The succesful TV show Benidorm Bastards has been nominated for this year’s Emmys in the Best Comedy category. The Emmys are the most important American TV awards.
The Benidorm Bastards format was developed by production company Shelter. The Flemish version of the show aired on commercial TV channel 2BE and VTM and was an instant success. Benidorm Bastards features a series of candid camera sketches in which senior citizens behave in a rowdy fashion.
Benidorm Bastards has quickly become Belgian’s most successful TV format abroad. The format has already been sold to dozens of broadcasters, including NBC, which is planning a US version of the show, called Off Their Rockers and produced by Universal, which will be presented by 89-year-old former Golden Girls actress Betty White. Last year, The Flemish version of the programme won a Golden Rose at the Lucerne Television Festival in Switzerland.
In the competition for the Emmy Award, Benidorm Bastards will face Breaking up, from Brazil, Facejacker, from Britain and The Noose, from Singapore. “I think we might have a chance to win the competition,” says Tim Van Aelst, creator of Benidorm Bastards, who received the good news at MIPCOM in Cannes.