Series of 5 seasons (1989-1994) with 47 episodes (season 1: 6 episodes, 2: 6 episodes; 3: 12 episodes; 4: 11 episodes; 5: 12 episodes) about a widow (Nel van der Hoed-Smulders, wonderfully played by Truus Dekker) and her three sons. Each son is conceived by a different father.
The father of the oldest son (Simon Raaspit, played by Wim T. Schippers, who also wrote the whole series) disappeared shortly after Simon's birth. Mother and father were married and since he is still alive, they still are. Simon is an intellectual, albeit a lazy one, who loves writing. Though he's not very attractive, he has a lot of sex with beautiful women.
The father of the second son (Govert Swanenpark, played by the very handsome Kenneth Herdigein) was told to be drowned, but he appeared to be just a one-night stand and still very alive (and rich, owner of a chain of hotels on Aruba). Govert is a smart programmer, who invents a lot of good software. He's a beautiful man, who has at least as much sex as Simon. But he's too trustworthy, he's (often) easily fooled by business associates and by the ladies. He starts companies, which go bankrupt. He goes to bed with a lady, who than turns out to be somebody's else friend or wife.
The father of the youngest (Thijs van der Hoed, played by Dick van der Toorn) died while trying to blow out candles of the birthday cake of Thijs. Mother and father were married. Thijs often behaves like a clown, a fool, with some gay tendencies, but has a lot of sex too.
The three young teenage sons still lived with their mother at the time of death of the father of Thijs. In his will, the father of Thijs demanded the two older (steph-) sons to stay live at their mother's home until she approved moving out, marrying a good women. In case Simon or Govert would not comply, they would not get their inheritance, one-quarter of the total of four million Dutch guilders (the current euro was worth 2,20 guilders).
The series is a real soap, but a very humorous one, henceforth "dramedy". The plot twists are sometimes very silly, sometimes ingenious, sometimes hilarious, but almost always surprising.
Surprising is the use of language. Unlike most soaps, there are hardly any "meaningful looks and silences". One moment of inattention and the remainder of the series can become very confusing.
The sex is never explicit (it's not porn, but sometimes it almost is), but the genitalia of the three sons can be seen regularly.
The texts are unlike any other soap. In total, unchanged, it could make into good books. Several words made it to the Dutch language.
There's quite of bit of violence in the series. People hit each other regularly, china is thrown around in almost every episode, doors and furniture are crashed, windows smashed. This violence is never disturbing, or as Schippers would probably say, "in good taste".
The love and loyalty between mother and sons is very strong, and is a good example for everybody.
Among the noteworthy characters is the family's notary, Born, who helps the family several times, but who also uses the family's money for his own purposes. The mother's brother, Gerard van der Hoed, is a nutty inventor who gets himself into trouble all the time (like destroying his own house, not with an invention, but because Thijs finds a World War II bomb in the garden, which rolls off the table), but later finally invents something which makes him rich.
Several actors (some starting in this series) became famous, winning awards, like an Emmy for Pierre Bokma in "De Uitverkorene".
Not for the faint of heart.
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