| F.C. De Kampioenen | |
|---|---|
 Series poster with the main characters | |
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Luc Beerten, Willy Vanduren and Bruno Raes |
| Opening theme | De Kampioenen |
| Composer | Guido Van Hellemont |
| Country of origin | Belgium |
| Original language | Dutch |
| No. of seasons | 21 |
| No. of episodes | 273 and 1 special |
| Production | |
| Producers | Bruno Raes, Marc Scheers, Rik Stallaerts |
| Running time | 30 to 45 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | VRT |
| Release | 6 October 1990 – 25 December 2020 |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
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 originally aired on the Belgian-Flemish channel TV1 (now Eén) between 1990 and 2011, for 21 seasons[1] with 273 half-hour-long episodes, making it one of the most successful comedy programs ever on Belgian television.
The series relies heavily on stereotypical characters and farce for its humour. The story is mainly set around a few male members of a local soccer club and their wives who regularly visit the club canteen before or after a training or match. Next to the field is another commercial property, owned by a hostile neighbour. Most of the episodes are based on misunderstandings or dirty tricks from these neighbours.
The series has had various directors, with Etienne Vervoort, Stef Desmyter, Johan Gevers, Willy Vanduren, and Eric Taelman having the biggest episode count, respectively. The most active writers have been Bart Cooreman, René Swartenbroekx, Knarf Van Pellecom, Anton Klee, and Frank Van Laecke.
Seasons 1–21 have all been released on DVD through Universal Pictures and Lime-Lights.
After the television series ended, 4 theatrical movies were released between 2013 and 2019. An 8 episode limited series return was planned for 2021, but the project was halted after the death of main cast member Johny Voners. Instead, a one-off 90-minute episode was filmed and released on December 25, 2020.
The popular celebrity comic album series, F.C. De Kampioenen still runs to this day.
- ^ ""F.C. De Kampioenen" blikt laatste seizoen in". 16 June 2009.