- Sara (Belgian TV series)
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Sara 
Sara logoFormat Telenovela Created by FremantleMedia Starring Veerle Baetens
Gert Winckelmans
Kürt Rogiers
Sandrine AndréOpening theme "Where She Belongs" — Natalia Druyts Country of origin Belgium Language(s) Dutch No. of episodes 200 Production Producer(s) FremantleMedia Location(s) Antwerp, Belgium Running time 25 min (approx. 22 min) Broadcast Original channel VTM Original run 25 September 2007 – 29 June 2008 Chronology Related shows Remake of Betty la Fea External links Website Sara was a Flemish telenovela, based upon the Colombian telenovela Betty La Fea. It tells the story of Sara De Roose, a business economics graduate, who passed with honours at the university but has trouble finding a job—until she comes across an assistant job in a Belgian fashion company, called "Présence". The company is looking for a new general manager, and Sara arrival coincides with the two CEOs arguing who this has to be.
The series was broadcast by the commercial station VTM, upon which it was shown every weekday at 6:25 pm. On Sunday, VTM broadcast all episodes of last week, called 'De Week van Sara' (= Sara's week). Sara premiered on 25 September 2007 and ended in June 2008, after 200 episodes. A new telenovela called "LouisLouise" (about a guy named Louis, who turns into a woman (Louise) by a spell) replaced Sara as of September 2008.
Sara begins the series as the ugly duckling, mocked by many of her fellow colleagues for being "ugly". As the series progresses, she develops confidence, moves up the ladder, becomes more powerful and explores romantic interests. The series also focuses on fellow Présence employees, and their relationships and career problems.
The show was written by a team of writers, led by Hugo Van Laere. He already wrote many scripts for Flemish TV series and movies, such as 16+, Rupel, and Dennis van Rita. The series was directed by Serge Bierset, Renaat Coppens, Filip Van Neyghem and Geoffrey Enthoven. The latter already directed many Flemish movies, such as Vidange Perdue and Happy Together.
Contents
Ratings
Sara's first episode was a huge success, with an average of 840,000 viewers (it was broadcast in prime time at 8:35 pm). The second episode was broadcast at its regular hour, 6:25 pm. This ensured a fall in viewers of 50%, with an average of 420,000 viewers. The reason is probably a game show, called Blokken, which is very popular in its time slot and starts at the same moment as Sara[1].
Slowly, the ratings of Sara increased. In December 2007, Sara already had an average of 450,000 to 550,000 viewers. As of February 2008, the ratings increased again, and Sara now has an average of 650,000 to 750,000 viewers. Since then Sara became a direct competitor for Blokken[2]. And the success continued: ratings increased even more, and when VTM moved Sara to prime time again (for the last twenty episodes), ratings doubled and surpassed a million viewers [3]. The final episode gathered more than 1.5mln viewers [4].
Cast
Simon (Gert Winckelmans) and Sara (Veerle Baetens) in a promo picture for Sara.
Main cast
Character Actor/Actress Sara De Roose Veerle Baetens Simon Van Wyck Gert Winckelmans Britt Van Hove Sandrine André Alexander de Lannoy Kurt Rogiers Helena de Lannoy Lotte Pinoy Hans De Roose Ivan Pecnik Leon Van Wyck Hans De Munter Margot Van Wyck Karin Tanghe Arne d'Hauwe Benjamin Van Tourhout Lieven Pauwels Tom Van Bauwel Marnix Standaardt Paul Codde Ellen De Graeve Annemarie Lemaître Thomas De Graeve Anthony Arandia Lut Laureyns Veerle Eyckermans An Verbiest Laurien Van den Broeck Guest Actors
Character Actor/Actress Brenda Aza Declercq Esther Joke Devynck Koen Olivier De Smet Martine Annick Christiaens Nils Pieter Van Keymeulen Jurgen Tom De Hoog Steven Maarten Claeyssens Georges Michel Bouwens Michèle Bieke Ilegems Daniël Kristoff Clerckx Patrick Dries Vanhegen Jan Bart Klein Felix Erik Burke Sven Ides Meire Awards
On 13 February 2008, the nominees of the Flemish TV-stars (= The Flemish Emmy's) were announced. 'Sara' was nominated for 3 awards. Veerle Baetens, who plays Sara, and Sandrine Andre, who plays Britt, were both nominated for Best Actor or Actress, but only Veerle Baetens won. The series was nominated for Best Fiction program, but didn't win. Katarakt, another Flemish TV series, won it. The 2 Public Awards, who were announced that night, were for Sara.[5]
Actor/Actress/Series Award Win/Nomination Veerle Baetens Best Actress Won Sandrine André Best Actress Nomination Sara Best Fiction Programme Nomination Sara Most Popular TV Programme (Public Award) Won Veerle Baetens Most Popular TV Personalaty (Public Award) Won Trivia
- The US version of the show, Ugly Betty, is broadcast on VIJFtv, every Thursday evening. The show started almost 5 months after Sara premiered.
References
- ^ Article (in dutch) about the ratings
- ^ Article (in dutch) on Sara passing the ratings of Blokken
- ^ Ratings of 5 June 2008
- ^ Ratings of 24 June 2008
- ^ Official Site of the TV Stars
External links
Yo soy Betty, la fea (1999): Ana Maria Orozco, Jorge Enrique Abello, Julián Arango, Ricardo Vélez, Celmira Luzardo
Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin (2003): Mona Singh, Navneet Nishan, Samir Soni, Neena Gupta, Parmeet Sethi, Gaurav Gera
Ne rodis krasivoy (2005): Nelly Uvarova
Lotte (2006): Nyncke Beekhuyzen, Lars Oostveen, Ilse Heus, Geert Hoes, Arent Jan Linde, Janna Fassaert
Yo soy Bea (2006): Ruth Núñez
Sara (2007): Veerle Baetens, Kürt Rogiers, Sandrine André, Veerle Eyckermans, Tom Van Bauwel, Gert Winckelmans, Lotte Pinoy
Ne daj se, Nina (2007): Lana Gojak, Robert Kurbaša, Kristina Krepela, Andrija Milošević, Bojana Ordinačev
Cô gái xấu xí (2008): Ngoc Hiep, Chi Bao, Lan Phuong, Phi Thanh Van, Binh Minh
Ošklivka Katka (2008):
I Love Betty La Fea (2008): Bea Alonzo, John Lloyd Cruz, Ruffa Gutierrez, Vhong Navarro, Ronaldo Valdez, Sam Concepcion, Alessandra De Rossi, Ai-Ai Delas Alas
Chou Nu Wu Di (2008): Li Xinru
BrzydUla (2008): Julia Kamińska, Marek Włodarczyk, Filip Bobek
Gogona Gareubnidan (2010): Tina MakharadzeCategories:- 2007 telenovelas
- 2007 television series debuts
- 2008 television series endings
- Yo Soy Betty La Fea
- Television series by FremantleMedia
- Flemish television programmes
- Belgian drama television programmes
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