F.C. De Kampioenen

*F.C. De Kampioenen*
F.C. De Kampioenen
	Series poster with the main characters
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Luc Beerten; Willy Vanduren; Bruno Raes;
Written by	Bart cooreman (also the 4 movies); René Swartenbroekx; Knarf Van Pellecom; Anton Klee; Frank Van Laecke; Wout Thielemans (pseudonym Simon Pieters); Koen Vermeiren; Jan Schuermans; An Swartenbroekx (also the 4 movies); Rudy Morren; Peter Cnop; Luc Kerkhofs; Gerrie Van Rompaey (pseudonym Eva Lambert); Jan Bergmans; Carmino D'haene; Mieke Verbelen; Willy Van Poucke; Eddy Asselbergs (pseudonym Collectief Foks); Geert Bouckaert; Nico De Braeckeleer; Marc Scheers; Dirk Nielandt; Pastapoora (Ann Ricour, Ivo Chiang, Anne-Mie Leroy & Luc Standaert); Johan Gevers (the 4 movies); Hec Leemans (movie 1 & 2); Steve De Wilde (movie 3 & 4); Bart Vaessen (movie 3 & 4);
Directed by	Willy Vanduren; Eric Taelman; Dirk Corthout; Stef Desmyter; Etienne Vervoort; Anne Ingelbrecht; Louis Welters; Johan Gevers; Ivo Chiang (also TV special); Eric Wirix (movie 1); Jan Verheyen (movie 2, 3 & 4);
Starring	Marijn Devalck; Danni Heylen; Tuur De Weert; Carry Goossens; Johny Voners; Loes Van den Heuvel; Ann Tuts; Ben Rottiers; Walter Michiels; An Swartenbroekx; Herman Verbruggen; Jacques Vermeire; Jakob Beks; Jaak Van Assche; Machteld Timmermans (only in the movies and TV special); Niels Destadsbader (only in the movies and TV special);
Opening theme	De Kampioenen
Composers	Guido Van Hellemont (1990-2000); Raf Van Assche (2000-2011);
Country of origin	Belgium
Original language	Dutch
No. of seasons	21
No. of episodes	273 and 1 special
Production
Producers	Bruno Raes (1990-2002); Marc Scheers (1998-2004); Rik Stallaerts (2004-2011);
Running time	30 to 45 minutes
Original release
Network	VRT 1 (VRT)
Release	6 October 1990 –; 25 December 2020 (26 February 2011 last episode)

F.C. De Kampioenen ('F.C. The Champions') is a long-running Flemish sitcom chronicling the (mis)adventures of a fictional local football team. It originally aired on the Belgian-Flemish channel TV1 (now Eén) between 1990 and 2011, for 21 seasons with 273 half-hour-long episodes, making it one of the most successful comedy programs ever on Belgian television.

The series relies heavily on stereotypical characters and farce for its humour. The story is mainly set around a few male members of a local soccer club and their wives who regularly visit the club canteen before or after a training or match. Next to the field is another commercial property, owned by a hostile neighbour. Most of the episodes are based on misunderstandings or dirty tricks from these neighbours.

The series has had various directors, with Etienne Vervoort, Stef Desmyter, Johan Gevers, Willy Vanduren, and Eric Taelman having the biggest episode count, respectively. The most active writers have been Bart Cooreman, René Swartenbroekx, Knarf Van Pellecom, Anton Klee, and Frank Van Laecke.

Seasons 1–21 have all been released on DVD through Universal Pictures and Lime-Lights.

After the television series ended, 4 theatrical movies were released between 2013 and 2019. An 8 episode limited series return was planned for 2021, but the project was halted after the death of main cast member Johny Voners. Instead, a one-off 90-minute episode was filmed and released on December 25, 2020.

The popular celebrity comic album series, F.C. De Kampioenen still runs to this day.