Château Promenade is a light-hearted parody of the Dutch television landscape. After the moderately successful Promenade, it was time for Diederik Ebbinge and his companions to try something new. This time around, not a parody of a talk show, but a parody of… well, pretty much everything that Dutch TV has to offer. In Château Promenade, we travel to a stately country house in the idyllic French countryside, where host Ebbinge has a group of celebrities carry out assignments, all the while occasionally having (trying to have) ‘deep’ conversations with them.
While not perfect by any measure with the occasional rather lame or predictable joke, I certainly enjoyed the whole
The parallels with Wie is de mol? quickly become clear, which then form the common thread throughout the season. But it certainly does not stop there. From Heel Holland Bakt, to Chateau Meiland, to Ik hou van Holland; it all gets a place in this show. And all of this in a satirical manner. In addition to Ebbinge, the cast again consists of Eva Crutzen, Henry van Loon and Ton Kas as the main characters, all of which might be familiar from Promenade. Added to this are Daniel Cornelissen as himself, and Lize Feryn as ‘Celine from Lyon’. Here and there, a guest actor also pops up.
Where I had some trouble really getting into Promenade – I’ve only seen a few episodes – this series managed to hold my attention much better. While not perfect by any measure with the occasional rather lame or predictable joke, I certainly enjoyed the whole. Towards the end, the episodes got better and better, with a somewhat explosive ending. The series doesn’t take itself too seriously, which fortunately works well.
The series also pays attention to the little details, and that generally makes for the best parodies
The series also pays attention to the little details, and that generally makes for the best parodies. Ebbinge’s voice-over narration is just annoying enough to parody the genre, but not so annoying that you want to turn off your TV. At other times we hear a French accordion piece, or French versions of well-known songs. All this gives it an exaggerated stereotypical French atmosphere.
Every now and then the series tries to provide some social commentary. Sometimes this works, other times it does not. Similarly, not all jokes are equally successful, and at times it's all just a bit over-the-top. I also didn't think every actor got the most out of it. For example, I would have liked to have seen 'Celine from Lyon' develop a bit more. But that doesn't take away from the fact that it was a nice cast that was able to show itself from different angles.
All in all, a nice series to watch. It gives a nice overview of the (reality) television landscape, and points out the sore spots of the series it parodies. All in all, a solid 7.0.
About the writer, Nienke de Boode
She started with watching NCIS, CSI and Bones, but over time her passion for TV shows has grown to what it is today, with dozens of shows that need to be watched. You can always wake her up for a good crime show, but she is also open to different things. Comedy and fantasy are on her list of favourites as well. Since October 2014, she also writes for MySeries to combine her love for TV shows and writing.
