I will be glorifying the first years of this show, vanished by the perception pollinated by the "politically incorrect" final years which were cringeworthy and absolutely lame.
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For eight seasons a near perfect show, it deviated from its line greatly. To say the least. Storytelling and character development declined massively. They were absolutely brilliant in using some enthusiasts / hobbyists, soccer team as their point of departure. To gain love and trust of the ordinary citizen, man in the street. Causing people to bond with characters they recognize.
At the outset, the main characters were recognizable. Situations they encountered were really the slices of life. Comic and tragic situations alternated pretty well. As in smooth tragicomic shows rather than sitcoms actually. The plot of these particular first episodes were well-devised and well written. Female characters were well developed. Male counterparts were generally more funny, though.
Sadly, this changed. If one counts all seasons, one watches two different shows as it progresses. An adult show losing tenacity season by season and a poorly written children's show. One should endure. They pressed until the lemon was squeezed not knowing a significant amount of viewers knew it was already squeezed. For a long time... Fans of the first hour.
They did not listen to them. Now they are the laughing stock and act surprised. Embarassing because these people were the fans of the very first hour. The people watching the show during the second half of its existence were mostly children and not just teenagers but our youngest ones. With their parents as quality time on Saturday. At a more advanced age, I thought it wasn't watchable anymore.
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STEREOTYPES AND FLANDERIZATION
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It was dead to me by the time the tenth season aired. They were done. But few people recognized it. The final seasons... I mean... They were clearly out of order with childishness and far-fetched stories. It should not have seen daylight. It's not a soap series or anything that can run fifty years like Coronation Street. Viewers look at the same story over and over. To the expense of fledged storytelling as they placed a bet on children. Even more so did slapstick humor, rather than actual dialogue.
It did not come close to adult television anymore. An approach backfiring nowadays. Despite its cult status by the time it got childish. Viewership declined from Vermeire's departure. Cult status notwithstanding. From the early seasons with leading actor Carry Goossens and Jacques Vermeire.
If those four seasons with Oscar and Pico would not have been great, it could've been canceled early. Cliché, that is. Later, the stories got extremely one-sided. They almost always end with solved misunderstandings after curiosity of Carmen. Carmen's jumping to conclusions early, as per usual.
While the show's recognizability factor was salvaged, situations were exaggerated at the same time. Mid-1990s, writing took a different road. Stereotypical portraiture of characters. With all due respect, it killed what made the show magnificent in the first place.
I'm not into stereotypes or stigmatizing stuff. I guess they had it coming, the criticism in Flemish press (recent years). What was shown on a human scale was suddenly magnified or flattened. Originality gone due to a stereotypical approach.
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THE FEMALE CHARACTERS
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Carmen, provocatively dressed, attracted attention away from Pascale and Doortje. Pascale and Doortje are her counterpart. On the antique side, they are simple human beings. Carmen always stood out with the female characters. Pascale had her moments though as she bossed Oscar when they were married.
Carmen got carried away with delusions of grandeur, frustrating Xavier who didn't possess ability to fulfill her desire, financially and between the sheets, Xavier has to obey his wife like a dog. Ironically, Carmen gets a dog (early third season). Sadly, Van den Heuvel would become the person overacting the most. Doortje in particular had both feet on the ground from the very beginning.
At some point they wrote Ann Tuts's character in such a wat that Doortje constantly telling bad jokes or made bad puns, which I thought was cringe. It looked awkward at times (second half of the show's existence). Bieke, in accordance, was a loose cannon at first. Regularly upset her parents.
With young Bieke, it had signs of the "hot girl every boy dreams of". Later on, she had no flaws anymore. At first, Bieke wasn't a "Karen" at all (annoying righteous judge). In a comedy characters should be flawed at least a bit. I felt they did not know what to do with Bieke (delivering comical situations). Bieke rarely did it.
To make Bieke an injustice collector did not feel like the right solution.
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OSCAR CRUCKE's DEPARTURE
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What compromised it was the departure of two main characters after the fourth season. Oscar was the coach of the team. Oscar embodied the heart and soul of the show. Everything centered around him. Oscar was the husband of Pascale, father of Bieke, the coach of the team who's very close with his players, the innkeeper for everyone. He seemed to be the most important figuere, as it turned out.
I always considered Oscar to be more important than Boma. He lived in the center of the show: the cafe. If you watch the show for the first time then it's hard to comprehend he's not there anymore (from the first episode of the fifth season). Xavier, Boma and DDT remained.
Oscar's departure removed the team's pater familias, its father figure, its "community leader" if you will. Carry Goossens left a bigger gap, bigger than you'd think. Underestimated. Goossens said he wanted other challenges as. I understand his decision from his perspective, he's a professional.
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MARC VERTONGEN
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The inclusion of Marc Vertongen as a main character, replacing Oscar basically, is rather ambiguous. Marc, a main character when Goossens was still there. He dated Oscar's daughter Bieke. Marc definitely had an impact when (re-)introduced.
I don't like the character at all. Maybe, Marc became one of the most hilarious characters on the show, with his naivity and false stupidity. I don't see it. I consider it annoying. I'm deeply sorry. He became a personification of all childishness. I have trouble with that to this day. I just don't get how that's ever funny to adult audiences. I'm almost thirty now.
I wouldn't go as far as to say they *had to cancel it* in 1993, after four seasons. It *was very opportune* to do it. It could have been an eight and a half out of ten show if they had canceled it early. It wasn't to be. Voners, De Valck and Vermeire they stayed loyal, the show's lifeline. But overall, the quality wasn't as high after Goossens's departure.
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DIMITRI DE TREMMERIE's LEGACY
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Dimitri De Tremmerie (DDT) is the breakout character. A stingy car mechanic and dealer, he was highly popular. Quite rightly so. Cosmo Kramer or the Fonz of the show. It could be expected, Jacques Vermeire was a famous comedian in Flanders.
Despite being the antagonist who loathes the soccer team. DDT's interpreter Vermeire, like the others, did his part of overacting. Vermeire left after eight seasons. He left an enormous gap.
With Dimitri no longer there, it died. One did everything and nothing to keep the show watchable. They created an image for Dimitri acting sympathetic at times. They never managed to get successors Bernard (BTW) and Fernand anywhere near Dimitri's level of sympathy. Fernand was okay but not as great.
Vermeire's departure killed it. It would never be the same again. His departure. Vermeire signed a contract with the commercial broadcaster to create or play in shows. Goossens, he portrayed Oscar, stated he didn't want to be remembered for one role.
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SUMMARIZED
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Hate me for saying. Vermeire leaving, and stereotypes. Why it's controversial now? Well, it's due to the over-abundant stigmas and stereotypes. And to people who claim it was all rewarding after Vermeire left? I wish to argue with those people. It should have ended for the sake of quality as he left or even before he left. But no. It had turned into a cash cow by then.
The episodes up until 1998 were good. 1998. In my mind, "the cancellation date". This is a complex show to review. Some have. I guess you could review from an aspect "The xperience is unique, traditionally Flemish". A stereotypical excess proved to be lethal for the sake of quality.
As can be seen, the public broadcaster VRT had taken 19 titles offline in 2022. That's exactly because of stereotypes the show features. There, it was also striking that only one from "the old days" was canceled for its narrative, and that most were from the later seasons.
This show is "DDT and Oscar", and that is that. Seven out of ten 'cause of them. No disrespect. To the regret of those who envy nowadays, this show used to be something until they killed it themselves.
