Les Snuls was a group of Belgian comedians who were active from 1989 to 1993. They were known for their weekly television program shown on
Canal+ Belgique, and various disks. Their humour was mostly inspired by self-mockery and nonsense, much like the British comedy troupe Monty Python, and hijacking national symbols of Belgium and
belgitudes (frites, chicons,
Maurice Béjart,
Jacques Brel,
Gilles de
Binche etc.). Les Snuls were famous for their guest presenters, mostly old ladies who didn't know they were part of a spoof, also not knowing their lines or the topics of the show. Additional commentaries, generally rude or mocking, were also added to the program. Ex: the presenter :"until next week," to which they add : "Yeh, without you!" They also produced the film, Film Belge.
The things of Professor Decodor:
Nico, playing "Professor Decodor," and his beautiful assistant Miss Bricola (
Laurence Bibot [
fr]) try to make their own decoder for the scrambled
Canal + channels, using everyday objects. This segment always ends with "Oooh, that didn't work! Until next week."
The snul-kit: with the aid of unrelated objects, a model (
Kriss) shows how one can disguise oneself, at very little cost (
Jacques Brel,
Maurice Béjart, naked woman, various animals, political prisoner of
Luxembourg…). The catchphrase of the segment is "You see! The effect is striking!"
Santa Belgica (parody of Santa Barbara): where an announcer summarizes the previous episode. The series is actually made of extracts (turned ridiculous by the commentary) from a 1974 film of
Pierre Manuel, Les Bonnes Manières (Good Manners). The
catchphrase in the summary is: "Yves who was called Blaise who was called Dominique will, exceptionally, for today be called Yves again."
Le Mage Bon-Rêve: played by
Stefan Liberski [
fr], Louis Bon-Rêve, the president of the Belgian Surrealist Party, called "Le Mage Bon-Rêve" (English: Wise man Good Dream) uses this slot as a pretext to sell his magic
endives.
The maxim of the weekend (aka The Belgian is a philosopher): presents extracts from a documentary about the meeting of
Michel Demaret and
Raymond Coumans. The dialogues are shown, emphasising the insignificant or senseless remarks. Ex.: "The thing I like about the sea, it's that when it rains and stops, it's over, we have dry weather."
Opening sequence
1st season: After a sign saying "Stand up", (to remind viewers to stand for the national anthem), the camera follows a long path of chips, in which are planted various symbols representing Belgian specialities: waffles from
Liège, mussels, the
Atomium, two tankards of beer being clinked and a flying endive. All that to the tune of Belgium's national anthem, the
Brabançonne.
2nd season: the camera approaches Earth, zooming in on the zone representing
Europe and finishes by focussing on Belgium, covered by chips.
France can be seen, covered in French breads, bottles of wine, and camembert cheese.
The Netherlands is shown covered in mussels. The music is the same as the first season.