Sara (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Sara was a Flemish
telenovela
, based upon the Colombia
n telenovela Betty La Fea
. It tells the story of Sara De Roose, a business economics
graduate, who passed with honours at the university but has trouble finding a job—until she comes across an assistant job in a Belgian fashion company, called "Présence". The company is looking for a new general manager, and Sara arrival coincides with the two CEOs arguing who this has to be.
The series was broadcast by the commercial station VTM
, upon which it was shown every weekday at 6:25 pm. On Sunday, VTM broadcast all episodes of last week, called 'De Week van Sara' (= Sara's week). Sara premiered on 25 September 2007 and ended in June 2008, after 200 episodes. A new telenovela called "LouisLouise" (about a guy named Louis, who turns into a woman (Louise) by a spell) replaced Sara as of September 2008.
Sara begins the series as the ugly duckling, mocked by many of her fellow colleagues for being "ugly". As the series progresses, she develops confidence, moves up the ladder, becomes more powerful and explores romantic interests. The series also focuses on fellow Présence employees, and their relationships and career problems.
The show was written by a team of writers, led by Hugo Van Laere. He already wrote many scripts for Flemish TV series and movies, such as 16+, Rupel, and Dennis van Rita. The series was directed
by Serge Bierset, Renaat Coppens, Filip Van Neyghem and Geoffrey Enthoven. The latter already directed many Flemish movies, such as Vidange Perdue and Happy Together.
at 8:35 pm). The second episode was broadcast at its regular hour, 6:25 pm. This ensured a fall in viewers of 50%, with an average of 420,000 viewers. The reason is probably a game show, called Blokken
, which is very popular in its time slot and starts at the same moment as Sara.
Slowly, the ratings of Sara increased. In December 2007, Sara already had an average of 450,000 to 550,000 viewers. As of February 2008, the ratings increased again, and Sara now has an average of 650,000 to 750,000 viewers. Since then Sara became a direct competitor for Blokken. And the success continued: ratings increased even more, and when VTM moved Sara to prime time again (for the last twenty episodes), ratings doubled and surpassed a million viewers . The final episode gathered more than 1.5mln viewers .
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
telenovela
Telenovela
A telenovela is a limited-run serial dramatic programming popular in Latin American, Portuguese, and Spanish television programming. The word combines tele, short for televisión or televisão , and novela, a Spanish or Portuguese word for "novel"...
, based upon the Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n telenovela Betty La Fea
Betty la fea
Yo soy Betty, la fea is a popular soap opera filmed in Colombia, written by Fernando Gaitán and produced between 1999 through 2001 by the Colombian network RCN . More than a dozen versions of the telenovela have been made in other countries...
. It tells the story of Sara De Roose, a business economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
graduate, who passed with honours at the university but has trouble finding a job—until she comes across an assistant job in a Belgian fashion company, called "Présence". The company is looking for a new general manager, and Sara arrival coincides with the two CEOs arguing who this has to be.
The series was broadcast by the commercial station VTM
Vlaamse Televisie Maatschappij
vtm or Vlaamse Televisie Maatschappij is the main commercial television station in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking north of Belgium.It went live in 1989 and quickly became the Flemish market leader...
, upon which it was shown every weekday at 6:25 pm. On Sunday, VTM broadcast all episodes of last week, called 'De Week van Sara' (= Sara's week). Sara premiered on 25 September 2007 and ended in June 2008, after 200 episodes. A new telenovela called "LouisLouise" (about a guy named Louis, who turns into a woman (Louise) by a spell) replaced Sara as of September 2008.
Sara begins the series as the ugly duckling, mocked by many of her fellow colleagues for being "ugly". As the series progresses, she develops confidence, moves up the ladder, becomes more powerful and explores romantic interests. The series also focuses on fellow Présence employees, and their relationships and career problems.
The show was written by a team of writers, led by Hugo Van Laere. He already wrote many scripts for Flemish TV series and movies, such as 16+, Rupel, and Dennis van Rita. The series was directed
Television director
A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the...
by Serge Bierset, Renaat Coppens, Filip Van Neyghem and Geoffrey Enthoven. The latter already directed many Flemish movies, such as Vidange Perdue and Happy Together.
