''Opzoek naar Yolanda'' was a Dutch

dramady Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, illness, betrayal, grief, etc.) ...

television show by

Wim T. Schippers Willem Theodoor "Wim T." Schippers (; born 1 July 1942) is a Dutch artist, comedian, television director, and voice actor. During the 1960s, he worked mostly as a visual artist, associated with the international Fluxus-movement. As a television ...

, consisting of six episodes aired by the

VPRO The VPRO (stylized vpro; originally an acronym for ''Vrijzinnig Protestantse Radio Omroep'', lit. 'Liberal Protestant Radio Broadcaster', nowadays known as ''Omroepvereniging VPRO'') is a Netherlands, Dutch Public broadcasting, public broadca ...

from October to December 1984. The show (a parody of

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

s and

soap operas A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originated from radio dramas original ...

, like most of Schippers' shows) was a continuation of sorts of Schippers' ''

De lachende scheerkwast ''De lachende scheerkwast'' ("The laughing shave brush") is a Dutch television show written and directed by Wim T. Schippers, who also plays one of the lead characters, Jacques Plafond. It ran on VPRO television for six episodes in 1981 before bei ...

'' (1981-1982) and featured some of the same characters. In turn, it was a kind of prequel to ''

We zijn weer thuis ''We zijn weer thuis'' (''Back home again'') is a Dutch Comedy drama, dramady-series broadcast by VPRO from 1989 to 1994. It was written by Wim T. Schippers and co-directed with Ellen Jens as his swansong-series for VPRO. The series was released ...

'', which ran from 1989 to 1994. Story and script were written by Schippers, who directed the show with his longtime associate Ellen Jens. Schippers himself portrays

Jacques Plafond ''Ronflonflon'', or ''Ronflonflon avec Jacques Plafond'' ("Ronflonflon with Jacques Plafond"), was a radio show on the Dutch broadcaster VPRO. It was produced and directed by Wim T. Schippers who also played the principal character and radio host, ...

Plot

Photographer Rik Rollinga (

Kenneth Herdigein Kenneth Herdigein (born June 12, 1959, in Paramaribo) is a Dutch actor of Surinamese descent, best known as a television actor in popular Dutch comedy-dramas. Career Herdigein first gained popularity as a television actor in the 1980s, in such s ...

), on his way to take a formal portrait of the Dutch queen (the invitation turns out to be a practical joke), catches a glimpse of a beautiful young woman, Yolanda, on the

Baarn Baarn () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, near Hilversum in the province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The municipality of Baarn The municipality of Baarn consists of the following towns: Baarn, Eembrugge, Lage Vuursche. T ...

train station. He snaps a quick photograph of her and falls in love. For the rest of the series he tries his best to find her again. Along the way, he falls into one comical situation after another. He hires alcoholic private investigator Rein Schaambergen to help him, but Schaambergen is too drunk to be of any help. In desperation he turns to

and plans to make a hit record (arranged by Jan Vos) to make her fall in love with him, but sings so poorly that he is replaced by a better singer—his neighbor Victor van Vliet records the song, "Smoke, Gammon and Spinach", which becomes a hit, and Rik is kicked out of the studio. He flees to the Bahamas but is tracked down by Schaambergen and returned to the Netherlands, with the promise that Yolanda is found. Unfortunately, Schaambergen has failed and presents the wrong Yolanda (the ugly daughter of the baker,

Ruud van Hemert Ruud van Hemert (29 October 1938 – 5 July 2012) was a Dutch film director known especially for (dark) comedy. In the 1970s he helped produce and direct TV shows on VPRO before starting a career as a film director. Biography Ruud van Heme ...

). In the end it turns out that Yolanda lives upstairs from him and is Victor's girlfriend. The basic storyline is larded with skits involving many of Schippers' characters from previous shows.

Cast

as Rik Rollinga *

Adriaan van Dis Adriaan van Dis (Bergen aan Zee, 16 December 1946) is a Dutch author. He debuted in 1983 with the novella ''Nathan Sid''. In 1995 his book ''Indische Duinen'' (''My Father's War''), which in its narrative is a follow-up to his debut novella, wa ...

as himself *

as Jacques Plafond *

as the baker * Lex de Regt as Hein Schaambergen * Clous van Mechelen as Jan Vos *

Dolf Brouwers Dolf Brouwers (31 August 1912 – 23 September 1997) was a Dutch comedian, singer, and television actor who rose to fame late in life playing the character Sjef van Oekel in the 1970s satirical television shows aired on VPRO, written and directed ...

as Sjef van Oekel/himself *

Herr Seele Herr Seele is the pseudonym of Peter Van Heirseele (born 13 April 1959, Torhout, Belgium), a Flemish cartoonist, author, actor and piano collector. He is mainly known for drawing the absurd humor comic strip '' Cowboy Henk'', for which his coll ...

as Rodolfo Smit

DVD release

The six episodes were released in 2008 on two DVDs, which also included the Schippers plays ''

Going to the Dogs ''Going to the Dogs'' is a 1986 play by Dutch writer, artist, and television director Wim T. Schippers. It premiered on 19 September to a sell-out audience in the Stadsschouwburg (Amsterdam), Stadsschouwburg in Amsterdam, with six German Shepherds, ...

'' (1986), ''Sans rancune'' (1987), and ''De bruine jurk'' (1988).

References

Footnotes

Reference notes

Reference bibliography

External links

*
"Smoke, Gammon and Spinach"
{{authority control 1984 Dutch television series debuts 1984 Dutch television series endings 1980s Dutch television series Wim T. Schippers Dutch-language television shows Dutch comedy television series Dutch drama television series Surrealist television series Surreal comedy television series