German TV comedy shows

In a discussion elsewhere about "foreign" comedy.

Can anyone who watches German television tell me their favourite German comedy show and what they think is funny about it. Plus any comments about German comedy.

NB: Please, spare me the "German comedy / TV is crap, you should all watch Friends". Thanks.

does SpongeBob auf deutsch count ??? i rate the german version as much as the english...

As annoying as Stefan Raab can sometimes get, some of the gags and sendups on TV Total are worthy of a light chuckle.



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Bully Parade, Die Dreisten Drei and some other sketch show I think they stopped making but which was reminiscent of Smack the Pony. Why are they funny? Unlike most sketch comedy shows, these don't try to milk ten minutes out of a 20-second joke. Stefan Raab used to be really funny when he was on once a week. He still only has one night's worth of material but stretches it out over four. Too bad.

Another good comedy is Schillerstraße if you like improv, but the director sometimes tells them to do the stupidest things and -- because they're German -- they end up doing some tedious cabaret. I say, I say, I say... Still, it's usually good for quite a few laughs.

woof.

hahaha, this thread went well.

Spoonge Bob gets my vote! But actual german shows - then it has to be Harold Schmidt!

I was just going to say that many Germans swear by Harald Schmidt, but I could never get into it. I always found his humour to be on the nasty side and always preferred Raab whom I found a bit more light hearted in his piss-taking. I also find Schmidt to be much too close to Letterman (whom I also can't stand) in format and style. Whenever this discussion comes up with Germans (other than my wife, who also hates Schmidt), most of them poo-poo Raab, saying that he is very low brow and that his humour is "cheap", whereas Schmidt is seen as much more clever. Personally I find a lot of clever stuff in Raab's cheapness and a lot of snide nastiness in Schmidt's cleverness. My wife just says that Schmidt's is typical "Preisnhumor" (although Raab is also a Preisn).

One of my problems is that Harald Schmidt talks so fast with his north German "accent" that I just can't understand him half the time. But then again, I have been in Bayern so long now, that I find the "Bulle von Tölz" easier to understand.

I've got to be honest I find German comedy questionable at best but I don't think it was always this way... I was watching Kabel last night after flicking through all the terrible channels and came across a guy who's the spitting image of Dave Allen, I only caught the last two sketches but this guy was dynamite... it must have been circa '70s. Who is/was he?

There's also a class advert on at the moment were this beautiful girl is going into a smelly bathroom, then magic smell destroying product is applied, followed by the final scene, with her sitting on the toilet farting. Who says there is no such thing as German humour. Class. I giggle everytime, but I suppose that says more about me.

Always,
Skint

For the longest time I though that German comedy was an oxy moron, like jumbo shrimp. It was the case that I did't understand what was being said, but I just couldn't figure out what was funny about it. Slowly I am beginning to understand it better, and some of it I will admit is pretty funny. I think that Harald Schmidt is great, really smart humor. I also find Ladykracher to be really funny, because I like the format of sketch comedy.

i like some of the stand-up political satire they have on, but i can never remember their names or what time/channel they are on
not much help, i know
they can be really funny, though (although they would pob get mercilessly beaten up on TT for US bashing)

Even though I don't understand German, I enjoyed the Wochenshow. I could follow the gags and even the jokes.

Harold Schmidt - by far the best German comedian i've come across! He's like the German Letterman (but not as good as Jon Stewart).

The hard part is that your German must be really good to understand him, not only that, you really have to know German history/current events/slang/feelings (in short, actully BE a German) to really appreciate his humor. Fortunately I have a German boyfriend who can explain what I don't get

He's actually quite celebrated in Germany - even has guest appearances during the biggest football games.

Definitely worth a watch! (Especially if you think Sponge Bob is funny...)

http://www.schmidt.de/index.php3

Currently, my fave German comedy is 'Hausmeister Krause' because of it's sheer stupidity and I have to include 'Sarah and Marc in Love' just because it's a cry or laugh situation

Sarah & Marc is over... Was pretty funny though, in an embarassing sort of way.

Sechserpack is pretty funny - comedy sketches

Does anyone here know Loriot? I was wondering if his humour is accessable to foreigners.