Samson en Gert
Samson en Gert is a Belgian (Flemish) children's television series. The series is produced by Studio 100, a production company owned by Gert Verhulst, Danny Verbiest and Hans Bourlon.
The series
The series started in 1989. At that time Gert Verhulst hosted a children's programme for the BRTN channel. He asked for an animal puppet as a co-host and chose a dog. The dog was named Samson and voiced by Danny Verbiest. Samson was intended as a temporary sidekick, but he became so popular that he and Gert were given their own show. Initially interrupted by short cartoons, and fanmail, the 20-minute episodes were later shown as one piece.
With 15 years worth of material, the series still enjoys an enormous popularity in Belgium and the Netherlands, where the adventures of Samson en Gert are broadcast too.
The series may be discontinued but the annual Christmas show still goes on, and there's the inevitable merchandising; CDs, comics and bedsheets. Fans in Belgium even had the luxury of eating Samson-bread. In 2000 Plopsaland, a theme park dedicated to Samson en Gert and other Studio 100 productions (including Kabouter Plop and K3) was opened in De Panne.
Samson en Gert is set in a nameless village in Belgium. All events happen on a small number of studio-based locations, of which the latest is an outdoor set featuring a typical Belgian chip-stall (frietkraam). The series is characterized by a stream of running gags like Gert killing off conversations because the phone rings or someone's "knocking the door because the bell don't work". ("Ik moest kloppen want de bel doet het niet").
Gert recently lived up to his 1991 on-song promise to hand out gallons of lemonade and 100 kilos of chocolate if he'd ever had 10 million Euros. What better location to do so than at Plopsaland ?
Characters
Samson and Gert
Samson and Gert are the leading characters residing at No. 101. Gert is a down-to-earth geezer in a village largely populated by immature men still tied to their Mums' apron strings. And while they have proper jobs Gert appears to be unemployed. Some fans believe that he lives off welfare in return for offering his place to social purposes, hence the constant phone-calls and door-knocking. Samson lacks understanding of grown-up matters, making him slightly naive and a bit moralizing. He struggles to pronounce difficult words and names correctly, and even confuses languages like French with English.
Other main characters
- Albert Vermeersch (Koen Crucke) is a barber by day, an opera singer by night but a full-time overeating diva. He hates it when people (Gert) don't address him as 'Alberto Vermicelli', bursting out in, for example, "One; it's Albertooo. Two; you're out of cookies" ("Ten eerste is het Albertooo; ten tweede, de koekjes zijn op"). Samson refers to him as 'Mr. Spaghetti' and the Mayor as 'Vermeersch'. In recent years Koen Crucke swapped his ever-decreasing moustache for a painted one and lost a few pounds. In 2006 he departed from the series.
- Octaaf De Bolle (Walter van de Velde) works at his Mum's grocery store. He has a daughter called Miranda. Octaaf is very arrogant, claiming to be specialised in whatever comes to subject. Example; "Showing off is one of my specialties; my Miranda agrees, she says 'Dad, the way you show off' ... well, I show off". ("Opscheppen, dat is nu toevallig een van mijn specialiteiten. Mijn Miranda zegt dat ook altijd. Pa, zegt ze, zoals jij kan opscheppen... zo kan ik opscheppen"). When not boring the others with stuff like this he operates as vice-chairman of gymnastics club DSL (an acronym for 'De Spieren Los'; Loosen Your Muscles). Samson refers to Octaaf as 'Mr. Ostrich' ('Meneer de Raaf').
- Jeannine De Bolle (Ann Petersen) is Octaaf's mother. She's arrogant too. Whenever Octaaf does something good "he's taken after his Mum" ("Dat heeft ie van zijn moeder"), but whenever Octaaf does something wrong "he's taken after his Dad" ("Dat heeft ie van zijn vader"). Jeannine is chairwoman of the local hobby club. Samson refers to her as Mrs. Praline (a Belgian Chocolate Trufle). She disappeared from the series in 2003 when Ann Petersen passed away.
- De Burgemeester (The Mayor) (Walter de Donder) is the Mayor of the village. Rarely addrssed as Modest he spends most of his at his office building model aeroplanes. He claims to be busy minding important files but everyone is well aware of his big secret.
Speechwise the Mayor appears to be a one trick pony; his "To those present, congrats; to those absent, congrats too" ("Aan allen die gekomen zijn, proficiat; aan allen die niet gekomen zijn, ook proficiat") has taken the shape of a stadium singalong. Even five-year-olds know it off by heart. Walter de Donder also plays the lead character in Studio 100 production Kabouter Plop.
- Eugène Van Leemhuizen (Walter Baele) is the Mayor's hyperactive secetary and later addition to the series. Samson refers to him as Meneer Van Veel Luizen (Mr. Many Lice).
Minor characters
- Joop Mengelmoes (Stef Bos) was Samson and Gert's neighbour in the early days. Samson refers to him as 'Mr. Chocolate Mousse' ('Meneer Chocomoes'). The first-ever episode sees him trying to fix Samson and Gert's doorbell to no result. Since then every visitor at No. 101 says (s)he has to knock because the bell don't work ("Ik moest kloppen want de bel doet het niet"). Dutch transplant Stef Bos went on to become a star in his own right.
- De Afgevaardigde van de Minister (The Minister's Delegate) (Hans Royaards) is the one character who lives outside the village. He regularly drops by at the Mayor's office to discuss important matters. Samson refers to him as 'the Sinister's Relegate' ("De Afgevallen Sinister") among other mispronuncations.
- Frieda Kroket (Barbara de Jonge) is a recent addition to the series. She took over the chip-stall from her off-screen uncle Fred Kroket (a Dutch snack). Frieda tends to have delusions of grandeur; for example she fancies Albert who manages to get his chips for free. Samson refers to Frieda as 'Miss Fritters' ('Mevrouw Frietjes').
- Sofie (Evi Hanssen) is the Mayor's niece. Samson refers to her as Koffie (coffee spelt in Dutch).
- Miranda de Bolle (Liesbet Verstraete) is Octaaf's daughter.
Unseen - invisible - characters
The Samson en Gert-series feature a remarkable number of widely mentioned but unseen characters. Among them are Samson and Gert's respective girlfriends Bobientje and Marlène(ke). Marlène strings Gert along by dating the also unseen Jean-Louis Michel, apparently a wealthy guy who can have every girl he wants. Gert hates him so much that he stages a 'Don't mention that wanker's name'-policy. Predictably some get the message a bit too late, responding with "So I'm not allowed to talk about Jean-Louis Michel ?" ("Dus ik mag het niet hebben over Jean Louis Michel ?" ) . Other characters include Fred Kroket (Frieda's uncle and predecessor), Albert's Mum, Marie (the mayor's housekeeper) and a farmer called Teun.