International Emmy Award for 'Wat als?' (What if?)
The second series of the sketch programme ‘Wat als?’ has won an International Emmy Award 2014 in the category comedy. The International Emmy Awards are among the most prestigious awards in television and the international counterpart of the Emmy Awards, the most important American television awards.
‘Wat als?’ is a comedy sketch show which uses the absurd concept of 'what if' as a starting point; for example, what if ... Barbie was a real woman, doctors spoke as they write, Beethoven couldn't stand Elise, yoga was invented in the Netherlands? ‘Wat als’ takes you to a new level of reality; sometimes completely off the wall, and sometimes frighteningly close to the bone.
The second season came out in February 2014 on 2BE, the Flemish commercial channel. Since then, the programme has gathered numerous international prizes, including a Golden Rose, the gold medal at the World Media Festival in Hamburg and the Rockie Award at the BANFF World Media Festival in Canada. The first season of Wat Als? was nominated for an International Emmy back in 2012, but didn't manage to win a prize at that time.
The Award was accepted by the team of the Antwerp production company Shelter, who also received an International Emmy Award in 2011 for their comedy show with a hidden camera, Benidorm Bastards.
There was also another Belgian nomination in the category ‘non-scripted entertainment’; ‘Missie Monsango’ (Monsango Mission), which was pipped to the post by ‘Educating Yorkshire’ from the United Kingdom.
This 42nd edition of the International Emmy Awards was held on 24 November 2014 at the New York Hilton hotel. The gala was attended by more than 1000 international television professionals and was presented by the British comedian Matt Lucas. In total 19 countries competed for a prize, with 40 nominations in 10 categories.