Lack of comedy on German television

Been looking at some good old - and recent, english sitcoms on Youtube recently. It struck me just how rich Britain is in comedy and humour, you could almost say it`s a national characteristic.

And then my thoughts turned to Germany and the wasteland of german TV when it comes to german home-produced comedy. Uh oh... There`s just so little on TV here to laugh at. There`s Hallervorden, that dutch bloke (now deceased). I found him rather tedious, but better than nothing I guess.

Other than that - SAT1 has a few current comedy sketch shows, which strike me as kind of anglo-saxon inspired material, Mensch Markus and programmes like that, plus there`s the stand up comedy club stuff, Scheibenwischer and others. But what seems to be noticeably lacking is the dearth of situation-comedy based on all the various facets of everyday life that UK tv is so rich in.

I wonder why this is? Do they find sitcoms too frivolous, can they not see the humour in everyday life? Or is a german joke a serious matter?

Hausmeister Krause
Alles Atze
Türkisch für Anfänger
Alle lieben Jimmy
Pastewka
Dittsche - Das wirklich wahre Leben
...

EDIT: I do agree though - there arent that many and some of them are rather stupid. I guess sitcom is an anglo-american genre and we lack good writers in germany...

Alles außer Sex (similar to BBC's Coupling, which was also shown here) springs to mind as one of the better sitcoms on German TV in recent years.

Having watched various Brit sit-coms in the last few months, mostly as background noise, I cannot say that they are exactly hilarious. I don't recall the name of the series at the moment* but the ARD had a very funny show about a German mother (shrink) of two marrying a Turkish father (policeman) of two and the complications and situations arising from that constellation. Whenever I had time to sit down and watch it I enjoyed it immensely.
Possibly not only the language but the cultural barrier as well prevents most ex-pat viewers from seeing the humor involved. Could be that's why Brit sit-coms just don't tickle my funny bone.
Hallervorden? Dire, dull and dreary. Rudi Carrell was funny in any language (generally), and Scheibenwischer is not so much stand-up comedy as political cabaret.
Germany does not have a tradition of stand-up comedy, it's only developed in the last ten years or so. Give them time.
*Tuerkisch fuer Anfaenger

German comedy often revolves around saying silly things or in a silly way and/or with a silly facial expression and that's probably why they love Benny Hill and Mr. Bean. I have to say that it leaves me fairly cold.

Stand-up comedy here is indeed evolving, with comedians like Michael Mittermeyer and Mario Barth going for a more subtle humour.

British TV comedy has gone downhill since they stopped broadcasting That's Life.

(Just joking!)

For classic German TV comedy I can only recommend Loriot.

Im afraid the best german stand up comedy will always be incomprehensible for most foreigners, because they are performed in regional dialect.

the only half-decent German sitcom i have ever seen was Stromberg, which was a rip-off of The Office. The German network got sued for ripping off the original and now have to credit Ricky Cervais for the show. I believe there was also an undisclosed financial settlement.

That almost sounds like a challenge
Any examples?

Classic but pretty boring. Except his two men in the bathtub. Die Ente bleibt draussen!
And the unforgettable late Evelin Hamann giving a synopsis of Die Zwei Cousinen. No links to the text or the video due to copyright issues, but I can link to the dramatis personae. She almost breaks her tongue pronouncing the names and slips the odd "th" into the German text ("Schlipth" for Schlips - tie). In the end she just sits there and whimpers.

you need to go to a Karneval Sitzung for some really good stuff. This is authentic German humour, not sad copies of American routines. Really clever jokes that will have you in stitches...if you can understand Kölsch.

I have never got Karneval humour. To me it seems like tell a crap joke, then play a chord after it to make it funny. Each to their own, I guess.

Like everything else, Germans take humor seriously.

An antithesis to Karneval humour is Harald Schmidt – quite caustic, not always pc. Unfortunately, his show isn't the same any more since he changed from private Sat1 to public ARD.

