De Stratemakeropzeeshow
De Stratemakeropzeeshow was a Dutch television show for children aged eight and over, with Aart Staartjes as de Stratemaker (called “Straat” for short). The name of the show came from an old joke that young children are told when they cannot answer the question of what they want to be one day: “I think you will become a street maker. Roadmaker in the sea. ”In the show, the joke became reality, portrayed in the character of Staartjes.
Wieteke van Dort played the noble lady who was actually not that posh and regularly gave an audible fart. Joost Prinsen was Erik Engerd (Erik the Weird) who imagined he was some kind of monster that scared everyone. But he never succeeded. In addition, the three played many other roles. The series comprised 55 episodes and ran from October 3, 1972 to December 26, 1974. The makers of the show were later behind programs such as Het Klokhuis .
The show often dealt with topics that were considered controversial at the time. A notorious episode dealt with "pies en poep", urine and excrement. The mentality of the Stratemakeropzeeshow was also new. Attempts were made not to patronize the children, and the traditional relationships of domination between parents and children were ironicized. In one episode, for example, parents were held accountable by their children, using expressions such as “Will you never do that again?” “Promise?” There was also a more frequent sketch in which Staartjes and Van Dort play two students who act as are only left out of a class because they get stuck every year. On an old school desk they listen to the lessons of teacher Joost Prinsen, who never gets further than “The State of the Earth in Southeast Groningen”.