FC De Kampioenen

F.C. De Kampioenen (F.C. The Champions) is a long-running Flemish sitcom chronicling the (mis)adventures of a fictional local football team. It aired on the Belgian-Flemish channel één between 1990 and 2011, for 21 seasons with 273 half-hour-long episodes, making it one of the most successful comedy programs ever on Belgian television. In 2009 a film had been planned, but has since been cancelled following complaints by the actors about the script. In 2012 the crew announced a new script had been written and a movie will be produced. The movie was released in December 2013. A second movie is released in October 2015

The series relies heavily on stereotypical characters and farce for its humour. The story is mainly set around a few members of the football club (Marc and Bieke, Pol and Doortje, Xavier and Carmen) who regularly visit the club canteen before or after a soccer training or match. The canteen is run by Pascale, who is in a relationship with Maurice. The football club is sponsored by the owner of a sausage factory, Balthazar Boma. Next to the field is an antiques shop, owned by the fraudulent Fernand. Most of the episodes are based on misunderstandings or dirty tricks from Fernand (formerly the garage owner Dimitri De Tremmerie or the chef Bernard Theofiel Waterslaeghers).

Johan Gevers was the series director. The scriptwriters were Bart Cooreman (1995–2011), Wout Thielemans (1996–2011), Knarf Van Pellecom (2000–2011) and Carmino D'haene (2009–2011).

Seasons 1–20 have all been released on DVD through Universal Pictures and Lime-Lights.

A first attempt to create a theatrical movie was done in 1993. However, the film was cancelled as actor Carry Goossens decided to work for a competing broadcasting company (vtm) and actor Walter Michiels was fired due to his alcohol abuse. Furthermore, Jacques Vermeire had his own film plans and his movie Max was to be shot and released in same period.

A new scenario was written in 2008 but rejected by most of the actors.

In 2011 a complete new story was written which was accepted by the actors. Due to funding issues it took until April 2013 before filming started. The movie was released in December 2013 as "F.C. De Kampioenen: Kampioen zijn blijft plezant" which can be translated as "F.C. The Champions: being a champion remains fun".

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