A few bavarian comedians:
Günter Grünwald (his humour seems always a little too childish to me, but he has his own show on tv)
Gerhard Polt (im not sure if he is still doing comedy - but a few years back he was the best)
Willy Astor (always gets mentioned, but I never saw him)
Michael Altinger (very funny, when telling stories of the life in Strunzenöd)
Andreas Giebel (great, also a funny actor, see München 7)
Luise Kinseher (havent seen her, but supposed to be good)
Georg Ringsgwandl (well known in the 80ies; a little to strange for me)
Django Asül (bavarian turk, very funny but kind of repetitive)
Helmut Schleich (great)
Sissy Perlinger (weird, shrill)

And all those old farts in suits sitting behind in a row with the same party hats on all looking suspiciously like members of some chamber of commerce. Da DA, Da DA Da DA!!

Just occurred to me, doesnt the carnival season start today elften elften am 11.11 ?

@Freising

Thanks for the list. I only know Willy Astor, and only from his 'Wortspiel' on Bayern3, which is quite clever and amusing - if you're concentrating!

Yup. It's even spread to Berlin, where the bakeries are making a half-assed attempt to cash in on this strange tradition.

I'm just listenting to Mir Lassen die Dom in Kölle, Happy Karneval peeps!

If you like nasty and bitchy, try Desiree Nick.

Horst Schlämmer aka Hape Kerkeling
Nein, isch möschte nischt.

I agree with you. The state of German comedy (TV) is embarrassing. There wasn't acceptable comedy TV in Germany for ages, I won't even start talking about good comedy. The only thing which I lately found amusing was Schillerstrasse, but it would be too much to call it funny. Besides, Karneval TV is boring. I was never able to laugh while watching it. Maybe that's because I don't like Karneval.

For the list:
Gerhard Polt's comedy (Fast wie im richtigen Leben) was hilarious, but that's more than 20 years ago. In the times before there were private TV channels. His movies are ... debatable.
Günter Grünwald's show is lately the best you can watch. Which is a shame since I think his humor is mediocre.
Willy Astor is way overrated.
Andreas Giebel is on his way up. I like him and I liked Muenchen 7, that wasn't really comedy, though.
The others I don't really know.

Hape Kerkeling sometimes is actually hilarious.

Learn it and you'll be fine. I had to learn 'Weegerish' to understand Billy Connolly and Rab C

I don't rate either but I simply adore Polt and Hoffmann so I do.

Some of Polt's Fast wia has dated but lots hasn't - you still see the Bavarians he's taking the piss out of everywhere. He and Gisela Schneeberger are a dream team. "Man spricht deutsh" and "Kehraus" were excellent (parts of Kehraus rival The Office for cringeworthy observation of employees in confined situations), but agree that his others were a bit ropey.

In general I completely agree. I think the German language makes typical english-language jokes unworkable -- usually confusions about identity or situations that just don't occur in German sentence structure. So you get either the slapstick stuff, which is pretty lame, or the better stuff that makes fun of dialects or uses language in a funny way, which I find hard to follow as a non-native speaker.

Having said that, now that my German is a little better, I find Dittsche often very very funny.

I'm not sure exactly how to categorize it (sitcom-leaning dramedy?), but "Berlin, Berlin" (2002-2005) was often very funny, and used plenty of subplots recognizable to me as American or British sitcom cliches. It's all on DVD now...the first season is particularly good.

Try watching Fawlty Towers in German. The answer to much will be obvious.

Be realistic - you would not expect that to translate...

The problem isnt so much that the Germans dont have the talent. They just don't have the platform for it. Television companies in Germany are incredibly risk averse and cost concsious. Innovation is what other people do. Or as I say Everybody is scared of being the first to do something. And nobody wants to be the second either. So your average German Company wants an innovative idea that's a proven concept. Try working within that and your OK but it does lead to a lot of format buy ins.

Remember there is no Edingburgh Fringe Festival. There is no Radio Four. There is no BBC 2 or Channel 4.

Where are you going to see and test new ideas?

The biggest barrier to the German talent IMHO - and theres a shed load out there of really good innovative funny people - is the lack of a Radio Four format. Radio is cheap, easy to produce - three sound effects and your on Mars - and the perfect breading and testing ground for a cross over. Plus its audience is on average more intelligent, open and innovative and has higher expectations. The BBC development route Radio 4 - BBC 2 - BBC 1 has proven itself many a time. Without this German television will continue to underperform in providing its local talent with opportunities.

