' () was a Dutch weekly satirical television programme presented by
Arjen Lubach
Arjen Henrik Lubach (; born 22 October 1979) is a Dutch comedian, author, music producer and television presenter. He hosted the weekly news satire television show ''Zondag met Lubach''. As of 21 February 2022, he is the host of a new show on ...
and broadcast on
NPO 3
NPO 3 (''NPO drie'', formerly Nederland 3 until 2014) is the third and youngest of the terrestrial television channels operated by the Dutch public-broadcasting organization NPO in the Netherlands. It carries programmes provided by member-based ...
. Each week Lubach talked for half an hour about the news of the past week through various fragments from the media infographics and investigative journalism. The show's main scriptwriters were Tex de Wit and Pieter Jouke. The program was recorded in the main auditorium of the Theater Bellevue in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
.
On 19 August 2020, Arjen Lubach revealed the program will come to an end. The last episode of ''Zondag met Lubach'' aired on 28 March 2021. Lubach later reformatted his show to ''
De Avondshow met Arjen Lubach'' (The Evening Show with Arjen Lubach), which premieres on
NPO 1
NPO 1 (''NPO een'', formerly Nederland 1 until 2014) is the first national television station in the Netherlands. It launched on 2 October 1951. It provides public broadcasting and currently exists next to sister channels NPO 2 and NPO 3. Severa ...
from February 2022.
Notable stunts
Pharaoh of the Netherlands (2015)
Arjen Lubach is a strong opponent of the
monarchy of the Netherlands
The monarchy of the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. As such, the role and position of the monarch are governed by the Constitution of the Netherlands. Consequently, a large portion of it is devoted to the monarch. Roughly a third of ...
.
Out of protest against the monarchy, he came up with a citizens initiative, in which he crowned himself "
Pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...
of the Netherlands", which, like 'King' is also a hereditary title. At the time of the airing of the show in which he introduced his initiative, it was 200 years since
William I
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087 ...
proclaimed himself a King of the Netherlands. For the citizens initiative Lubach needed a minimum of 40.000 endorsements, which he obtained while he was a guest at the Dutch talk show ''
De Wereld Draait Door
''De Wereld Draait Door'' (; English: "The world keeps on turning") also known by the acronym DWDD was an early-evening talk show on Dutch television, broadcast every weekday at 7:00 p.m. on NPO 1. It is the Netherlands' longest-running, reg ...
''. With the minimum of 40.000 endorsements, the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
was obliged to talk about the initiative.
Donald Trump video (2017)
''Zondag met Lubach'' inspired the global
video contest Every Second Counts after it broadcast the parody video "The Netherlands welcomes Trump in his own words" on 22 January 2017.
In the video,
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
's speeches and actions –mostly from
his election campaign– are imitated and mocked by voice actor
Greg Shapiro
Gregory Scott Shapiro (born 1968) is a Dutch American comedian, best known as a member of the comedy group Boom Chicago, host of the Dutch satirical news program ''Comedy Central News'' ( nl) and the author of ''How to Be Orange: An Alternativ ...
,
who gives a short description of the Netherlands using some
self-mockery
Self-deprecation is the act of reprimanding oneself by belittling, undervaluing, disparaging oneself, or being excessively modest. It can be used as a way to make complaints, express modesty, invoke optimal reactions or add humour. It may also be u ...
as well, finishing with the request that the Netherlands may come 'second' if America is to be 'first'.
A semi-serious undertone is formed by fears that Trump's announced
"America First" policy signifies
isolationism
Isolationism is a political philosophy advocating a national foreign policy that opposes involvement in the political affairs, and especially the wars, of other countries. Thus, isolationism fundamentally advocates neutrality and opposes entang ...
, including withdrawing U.S. support for
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
: "If you screw NATO, you're gonna make our problems
great again."
The video went viral, being discussed by multiple international newsmedia and reaching over 73 million views worldwide by 3 February.
On 2 February during ''
Neo Magazin Royale
''Neo Magazin Royale'' was a German satirical late-night talk show hosted by Jan Böhmermann. Produced in Cologne, it has been aired weekly on the ZDFneo channel since 31 October 2013. It is also made available in advance on the online ZDFmediath ...
'',
Jan Böhmermann
Jan Böhmermann () (born 23 February 1981) is a German satirist, journalist, and podcast and television host. He also worked as a writer, producer, radio host, and is best known for his activism through publicity stunts.
Early life and educati ...
challenged the Dutch's second place, broadcasting a rival video that claimed 'Germany second' whilst making fun of the Netherlands and Germany itself as well. Then, he encouraged other satirical talkshow producers in all European countries to make similar videos parodying Trump, themselves and challenging the Netherlands' second place behind America.
Production teams in at least eleven other countries committed to making their own parody videos, and by 3 February, versions for Belgium (by ''De Ideale Wereld''), Switzerland (by ''Deville Late Night''), Denmark (by ''Natholdet''), Portugal (by ''
5 Para A Meia-Noite'') and
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
(by ''Laikykitės ten'') had been released; these would all be gathered on the website everysecondcounts.eu.
Westeros the Series (2017)
In late August 2017, a YouTube channel named "Westeros The Series" uploaded a "trailer" for ''Westeros'', a new 'television series' that would be set in a modern-day
Westeros
The fictional world in which the ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' novels by George R. R. Martin take place is divided into several continents, known collectively as The Known World.
Most of the story takes place on the continent of Westeros and in a ...
after the events of ''
Game of Thrones
''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the first ...
