Man bijt hond (Dutch: Man bites dog) is a long-running Flemish TV programme. The show aired in Flanders and the Netherlands, with separate versions for each country. The Flemish version aired from 1997 to 2013, whilst the Netherlands version originally aired from 1999 to 2015, with a revival airing since 2019.
The Flemish version, produced by Woestijnvis, aired for most of its run on Eén, before moving to VIER for its final year. The Netherlands version was produced under license by the NCRV (KRO-NCRV for the final year of its original run) and aired on NPO 1 until 2006, when it moved to NPO 2. The 2019 revival is produced, under license, by independent producer Fabiola and broadcast on SBS6.
Format
The show has a newsmagazine-style format with a large focus on human interest stories, voxpops and satirical sketches, with an often humorous and positive approach to presentation. At its peak, the Flemish version aired after the main edition of Het Journaal, VRT's daily news broadcast. It lacked a on-vision presenter, with comedian Geert Segers (Flemish version) or Michael Abspoel (Dutch version) providing commentary and linking between segments.
Some of the Flemish version's most popular segments included the daily Babbelbox feature, similar to the Canadian show Speakers' Corner, in which bypassers could record segments on a variety of topics in the form of rants, big-ups, shoutouts, jokes, music performances, among others. Other popular segments were more satirical, like the popular Vaneigens, a satirical sketch which aired at the end of each show, featuring a discussion that worked towards one particular joke about the day's top headline. Although its original run was short-lived (only running through the show's first year), the segment's popularity caused its revival during the Flemish version's final year.
The Netherlands version of the show is slightly more ironic than the original Flemish version, however, the show still had a positive approach, due to its producer's (NCRV) Christian-based values. It also adapted most of the original version's features, some of them, like the Babbelbox, outright, and some of them heavily adapted to reflect the customs of the Dutch audience (e.g. the Vaneigens sketch was modified into Ons kent Ons, with more characters and a more elaborate setting based on a supermarket, as opposed to the minimalist approach of the original version).
History
The show was created by Wouter Vandenhaute, the founder of the Woestijnvis production company, alongside company partners Jan Huyse and Erik Watté, and its main producer Bruno Wyndaele, which was behind the show's main concept. The company's first ever show, it eventually became one of the producer's top formats, alongside reality show format The Mole, sold to over 30 countries. The first edition of the original Flemish version went on the air on 1 September 1997, as part of a massive reorganization of the programming concept of Eén (then named TV1). The show soon benefitted of the audiences of the main edition of Het Journaal, at its peak, having between 800 and 900,000 viewers, quickly evolving into one of the channel's top shows. The viewers particularly appreciated the show's concept, that put the everyday activities of the ordinary Flemish populace in the spotlight.
The show's format caught the attention of the NCRV, one of the members of the Dutch public broadcasting system, who bought the show's format and adapted it to a Dutch audience, under the supervision of Marcel Sleeuwenhoek. The first edition was broadcast on 30 August 1999 on NPO 1, where it was broadcast until 2006, when the massive reorganization of the public broadcasting system caused the show to move to NPO 2. The show became as influential as the Flemish version, and it also managed to produce extremely high ratings.
Both versions of the show have also won accolades. In 2001 the Flemish version of the program won a Premio Ondas, the most prestigious Spanish media award, in the international TV category, and, in 2007, the HA! Award from the Humo magazine. On October 21, 2011, the Dutch Man bijt hond won the prize at the Gouden Televizier-Ring Gala, the most prestigious national TV award, as the most iconic television program in the 60 years of Dutch television history. This resulted in the symbolical renaming of the KPN transmitting tower in Hilversum after the show.