De Mol (TV series) explained

Alt Name:The Mole
Genre:Reality game show
Creator:Michiel Devlieger
Bart de Pauw
Tom Lenaerts
Michel Vanhove
Presenter:Michiel Devlieger
Gilles De Coster
Country:Belgium
Language:Dutch
Num Series:12
Num Episodes:73
Runtime:60–80 minutes
Company:Woestijnvis
Network:TV1 (1998–2000, 2003)
VIER (2016–)
Last Aired:present

De Mol (The Mole) is a Belgian reality game show that originally aired from 6 December 1998 to 19 March 2000 and again from 19 January to 16 March 2003 on TV1 with Michiel Devlieger as host. A revival has aired since 1 February 2016 on VIER with Gilles De Coster as host. The show won the famous Rose d'Or award in 2000. The format has been licensed in 40 countries from all around the world.

Players in The Mole must work together to complete various physical and mental challenges to build up a significant prize for the winner. One of them, however, is "the Mole", a double agent hired by the producers to sabotage the efforts of the group. The Mole must be careful to avoid drawing too much suspicion to themself. Using journals, players must track vast amounts of data about the person(s) they suspect of being the Mole, such as seating positions, clothing colors, minor discussion topics, and so on. The quiz at the end of each episode tests players' knowledge of the Mole, and determines by lowest score (or slowest time, in the event of a tie) who is eliminated from the game.

Format

Each series of The Mole involves a group of 10 contestants. During each episode, the contestants participate in a number of challenges, each assigned a monetary value. However, one of these contestants has been selected by production to be the Mole; it's their job to try to prevent the other players from winning challenges without revealing themself to others. The Mole is told what challenges to expect, but not always how to sabotage them; they must decide whether to intervene and how they do so.

To eliminate someone, all contestants take a quiz (which consists of 20 questions) at the end of every episode regarding the identity of the Mole and their involvement in the previous activities. The player who scores the lowest on this quiz, or was slowest to answer in case of a tie, is eliminated from the game. When there are only three players remaining, including the mole, the winner of the game is the one that answers the most questions correctly on the final quiz. The final quiz is usually 30 questions.

While success in the challenges builds up potential winnings, it is also critical to stay in the game by scoring better than opponents on the quiz, usually by attempting to draw their suspicions of the Mole's identity toward oneself. Since the Mole must use subterfuge to misdirect attention from their attempts to derail the team, disingenuous attempts to emulate the Mole must be subtle, while still noticeable and suspicious.

Series overview

SeriesPremiereFinaleHostThe MoleWinnerRunner-upAmount wonInternational destination
16 December 199831 January 1999Michiel DevliegerMagda RalHugo De BieArmand "Mon" De RidderBEF 1,150,000France
223 January 200019 March 2000Hugo DaemenMarianne DuponNiki De BoeckBEF 1,145,000Spain
319 January 200315 March 2003Mark SimonsStijn VandaeleSandra Welvaert / Inge Boere€33,100Italy
41 February 201628 March 2016Gilles De CosterGilles Van BouwelCathy van der HaHanne Vanhaesebrouck€30,790Argentina
56 February 20173 April 2017Eline MichielsDavey Van RodeAnnelies Cooymans€27,250South Africa
625 March 201820 May 2018Pieter DelanoyLloyd VermeulenBahador Sabouri€27,665Mexico
710 March 201912 May 2019Elisabet HaesevoetsAxel PaillerBas Moeyaert€34,050Vietnam
88 March 202026 April 2020Alina ChurikovaJolien DerckBart Lintermans€22,835Greece
921 March 20219 May 2021Lennart DriesenAnnelotte De BrandtSven Uyttersprot€18,240Germany
1020 March 20228 May 2022Philippe MinguetSven PedeYens Wittebrouck€26,390Canary Islands (Spain)
Uma Vandemaele
1119 March 20237 May 2023Comfort AchuoLancelot De DeurwaerderToos Vandervelde€27,320Arizona (United States)
1224 March 202412 May 2024Senne van der ZweepBernard BalcaenMichaël Moens€24,160Sicily (Italy)
Notes

Locations map

International versions

In total, over 50 series/seasons of The Mole have been broadcast around the world, since its inception in 1998 in Belgium.

