had been on the team that was responsible for the controversial 1967 show '' Hoepla'', canceled after three episodes. Like its "sister show" '' Barend is weer bezig'' (1972–1973) and '' Van Oekel's Discohoek'', it was an absurdist show with much nudity, linguistic humor, satirical skits, and illogical plot lines.

Content

The show was built around two main characters, Fred Haché ( Harry Touw) and his assistant Barend Servet ( IJf Blokker), with cameos by Kees van Kooten,

Wim de Bie Willem Philippe "Wim" de Bie (; 17 May 1939 – 27 March 2023) was a Dutch comedian, writer and singer. He formed the comedy duo Van Kooten en De Bie with Kees van Kooten. G.J. van Bork,Bie, Wim de, ''Schrijvers en dichters'', 2002. Retrieved ...

, poet

Simon Vinkenoog Simon Vinkenoog (18 July 1928 – 12 July 2009) was a Dutch poet, spoken word poet and writer. He was the editor of the anthology ''Atonaal'' (Atonal), which launched the Dutch "Fifties Movement". In 2004 he was chosen as Dichter des Vaderlands ...

, and Dolf Brouwers, who would return as the regular

Sjef van Oekel Sjef van Oekel was a TV comedy character created by Dutch artist Wim T. Schippers and played by Dutch comedian, singer and actor Dolf Brouwers (1912–1997). Van Oekel started as a side character in '' De Fred Hachéshow'' in 1972 but became su ...

character in ''Barend is weer bezig'' and '' Van Oekel's Discohoek''. Schippers tendency to treat serious matters in irreverent fashion is exemplified in the interview with God, which Jan Blokker, then director of VPRO television, had cut from the show: apparently the show had at some point been unable to get more guests, and Schippers thought God would make a good guest for an interview with Fred Haché, who asked him if He didn't think it unreasonable that people who lived their life carelessly "could get into heaven by converting just before death comma God?" ("Comma" was one of Haché's catchwords.) God promised to consider it. The fragment is lost, though the audio was saved.

In other media

Touw and Blokker personally adapted the TV show into a

gag-a-day A gag-a-day comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of ...

comic strip called "Bakken aan de bar" ("Jokes at the counter").

DVD release and controversy

The series was released on DVD in November 2007, with the four ''Sad Movies'' by Schippers, Wim van der Linden, and

Willem de Ridder Willem de Ridder (14 October 1939 – 29 December 2022) was a Dutch anarchist and artist, known as a founder of Fluxus. He was the foremost Fluxus member in the Netherlands. He showed and sold Fluxus works in his gallery, Amstel 47, and shops F ...

as a bonus. One of the show's scenes, though, was removed after protests by

Willeke van Ammelrooy Willy Geertje van Ammelrooij (born 5 April 1944), known as Willeke van Ammelrooy, is a Dutch actress. Life and career Willeke van Ammelrooy was born in Amsterdam, where she also attended drama school. She has acted on stage as well as in fi ...

, who had (against her will) acquired a reputation as a "sex kitten" because she had appeared nude on screen (in ''

Mira Mira (), designation Omicron Ceti (ο Ceti, abbreviated Omicron Cet, ο Cet), is a red-giant star estimated to be 200–300 light-years from the Sun in the constellation Cetus. ο Ceti is a binary stellar system, consisting of a vari ...

'' by Fons Rademakers and in movies by Wim Verstappen and Pim de la Parra). In the ''De Fred Haché Show'' she played a scene in which Fred Haché and Barend Servet crash through a ceiling and land in the bathtub of the floor below, where van Ammelrooy's character is taking a bath. Van Ammelrooy, who had been trying to shed her image and hated having to do the scene, fought for ten years to have the scene removed from the collection, even a pixelated version.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fred Hache Show 1971 Dutch television series debuts 1971 Dutch television series endings 1970s Dutch television series Dutch-language television shows Dutch comedy television series Television shows adapted into comics Surreal comedy television series Wim T. Schippers Obscenity controversies in television Religious controversies in television Television controversies in the Netherlands