Kopspijkers is a talk show that ran on the Dutch public television from 1995 to 2005 (first named Spijkers). A recipient, in 2003, of the annual Zilveren Nipkow best-show award from Dutch television critics, the programme was produced by the left-of-centre public broadcaster VARA. It was hosted by Jack Spijkerman [nl], hence the title.
Humorous in style, the show was particularly noted for its satirical sketches. Until 2001 it was 'normal' cabaret, but in September 2001 (which happened to be the week of the 9/11 terrorist attacks) the show started with imitations of famous people. These were much like those featured in the British TV programme Spitting Image, but used real actors. Political leaders like Jan Peter Balkenende, Wouter Bos and Gerrit Zalm were frequently impersonated. At first only Dutch people were impersonated, later also foreign celebrities (including Tony Blair, Nelson Mandela, John Kerry and Viktor Yushchenko) were impersonated. In recent episodes even historical characters, like Napoleon Bonaparte, Anne Frank, Plato and Joseph Stalin were imitated. Kopspijkers was amongst the most viewed programmes in the Netherlands. At the start of the Iraq War one of their sketches "BZN in Baghdad", went viral on the internet in the English-speaking world, and included BZN impersonators chroma-keyed into newsreel footage of combat and the toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue
On several occasions, the imitations have caused controversies. The first imitation episode showed sensationalist TV presenter Willibrord Frequin chasing Osama bin Laden asking "why he had been so cowardly" and "why he sent thousands of people into death". Pim Fortuyn was often imitated, which led to accusations against Kopspijkers after he was assassinated. In November 2003 Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and Minister Piet Hein Donner complained about the 'tasteless' imitations of members of the royal family. Queen Beatrix later said she had no problems with being imitated. In 2005, Jack Spijkerman decided to cancel his contract with VARA and sign with the newly formed channel Talpa. Though Spijkerman intended to finish the running season, VARA cut it short and cancelled the 4 remaining shows. Spijkerman made a similar (but commonly deemed of less quality) show on Talpa, called Koppensnellers [nl] but after bankruptcy of the channel it disappeared of the Dutch TV.
In 2004 similar shows were broadcast in Germany and Belgium, but they weren't very popular.
External linksedit
IMDB entry for Kopspijkers
This Dutch television programme-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
kopspijkers, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, july, 2018, le. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Kopspijkers news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message Kopspijkers is a talk show that ran on the Dutch public television from 1995 to 2005 first named Spijkers A recipient in 2003 of the annual Zilveren Nipkow best show award from Dutch television critics the programme was produced by the left of centre public broadcaster VARA It was hosted by Jack Spijkerman nl hence the title Humorous in style the show was particularly noted for its satirical sketches Until 2001 it was normal cabaret but in September 2001 which happened to be the week of the 9 11 terrorist attacks the show started with imitations of famous people These were much like those featured in the British TV programme Spitting Image but used real actors Political leaders like Jan Peter Balkenende Wouter Bos and Gerrit Zalm were frequently impersonated At first only Dutch people were impersonated later also foreign celebrities including Tony Blair Nelson Mandela John Kerry and Viktor Yushchenko were impersonated In recent episodes even historical characters like Napoleon Bonaparte Anne Frank Plato and Joseph Stalin were imitated Kopspijkers was amongst the most viewed programmes in the Netherlands At the start of the Iraq War one of their sketches BZN in Baghdad went viral on the internet in the English speaking world and included BZN impersonators chroma keyed into newsreel footage of combat and the toppling of Saddam Hussein s statueOn several occasions the imitations have caused controversies The first imitation episode showed sensationalist TV presenter Willibrord Frequin chasing Osama bin Laden asking why he had been so cowardly and why he sent thousands of people into death Pim Fortuyn was often imitated which led to accusations against Kopspijkers after he was assassinated In November 2003 Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and Minister Piet Hein Donner complained about the tasteless imitations of members of the royal family Queen Beatrix later said she had no problems with being imitated In 2005 Jack Spijkerman decided to cancel his contract with VARA and sign with the newly formed channel Talpa Though Spijkerman intended to finish the running season VARA cut it short and cancelled the 4 remaining shows Spijkerman made a similar but commonly deemed of less quality show on Talpa called Koppensnellers nl but after bankruptcy of the channel it disappeared of the Dutch TV In 2004 similar shows were broadcast in Germany and Belgium but they weren t very popular External links editIMDB entry for Kopspijkers nbsp This Dutch television programme related article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Kopspijkers amp oldid 1215767362, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
