Everybody has one of those TV memories that nobody else seems to remember except them. "Die Seltsamen Abenteuer Des Herman van Veen" is one of those show. Luckily I have two tangible pieces of evidence in my possession to prove this show did exist: a record with wonderful songs and a storybook which features 4 of the 6 episodes (or does it?). There isn't very much information to be found on the internet either, though it came as a shock to me the show was actually produced and screened in Germany before it came to the Netherlands. This despite the fact that it had a predominately Dutch cast. At the time, the late seventies, it was this viewers first introduction to all round entertainer Herman van Veen and to date I still think it's the best thing he's ever done (never really got into Alfred J. Kwak).
In this six part series, Herman, all dressed in black and usually carrying a violin or some other instrument, lives in a windmill in the heart of town with his gorgeous wife Marlous (Fluitsma) and 8 men, most of whom just happen to be musicians. A young Michiel Kerbosch had a funny supporting part as Klabas with the much too long scarf while man of a thousand voices Ger Smit appeared as one of two (suposedly) identical cooks, Hans & Hans. The windmill itself is a curious place, filled with doors and magical paintings that people are able to step into as they please. We first meet Herman as he's lost in the Sahara (Tunisia to be precise) inside one of those wall mounted pictures.
The series features a lot of fabulous music, with lyrics by Van Veen and notes by Erik van der Wurff who plays Erik-in-the-closet (who lives in a closet) on the show. The first episode features the most memorable song of all, 'Weg Da' (in German) aka 'Opzij' (in Dutch) which is still one of Van Veen's signature songs, although very few people seem to remember the context in which it was first used. While it is easy to find the song on you-tube, the very funny sequence that accompanied it on the show (and was used as a kind of video when the song became a novelty hit) is nowhere to be found. In this clip, the inhabitants of the windmill are racing against the clock to get a young girl home in time for dinner, using all kinds of different transports and shortcuts and stopping only for 10 seconds to wash their clothes in the middle of it.
Subsequent adventures saw Herman fighting an empty suit of armor for the honor of a beautiful young maiden (the beautiful Marlous) in a castle, defying the minister of music by starting an impromptu street concert and matching wits with a leather clad ten year old street punk. The final episode was also very memorable as the entire gang took off in the windmill which flew away to knew adventures in different places. It's one of those endings that sticks in the mind of impressionable young viewers who were not yet accustomed to having a TV series end in such a definite and final manner. I suppose that's why I never really connected with the follow up series, 'Herman En De Zes' (1980). This second series is now even more obscure and deeply forgotten (those who do remember it seem to think it's actually the same series as this one). The fact that the semi-sequel was completely financed in the Netherlands (instead of being a German/Dutch co-production) may also account for it's smaller budget and overall less impressive-ness.
While doing research for this comment I was once again struck by the beautiful lyrics and wonderful arrangements on my old copy of the Dutch version of the LP. Also, while reading the book (which by the way ends rather abruptly with the words 'to be continued' though I don't think there ever was a follow up) I noticed for the first time that there are German signs on the wall in a lot of the pictures. All this makes me wonder what the series must have looked like back then, having been dubbed into Dutch. There may be a change to find out pretty soon, as the show is being released on DVD in Germany this month. Can a Dutch release date be far behind? Lets hope not. Or else, I'll just have to get it in German. Would be interesting to hear the songs as they were originally written.
9 out of 10
