Ons geluk (1995)

The script of this relatively prestigious Flemish TV series was composed by Paul Koeck, himself a Flemish novelist, from several books of his colleague Gerard Walschap, one of which provided the title, Dutch for 'Our happiness', but the story is definitely not one of bliss. The main protagonist is René Hox, a fine and talented young man, son of two uncultivated rag-pickers who keeps their name even though he's adopted by the generous wealthy brewer Door Onckeloms who puts him trough university as his prospective heir; René however chooses to follow his inclination to the arts. His over-developed social conscience soon gets him in conflict with the conservative elite, and things don't improve when he falls in love with Leontien Verstraeten, a ruthless libertarian. There are many other story-lines involving various other characters, most of which end up seeing their apparent good fortune squashed by life.