It aimed at a young teenage audience and was notable for being unpredictable and risky in its subject matter, featuring reports, performances, declarations, and interviews that tied in with the subversive atmosphere of the Provo movement.
[2] Like Zo is het toevallig, Hoepla would tackle controversial topics such as "the colonial past, the royal family, and sexuality" in a social system where "authority and community were central".
[4] That Hoepla was in tune with happening developments in popular culture was indicated by its guest list: musical performances were given by some of the era's hippest artists, including Soft Machine (episode 2), The Mothers of Invention (ep.
[4] Notable sections of the show included an interview of Pete Townshend by Hans Verhagen[8] and the appearance of Phil Bloom, naked except for a strategically placed garland of plastic flowers, during a performance by the singer Teddy Lee J.
[13] The third episode was taped on 10 November 1967 but did not air until 23 November, minus two controversial items that the VPRO cut: a section called "Vleesch" (an old-fashioned spelling for "vlees", "meat"), which reported on the last five minutes in an abattoir of a cow's life, and a section in which a model performs a striptease over an audio tape of Dutch prime minister Piet de Jong,[11] responding to the questions asked in parliament by C. N. van Dis about Hoepla[7] The "Vleesch" section had been moved from the second to the third episode; after a committee of child psychiatrists had delved into the matter, it was approved as safe for children but was again moved, to the fourth episode, which never aired.
[15] A fourth episode was supposed to air on 8 January 1968 (and apparently a record number of people had tuned in to watch it),[16] but it was decided on that very day to cancel it, with the explanation given that Phil Bloom had been photographed by Playboy during rehearsals, and such commercial ventures were not allowed on public television.