Andrea Croonenberghs

Tatort is a long-running German/Austrian/Swiss crime television series set in various parts of these countries. The show is broadcast on the channels of ARD in Germany, ORF in Austria and SF1 in Switzerland.

Former Amsterdam police detective Floris Wolfs has been transferred to the police department of the south-Dutch country town Maastricht. His metropolitan experience nicely complements the local expertise of his new country colleagues, who know the folks. Slowly he fits in, while solving countless crimes together with his female partner Eva van Dongen.

Do we still sing the praises of folly like Erasmus, or is it trendy again to be smart? And if so, who is the smartest? Who can talk about the medals won at the Olympic Games in London, but at the same time knows who Captain Haddock is? Who knows whether Lacan was a hair growth product or a psychoanalyst and can also program their own digital television? Who has déjà vu when leafing through the Encyclopedia Britannica and when reading the interviews with the new Miss Waregem Koerse? Who, oh who, is the smartest person in Flanders, Belgium, Europe, and by extension, the world? That is determined by a fierce battle between three fellow human beings. Every day, someone is eliminated, someone who may not be the smartest, but who is perhaps cherished in their family circle because of their many other talents. The others advance and are joined by a new challenger every day.

'Familie' is the longest running Belgian soap opera. The Van den Bossches originally had an electronics company, later a holding company that included a clothing chain and a sandwich shop. In the meantime, we closely follow the personal lives of the Van den Bossches and their entourage. Grandma Anna and all her children and grandchildren have been through a lot over time and it doesn't look like their lives will become calmer any time soon.

F.C. De Kampioenen, was a long-running Flemish sitcom chronicling the adventures of a fictional local football team. It aired on the Belgian-Flemish channel één between 1990 and 2011, for 21 seasons with 273 half-hour long episodes, making it one of the most successful comedy programs ever on Belgian television. In 2009 a film had been planned, but has since been cancelled following complaints by the actors about the script. In 2012 the crew announced a new script was written and a movie will be produced. The movie is to be released in December 2013. The series relies heavily on stereotypical characters and farce for its humour. The story is mainly set around a few members of the football club who regularly visit the club canteen before or after a soccer training or match. The canteen is run by Pascale, who is in a relationship with Maurice. The football club is sponsored by the owner of a sausage factory, Balthazar Boma. Next to the field is an antiques shop, owned by the fraudulent Fernand. Most of the episodes are based on misunderstandings or dirty tricks from Fernand.

Witse is a Dutch language crime drama produced by Belgian broadcaster VRT and broadcast on their één channel. It is also shown on BVN. First broadcast in 2004, as of 2010 the programme comprises eight series with a ninth and final series planned for 2012. It stars Hubert Damen as the eponymous Witse, a driven inspector in the Belgian federal police based in Halle. It is one of the most popular Flemish television programmes with some 1.6 million viewers. There are also Witse books. The first three were based on the last two episodes of each season, but since 2010 every six months a brand new story is published, written and invented by established Belgian writers, as Bob Van Laerhoven and Bart Van Lierde. The music for Witse is composed by Steve Willaert.

Flikken was a popular Flemish-Belgian TV series about a police-department located in Ghent. The show started in 1999 and ended recently on 19 April 2009. In the series, a team of six police officers solved various crimes, petty crimes as well as organised crime. The series always aimed at showing the policework in a realistic way - though a little personal drama was never far off. Of all the actors that came along during the ten seasons, only Mark Tijsmans and Ludo Hellinx appeared throughout the entire series. Flikken was produced by the VRT and broadcast on Belgian public channel Eén and TROS in the Netherlands. Flikken is very popular in Belgium and the Netherlands. The show has had very high ratings of up to 1.8 million viewers during the last season. Every year the VRT organises the Flikkendag, a family day where the public can meet the actors of the show. There are many games, demonstrations of the real police and other safety organisations and performances of singers. On 18 April 2009, a special farewell party was organised in Ghent, in which the actors and crew said goodbye to their fans - thousands had assembled to watch the show on stage.

JAMES & Co is a true roller coaster with James Cooke at the controls. He gets complete carte blanche for his brand new show. 2 days a week, with 3 special guests each time from an impressive studio, with a live band, an impressive audience and a considerable dose of show, James delivers the entertainment moment of the year.

Emma tells the story of two women, Emma and Birsen, with completely different backgrounds who are determined to make it in the television world. Along the way they often hit their heads against the wall.

Eurosong was the Flemish selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. It selected the Belgian entry to the Contest every second year. The last Eurosong was in 2008. Due the good result of Tom Dice in 2010, who was chosen internally, the VRT decided to cancel Eurosong.

Each episode takes the form of a broadcast made by a fictional pirate television station from a fictional small-minded village in East-Flanders, manned by a small number of VJs who introduce various sketches disguised as news or human interest reports. The style of both the program and its official website is deliberately amateurish. Most episodes involve a framing story which intertwines with certain sketches. Many characters are recurring and feature several catchphrases. The series sometimes includes sketches about current news, such as a baby found at a railway station, but also reacted to some negative critique, not taking itself too seriously.

In this sequel to Blueberry Hill, the boys of the Catholic metal working-class, who are now all working, decide to take revenge on the hated former principal Verbiest, after the sanctimonious 'pillar of society' assaulted one of their girls.

Ludovic, a 12-year-old boy from a well-off home who is neglected by his parents, who are part of the art scene, falls head over heels in love with Sofie, the daughter of a piano teacher, when he has to pass a test of courage in the schoolyard during recess. The cheeky girl with the two pigtails likes the boy who is interested in her. They soon get closer and meet in secret places in the city. It is the first love for both of them. Shortly after Sofie's father catches the two lovers in bed together in Sofie's room, Ludovic is sentaway from Brussels to spend time with his grandparents. But Sofie can't stand it without Ludovic and runs away from home to be with him. The lovers hide in abandoned buildings on the Belgian coast. While parents and police search for the couple, both youngsters find that it is pretty hard to beon their own, especially since an ominous photographer is lurking around the children.