''Willy's en Marjetten'' is a

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; ...

comedy TV series created by

Neveneffecten ''Neveneffecten'' is a TV-program on Flemish public television, written and performed by the cabaret quartet of the same name. It is a comedy show that contains a lot of absurd humor, based on the National Geographic documentaries. Famous directo ...

and

Bart De Pauw Bart De Pauw (28 May 1968) is a Flemish TV host, comedian, actor and TV and film scriptwriter, known for humorous television series and shows on Belgian public television, like '' Buiten De Zone'', ''Schalkse Ruiters'', ''Het Geslacht De Pauw'' ...

. The first season aired on

Eén Eén (stylized as één; en, "one") is a public Dutch-language TV station in Belgium, owned by the VRT, which also owns Ketnet, Canvas and several radio stations. Although the channel is commercial-free, short sponsorship messages are broadca ...

in 2006. The program was produced by

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 ...

. Each episode takes the form of a broadcast made by a fictional pirate television station from a fictional small-minded village in

East Flanders , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of Oost-Vlaanderen.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van O ...

, staffed by a small number of VJs who introduce various sketches disguised as

news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the tes ...

human interest In journalism, a human-interest story is a feature story that discusses people or pets in an emotional way. It presents people and their problems, concerns, or achievements in a way that brings about interest, sympathy or motivation in the reader o ...

reports. The style of both the program and its official website is deliberately

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

ish. Most episodes involve a

framing story Framing may refer to: * Framing (construction), common carpentry work * Framing (law), providing false evidence or testimony to prove someone guilty of a crime * Framing (social sciences) * Framing (visual arts), a technique used to bring the focus ...

which intertwines with certain sketches. Many characters are recurring and feature several catchphrases. The series sometimes includes sketches about current news, such as a baby found at a railway station, but also reacted to some negative critique, not taking itself too seriously. Originally, a 13-episode series was planned. However, shortly before the end of 2006 the VRT announced that the final two episodes would not air, because of mixed reception and lower than expected audience shares, and that the eleventh episode (broadcast on 31 December 2006) would be a clip show. Though there are no current plans, a sequel has been considered. The final episode included some new material, showing the main cast, now

homeless Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

, trying to survive a cold winter night out on the street. As the episode progressed, their condition deteriorated due to

malnutrition Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is "a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients" which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...

and

hypothermia Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe h ...

. At the episode's end, a final shot showed the main characters had frozen to death. It was reasoned that the show's absurd humour and satire might have had more success on

Canvas Canvas is an extremely durable plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, shelters, as a support for oil painting and for other items for which sturdiness is required, as well as in such fashion objects as handbags ...

, the public network's cultural channel (

had shown programs with similar humour in the past, but had since become more family-oriented). Even though the series disappointed in audience shares in its original run, it has since gained popularity as a cult show, with the Internet providing more suitable audiences; on sites such as

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, 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 ...

several sketches have had twice as many viewers as when aired on television.

References

External links

''Willy's en Marjetten''
at één.be Flemish television shows Belgian comedy television shows 2006 Belgian television series debuts 2006 Belgian television series endings 2000s Belgian television series VRT 1 original programming {{Belgium-tv-prog-stub