Theo Maassen

Israel, 1956: Jewish teacher Rachel Stein rather unexpectedly meets an old friend at the kibbutz. It brings back memories of her experiences in the Netherlands during the war, memories of betrayal. In September 1944, Rachel's hiding place is bombed by Allied troops; she makes contact with a resistance member and joins a group of Jews to be smuggled across the Biesbosch to the freed South Netherlands. Only Rachel escapes a massacre by patrol Germans, and is rescued by a resistance group under the leadership of Gerben Kuipers, whose son is captured trying to smuggle weapons. Kuipers asks Rachel to seduce SS-hauptsturmführer Ludwig Müntze, a mission that she will soon learn that the boat attack wasn't a coincidence.

When they are confronted with the disease of the pater familias, all the members of the Liefhebber family have to face their fears, faults and their troubled interrelationships.

A cat who turns into a young woman helps a journalist protect their town from a factory boss with an evil plan.

When her mother abandons her dementing father, Alex unexpectedly finds herself at a crossroads. As she moves back in the parental house to look after her father, she starts questioning her own life. Does she want to stay with her adulterous husband? She tolerated his affairs for years, but is she really happy with him? Or should she, like her parents, drop the facade?

Dunya and Desie are two 18 year old best friends from Amsterdam North. Dunya is Moroccan and Desie is Dutch. On Dunya's Birthday she is told that her marriage has been arranged with a distant cousin in Morocco. Dunya and her family will travel to Morocco to meet him. After Desie discovers that she is pregnant she joins Dunya in Morocco in a search for Desies father.

Five friends from 'Maaskantje' are getting fired because of the economic crisis. They decide that they won't pay for anything anymore.

The witness walks through the corridors of a courthouse, a floating camera following her. In a pale flashback, she is sternly interrogated by two policemen. In her flashbacks during the examination, we see the events, which seem realistic, but repeatedly turn out to be as changeable and unreliable as the human memory. At a great pace, the three narrative threads take turns, while the witness grows more and more anxious.

If global economy came to a sudden stop what would be the effect on families worldwide? People in different countries or continents might not seem to be interrelated but there is more than meets the eye and we might be more connected than we sometimes like to think.

Registration of the first theatre program by the Dutch comedian Theo Maassen.

Registration of the second theatre program by the Dutch comedian Theo Maassen.

Dennis is a taxi driver trying to start out his own company. One day, he gets the opportunity to buy a scarce and expensive but lucrative license.

Because of a bad marriage of their parents, two brothers Jules and Max made a pact never to get into a relationship with a woman. Therefore, they live a party-life in which they sleep with a different girl every day. However this changes when Jules starts to date Anna and Max falls in love with her. Can their bromance overcome this love triangle.

Registration of the sixt theatre program by the Dutch comedian Theo Maassen.

Maassen won two of the biggest comedy contests in the Netherlands in 1990, the Groninger Studenten Cabaret Festival(GSCF), and Cameretten. The GSCF jury was not pleased with the quality of the contestants that year, and gave Maassen the first prize, remarking he was the best of the year, but still not very good. In the following years, however, Maassen fame grew steadily, especially amongst students. Maassens style was based on stand-up comedy: Alone on stage, telling jokes and stories to amuse the public, without any musical support (a thing common for most Dutch comedians up to that point). Since 2000, Maassens shows are shown on Dutch national television, making him more and more a household name.

Little Ben, a great admirer of an illusionist, dreams of making magic, and convinces her father to have his own show. The downside is that the parent is quite clumsy and accidentally makes Ben"s partner dissapear. And the police does not much believe in the magic ...

A middle-aged journalist interviews the real-life Dutch star Katja Schuurman, in her own loft. Pierre, the journalist is annoyed at being given such a fluffy assignment, as he is normally a political correspondent. Initially he has no questions for Katja, but soon they are coaxing their darkest secrets out of each other.

Four women are sick of being poor. They decide to rob a bank. They are surprised how easily they get away with it and start to commit more robberies. When the net finally closes around them they decide to make one last big hit.

Theo Maassen puts his teeth in his first-ever New Year's conference. Twelve months, 52 weeks, 365 days, reduced to 70 nerve-wracking minutes. Maassen asked young super talent Tim Fransen for help writing this conference, his favorite band Stuurbaard Bakkebaard will accompany him.

The rise to stardom of former comedian Rob van Liempt, which came to a grinding halt during the '90s.

Alex, a 28 year-old photographer, is no longer able to photograph people, for some mysterious reason. Every time he focuses his camera on someone, the same woman appears in his viewfinder - an image he cannot bear. When his brother Aram, whom he has not seen or spoke to for years, unexpectedly phones him and asks him to come to their parental home because their mother is severely ill and may not have long to live, he panics. The thought of a confrontation with the area where he grew up and the renewed encounter with his family makes him feel nervous. Nevertheless, that evening he leaves for AmnesiA: the estate of his parents, the spot where he spent his youth.

Doodslag (Dutch for "Manslaughter") is the story of Max, a paramedic who is repeatedly hindered in performing his duties by loutish behaviour. As his ambulance hurries towards a complicated childbirth, some youths prevent Max from reaching the distressed woman in labour. Spurred on by the emergency and the incendiary words of a TV pundit, he reaches a boiling point and forcefully hits one of the men obstructing his ambulance. Max's strike has far-reaching, unintended consequences.

Registration of the tenth theatre program by the Dutch comedian Theo Maassen. Maassen investigates differences between men and women, white and black.

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.

Arjen Lubach dives through the issues of the day past inspiring guests to the bottom of the news. Everyone always wants to go from the issues of the day to deepening. Arjen is really looking forward to the issues of the day.

This VPRO's ‘summer classic’ is based on an equally simple and refreshing idea that originated in 1988: When during the summer most of the channels are showing reruns, ask interesting people people to curate their ‘favorite television evening’ and let them clarify the fragments in a long-form interview/conversation. The programme was first aired in 1988. Each episode takes up an entire Sunday evening, lasting typically three hours. It consists of an in-depth studio interview with a notable Dutch, Belgian or other Dutch-speaking foreigner, interspersed with cinema or television footage selected by the guest, which is subsequently discussed. Guests include writers, scientists, television personalities, politicians or business people.

Lieven Scheire wanders like a forensic blood hound on planet science and all her secondary planets. Faithfully assisted by Googleman and his one-man house orchestra Stijn Cole.

Matthijs looks back in surprise. With humor, music and other surprises.

Set in Amsterdam’s Jordaan, the remake brings back the beloved café, its barman Kootje, mate Lukas, and neighbour Doortje, now facing the threat of a nearby highway endangering the pub.

Communications consultant Michael Bellicher is forced to become a fugitive when he is framed for the murder of a colleague and his identity is stolen.

Theo Maassen grew up in Germany and was the only boy in his class in '74 not to become World Champion. With the European Championship approaching and football as a starting point, Theo gives an adventurous tour to get to know the real Germany. Are the Germans smarter, faster, stronger and better than us?