De collega's

- Season 3

(1980)

When the colleagues return after the Summer holidays, there's a wall next to their offices, a source of wild speculations. Everybody is late, so they first trickle in before the director-general explains the various changes. Verastenhoven has been promoted to bureau chief and acting director, Thienpondt as expected and allegedly Persez left the department. Kris became the DG's secretary, so flirtatious Carolien became the new typist, but has an on-off past with De Pesser. The new secretary is battle-ax Jenny Van Jes, reputedly a walking war zone. The last newcomer is ...

Director Persez is proud to welcome his section's turn to host a temporary art collection exhibition introduced by Culture Ministry officer Cadusse, who has due doubts about the 'pearls for the swine' program and is all but informative about the abstract sculptures. Senator's son Thierry De Vucht is charged with introducing the Philistines to modern art, Jomme listening outside, interested because he was excluded. Secretary Jenny Vanjes invoking the rules provokes new coffee lady Natasha Vorrenhof, who also claims clairvoyance. The official charged with commenting the...

Jomme has been seen only by Persez in the audience at a public TV show recording, but used the opportunity to postulate for all VRT quizzes, naively believing he'll be selected. Van Jes probes visitor Zulma, a widow whose children approved of Persez continuing to see her. The new coffee lady, Natasha V., reveals that she's a Russian archduke's descendant. Van Hie and De Pesser decide to fake a call from radio quiz-master Jos Ghysen so Jomme will prepare frantically, trying to memorize the national newspapers every day. The brass finds out, so Thierry decides to uses ...

The number of personal rows among the colleagues has risen ominously, and Persez's attempt to make peace by mapping it all has the opposite effect: even more red lines, and a row in Russian between anarchist Van Hie and Romanov descendant Natasha, the coffee lady, who is denied office entry by Baconfoy after rows he and Persez have with Van Jes. When De Pesser's son Eddy has a medical crisis, that stirs solidarity with him. After refusing Persez's transfer request, the director-general and his sanctimonious secretary decide to spy on he bunch by baby-phone, but ...

After Jomme boasts about the hypnotist he and Adelbert saw in a circus, Van Hie demonstrates his own skill at hypnosis by making a spectacle of Jomme and another office colleague. The director-general and Persez rival over dining with sociology students Geertrui and Hildegard, who get permission to study office dynamics, but 'delegate' actual interviews to gay Bonaventuur and slick De Vucht. Clairvoyant Russian coffee lady Natasha demonstrates her own powers.

Persez is absent with toothache. Verastenhoven arrives after one tooth was pulled, but regrets it as the director-general wants him to be the new Santa to deliver the traditional December 6 presents to neighborhood kids. Cranky after a sleepless night typing a senatorial speech for hid dad, De Vucht snaps at Baconfoy, whose shop is going out of business. He takes his revenge by making everyone believe the just delivered coffeemaker is the dreaded computer, which would cost several low-qualified jobs. With trade union elections programmed the next day, De Pesser makes ...

Persez is back, but neither his dental prosthesis nor his spectacles, both new, satisfy. Uncharacteristically furious Verastenhoven has graver worries than stepping back as acting director: red-faced Baconfoy's family-run groceries shop is turning a loss, so he (as guarantor) must make payments on the loan. De Vucht takes charge of a common effort to turn over the shop into profit, as under the previous owner, even retired Arabelle contributes neighborhood pensioner addresses. Jomme's doubts about his fatherhood are linked to beloved, smarter son Adelbert's far better...

When a real criminal's robot photo resembling Gilbert Van Hie appears in the newspaper, the eternal 'marxist terrorist' and rebel-prankster can't resist pretending he committed the hold-up and is wanted by the police, testing how far the colleagues would go to hide him from justice. They buy his story, against their better judgment, so he can pretend to hide from the police literally in the office, fearing his home-made bombs, which now are given credence, may be discovered.

De Pesser uses tough labor union prose, but when De Vucht's dad is on the phone its all 'Yes, Sir, Mr. Senator'. Francophone Baconfoy gives an ice-cold welcome to assertive Flemish-minded citizen Aloys Degrys, who complains about a clerical error. After hearing his file is missing, Degryse lays siege to the office, finding an unlikely, amused ally. Jomme worries about his son looking down on his lack of culture and considers remarrying, to give Adelbert a mother; Persez advices against it, being beleaguered by widow Zumma, who demands an engagement announcement at a ...

Because De Pesser has to take a month off because his son's deteriorating health, Jomme hopes that a temporary promotion might help him get a real one and even risks loosing his radio contest-prize trip to Lourdes. He's already too late, like Persez, who hoped to get his flame, Mireille Puis, back in the labor circuit. Even the director general's candidate Solange doesn't cut it: the senator's son got one of his former girlfriends, party animal Sabrina, in the very same day. The flippant feminist soon makes enemies. Night guard Francis sympathizes with Baconfoy and ...

While Jomme enjoys his trip to Lourdes, despite the rain, the director-general passes the ministerial order to Persez to cut one staff member from his directorate. Newcomers De Vucht and his girl friend Sabrina are immune from dismissal. Van Jes gets Persez blindly to sign a recommendation against her being fired, while her predecessor Mireille, now a deliberate single mother, was never officially laid off and may well effectively return. Persez's attempts to convince one of the permanent 'old' staff (exempting absent Jomme) to volunteer for a transfer are predictably...

It's Bacon's last day before he turns full-time grocer. Jomme however seeks all attention for his summer trip to Lourdes, albeit his tacky souvenirs are embarrassingly cheap, even by his standards. Secretary Mireille is finally back, glowing happily as deliberately single mother of an adulterous Brazilian's daughter, Clara. To even is surprise, Persez' executive initiative award-winning economies plan is to be tested in practice, stat, which means misery and discontent for all. The worse surprise however was feared only by the director general, as Verastenhoven now a ...