1963: Der 90. Geburtstag (Dinner for One) is a comedy sketch recorded on 8 July 1963 at Theater am Besenbinderhof in front of a real audience by Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR). Although it is actually performed in English, it is considered a cult television classic in Germany and it is still an integral component of the New Year's Eve schedule at several German television stations.
1970s
Bust of Rudi CarrellOtto Waalkes
When Otto's first show came out in 1973, it differed in many ways from those of traditional comedians also around at the time, such as Rudi Carrell (then aged 39) and Loriot (then 50). Rudi Carrell and Loriot dressed rather more formally in a suit and tie, and stood on a large stage with the audience seated in rows, whereas Otto, then only 25, with his long blond hair falling in his face, wore T-shirts and jeans, and sat on a smaller cabaret-style stage, closer to the audience. This generation gap was reflected in Ein Herz und eine Seele, a sitcom similar to Till Death Us Do Part, where the old-fashioned character Alfred Tetzlaff clashes comically with his daughter Rita and his son-in-law Michael, who stands for the German student movement of 1968. The more traditional shows remained extremely popular, however, and repeats are still regularly shown today. The older comedians also adapted; Rudi Carrell continued to appear in comedy shows until shortly before his death in 2006.
1965 – 1973: Rudi Carrell Show slapstick series starring Rudi Carrell, on ARD
1967 – 1972: Cartoon sketch show starring Loriot, on ARD
In the 1980s, as elsewhere, the pre-recorded sketch show came into its own in Germany: Sketchup, So Isses, Harald und Eddi. Like Britain's Not the Nine O'Clock News (1979–82), one such show, Rudis Tagesshow, although not exactly alternative comedy, also poked fun at the main news programme (Tagesschau) and involved political satire. This caused trouble in 1987 when Carrell cut together footage of Ayatollah Khomeni with shots of veiled women throwing their knickers. The outraged Iranian government responded by expelling two German diplomats and closing the Goethe Institute in Tehran.
Technological advances also meant that cameras were used away from the studios more and more; the Candid Camera-style show Verstehen Sie Spaß appeared, which is still running, in the original format, today. Unlike other countries' versions of Candid Camera, it remains very popular, with seven million viewers on a Saturday evening; almost 25% of the market. It has been going strong since 1980.
since 1980: Verstehen Sie Spaß?, the German equivalent of Candid Camera, most recently presented by Guido Cantz, runs on ARDGuido Cantz, host of Verstehen Sie Spaß?
1980 – 1990: WWF Club, show with sketches, interviews, off-the-cuff humour, presented by Jürgen von der Lippe on ARD
1981: So ein Otto and Ein neues Programm mit Otto Waalkes, starring Otto, on WDR; much repeated.
The 1990s saw female comedians appearing in more prominent roles; whereas actresses such as Evelyn Hamann in the '70s or Iris Berben in the '80s usually played a main character's wife or girlfriend, now women such as Esther Schweins, Tanja Schumann, Anke Engelke and Hella von Sinnen made a name for themselves in more independent roles, although still mostly as part of larger casts.
since 1996: WWW – Die witzigsten Werbespots der Welt, clip and comedy show presented first by Fritz Egner and since 2005 by Ingo Oschmann, on Sat.1; Ingo won the 2003 final of Star Search in Germany as best comedy performer.
1997–2000: Switch, a TV parody with Michael Müller, Peter Nottmeier and others, on Pro Sieben
1999–2015: TV total, late night television comedy talk show, created, produced and hosted by Stefan Raab, on Pro Sieben
Since 2000
By the first decade of the new millennium, the trend began to move back away from the pre-recorded sketch shows of the '80s and '90s. Comedy talk shows such as TV Total and Elton.tv naturally involved more off-the-cuff humour, and soon these were joined by improvised shows such as Genial daneben and the original Schillerstraße. The main role in the latter is played by an actress, Cordula Stratmann; by now there were several shows whose main stars were female comedians, such as Ladykracher with Anke Engelke. Slapstick now played a less important role: instead, realism was in, with shows removing the laugh track, such as Stromberg (similar to The Office) or the sitcom Pastewka.
since 2000: Night Wash: live stand-up comedy show for upcoming new comedians, filmed in a real laundrette, ran on WDR and ARD until 2007; since then on Comedy Central Germany (which started broadcasting in 2007).