Legend:

(4) Currently airing  

(16) No longer airing  

Country Name Host(s) TV station Premiere Finale
AustraliaThe MoleGrant BowlerSeven27 February 200028 September 2003
Tom Williams25 August 200528 October 2005
Shura Taft2 July 201316 October 2013
BulgariaКъртицата[1]
Kartitsata
Ivan HristovTV726 March 201317 May 2014
Andrey Arnaudov
CataloniaEl TalpPol IzquierdoTV320032003
FinlandMyyräRoope SalminenMTV31 January 2019present
France
Belgium (Wallonia)
Qui est la taupe ?Stéphane RotenbergM6
RTL-TVI (Belgium)
1 July 20155 August 2015
GermanyDer Maulwurf – Die AbenteuershowMichael StichProSieben7 July 200025 November 2001[2]
Steven Gatjen
The Mole – Wem kannst du trauen?The BossHossSat.16 May 202024 June 2020
HungaryA TéglaLászló SzalmaTV228 March 2000May 2000
Israelמי החפרפרת
Ha-Chafarperet
Itai AnghelChannel 2 (Keshet)13 February 20012001
ItalyLa TalpaAmanda Lear[3]
Paola Perego
Guido Bagatta
Rai 230 January 20042 April 2004
Paola Perego
Stefano Bettarini
20 September 200522 November 2005
Paola Perego
Paola Barale
9 October 200827 November 2008
NetherlandsWie is de Mol?Angela GroothuizenAVRO (1999–2014)
AVROTROS (2015–)
(2024)
19 November 1999present
Karel van de Graaf
Pieter Jan Hagens
Art Rooijakkers
Rik van de Westelaken
Wie is de Mol? JuniorSipke Jan BousemaNederland 317 May 200821 June 2008[4]
Art Rooijakkers9 March 201427 April 2014
New ZealandThe MoleMark Ferguson[5] TV220002000
NorwayMuldvarpenLars Arentz-HansenTVNorge31 January 20009 December 2002
Ove Christian Owe
PolandAgentMarcin MellerTVN22 October 200022 December 2002
Agent – GwiazdyKinga Rusin23 February 20162019
PortugalO SabotadorPaulo NeryRTP19 September 20014 November 2001[6]
SpainEl TraidorLuis Larrodera
Sergio Muñiz
Cuatro12 July 20068 September 2006
El TopoDaniel Domenjó
Emilio Pineda
Telecinco25 June 2009July 2009
SwedenMullvadenPontus GårdingerKanal 520002001
Hans Fahlén20072007
Discovery+ (Sweden)[7] 2 November 20218 December 2022
UkraineКрот[8]
Krot
Konstantin StogniiICTV24 October 2014 26 December 2014
United KingdomThe MoleGlenn HugillChannel 512 January 20019 December 2001
United StatesThe MoleAnderson CooperABC9 January 200118 February 2004
Ahmad Rashad
Jon Kelley2 June 200811 August 2008
Alex WagnerNetflix7 October 2022present
Ari Shapiro

See also

References

  1. News: The Mole (Bulgaria) . TV7.bg . 23 March 2013.
  2. Web site: Der Maulwurf. wunschliste.de.
  3. only first episode
  4. Web site: Wie is... de Mol? Junior 1 Netherlands. worldofbigbrother.com.
  5. News: TV: Contestants dig deep to flush out the mole . . Louisa . Cleave . 4 May 2000.
  6. News: O Sabotador – Contests – RTP . RTP.pt . 22 October 2012.
  7. Web site: Mullvaden 2021 på discovery+ med Anders Lundin, Agneta Sjödin. 2021-06-03. www.expressen.se. sv.
  8. News: The Mole (Ukraine) . ictv.ua . 24 January 2014.