Will Today Inside soon have competition from the father of their own star reporter Sam Hagens? It could just be possible, because Pieter Jan Hagens has enough experience as a Buitenhof host.
Talk shows compete fiercely with each other for the best guests and Today Inside has an extra hard time. Not everyone dares to participate and some are therefore inclined to opt for a safe alternative. Will they soon also have problems with the father of their own star reporter Sam Hagens?
Own talk show?
Sam, like many talents in Hilversum, has a famous parent. Dad Pieter Jan Hagens has been behind the camera since the era of black and white television and therefore has a lot of experience, including as a presenter of EenVandaag and the Sunday afternoon talk show Buitenhof. Does he also have the ambition to create his own late-night program?
No, answers Pieter Jan in the leading TV guide TROS Compass. “No, and then I come back to why I quit entertainment. There’s just not that much ‘show’ in me. If you do a talk show, you have to be a bit more fun than I might be. I’m too serious for that. Ultimately, I am really a journalist and interviewer.”
Overconfident
Did Pieter Jan also do entertainment? Oh yes, he was once the presenter of Wie is de Mol. “At a certain point I decided not to do entertainment programs anymore, but to opt for journalism. In the past I was more overconfident: ‘I can do whatever I want, entertainment and journalism can go together’.”
Combine Buitenhof and Wie is de Mol? It didn’t really fit, Pieter Jan thinks afterwards. “I’ve come back from that a bit. Things can go well for a long time, but you still reach a point where it is better to say: I concentrate on one particular thing and I do it well. Journalistic things suit me best.”
Tips for Sam
His son Sam is very frivolous. Today Inside is more entertainment than serious journalism and lately he has been sitting there at the bar with very wild hair. Does Pieter Jan think that is possible? Does he give him tips? “In the beginning we went through interviews. Political interviews are often about thinking ahead.”
That’s what he gave Sam. “We have often discussed this. Then Sam called me: ‘I came up with this question, what do you think?’ Then I said, ‘Okay, what answers can he give to this?’”
Training wheels
Now Sam does it all without training wheels, Pieter Jan explains. “That was really at the beginning of his career. Sam is now so experienced that he charts his own course. He is doing very well in that.”
Sam can be seen in the election debate on SBS 6 on Thursday, Pieter Jan will do the EenVandaag debate on NPO 1 on Monday.