Sara (TV Series)

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Sara
Sara logo
Format	Telenovela
Created by	FremantleMedia
Starring	Veerle Baetens Gert Winckelmans Kürt Rogiers Sandrine André
Opening theme	"Where She Belongs" — Natalia Druyts
Country of origin	Belgium
Language(s)	Dutch
No. of episodes	200
Production
Producer(s)	FremantleMedia
Location(s)	Antwerp, Belgium
Running time	25 min (approx. 22 min)
Broadcast
Original channel	VTM
Original run	September 25, 2007 – June 2008
Chronology
Related shows	Remake of Betty la Fea
External links
Official website

Sara is a Flemish telenovela, based upon the Colombian telenovela Betty La Fea. It tells the story of Sara De Roose, a business economics graduate, who passed with honours at the university but has trouble finding a job—until she comes across an assistant job in a Belgian fashion company, called "Présence". The company is looking for a new general manager, and Sara arrival coincides with the two CEOs arguing who this has to be.

The series is broadcast by the commercial station VTM, upon which it is shown every weekday at 6:25 pm. On sunday, VTM broadcasts all episodes of last week, called 'De Week van Sara' (= Sara's week). Sara premiered on September 25, 2007 and will end somewhere in June 2008. In the end, over 200 episodes will have been produced. A new telenovela called "LaLoLa" (about a guy named Lalo, who turns into a woman (Lola) by a spell) will replace Sara, beginning September 2008.

Sara begins the series as the ugly duckling, mocked by many of her fellow colleagues for being "ugly". As the series progresses, she develops confidence, moves up the ladder, becomes more powerful and explores romantic interests. The series also focuses on fellow Présence employees, and their relationships and career problems.

The show is written by a team of writers, lead by Hugo Van Laere. He already wrote many scripts for Flemish TV series and movies, such as 16+, Rupel, and Dennis van Rita. The series was directed by Serge Bierset, Renaat Coppens, Filip Van Neyghem and Geoffrey Enthoven. The latter already directed many Flemish movies, such as Vidange Perdue and Happy Together.

[edit] Ratings

Sara's first episode was a huge success, with an average of 840,000 viewers (it was broadcasted in prime time at 8:35 pm). The second episode was broadcast at its regular hour, 6:25 pm. This ensured a fall in viewers of 50%, with an average of 420,000 viewers. The reason is probably a game show, called Blokken, which is very popular in its time slot and starts at the same moment as Sara^[1].

Slowly, the ratings of Sara increased. In December 2007, Sara already had an average of 450,000 to 550,000 viewers. As of February 2008, the ratings increased again, and Sara now has an average of 650,000 to 750,000 viewers. Since then Sara became a direct competitor for Blokken^[2]. And the success continued: ratings increased even more, and when VTM moved Sara to prime time again (for the last twenty episodes), ratings doubled and surpassed a million viewers ^[3].

[edit] Cast

Simon (Gert Winckelmans) and Sara (Veerle Baetens) in a promo picture for Sara.

[edit] Main Cast

[edit] Guest Actors

[edit] Awards

On February 13, 2008, the nominees of the Flemish TV-stars (= The Flemish Emmy's) were announced. 'Sara' was nominated for 3 awards. Veerle Baetens, who plays Sara, and Sandrine Andre, who plays Britt, were both nominated for Best Actor or Actress. But Veerle Baetens won. The series was nominated for Best Fiction program. But didn't won. Katarakt, an other flemish tv series, won it. The 2 Public Awards, who were announced that night, were for Sara.^[4]

[edit] Trivia

• The US version of the show,Ugly Betty, is broadcast on VIJFtv, every thursday evening. The show started almost 5 months after Sara premiered.

[edit] References

1. ^ Article (in dutch) about the ratings
2. ^ Article (in dutch) on Sara passing the ratings of Blokken
3. ^ Ratings of June 5, 2008
4. ^ Official Site of the TV Stars

[edit] External links

• Official Site

v • d • e Series based on Yo soy Betty la fea Yo soy Betty la fea (1999): Ana Maria Orozco, Jorge Enrique Abello, Julián Arango, Ricardo Vélez, Celmira Luzardo El amor no es como lo pintan (2000): Vanessa Acosta, Héctor Soberón, Arturo Beristáin Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin (2003): Mona Singh, Navneet Nishan, Samir Soni, Neena Gupta, Parmeet Sethi, Gaurav Gera Esti Ha'mechoeret (2003): Riki Blich, Avi Grainik Verliebt in Berlin (2005): Alexandra Neldel, Mathis Künzler, Tim Sander, Laura Osswald Ne rodis' krasivoy (2005): Nelly Uvarova La fea más bella (2006): Angelica Vale, Nora Salinas, Juan Soler, Jaime Camil, Elizabeth Álvarez Lotte (2006): Nyncke Beekhuyzen, Lars Oostveen, Ilse Heus, Geert Hoes, Arent Jan Linde, Janna Fassaert Yo soy Bea (2006): Ruth Núñez Ugly Betty (2006): America Ferrera, Eric Mabius, Alan Dale, Tony Plana, Vanessa L. Williams, Michael Urie, Becki Newton Sara (2007): Veerle Baetens, Kürt Rogiers, Sandrine André, Veerle Eyckermans, Tom Van Bauwel, Gert Winckelmans, Lotte Pinoy Μαρία η άσχημη (2007) Ne daj se, Nina (2007): Lana Gojak, Robert Kurbaša, Kristina Krepela, Andrija Milošević, Bojana Ordinačev Blinda la supercazzola come se fosse Antani (2007) Chakang Betty (2008): Bea Alonzo