2002 – 2004, again since 2008: Ladykracher, comedy sketch series starring Anke Engelke, on Sat. 1; Anke won a Rose d'Or as best comedy performer in the series
2002 – 2009: Sechserpack, comedy sketch show with six actors including the British-German Emily Wood, on Sat.1
2003 – 2011: Genial daneben – Die Comedy Arena presented by Hugo Egon Balder on Sat. 1 (one of first improvised shows, set off a series of other improvisation-based shows)
2006 – 2009: Die ProSieben Märchenstunde ('ProSieben Fairy Tale Hour') comedy series featuring a changing cast of German and Austrian comedians and satirising fairy tale classics
since 2007: Switch reloaded, the sequel of Switch with partially same staff, on Pro Sieben.
since 2009: heute-show a late-night satirical television program airing on public broadcasting channel ZDF; a conceptual adaptation of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart; being presented by comedian and journalist Oliver Welke
since 2010: Der letzte Bulle ('The last cop') a comedy-drama series centered about a cop, portrayed by Henning Baum, from the 1980s put into a modern police department in Essen
since 2011: Der Tatortreiniger ('Crime Scene Cleaner'), chamber-play comedy featuring Bjarne Mädel, with only one or two other actors, who change each episode, on NDR Fernsehen; it is also broadcast in France and the USA
since 2012: Nicht nachmachen! ('Don't Do This!'), a comedy-documentary television series that airs on ZDF and ZDFneo presented by Wigald Boning and Bernhard Hoëcker defying the warnings and restrictions on various items to see what happens when they do
Sources
Much of this article is taken from information on the German language Wikipedia (articles on comedians and comedy programmes).
Anke Christina Fischer is a German comedian, actress, voice actress and television presenter.
Anke Late Night was a German late night talk show hosted by Anke Engelke and produced by Brainpool.
Ladykracher was a German sketch comedy show starring Anke Engelke. The show ran on Sat.1 from 2002 to 2004 and was produced by Brainpool. In 2008 the show was reproduced until 2013.
Die Wochenshow was a German weekly sketch comedy show that aired on Sat.1 and was produced by Brainpool TV. It first aired on 20 April 1996 and was cancelled early in 2002. The show saw a brief revival starting on 20 May 2011, but only eight episodes were broadcast before it was cancelled due to low ratings and bad press.
Television in Germany began in Berlin on 22 March 1935, broadcasting for 90 minutes three times a week. It was home to the first regular television service in the world, named Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow.
Bullyparade is a German late night comedy sketch show which aired from 1997 to 2002 on German channel ProSieben. Michael Herbig, Rick Kavanian and Christian Tramitz were the main cast of the show. Herbig also directed, produced and mainly developed the show, while all three comedians wrote the sketches and characters.
7 Tage, 7 Köpfe is a German comedy television program of the television station RTL Television and featured a humorous retrospective of the past week. The show was hosted by Jochen Busse.
Christoph Maria Herbst is a German actor and comedian.
Hans-Jürgen Hubert Dohrenkamp, better known by his stage name Jürgen von der Lippe, is a German television presenter, entertainer, actor, musician and comedian. His stage name comes from the fact that he was born near the source of the river Lippe.
Ingo Oschmann is a German comedian, entertainer and stage magician who also works as a television presenter and actor. In 2003, he became the first comedian to win the final of Star Search in Germany.
Bayerischer Fernsehpreis is an award presented by the government of Bavaria, Germany since 1989. The prize symbol is the "Blue Panther", a figure from the Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory. The prize money is €10,000.
Ralf Husmann is a German TV producer, screenwriter and author. He is the creator of Stromberg, the German adaption of The Office.
Oliver Michael Dittrich is a German television personality, comedian, actor, and musician.
Pastewka is a German television sitcom that aired from 2005 to 2014 on German TV channel Sat.1. The series, currently in its tenth and last season, is set in Cologne, with German actor Bastian Pastewka starring as a fictionalized version of himself. It has been compared to Seinfeld and Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm. The series was awarded, among others, the Rose d’Or and the German Television Prize.
Gabriele Wilhelmine "Gaby" Köster is a German actress and comedian.
The Deutscher Comedypreis is awarded by Brainpool TV. Because Brainpool's in-house productions have received extensive awards, the designation as the German Comedy Award is controversial. The awards ceremony takes place annually in Cologne.
Kalle Pohl is a German comedian and actor.
Karen Christine Friesicke was a German comedian and actress.
Carolin Kebekus is a German comedian and television personality. The content of her comedy is highly feminist and satirical.
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