Hoepla

Hoepla
Phil Bloom reading the newspaper on the set of Hoepla
Genre	Teenage series, culture show, talk show, music show, avant-garde, satire.
Created by	Wim T. Schippers, Wim van der Linden, Willem de Ridder, and Hans Verhagen.
Written by	Wim T. Schippers, Wim van der Linden, Willem de Ridder, and Hans Verhagen.
Country of origin	Netherlands
Original language(s)	Dutch
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	4
Release
Original network	VPRO
Original release	28 July – 23 November 1967

Hoepla ("Whoops") was a Dutch experimental cultural television show broadcast in 1967. It aimed at a young teenage audience and was notable for being unpredictable and risky in its subject matter, featuring reports, performances, declarations, and interviews that tied in with the subversive atmosphere of the Provo movement. Three episodes were made for the VPRO, and the show caused national controversy when a naked woman, Phil Bloom appeared on the show, being the first time this happened on Dutch television. A fourth episode was taped but did not air until 2008. The show was written and produced by the team of Wim T. Schippers, Wim van der Linden, Willem de Ridder, and Hans Verhagen.

Hoepla was made by and for a teenage audience (the post-World War II generation), at a time (the early 1960s) when Dutch culture was one of "boredom and obedience". That segment of the population had already clashed with the establishment over a VARA television show that ran from 1963 to 1966, Zo is het toevallig ook nog eens een keer (), "the most despised and controversial satirical TV program ever". That show, based on the BBC program That Was the Week That Was, had aired a parody of the Lord's Prayer ("Give us this day our daily television"), on 4 January 1964, in a skit called "Beeldreligie" ("image worship") which led to criticism from television viewers and politicians; questions were asked in parliament, and one of the show's presenters, the wildly popular and by no means rebellious Mies Bouwman, was forced to resign from the show after receiving threats. Police were called in to protect the studio during subsequent tapings. Like Zo is het toevallig, Hoepla would tackle controversial topics such as "the colonial past, the royal family, and sexuality" in a social system where "authority and community were central".

According to Hans Verhagen, one of Hoepla's writers and directors, the show was intended to operate on a "wavelength" which had hitherto not been tried on television. That Hoepla was in tune with happening developments in popular culture was indicated by its guest list: musical performances were given by some of the era's hippest artists, including Soft Machine (episode 2), The Mothers of Invention (ep. 2), and The Jimi Hendrix Experience (ep. 3), and there were declarations by and interviews with such idols as Eric Clapton and Mick Jagger. The Experience performed "Foxy Lady", "Catfish Blues", and "Purple Haze" in the studio on 10 November 1967, before playing an evening show in Rotterdam; that rendition of "Catfish Blues" was reissued on the 1994 compilation album Blues. (The section with "Foxy Lady" appears to be lost, and might have been stolen from the archive by a Hendrix fan.)