(This is going to be my second attempt at a review. The original review I wrote was the first one ever, so...)
Five young people are hired in order to provide telephonic advice to children and adolescents with life problems. However, it turns out that the blooming and flowering youth of Flanders is blooming and flowering nicely without outside assistance, meaning that the people manning the help line have time to spare. They spend their hours talking, thinking and daydreaming about subjects such as adventure, rapture, patriotism and death...
With "Buiten de zone" Belgian television punched far above its weight. When the series first aired, about a generation ago, it was considered fresh, bold and daring. It still IS fresh, bold and daring. It is also very, very funny and about as addictive as heroin. The best episodes are a fluid blurring of dream and reality, resulting in a concatenation of comico-surreal ideas, running gags, spoofs and impressions worthy of "Monty Python".
Originally, the series was meant for a young viewing public, but it soon proved irresistable to nearly all Flemings between the ages of 8 and 88. As a result, it became a considerable hit. In retrospect, it becomes clear that the series also worked as a breeding ground and laboratory for budding Flemish talent. Many of the people involved went on to have rich careers as actors, writers, entertainers.
Most Flemings have a favorite "Buiten de zone" gag or vignette inscribed on their memory. My favorite goes like this : a teenage girl receives a visit from her boyfriend, without her parents knowing. Sadly enough the boyfriend is stoned out of his tiny little mind. The parents arrive, in the company of their young son ; the father looks critical, but the mother goes out of her way to offer hospitality. When offered a cup of coffee, the boyfriend refuses, saying that he doesn't want to get over-excited, since this would involve him getting buried under the lascivious attentions of naked and voluptuous women. The looks on everybody's face are priceless - this is pretty much why television was invented.
