Lips was sad regarding the death of Wim de Bie. The talk shows in which well-known Dutch people praised him did not improve his mood. He wanted to see Bie and not hear him talk regarding him. He wanted Mémien Holboog, Berendien uut Wisp and Tedje van Es.
But following an hour of nostalgic clicking on YouTube, duty called. Dionne Stax would travel to Sweden and Norway to visit emigrated compatriots.
Stax was curious regarding their motives, she said in the opening shot. So was Lips, but then to those of the program makers. Why this quest at this very moment? Was there a trend? A mass flight from the advancing subtropical climate?
Lips knew that The High North had previously run on Flemish television, but why was a Dutch version needed? Lips continued to search for urgency and topicality for 45 minutes. In the meantime he saw Stax make four obligatory portraits, all filmed in Farmer seeks wife-style.
In Norway, where Rob and Astrid ran a sheep farm, even the inevitable stable scene followed with lambs frolicking around the presenter. Two other couples announced that they wanted to start a campsite or a B&B. I leave, thought Lips immediately. Again!
Suddenly he was reminded of one of De Bies best creations: Frank van Putten, the eternally resident son of Carla, dressed in a checkered culottes. Surely there was a sketch in which he also wanted to go to Scandinavia? YouTube brought solace.
Frank wanted to go to Finland, he said when his mother was away for a while. Not for peace or nature, but: “To hunt moose and roast them in the fireplace. In front of which my blonde girlfriend lies. On her belly. To wiggle her long bare legs.” Lips mimicked the ending: “But I don’t have a blonde girlfriend. I only have my mother. And I was treated for that.”
More TV reviews? Read all episodes of Han Lips in our archive. Also read the weekly Stardust section, in which we go through the media week. Comment? [email protected].
