De collega's

This Flemish sitcom, one of the greatest TV hits ever in Belgium, is about a small group of colleagues in a non-specified (in fact, the only indications are contradictory) ministerial department in pre-federal Belgium. It's all about there mainly petty rivalries, gossip, interests etc. The original head of their division is director Paul Thienpondt, somewhat pompous but very pragmatic and well-connected, risen trough the ranks. The only other cadres, who rival to replace him, first temporarily and later for good, are Bonaventuur Verastenhoven, highly cultivated and classy but unpopular as a snob and too perfectionist to be productive, and Philemon Persez, an idealistic do-gooder whose marriage above his birth rank goes sour as he's drawn to Thienpondt's secretary Mireille Puis. The middle level, where most of the daily work is done, has two pranksters: Jean De Pesser, womanizing father of a handicapped boy with a simpleton wife Josée, a boasting trade union representative, and Gilbert Van Hie, an anarchist. The unschooled ranks include the typist, fasted rotated but always the nodal point of gossip; file clerk Jomme Dockx, as fat and dumb as a bull but proud as a peacock of his son Adelbert; Hilaire Baconfoy, the fanatically francophone (but perfectly bilingual) messenger; coffee lady Arabelle. Over time, a number of characters are added and/or replaced, a few return too. Each episode is a nearly independent story, often involving one are more non-permanent characters.