Ratings
Sara's first episode was a huge success, with an average of 840,000 viewers (it was broadcast in prime timePrime time
Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...
at 8:35 pm). The second episode was broadcast at its regular hour, 6:25 pm. This ensured a fall in viewers of 50%, with an average of 420,000 viewers. The reason is probably a game show, called Blokken
Blokken
Blokken is a Belgian quiz show broadcast by Eén, based on the Tetris video game, and is hosted by popular Belgian television personality Ben Crabbé. The show is currently the longest running quiz show on Belgian television ....
, which is very popular in its time slot and starts at the same moment as Sara.
Slowly, the ratings of Sara increased. In December 2007, Sara already had an average of 450,000 to 550,000 viewers. As of February 2008, the ratings increased again, and Sara now has an average of 650,000 to 750,000 viewers. Since then Sara became a direct competitor for Blokken. And the success continued: ratings increased even more, and when VTM moved Sara to prime time again (for the last twenty episodes), ratings doubled and surpassed a million viewers . The final episode gathered more than 1.5mln viewers .
Cast
Main cast
| Character | Actor/Actress |
| Sara De Roose | Veerle Baetens Veerle Baetens Veerle Baetens is a Flemish actress.She followed a musical education at the "Brusselse Hoger Instituut voor Dramatische Kunsten"... |
| Simon Van Wyck | Gert Winckelmans |
| Britt Van Hove | Sandrine André Sandrine André Sandrine André is a Flemish actress. She is the daughter of actor Bert André and actress Mieke Verheyden. She's married to the actor Hans Ligtvoet... |
| Alexander de Lannoy | Kurt Rogiers |
| Helena de Lannoy | Lotte Pinoy |
| Hans De Roose | Ivan Pecnik |
| Leon Van Wyck | Hans De Munter |
| Margot Van Wyck | Karin Tanghe |
| Arne d'Hauwe | Benjamin Van Tourhout |
| Lieven Pauwels | Tom Van Bauwel |
| Marnix Standaardt | Paul Codde |
| Ellen De Graeve | Annemarie Lemaître |
| Thomas De Graeve | Anthony Arandia |
| Lut Laureyns | Veerle Eyckermans |
| An Verbiest | Laurien Van den Broeck |
Guest Actors
| Character | Actor/Actress |
| Brenda | Aza Declercq |
| Esther | Joke Devynck |
| Koen | Olivier De Smet |
| Martine | Annick Christiaens |
| Nils | Pieter Van Keymeulen |
| Jurgen | Tom De Hoog |
| Steven | Maarten Claeyssens |
| Georges | Michel Bouwens |
| Michèle | Bieke Ilegems |
| Daniël | Kristoff Clerckx |
| Patrick | Dries Vanhegen |
| Jan | Bart Klein |
| Felix | Erik Burke |
| Sven | Ides Meire |
Awards
On 13 February 2008, the nominees of the Flemish TV-stars (= The Flemish Emmy's) were announced. 'Sara' was nominated for 3 awards. Veerle Baetens, who plays Sara, and Sandrine Andre, who plays Britt, were both nominated for Best Actor or Actress, but only Veerle Baetens won. The series was nominated for Best Fiction program, but didn't win. Katarakt, another Flemish TV series, won it. The 2 Public Awards, who were announced that night, were for Sara.| Actor/Actress/Series | Award | Win/Nomination |
| Veerle Baetens | Best Actress | Won |
| Sandrine André | Best Actress | Nomination |
| Sara | Best Fiction Programme | Nomination |
| Sara | Most Popular TV Programme (Public Award) | Won |
| Veerle Baetens | Most Popular TV Personalaty (Public Award) | Won |
Trivia
- The USUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
version of the show, Ugly BettyUgly BettyUgly Betty is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which premiered on ABC on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series revolves around the character Betty Suarez and is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian telenovela soap opera Yo soy Betty, la fea...
, is broadcast on VIJFtvVIJFtvVIJFtv started in October 2004 as SBS Belgium's second channel and a sister channel to VT4. Although the channel's target audience are females, the first thing VIJFtv broadcast was a soccer game. By doing that the station made sure men would set their TV up to view VIJFtv.2005 was a strong year for...
, every Thursday evening. The show started almost 5 months after Sara premiered.