I am being realistic, you silly little man.

German TV is complete and utter crap. Period.

Most of US tv is trash. Its about talk shows only and bullshit. German tv at least show educational programs, political reports, science documentries. So it depends on you what you choose and what you watch. There's a lot of comedy and political cabaret going on German TV but if english speaking people don't understand German, then they should leave it

They can keep on watching US trash

There are discussions to be had but you haven't founded your comment.

More double post than Veronica Forrres tits innit.

Switch is great...and not afraid to be controversial...one of the better sketch shows I've seen anywhere!

<cough> "Switch" IS fucking fantastic but if I remember the idea came from ABC Australia, I THINK their Victoria studio. Kylie, cheers!

My entire family watches that show. I think both my parents and my brother & his girlfriend have the DVD box sets at home (i.e. my parents at theirs and bo & gf at theirs)... I have watched it occasionally but not regularly but it is a good show. (Might watch it on DVD when I am home sometime.)

I love Hörst!!! And the rest of Hape's characthers are pretty funny too. I always tell my husband that hape (and his characters) is the only german comedian who is actually funny.

At over 6 foot tall I have never been called "little".

Why? Because it shows tons of imported 9mostly American) programmes?

Really?! I happen to have US tv here in Germany... do you? Educational: Natural Geographics channel, Discovery, The Learning Channel, PBS, CollegeTV (educational courses), etc etc Policitics: CSPAN1 & 2 (can't tell you more because I avoid politics like the plague). Science documentaries: The ones on German tv come from the Discovery channel and the BBC..dubbed into German of course. The rest of your tv consists of our programming. So how exactly is German tv better?

I guess the proof is in the pudding; 90% of your shows are from the US and the UK, 10% are your own. Same as the movies in your cinema. Think that kinda speaks for itself.

Doesn't prove quality. It only proves the economics of the industry.

It proves that his comment about German tv having so much more is complete and utter BS, wasn't out to prove anything else. Especially his comment about educational programming... I only touched the tip of the iceberg when naming the ones available in the US.

US non-pay tv is world reknowned as bloody terrible.

Sure seems popular enough to me. Germans watch enough of it; Desperate Housewives, CSI, 24, ER, Simpsons, etc etc. Geez, just go in any media department at the stores and look at all our series available in the box sets. I'm always getting people asking me to bring back box sets from the States when I go home, so I don't understand how you can even think of claiming German TV compares. Its like me arguing that American beer is superior to German beer or any other country for that matter.

Glad you understand the make up of your own country's media.;-)

The american stuff is just cheaper to buy in, has a proven track record - though which doesnt stop it bombing here aka sopranos - and is often part of an output deal. Why bother doing anything else? The other shows you listed do come under the flogging a dead horse catagory. Only the simpsons s still as good as it ever was.

Are you saying Desperate Housewives is Pay TV? It isn't. Its on ABC.

Sopranos is pay (although no longer on) - HBO
Weeds (shown here) - Showtime
South Park - Comedy Central

I would argue against basic cable being pay tv, but technically it is (although I don't know anyone who doesn't have basic cable...which costs as much as the German tv tax).

Ein Herz und eine Seele (Old but still amusing)

Yep your right sorry I stand corrected obviously its I who is lost in US TV land today, I was thinking of SaTC! Another programme my wife forces us all to watch, forgive me. But it still isnt up there with what HBO is churning out. But if you look at the subscriber numbers for HBO you'll see how for them its economical if not essential to produce quality programing in comparison to the junk churned out. There bugdets are just enourmous. Add a bit of coproduction monies to but still, nobody can compete, nor need to. Theres a lot of television in Germany and a lot of air time which needs filling. I dont personaly rate 80% of american shows as being any good, the writing is just dumb down basic. That does though lend itself to translation.

I guess the proof is in the pudding; 90% of your shows are from the US and the UK, 10% are your own. Same as the movies in your cinema. Think that kinda speaks for itself.
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This is right because we Germans are only 80 millions people and not 300 millions. Not all programs in German are dubbed. We have our own programs also. But of course, there're not so many. US is such a big country. You can't compare US with German but if you compare US with whole Europe then... things look a lot different.