Van Vlees en Bloed (English: "From Flesh and Blood") is an international award-winning Belgian

tragicomedy Tragicomedy is a literary genre that blends aspects of both tragedy, tragic and comedy, comic forms. Most often seen in drama, dramatic literature, the term can describe either a tragic play which contains enough comic elements to lighten the ov ...

and miniseries written by

Tom Van Dyck Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name. Arts and entertainment Film and television * Tom (1973 film), ''Tom'' (1973 film), or ''The Bad Bunch'', a blaxploitation film * Tom ...

and

Michiel Devlieger Michiel is a Dutch masculine given name equivalent to Michael and a Venetian surname. Given name * Michiel Andrieszoon (died 1684), Dutch pirate *Michiel Bartman (born 1967), Dutch rower * Michiel Borstlap (born 1966), Dutch pianist and compos ...

. The series was produced by

Woestijnvis Woestijnvis (literally: ''Desert Fish'') is an independent Flemish television production company based in Vilvoorde, Belgium. History The name of the company refers to a famous mistake of a quiz-candidate in the Flemish version of Wheel of Fort ...

and first aired in 2009 on the Belgian channel

Eén VRT 1 is a public Dutch-language TV station in Belgium, owned by the VRT, which also owns Ketnet, VRT Canvas and several radio stations. Although the channel is commercial-free, short sponsorship messages are broadcast in between some programm ...

. The show is about a

butcher shop A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale food establishme ...

owned by the family Vangenechten since 1952. Although the family name was indirectly inspired by, the characters are entirely fictitious and there is no direct link with the famous Belgian Vangenechten family. Plot: Whereas André Vangenechten and his wife Liliane Verstappen run the shop, it is actually still owned by André's mother Maria Vangenechten. One day Rudy, the son of André and Liliane, suddenly turns up after an absence of 10 years. Liliane and Maria are happy, but André is not impressed. The series won many prizes such as a Golden Nymph at the

Monte-Carlo Television Festival The Monte-Carlo Television Festival is held every year in June in the Monaco, Principality of Monaco at the Grimaldi Forum, under the Honorary Presidency of H.S.H. Albert II, Prince of Monaco, Prince Albert II of Monaco. The opening ceremony ...

and a Rockie at the

Banff World Media Festival Founded in 1979, the Banff World Media Festival (formerly known as the Banff World Television Festival) is an international media event held in the Canadian Rockies at the Banff Springs Hotel, Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta, Canad ...

. In

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

the series won at least 10 awards

Main cast and characters

Episodes

Audience measurement

The series was a success in Belgium. Episode 4, 5 and 6 break Belgian records for emissions broadcast on a weekday. ''(The series was broadcast on a Thursday)'' The average number of viewers was 1.753.500 per episode. Episode 6 reached close to 2 million viewers. The series end up on the third place in best viewed shows. Only one episode of

Schalkse Ruiters ''Schalkse Ruiters'', translated as "Roguish Horsemen", was a Flemish humoristic TV talk and game show, broadcast on the TV channel Eén between late 1996 and early 1998. The program was a cross between a comedy show, a talk show, a game show and ...

''(broadcast on Sunday)''and the finale of '' De Slimste Mens ter Wereld 2009'' did better. Remarkable detail: the finale of last show was sent out after episode 7.Analysis Audience measurement Thursday, 12th of February 2009
/ref>

Trivia

* The series was shot in

Dessel Dessel () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises only the town of Dessel proper. In 2021, Dessel had a total population of 9,659 inhabitants. The total area is 27.03 km2. Nuclear industries ...

, Mol and

Retie Retie (; , ) is a municipality located in the Campine region of the province of Antwerp (province), Antwerp, Belgium. The municipality comprises the town of Retie proper and several hamlets of which Schoonbroek is the largest. In 2021, Retie had a ...

* The scenes in the woods were shot in

Princes Park, Retie The Princes Park in Retie () is located in the Campine region of the Antwerp province in Flanders, Belgium. It is a beautiful park that consists of ponds, trails, woodlands, meadows, playgrounds, picnic spots, canals and moorland which attract natu ...

The number of visitors increased after the famous "wood fucking scene". Many tourists wanted to see the tree stump where the scene was shot but

never revealed the exact location. * The family name Vangenechten (sometimes spelled Van Genechten) is generally considered to refer to the famous Flemish dynasty of entrepreneurs rooted in the East of Antwerp (Kempen) with branches all over the world. None of the offspring however actually own a butchery store. * After the show aired, the interest in the butcher profession increased among young people. A statement by the butcher industry had to be issued, saying that show used outdated techniques, as the job of a butcher isn't what it used to be as it is presented in the series.

References

{{reflist Flemish television shows Belgian drama television shows 2009 Belgian television series debuts 2009 Belgian television series endings Television shows set in Belgium Television series about families Fictional butchers VRT 1 original programming