De Stratemakeropzeeshow

De Stratemakeropzeeshow ("The bricklayer at sea show") was a Dutch television program for children that ran from 1972 to 1974 and was aired by the VARA broadcasting organization.

The main actors were Joost Prinsen, Aart Staartjes, and Wieteke van Dort. The "taboo-breaking" show was controversial because it tackled what were then considered unseemly topics; the "Poop and Pee Minuet" was criticized in the tabloid De Telegraaf. It was directed by Staartjes and Frans Boelen, with music by Harry Bannink. Important lyrical contributions were by Willem Wilmink; other lyricists were Karel Eykman (writing as Hendrik Blaak) and Hans Dorrestijn.

The show aired at a time when Dutch children's television was changing: the previous generation had watched Annie M. G. Schmidt's shows, but the writers of De Stratemakeropzeeshow dealt much more openly with children's problems, in a way deemed more relevant to children than previous television shows.

Fifty-five episodes were aired, from 3 October 1972 to 26 December 1974. The show possibly ended because of complaints by parents. In 2009, it made the "Canon of Dutch Children's Television".

Joost Prinsen's main character was Erik Engerd ("Eric the Creep"), an alter ego that still stuck to the actor forty years after. Eric always tried to scare others, but scared no one but himself.

Wieteke van Dort's Deftige Dame ("Proper Lady") farted continually; this show and others made van Dort the "uncrowned queen of Dutch children's television". Her character "Tante Lien", which later got her own show, was introduced in De Stratemakeropzeeshow.

Aart Staartjes played the title character "Stratemaker op zee", abbreviated "Straat". His character represented the naive and uninhibited child who commented on the way adults lived their lives.

Some of the songs from the show have become classics. A number of them were performed in 2006 and 2007 by Michiel Flamman and others.

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