TV Lieven Van Gils draws on Thursday, may 9, a final line under his talk show ‘Van Gils & Guests’. That makes the talkshowhost tonight itself known in his program. Some Of the Gils will do is not known. “Time for a new decade to start”, it sounded vague. Perhaps Of Gils to get away from the screen.
Lieven Van Gils, who last Sunday 55 years of age was started in 2008 to an almost endless series of praatshows, first together with Phara de Aguirre in ‘Phara’, five years ‘Reyers Late ” and since August 2015 ‘Van Gils & Guests’. With all his experience, he understood, however, that there wore out was sitting on his formula, that the how longer how more difficult to a new, young audience.
Not that the ratings down amble. The past evenings have flirted Van Gils, European football or not at the competition, always with the cape of 400,000 viewers and was a peak to half a million loyal fans, not exceptional. For comparison: the previous season of ‘Van Gils & Guests’ scored live on average 356.000 viewers. ‘Thirty-somethings’, the reality at the beginning of this year, ‘Van Gils & Guests’ temporarily replaced, did a much better 650,000 viewers. That unexpected success has the end of the talk show may be accelerated.
Laugh with Lieven
a Major problem for the talk show was the profile of the viewers: older Flemish people put faith on ‘Van Gils & Guests’. Young people zapten way to ‘Gert Late Night’ on FOUR.
A still greater problem was that Of Gils getting more and more the victim of negative perception. The parody of Jonas Van Geel ‘tegen De sterren op’ VTM chopped it heavily in. Therein imitated Of Yellow Van Gils after that, so to speak, at home at the table talkshowhost was with his classic stopzinnen as ” tell es, interesting eh’ and ‘there we can talk later about it’. Or Sven De Leijer, who, in his ‘Peace On Earth’-show a compilation made by Van Gils’ slips of the tongue and factual errors: also painfully hard. Though it was rather inappropriate to be in a One-program a own icon as a fool.
‘Van Gils & Guests’ also went more and more on collateral bobbing up and down. Date with the publisher of a succesboek, a gold-plate hand, respond to the news… It’s fresh, the captain, was gone.
Away from the screen
Van Gils keeps the honor to himself, and does after 10 years of talk shows, the books. Concrete plans of what he was hereafter going to do, are not yet known. Back to the Tour de France and again his crony of Karl Vannieuwkerke in ‘Vive le Vélo’ seems unlikely. Maarten Vangramberen, that is, in 2016, of van Gils took over, is doing that job excellent.
he Turns back to the radio, the medium where for him it all began? It is not impossible. Just the way the screen seems to be a certainty. And perhaps a relief for Lieven itself. Because also last year, already got Van Gils decent headwind. “I would be lying if I say that those criticisms of me do not touch. Do so”, said Lieven. “It gets used never. That elephant skin is nonsense, yet what concerns me. Any criticism, especially if the man is particularly uncomfortable to read. It helps if you know where it comes from. But it continues to hurt,” was the when. Now, however, he decided to call it quits.
Jonas Van Geel did Lieven in ‘The Star’.
