The Best TV Shows on VPRO

Pat & Mat is a Czech stop-motion animated series featuring two handymen, Pat and Mat. It was created by Lubomír Beneš and Vladimír Jiránek.

Tegenlicht in Dutch or Backlight in English is a series of television documentaries by the VPRO, a Dutch public broadcasting organisation. Backlight "aims to grasp the quintessence of prominent trends and developments" in the practice of critical journalism, and tries to improve understanding of the intricate inner workings of our modern society.

Sunday with Lubach is a satirical television program of the VPRO network that is presented by Arjen Lubach.

Fay (14) and Boris (10) discover that their parents secretly replaced themselves by robots. Claudia and Joost each have demanding jobs and even though they try very hard, they are not able to combine their jobs with spending quality time with their children. Boris, Fay, Claudia and Joost slowly realize they need each other as a family and when the robots become uncontrollable, they can only clear up the mess by working together.

Margôt Ros and Maike Meijer play 40 different characters working in office tower Toren C, an office hell of eight flours, filled with a plethora of ridiculous situations.

Draadstaal is a satirical sketch comedy television program of the VPRO, and CCCP 2 Dutch production company and broadcaster. It was created by CCCP and Jeroen van Koningsbrugge and Dennis van de Ven. The show features lots of recurring stereotypical characters. The program is reminiscent of the work of Van Kooten en De Bie.

"Keek op de week" was a satirical television program by the duo Kees van Kooten and Wim de Bie. In it, Van Kooten and De Bie discussed current events, usually through sketches featuring their various characters. They often held "conversations" with these characters via a screen, which in reality was just a blue screen. They also provided commentary on the news in a columnist-like style. The rug beater logo of Van Kooten and De Bie's "Simplisties Verbond" was still present, though placed modestly in the background. The song "Duke of Iron" by saxophonist Sonny Rollins served as the show's theme music.

Buitenhof is a Dutch political interview programme produced by the NPS, VARA and VPRO Netherlands Public Broadcasting and broadcast on Nederland 1 on Sunday mornings. The first edition of Buitenhof aired on 7 September 1997, when it succeeded the interview programme Het Capitool. The programme takes its name from the Binnenhof, The Hague, which includes a place Buitenhof. Buitenhof is highly influential, and is regularly visited by the nation's top politicians, policy makers, representatives of the trade unions and employers' federation, and opinion makers. The format also includes a column item, presented as of 2009 by Désanne van Brederode, Max Pam and Jos de Beus. Former columnists include Ronald Plasterk, Paul Cliteur, Joshua Livestro and Herman Philipse. Peter van Ingen, Jeroen Smit and Clairy Polak are the programme's alternating presenters. Buitenhof itself made news in 2000, when visiting Vlaams Belang politician Filip Dewinter was smeared with chocolate, on camera, by anti-fascism activists. The programme is also broadcast each Sunday on the international television station BVN.

In Europa is a series of television documentaries on Europe in the 20th century, based on the book with the same name by Dutch writer and historian Geert Mak. The series had a budget of 4 million euro and was cofinanced by the Dutch Ministry of Interior Relations. Episodes are available for viewing on the official site. First broadcast on Nederland 2 from 2007 to 2009, quite a few locations important in European history are shown throughout the series, both historical and current. After two episodes the Flemish public channel bought the series, starting broadcasts on January 8, 2008. Swedish public channel Sveriges Television bought the series as well, starting broadcasts from January 2009. Croatian public television also bought the series and begun broadcasting from late 2011 through 2012. Although the series is mainly in Dutch, many of the episodes can be understood, as interviews with eyewitnesses or sons or daughters of contemporary figures tend to be in English.

Media logic investigates the difference between image and reality. Media serve as a guide to get a grip on reality. But to what extent are they a reliable guide? How is public opinion formed? And what influence does this have on the actions of administrators, journalists and citizens?