In October 2003 the Dutch Prime Minister openly criticized the satiric imitations of the Royal Family in this show as being "tasteless". The comedians reacted with a staged speech of the "Queen" claiming that she found the jokes too mild. The real Queen Beatrix finally responded to the controversy in 2004 by claiming that she was't bothered by the satire.
In April 2005, presenter Jack Spijkerman announced that he wanted out of his contract to go to another network, a decision which even made the evening news. He stated that since the government was planning to ban amusement programs from the public networks, he feared that he no longer had a future there. Broadcast company VARA refused to accommodate him, and canceled the four remaining episodes, claiming that the satiric show had lost its credibility because it had made headlines itself now (even though the company would later release the entire season on DVD anyway). The VARA also stated that they wanted Spijkerman to see out the remaining two years of his contract, and even went to court to enforce this. The conflict was later settled out of court, and Spijkerman's contract was terminated (presumably bought out by his new network).
The show's format was changed several times over the years. One of the biggest (and arguably most successful) changes was the switch in 2001 from straight-up actuality comedy towards (political) satire and celebrity imitations in the vein of Spitting Image (1984). The show ultimately enjoyed its biggest popularity in the years 2001-2004, after which several of the comedians left to make their own show, Koefnoen (2004), forcing additional format changes until its cancellation in 2005.
After the forced cancellation due to host Jack Spijkerman leaving, Spijkerman created a unofficial spin-off show called Koppensnellers (2006) on his new network with much of the same cast. For legal reasons, the name and several aspects of its format had to be changed. The new show was canceled in its second season due to failing ratings, but the original show came back for a single episode on the old network on December 7, 2019, reuniting Spijkerman with much of the old cast.
Short-lived Belgian and German versions of the show were also created.