S1NGLE is a Dutch

gag-a-day A gag-a-day comic strip is the style of writing comic cartoons such that every installment of a strip delivers a complete joke or some other kind of artistic statement. It is opposed to story or continuity strips, which rely on the development of ...

comic series, created in 2000 by

Hanco Kolk Hanco Kolk (born 11 March 1957, Den Helder) is a Dutch cartoonist and comics artist. He is best known for his collaborations with Peter de Wit, with who he made ''Gilles de Geus'' and '' S1NGLE' Kolk married author Isabelle Rosselin in 2016. Bi ...

and

Peter de Wit Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

. It centers on three women and their endless endeavours to find the right male partner. The popularity of the series inspired a TV

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

series of the same name.

Concept

''S1NGLE'' is about three young women who work in a

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

and who often go on dates to find the perfect partner. A lot of comedy is provided by the girls' distinctive personalities, the type of men they meet and sexual situations. ''S1NGLE'' is published in the Dutch newspapers ''

Het Parool ''Het Parool'' () is an Amsterdam-based daily newspaper. It was first published on 10 February 1941 as a resistance paper during the German occupation of the Netherlands (1940–1945). In English, its name means ''The Password'' or ''The Motto' ...

'', ''

De Gelderlander ''De Gelderlander'' (founded 1848) is a Dutch daily newspaper focused on Gelderland and immediate surroundings. It is published in Nijmegen by the Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belg ...

'' and ''

Algemeen Dagblad The ''Algemeen Dagblad'' () or ''AD'' () (English: "General Daily Paper") is a Dutch daily newspaper based in Rotterdam, Netherlands. History and profile ''Algemeen Dagblad'' was founded in 1946. The paper is published in tabloid format and is ...

'', among some regional Dutch newspapers. In

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

it is published in

Gazet van Antwerpen The ''Gazet van Antwerpen'' (Antwerp Gazette, popularly named ''De Frut'', "sour head cheese") is a Belgian newspaper in Antwerp and Flanders, published by Concentra. History and profile ''Gazet van Antwerpen'' was established in 1891. Its edit ...

and it has been published by

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 counterpar ...

too in the late 2000s. As of 2013 15 albums are available; all published by ''De Harmonie''.

Characters

* Fatima Prins: A young woman with long, blonde hair who is somewhat naïve, but by far the most sympathetic character. She is often cruising for men behind her computer all night long, but her mother is usually the only one to visit her site. * Nienke Meppelink: A more brawny and chubby young woman who wears glasses. She has a somewhat cynical and grumpy attitude. Several gags have her phoning her mother and usually insulting, threatening or guilt shaming her in the process. Another

running gag A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling. Though they are similar, catchphrases are not ...

is that people are frequently afraid of her when she has her

menstrual period The menstrual cycle is a series of natural changes in hormone production and the structures of the uterus and ovaries of the female reproductive system that make pregnancy possible. The ovarian cycle controls the production and release of eggs ...

, because then she is extremely crabby and prone to shouting: "Ik ben heel erg ongesteld!'' (''"I'm very much on my period!"''). * Stella Deporter: Stella is a slender young woman with long black hair. Because she is such an attractive woman she has countless

one-night stand A one-night stand or one-night sex is a single sexual encounter in which there is an expectation that there shall be no further relations between the sexual participants. It draws its name from the common practice of a one-night stand, a single ...

s, to the frustration of Nienke and Fatima. Stella is flirtatious and very self-assured, though can get depressive when people think she is older than she looks (or even when they guess her correct age). She is also a smoker. * Floor: Floor is a woman who was introduced to the cast in 2013. She is a self-important, freshly divorced mother with a seven-year-old daughter. Her name was chosen in a readers' poll.

Television adaptation

From 2008 until 2010 the series was adapted into a TV

, broadcast on

NET 5 Net5 is a Dutch free-to-cable commercial TV channel and is part of Talpa TV, formerly a part of SBS Broadcasting B.V. and now owned by Talpa Network. Other channels of the group in the Netherlands are SBS6, Veronica, and SBS9. It is aimed at ...

, which ran for three seasons.

Bracha van Doesburgh Bracha Semeyns de Vries van Doesburgh (born 2 September 1981) is a Dutch actress. She is well known for her film roles in '' Too Fat Too Furious'', '' Het Schnitzelparadijs'' and Dick Maas's '' Moordwijven''. On television, she portrayed Fatima ...

played the part of Fatima,

Eva Van Der Gucht Eva Van der Gucht (born 1 September 1977) is a Belgian actress. Eva graduated in 2000 at the Amsterdam Theater and Drama academie. While studying she was selected to star in the film ''Everybody's Famous! ''Everybody's Famous!'' ( nl-BE, Iede ...

Nienke and

Katja Schuurman Katja Schuurman (born 19 February 1975) is a Dutch actress, singer and television personality. Early life She grew up as the eldest daughter of a Dutch father and a Surinamese mother, born in Curaçao. Her sister Birgit is also a singer and a ...

Stella. The series was also exported to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

Legal issues

In 2004 Kolk and De Wit sued a magazine that also had the title ''S1NGLE'' in its name. The magazine was forced to disestablish itself on order of the judge for "untolerable copyright infringement".

References

{{Reflist

External links

* http://www.radio1.nl/item/332421-Sigmund,-S1ngle:-de-creaties-van-Peter-de-Wit.html Dutch comic strips 2000 comics debuts Comics characters introduced in 2000 Gag-a-day comics Romance comics Dutch comics characters Comics adapted into television series Comics about women Female characters in comics Comics by Hanco Kolk Comics by Peter de Wit Comics set in the Netherlands Comics set in the 2000s Comics set in the 2010s