In de Gloria

Directed by Jan Eelen, this sketch program is disguised as a human interest show. The characters are portrayed by the same cast of actors in every skit and sometimes guest actors are invited to expand the program's variety. Let me keep my opinion on this program very short: sublime, fantastic, excellent! What makes the show so fantastic? First of all, it's extremely recognizable, especially for the Flemish people, because it's about everyday people in everyday situations that become not so everyday when there's a camera in their face. The realistic quality of the program makes it so that the viewer can imagine it actually happening, which makes it all the more amusing. Second and foremost, it plays perfectly to the modern-day viewer's desire for things to go horribly wrong, and gives him exactly what they want.

It is mostly the realistic set-up and sublime acting of the cast members that makes this program to what it is: the best program ever produced by Woestijnvis, by the VRT and probably in the entire history of Belgian television, since the mid 1950s.

Americans, although they might not have realised it themselves, have most likely seen a skit from this program on the internet, where a talk show host finds himself having a laughing fit when a guest on his show - that had undergone a failed tonsil operation - speaks to him in a girlish, high-pitched voice. Many people think this happened on live television, but there you go, the secret's revealed! Besides this sketch, there are tons of other sketches, such as the worker that gets drunk after a squash game with his supervisor and calls him a 'faggot', an elderly actor that has gone dangerously senile, and the woman that can't sing along in church because she's unable to sing in tune. All of these elements combined make 'In de Gloria' what it is.

Real people, real situations, real comedy.

A big, fat 10 well earned.

I remember the first time i saw"in de gloria" I was bored and went trough the cable tv channels while babysitting. I saw a scene ans the first minutes i tought it was real. The acting, the writing, the production. Just plain splendid alltough you have to be Flemish to understand in de gloria...

For ten years I have not owned a television, relying on family or friends if I wanted to see something really good or - in my case - a soccer game. Only a few shows are worthwhile and "In de Gloria" definitely is one of them.

This is state of the art humour that must be difficult to translate to other languages because of the multitude of cultural references it contains. Basically the show mocks TV-makers that abuse any poor soul whose behaviour is slightly out of the ordinary and who are only too willing to show off in front of the camera. It is true that Human Interest is polluting the media landscape as never before. Just one of the plots to give a slight idea what the show is like (all are actors):

A man in his fifties, vaguely resembling Jesus Christ is being interviewed in view of the annual procession that goes around town. He has been playing Christ's role, carrying the cross, for more than 20 years now, but the end of his reign is dawning: recent scientific research has shown that Jesus looked much different from what is commonly accepted. (They show an article with drawing in the paper - real) So the organization has decided to engage another, utterly unsuspecting and younger, citizen, who indeed remarkably looks like the "new Jesus" (hilarious make-up). Moreover, the older guy recently has had trouble kneeling, while Jesus at several occasions "kneels".

The TV-crew will now closely follow how the elder hands over the "practicing cross" to the younger. The unwilling old Jesus, the bemused new Jesus, the arrogant organizer and the caring (but cruel) interviewer, all actors do a wonderful job in this hilarious "human interest show".

If you want to know what Belgium looks like, watch this.