Topic: TV Shows - A Decade in Retrospect

[Antares]

@Antares: Who is that suppsed to be? 

I have seen Sprockets a few times in 1991. 

It is/was a sketch in Saturday Night Live, making fun of artsy Germans. If I remember correctly the host Dieter (on the right) was played my Mike Myers, of later Austin Powers fame.

Touch my monkey!!!!!

[Antares]

My "SNL: Best of Mike Myers" has a few of those skits.
I wonder how it came about, that Germans are sometimes portayed like this in the US. See for example "The Big Lebowski" (if I remember correctly).

I think it has to do with the music of Kraftwerk.

[Tom]

I think it has to do with the music of Kraftwerk.

Could be. I have never listened to them.
I think Americans only know the following German musicians: Kraftwerk, Rammstein and Nena 

[Critter]

I think Americans only know the following German musicians: Kraftwerk, Rammstein and Nena

Those are the only ones I know, and I'm Australian 

[snowcat]

what about

Tokio Hotel, Tangerine Dream and Faust?

  .. I remember a large group of 14 year olds running around talking about Tokio Hotel last year

Then again :p im british.

[Jimmy]

I think Americans only know the following German musicians: Kraftwerk, Rammstein and Nena 

What no Scorpions or Accept
I will thing of those German band certainly before Rammstein or Kraftwerk... But after Nena (not just because of 99 luftballoons).

But I am North American and not American (Usians) does it count

[Achim]

Burn Notice (2007-)

´
Is that second chin from the left who I think it is...?

I think it has to do with the music of Kraftwerk.

I thought about mentioning that, but wasn't sure Mike Myers would work that sort of skit around the guys from Kraftwerk. But indeed, Dieter looks like the Kraftwerk dudes on the cover of "The Man Machine" (Die Mensch Maschine).

[DJ Doena]

Burn Notice (2007-)

´
Is that second chin from the left who I think it is...?

That is indeed Ash.

[Najemikon]

Karsten, last night I watched QI, the panel show of "quite interesting" trivia hosted by Stephen Fry. They were having a German theme and so I learned all sorts of freaky facts! Apparently you're all quite fond of nudism, for instance, and Oktoberfest isn't in October (actually, I knew that)...  But one fact stuck out because it reminded me of the conversations we'd had about German TV. Apparently, every year on every channel, Germany shows an old British sketch called Dinner for One about a drunken butler attending to his bonkers mistress. I believe it was done on a tour by the comedian and he was asked to film it in the 60s for German TV and it hasn't been off since! It is in fact, the most repeated single programme.

Thing is, it's alright, but hardly a phenomenon. Why do you like it so much?  To be fair, Fry did comment he believes it is now watched with the same irony we would, but still, you're broadcasting is in the doldrums if this can survive so long!

Wikipedia Article

[DJ Doena]

Dinner for One belongs to New Year's Eve like turkey to Thanksgiving. It's a ritual. It's aired 8-10 times on different TV stations. And now it's even available on DVD (though in a better quality than your Youtube version).

It has become a self-fulfilling prophecy:

The same procedure as last year, Ms Sophie?
The same procedure as every year, James!

[Tom]

"Dinner for One" has become a tradition for New Year's Eve. I don't know why. And I do not know how many people actually watch it every year. I only watched it once or twice a long time ago. And that it comes on every channel is not true. Only on the so-called "third-programme" channels.
Originally German TV started out with one TV channel (ARD or also called "Das Erste" ("The First")). A few years later a new channel started called ZDF ("Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen" ("Second German Television")). And there were a lot of regional TV stations, which are called the third TV channels. Bavaria for example has BR3. Then there is HR3 etc. Today (because of statellite and cable programming) you can get all regional TV channels everywhere in Germany. And it are these regional TV channels, which are bringing this sketch every year on New Year's Eve. And I think also ARD. I am not sure.
None of the commercial channels are broadcasting this sketch, as far as I know.

[DJ Doena]

I've never been to any New Year's party (or "Silvester" as we call it) where a telly was available and the question did not come up when we'd watch DFO, not in Berlin, not in Nuremberg and not here in Karlsruhe.

I've watched this show on NYE for many years now.

[Najemikon]

  Hilarious! I suppose it's oddly comforting to always have such a reliable thing, like any tradition.

[DJ Doena]

Was it this one? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpLnLuCbNSE

[Najemikon]

Yeah, that's the one. Have you seen QI before? It's fairly harmless and you end up with so much useless information you can win every pub quiz going...