"Gert Late Night" (Vier) has been the latest cash cow of Belgian media tycoon Gert Verhulst, who seems to turn everything he touches into gold. He's getting help from by the competition, though (VTM, één). There wasn't at first, now VTM has "Wat een dag" (What a day) and I'm not a fan of that show. Not because of a false start due to an unfortunate section dealing with the death of a famous Belgian paralympic athlete (Marieke Vervoort) in the try-out pilot episode. No, it's because "Wat een dag" generally lacks interesting subjects and contains a load of uninteresting showbizz news (people who have disappeared from the radar and need screen time are addressed and I don't care about them). The regular faces of VTM are not my type of people, too. Different strokes, I guess. "Gert Late Night" stays much closer to reality. Verhulst and James Cooke have a special sense humor, which is rather crisp or bone-dry. The pranks they play on guests are deliberate and none of them are offending, perhaps in consultation with them. The most hilarious aspect of the show is when Gert and James discharge jokes on each other, though. The scenes when they are having breakfast (or every single time when they are alone someplace) are the best example of this. Verhulst often manifests false modesty, in my opinion. On his show, this works wonderfully well. I honestly believe James Cooke is a lot smarter in person than the "intelligence" he exhibits on the show. James actually plays the role of "sympathetic idiot" and most of all is a "listening ear" on the show. That's clear and it all suits him perfectly because he gave intelligent interviews for newspapers and magazines already. Cooke is a nice person who receives some hate for absolutely no reason at all (personal opinion). The episodes rarely disappoint. Gert and James also brightly pick their guests. On Monday when they board the Evanna, they don't seem to match character-wise, at first sight I mean. By the end of the week, these three very different persons have become best friends or close enough. Pure gold. In a way, they have a positive psychologic effect on their guests. They really thrive and show their xinxing (their nature). In this regard, the show resembles "Het huis" / "Die huis" ("The House") of the respected producer Eric Goens. There's simply not a counterpart at this moment. Verhulst is without comparison, neither is Cooke. Flanders (Belgium in general) is a small celebrity / showbizz pond, but the people seem to have embraced Verhulst and Cooke. Verhulst already was a local television icon when "Gert Late Night" commenced, as he defined the childhood years of many with the series "Samson en Gert" and is the founder of Studio 100. Cooke had just started his media career. He was a theatre director and actor. He already had an own company called "Uitgezonderd" when "Gert Late Night" started off. They were friends before they created "Gert Late Night". It helps when you know someone, of course. They bring a unique interplay to the fore, really. Laurel and Hardy or something similar. It's like you're watching a comedy duo but they're hosting a late night talk show and that's another thing that makes it unique. The only downside: the transitions of pleasant topics to (very) serious subjects (such as the death of Julie Van Espen, the raping of a 23 year old student). Not the political or scientific subjects but those dealing with people close to us. All kinds of mischief gets followed up by (too much of) a serious subject. I always experience it as awkward. Verhulst and Cooke get away with it, though. They really do their best to entertain people after a (difficult?) day of work. Everything (the latest) needs to be covered. I understand that. Great show.