'', and would premiere in 2019.
After getting attention from media, including ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
'' and ''
Vice
A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...
'',
the channel uploaded another video on YouTube in early September 2017, instead revealing that ''Zondag met Lubach'' would return on 10 September 2017.
''Zondag met Lubach''s official YouTube channel also uploaded a combined version of the 'trailer'.
Nonsensical Rifle Addiction (2017)
On 8 October 2017, one week after the
2017 Las Vegas shooting
On October 1, 2017, Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old man from Mesquite, Nevada, opened fire on the crowd attending the Route 91 Harvest music festival on the Las Vegas Strip in . From his 32nd-floor suites in the Mandalay Bay hotel, he fired ...
, ''Zondag met Lubach'' aired a spoof advertisement called "Nonsensical Rifle Addiction", which highlighted the issue with
gun violence
Gun-related violence is violence committed with the use of a firearm. Gun-related violence may or may not be considered criminal. Criminal violence includes homicide (except when and where ruled justifiable), assault with a deadly weapon, a ...
and
mass shootings in the United States
Mass shootings are incidents involving multiple victims of Gun violence in the United States, firearm-related violence. Definitions vary, with no single, broadly accepted definition. One definition is an act of public firearm violence—excludi ...
, and also lampooned the United States's
inability to introduce any binding form of gun control. The title is a play on the influential American gun rights organisation
National Rifle Association
The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...
(NRA). The video was retweeted by American actor
Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and producer. One of the most widely recognized actors of his generation, the films in which he has appeared have collectively grossed over $27 billion worldwide, making him ...
after the
Stoneman Douglas High School shooting
On February 14, 2018, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the Miami suburban town of Parkland, Florida, murdering 17 people and injuring 17 others. Cruz, a former student at t ...
in February 2018.
This Dutch video about America's nonsensical rifle addiction hits the nail on the head
bustle.com.
Awards
Zilveren Nipkowschijf (2016)
On 10 June 2016 ''Zondag met Lubach'' won the Zilveren Nipkowschijf
Zilveren Nipkowschijf (; "Silver Nipkow Disk", named for German television pioneer Paul Gottlieb Nipkow) is a Dutch television award that has been given out since 1961 by a selection of Dutch critics.
The three founding critics were Henk Schaafsma ...
. The winner of the prize is chosen by a jury consisting out of newspapers and magazines television critics. The year before, Zondag met Lubach received an honorable mention by the jury
Gouden Televizier-Ring (2017)
Best Television show
During the Televizier-Ring Gala on 11 October 2017, ''Zondag met Lubach'' was awarded the Gouden Televizier-Ring (Golden television ring) for "Best television program". Zondag met Lubach got a plurality of the vote with 47%. During the airing of the award show people could vote for one of the three nominees for "Best television program". The two other nominees were Beste Zangers
''Beste Zangers'', formerly ''De beste zangers van Nederland'' (English: ''The Best Singers (of the Netherlands)''), is a Dutch reality television show by public broadcaster AVROTROS (a merger of AVRO and TROS, both part of the Netherlands Publi ...
and Expeditie Robinson
''Expeditie Robinson'' is a popular reality television program in the Netherlands and Flanders (Belgium) that debuted in 2000 and based on a format first shown by Swedish television in 1997. The format, most notable under the title '' Survivor'', h ...
. Arjen Lubach started off his acceptance speech with saying "Wat ontzettend terecht", meaning "How very much deserved" (meant as a joke). Furthermore, he praised the rest of his team and acknowledged their importance. This was the first time that a vpro-program won the prize. To get people to vote for ''Zondag met Lubach'' during the show, Arjen Lubach had an advert placed on the Ziggo Dome
The Ziggo Dome ( or ) is an indoor arena in Amsterdam, Netherlands, located next to the Johan Cruijff ArenA. It is named after the Dutch cable TV provider Ziggo. In 2014, the Ziggo Dome Awards were announced, recognizing artists who performed at ...
. In this advert the presenters of ''Beste zangers'' and ''Expeditie Robinson'' were urging people to vote for ''Zondag met Lubach.'' Lubach later thanked the presenters. This initially angered some people, because they thought that the advert was paid for with tax money. However, Lubach later said that this was not the case, but that he knew a few people who could get this done.
Best actor
To gain the attention of his viewers about the nomination for best actor, Lubach talked about it on his show, however he didn't talk about his own nomination. Instead, he talked about Erik de Vogel, who got nominated in the category for best actor. He requested people to vote for De Vogel, together with a catchphrase "Ludo verdient een kudo" meaning Ludo (name of the actor's role in Goede tijden, slechte tijden
''Goede tijden, slechte tijden'' (, ), also known as ''GTST'' or simply ''Goede tijden'', is the longest-running Dutch soap opera, which began on 1 October 1990 on RTL4. The programme was the first daily (every workday) soap in the Netherlands an ...
) deserves kudos. De Vogel did however not win the award, as it was given to Jeroen van Koningsbrugge
Jeroen van Koningsbrugge (born 3 September 1973) is a Dutch actor, comedian, singer, director and presenter. He has appeared in more than thirty films since 1999. He was a member of the television programme '' De Lama's'' and together with his fr ...
instead.
References
{{reflist
Dutch television talk shows
Dutch television news shows
Dutch comedy television series
Dutch television sketch shows
Self-reflexive television
News parodies
2014 Dutch television series debuts
Dutch satirical television shows
2010s Dutch television series
Dutch political satire
NPO 3 original programming