12 shows I encountered on the Dutch television
Other countries shall copy them, because the TV doesn’t have to be boring
In Egypt, the television morphed into one main format, talk shows. Besides soap operas, news and advertisements, the Egyptian television is dominated by talk shows. They aren’t just talk shows, they are the boring type that belongs to the 1960s. The prime time is mainly occupied by fat old men with dyed hair facing the camera and talking about the trending events. Sometimes they have guests, but most of the time they just talk, way more than their guests.
Funny enough, this wasn’t the case all the time. I recall back in the days when we had more diverse programs, some copied from other places and some were just purchased with subtitles added to them. Now, since I moved to the Netherlands, and my wife likes to watch TV while having dinner, I’ve noticed a more diverse type of programs, and I want to list them here.
1- First Dates
As the name suggests, it is originally an English show, and the Dutch copied it. That’s why I chose to put it on the top of my list. The point I want to make here, that creativity comes from many places, one of them is copying.
“Good artists copy, great artists steal.” —Pablo Picasso
The name also clearly gives away the nature of the show. People apply there, and the show match them. Couples meet in a cafe, and their first dates are filmed, and in the end they decide whether they want to see each other again or not.
It’s a very simple show. Mostly boring, but relaxing. I personally like two aspects of it. Due the nature of the conversation, they tend to speak easy Dutch, good for my language practicing skills. Also, as a foreigner, it helps me learn more about the country’s culture.
2- Boer Zoekt Vrouw
Sticking with the dating theme, this one translates to “Farmer looking for a wife”. Again, the name clearly says it all. In this reality TV show, farmers host 3 women for a couple of days, their entire stay is filmed, and they have to pick one of the women, or maybe pick none. Obviously in a more modern version of the show, the gender of the farmers or their dates may vary.
Once more, this one is good for my Dutch learning endeavor. It is also good to see how farmers’ lives differ from farmers in my home country.
3- Project Rembrandt
This one belongs to the format of competitions for pro-amateurs. Named after the Dutch painter, Rembrandt, in this show amateur painters compete. The show is made of multiple weekly episodes. In each episode, the contestants are given a paining task. Sometimes the focus is on the composition of their paintings, sometimes it is more about their choice of colors or their ability to express their emotions well.
The contestants have to be pro-amateurs. The are way better at drawing than the average joe, but they cannot be professional or having any professional studies related to art.
There is a very similar show, but photography takes the place of painting there. In that other show, the contestant are sort of celebrities. As you can see, there are a lot of mixing and matching here. Replace one skill with another. Replace nonentities with celebrities. And voilà, you’ve got a new show.
Next you replace painting and photography with singing, and you get a new show idea, wait, that already exists, The Voice. The Voice is another Dutch program, that became a franchise, we have it in the Middle East, and it exists everywhere else. Speaking of which, I have to mention the program’s producer, John de Mol. He and his family are behind many internationally known shows such as Big Brother and Fear Factor.
4- VTWonen: Weer verliefd op je huis
The next them is home improvement shows. As far as I understand, VTWonen is an interior design magazine. They go to a couple’s house, let them leave the house and radically change its style. We watch the process, the interior designers ask the couple to pick their favorite color schemes, then the designers start making a plan, and finally we see the couple’s reaction when they come back to their remade house.
Again, there are plenty of similar shows all over the world. Some focus on tiny houses, some focus on cars, and some focus on … wait, that’s the topic of the next show on our list.
5- Hotter Than My Daughter
Guess this one also is a British franchise. Seems that those brits are the masters of TV programs or something. A girl who doesn’t like her mom’s style applies for her mom to get her style improved. Easy peasy!
6- Nachtdieren
I like shows about nothing, think Seinfeld. The name of this program can be translated into nocturnal animals. In it, the presenter, Ryanne van Dorst, visits different Dutch cities at night. She meets people who do unusual jobs at night or have their hobbies that take place late when everything is quiet.
In Egypt, we used to have a slightly similar program called Hakawy el Kahawy. These kind of programs are simple, and they rely heavily on the personality of their presenters. They also have to be shot in the streets, in the guests natural habitats. Trying to do the same concept in a studio makes it boring.
7- Tussen kunst & kitsch
In this show guests try to tell if objects are pieces of art (kunst) or just kitsch. I mentioned this show, to show how a program can be made out of very simple ideas. Of course, the discussions happened during the show around the pieces of art is what makes it watchable.
8- Kamp Van Koningsbrugge
If you are from Egypt, then “Abboud Aal Hodoud” will give you a hint about this program. Otherwise, let me explain it to you. Contestants join an army camp. They participate in tough commando-like training sessions every day. Some will give up along the way, and the best have to survive to the end.
Survival and pushing people to their limits is a big theme. You can see it in different shows, such as “The Biggest Loser”, where the army is replaced by dieting.
9- Een tegen 50
I saved general knowledge game shows to the end. You probably know many of these, such as “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” and “Fear Factor”. And since this is a very common theme, each new show have to add its own twist to stay interesting. In this one, one contestant is playing agains 50 others. Guess it was 100 before the disease. They are asked a question, the main contestant obviously has to give the right answer. Then those who get it wrong from the 50 others are eliminated. The contestant wins one all the 50 others are eliminated. Otherwise. There are escapes but they cost money.
10- De Slimste Mens
This is one of my favorites. It’s also a game show, but the contestants are celebrities. The name of the show can be translated into the smartest person. It’s not only about being smart, but also quick. What I like about this show that it is fun. At one part they are show a sequence of pictures with unobvious common theme, and they have to find descriptions for each picture that fits into that theme. In another part there are give word puzzles or asked to guess blurred words describing a famous figure. The show also hosts a grumpy historian, who makes funny comments in his own grumpy way.
11- Gewoon Bloot
Firs of all, Egyptian T.V., don’t try to copy this one, it’s not for you. This is a kids show, but it is about the human body. There is a number of adults on stage, and they are totally naked. And the kids in the audience ask them about their bodies. How they feel about it, what do they like/hate the most about their bodies. Probably very few countries can come up with a program like this one, but the argument for the show is that it is healthy to normalizes people’s relation with their body at early age.
12- Wie is de Mol?
I left the grand jewel of the Dutch TV to the end. I believe this is the most watched TV program, or at least then one people discuss at work when it is running. Like many other shows, it has its mobile app, that everyone downloads to play at home. It’s big. Every year it takes place in a different country, and I heard that the country it takes place into become a Dutch holiday destination that year due to the popularity of the show.
The only think about this show is that I have been here for half a decade, multiple people try to explain the show to me, but I never got it. Even kids know it, but it is too complicated for me. All I know is that it is a survival show, and one of the contestant is secretly try to sabotage their missions, the mol, and that mol is revealed only at the final episode. It runs one every week for 10 weeks or something.
Final Note
I used to believe television is not relevant anymore. When on my own, I watch YouTube and Netflix most of the time. But I now discovered that traditional television is still alive and kicking.
“The average adult in the US spends about 27 hours per week watching traditional television (including live, on-demand, and DVR), according to Nielsen’s 2020 Total Audience Report.” — Quartz
In the end, T.V. has its merits in the internet age. It unifies people. Different households can watch the same shows at the same time. It can also serve certain formats that are harder to monetize on streaming services. And sometimes, the face that we do not have to keep scrolling and discussing what to watch on Netflix and just watch what is on there on the T.V. is a relaxing experience.
