Bassie and Adriaan
| Bassie & Adriaan | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Created by |
Aad van Toor Bas van Toor Joop van den Ende |
| Starring |
Aad van Toor Bas van Toor Paul van Gorcum and others |
| Country of origin | Netherlands |
| No. of episodes | 144 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 25 minutes (without commercials) |
| Release | |
| Original network |
Nederland 2 (TROS) (1978-1990) TV 2 (TROS) (1992-1996) |
| Original release | 1978 – 1996 |
| Website | www |
Bassie & Adriaan are a former Dutch circus duo who starred in their own television series. Bassie is a ginger-haired red-nosed clown who wears a red tartan-jacket and green trousers; he's fond of cream-cakes, and calls himself "stupid, but not smart". Adriaan is an acrobat in a blue (used to be purple) 1970s-style shirt; his philosophy is "Whatever happens, keep smiling". They performed together till the early 2010s and still enjoy a huge popularity in Netherlands and Belgium.
Bas van Toor (born 1935) left school at an early age to pursue a number of odd-jobs. At 19 he joined the circus and spent a year on the road. After this, he decided to form an acrobat duo with his brother Aad (born 1942). In 1959, The Melton Brothers/The Crocksons were born.
In 1965, they embarked on what was planned to be a two-year stint abroad; they stayed abroad ten years instead. During this period they befriended Siegfried & Roy, incorporated the wives into their act (The Four Crocksons) and staged children's matinees in Dutch, German and English while residing in Spain for nightclub-shows. The seeds for Bassie & Adriaan were sown in 1964 when the brothers did a clown act as part of Rudi Carrell's travelling circus.
In 1975, Bassie & Adriaan went back home for what was supposed to be their last five years as acrobats; but they met Joop van den Ende, TV-producer and a theatre-owner, who suggested they make a television series. A pilot was taped in 1976 and integrated in the actual series which was broadcast by TROS from January 10 to April 4, 1978.
In De Plaaggeest (The Poltergeist) Bassie & Adriaan find themselves abandoned by their own circus because they overslept, and with no tour-schedule in sight or any money they're forced to take other jobs but lose each. Partly responsible is The Poltergeist, who's more a prankster than a poltergeist wearing a black cape, comedy cheeks and a fool's hat. Bassie & Adriaan are saved by a self-proclaimed free spirit called Douwe whom they met on the work-floor. Adriaan suspects that Douwe is the Poltergeist, but this has never been proved. In fact, the Poltergeist disappears from the scene, regretting his actions in an open letter. In the final episode Bassie & Adriaan return to the circus.
Bassie & Adriaan were a hit and soon worked on their second series which was partly shot on location in Spain and broadcast from October 9, 1978 to May 21, 1979.
In Het Geheim van de Sleutel (The Secret Of The Key) they take a well-earned holiday but find themselves chased by two diamond thieves (B1 and B2) who mistook Bassie for the go-between who came to collect the key to the vault of the stolen diamonds. B1 and B2 stage many fruitless efforts to get the key back in Spain; upon arrival at Rotterdam Airport they finally manage to lure the clown and his pet bird Sweety to their car and drag him inside. After release, Bassie & Adriaan set up a booby trap at Rotterdam's Central Station; the diamond thieves are arrested by policemen in disguise.
...
Wikipedia