Sara (Belgian TV series)

Belgian Telenovela

Sara

Logo

Created by| FremantleMedia
Starring| Veerle Baetens
Gert Winckelmans
Kürt Rogiers
Sandrine André
Opening theme| "Where She Belongs" – Natalia Druyts
Country of origin| Belgium
Original language| Dutch (Flemish)
No. of episodes| 200
Production
Producer| FremantleMedia
Production locations| Antwerp, Belgium
Running time| 25 min (approx. 22 min)
Original release
Network| VTM
Release| 25 September 2007 (2007-09-25) –
29 June 2008 (2008-06-29)
Related
Remake of Betty la Fea

Sara is 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's 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 Sundays, VTM broadcast all episodes of the past 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 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 The Only One and Happy Together.

## Ratings

[edit]

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

[edit]

Simon (Gert Winckelmans) and Sara (Veerle Baetens) in a promo picture for Sara.

### Main cast

[edit]

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

[edit]

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 and nominations

[edit]

On 13 February 2008, the nominees of the Flemish TV-stars (The Flemish Emmys) were announced. Sara was nominated for three 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, which 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 Personality (Public Award)  | Won

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Article (in dutch) about the ratings
2. ^ Article (in dutch) on Sara passing the ratings of Blokken
3. ^ Ratings of 5 June 2008
4. ^ Ratings of 24 June 2008
5. ^ Official Site of the TV Stars

## External links

[edit]

* Official Site

* v
* t
* e

Yo soy Betty, la fea by Fernando Gaitán

Original work|

* Yo soy Betty, la fea (1999–01)

Sequels and spin-offs|

* Betty Toons (2002–03)
* Betty, la fea: la historia continúa (2024)

Adaptations|

* Sara (Belgium)
* Bela, a Feia (Brazil)
* Verliebt in Berlin (Germany)
* Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin (India)
* La fea más bella (Mexico)
* I Love Betty La Fea (Philippines)
* Ugly Betty (United States)
* Betty en NY (United States)

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