Voetbalvrouwen

Voetbalvrouwen is a Dutch dramedy originally shown on the now defunct channel Tien; the second season saw a transfer to RTL 4 as part of its Sunday evening football-slot (also cancelled now that NOS regained the Eredivisie broadcasting rights). Both seasons are available on DVD.

Voetbalvrouwen is basically the Netherlands' answer to Soccer Wives, one with original scripts that suits the tastes of Dutch viewers. The high street shopping scenes were filmed at the Amsterdam PC Hooftstraat.

Cast

*Solange: Nicolette van Dam
*Melanie: Lone van Roosendaal
*Renske: Sophie van Oers
*Liz: Leontine Borsato

*Danny: Mike Weerts
*Italo: Bas Muijs
*Arjen: Victor Low (2007)
*Rutger: Joep Sertons (2008)
*Madonna: Marlous Dirks (2008)
*Dylan: Ludwig Bindervoet (2008)
*Jeffrey: Barry Atsma (2007-2008)
*Gio: Curt Fortin (2008)
*Hidde: Wolter Muller (2008)
*Jokke: Frans van Deursen

Season 1

*Arjen Duivendrecht coaches football-club Heros who are determined to regain the top spot. The arrival of centre-player Danny Doornbos ensures new positions for Italo Ferrero and the seasoned Jeffrey Woesthof. When Arjen's secret life as a transvestite gets media exposure he loses his credibility and commits suicide, unaware that he has a teenage-daughter (Jamie) on the account of stolen sperm.

*His replacement Harry Reitsema is immediately installed and fails to win the players' hearts, dragging the fab four to the sidelines. Reitsema soon dies in a car crash. Italo, who was dismissed as "a disturbing force" is only "glad to see that moron go". For the time being, Jeffrey operates as assistant coach.

*Renske, Danny's longtime-girlfriend, is not in for a treat upon arrival; her privates hit the frontpage (captioned 'Eros' New Recruits'), the Doornbos-mansion turns out to have played host to a murder, and to make matters worse someone has installed cameras; could it be the neighbour (a martial arts practiser hiding behind a geeky image) ? No, it's their stylist, a straight man hiding behind a gay image. Renske works with, to put it in her own words, mentally restricted children, but loses her job because her colleagues reckon that she's getting too glamourous. Strange, cause of all the four women Renske is the least inclined to such a lifestyle. On her stag night she gets laid by a Chippendale, a move she immediately regrets and only comes clean about days after her televised marriage. Danny suggests that Renske has been raped.
*Liz is married to Arjen; they live at a farmhouse and have an English-speaking employee (Damian, played by Goede tijden, slechte tijden actor Mark van Eeuwen). After 20 years of playing second fiddle to her husband she reckons it's time to turn the tables and relocate to Spain. Her dream gets shattered after Arjen's suicide.

*Solange, Italo's girlfriend, wants to have a career of her own but she's treated like a slave; she retaliates by stitching Dolce & Gabbana labels onto cut-price underwear and spiking his smoothies with tranquillizers. Italo's response; confiscating her passport on the eve of a trip to Milan with Melanie. Fed up with this male chauvinist behaviour Solange walks out but returns after getting proposed; she says yes on condition that she gets treated like a lady, career and bank account included.

*Melanie Woesthof is Jeffrey's wife; she mothers his second-born son and co-hosts a shownews-programme. The first episode sees bodylifted bleach-blonde Mel receiving bad news, she gets sacked for being too old. When Jeffrey is up for a transfer to Bahrain she covers the stairs in soap because her lifestyle doesn't fit in a country where women are excpected to walk the streets in veils and burkas. Disgusted with the men being relegated to less than a supporting role, Mel hatches a plot with Renske and Solange to rule out Harry Reitsema. The threesome are caught celebrating his death and during an apperarance on a TV-show they're confronted with the upcoming coverstory of a gossip-zine. The first season ends with Melanie, Renske and Solange being arrested.

eason 2

*The ladies are released due to lack of evidence but people are still keen to uncover the truth. And the truth is that Reitsema had a mentally restricted son whom Renkse had contact with before the accident that could've been a fate shared by Solange's brother Mickey.

*Melanie's hotel-owning sister Madonna returns from France and she isn't pleased to see her, despite Madonna playing a key-role in Mel's pregnancy. The boys though are fond of her and when Madonna is banned from the place she buys the mansion next door. More bad news; Jeffrey is still up for transfer to Bahrain and gives it the go ahead, particularly after finding out that Mel had Diego pretend to be ill (a role abandoned by crawling out of bed and sampling the snacks at the farewell-party). Broken-hearted Mel develops a drinking-problem but is angry to learn from her sister's own brush with alcohol when attending an AA-meeting. She blows a chance to sing the "Heros Club Anthem" at the stadium (accompanied by Diego on piano) by staging another booze-up after press-speculations of Jeffrey having a new girlfriend. Needless to say that the press are having a field day. Mel launches a celebrity magazine "that stands out from the others"; she's to interview Froukje de Both but ends up taking her out for a joyless shopping spree, meaning that Madonna has to rewrite the entire article. Mel eventually has enough and sends her packing; after an evening on the tiles she ends up puking in the canal and wakes up in a rehab-clinic where she refuses to participate in activities. Coming back home after only one day Mel's in for a few nasty surprises; her alcohol-consumption has left her with huge bills to pay, her magazine is cancelled after the staff unanymously walked out, Dylan shares a hotel room with goalie Hidde Storm and to make matters worse Diego has decided to move in with Madonna. Mel shifts her attention to Hidde who got grassed for his part in the bribery scandal. At that point Jeffrey returns; Diego is sent back home with the promise that Dad will never abandon him again. Jeffrey is planning to take him to Bahrain but fails to inform, him beforehand; consequently Diego loses his trust and ends up jumping into enternity right before his parents eyes

*Danny is ruled out after a serious injury; for his recovery he hires a mental coach who not only takes out the bad foods but also the joys of his marriage. Renske seeks and finds consolation in Danny's replacement Gio Goudzand (who gave up a stint in Germany); she falls in love with him and ends up getting pregnant. Although her feelings aren't mutual, Renske insists that Gio stays away from her. "The kid is Danny's" she tells him, but is that true ?. Straight after giving birth, her baby gets abducted by a welfare mother who took advantage of Renske after nearly being driven down. Renske and Danny get their son back, but Gio discovers the truth when noting similarities with his own baby-picture. Abandoned by his own father he wants access to his kid; Danny doesn't want to know.

*Liz gets Arjen's will on the one condition that she lives a happy life; she buys a yacht and dates new coach Rutger; he breaks off the relationship feeling that it's a forced one. Liz moves on to Baron van Ravenswaaij, a posh bloke whom she first met during the party at her yacht. He wants to marry her but she has to give up on her friends; Liz refuses to do so and returns to Rutger.

*Italo promises to treat Solange right and not to cheat on her; a marriage is on the cards but Solange's AZ-supporting father only wants to give away his daughter in return for the Cup. Italo disagrees so Solange does the job; however, the marriage is off when Italo finds out that Mickey nearly endangered him by hiding drugs in his pad-case (stolen during a robbery on a CL-trip to Germany). He is so angry that he bans the family's trailer from his place. With Solange a no show at her own wedding Italo ends up marrying Rutger's daughter. Needless to say that this rebound doesn't last; Italo still loves Solange and after a call-to-truce they exchange their vows.

Trivia

*The Wives are parodied in a chip fat commercial.

*Nicolette van Dam previously starred in the Nickelodeon-broadcast Zoop as the diva-like animal ranger Bionda. Lone van Roosendaal guested as her Mum.

Links