TV & Screen
Belgian television and the broadcast moments a whole country watched at once — cult TV, the news anchors, reality and the clips that became national in-jokes.
Part of Belgium
30 moments in this segment.
- — VRT & RTBF. The two public broadcasters across the language line — the shared and separate screens of Belgium.
- — Strip-Tease. The legendary fly-on-the-wall RTBF documentary series — unscripted, unnarrated Belgian human comedy.
- — Jambers. Paul Jambers’ blunt, immersive human-interest reportages — the godfather of Flemish documentary TV.
- — Sandra Kim wins Eurovision (1986). Belgium’s only Eurovision win — 13-year-old Sandra Kim with "J’aime la vie".
- — "Toto le héros". Jaco Van Dormael’s 1991 Caméra d’Or winner — a landmark of surreal Belgian cinema.
- — "Dag Sinterklaas". Bart Peeters & Hugo Matthysen’s deadpan children’s series — quoted by Flemish adults to this day.
- — "Wittekerke". The long-running coastal soap (1993–2008) — a Flemish living-room institution for fifteen years.
- — The Dardenne Brothers. Two-time Palme d’Or winners — the social-realist face of acclaimed Belgian cinema.
- — The Flandrien Weatherman. Belgian TV weather — a national fixation, delivered deadpan over endless grey skies.
- — The TV Formats Belgium Exported. A small market that punches far above its weight inventing globally-licensed TV formats.
- — Bye Bye Belgium (RTBF hoax). In 2006, public broadcaster RTBF faked Flanders declaring independence — panic, then a nation in on the joke.
- — "Van Vlees en Bloed". Tom Lenaerts’ acclaimed butcher-family dramedy — "Ik zen nogal ne kèrel è!" became a national quote.
- — "De Ronde". Tom Lenaerts’ ensemble drama set on the day of the Tour of Flanders — cycling as national tapestry.
- — "Salamander". The 2012 Flemish conspiracy thriller that travelled the world — the rise of Belgian prestige TV drama.
- — "Eigen Kweek". The West-Flemish farmer-comedy with subtitles for the rest of Flanders — cult dialect TV.
- — "Safety First". Jonas Geirnaert & co.’s absurd security-guard sitcom — early Flemish online-comedy crossover.
- — Jean-Claude Van Damme — The Epic Split. The "Muscles from Brussels". The 2013 Volvo Trucks epic split became one of the most-shared ads ever.
- — Belgian Cult TV. The home-grown soaps and sketch shows that became national in-jokes across the language line.
- — "De Buurtpolitie". VTM’s daily neighbourhood-cop series — a ratings juggernaut and kids’-TV spin-off machine.
- — Alloo bij de Wegpolitie. Luk Alloo riding shotgun with the Flemish highway police — a cornerstone of Belgian observational TV.
- — JCVD — "I am aware" interview. Van Damme’s gloriously rambling philosophical interviews — a meme genre of their own.
- — The Flemish Soap Operas. "Thuis" and "Familie" — the daily Flemish soaps that have run for decades on VRT/VTM.
- — "Callboys". Jonas Geirnaert & Jeroen Perceval’s pitch-black male-escort comedy — Flemish prestige raunch.
- — "Beau Séjour". The eerie 2016 supernatural-murder series — Flemish TV noir picked up worldwide.
- — Man Bijt Hond. The cult VRT human-interest show finding poetry in everyday Flemish life.
- — "Undercover". The Flemish–Dutch drug-bust thriller that became one of Netflix’s first Belgian global hits.
- — "The Twelve" (De Twaalf). The Flemish courtroom drama (2019) that became one of Netflix’s first Belgian global hits.
- — Martine Tanghe’s Last Journaal. The nation’s news anchor for 42 years signs off — a collective televised goodbye in 2020.
- — FC De Kampioenen. The beloved Flemish sitcom about a hopeless amateur football club — a national institution.
- — Reality TV from the Low Countries. Belgian-Dutch production created Big Brother and reshaped global reality television.
