On 19 December 1998, Ralf Rangnick, then coach of SSV Ulm in the second division, was a guest on ZDF’s das aktuelle sportstudio. At a tactics board, he explained to the presenter Michael Steinbrecher how the Viererkette, the back four in a flat line, and pressing work. He explained in great detail. The appearance gave him a nickname he has kept to this day: der Fußballprofessor, the football professor.
television
One Format, Many Broadcasters
The crime series Tatort first aired on 29 November 1970 with the episode Taxi nach Leipzig. From the start, it was a fixed Sunday evening slot that the participating broadcasters were to fill on their own. Each regional broadcaster of ARD is responsible for its own area and sets its episodes there. Since the late 1980s, every episode has run about ninety minutes. The opening credits have hardly changed, and Klaus Doldinger’s theme music from 1970 was modified only in 1979 and 2004. Inside this frame, some episodes break completely with the usual form. One, Murot und das Murmeltier, is set in a time loop.
The Arbitration on Live Television
Stuttgart 21, the plan to put Stuttgart’s main station underground, was first presented to the public in 1994. The formal approval procedure began in 2001. In 2010, when construction started, the protests grew. On 30 September 2010, the police used water cannons in the palace garden, and hundreds of people were injured. The state’s premier then proposed an arbitration led by Heiner Geißler, a former CDU federal minister. From 22 October to 30 November 2010, supporters and opponents argued over the facts in Stuttgart’s city hall, and the sessions were broadcast live on television, radio and the internet. The news channel Phoenix had its second-highest ratings up to that time. A year later, on 27 November 2011, the state held a referendum on leaving the project. Statewide, 58.9 percent voted against leaving it.
Claims Department M to Z
The comedy series Stromberg ran on ProSieben from 2004 to 2012. Most of it takes place in the claims department Schadensregulierung M–Z, which Bernd Stromberg runs. Claims from A to L belong to another department, Schadensregulierung A–L. Its head, Sinan Turçulu, competes with Stromberg for the management of the whole department.
The restaurant tester
From 2005 to 2013, and again in 2017, RTL broadcast Rach, der Restauranttester. In each episode the chef Christian Rach tested a restaurant that was in trouble. Then he confronted the owners with his analysis, which was usually worded drastically.
Where the jury crossed the line
The RTL talent show Deutschland sucht den Superstar first aired on 9 November 2002, with the producer and composer Dieter Bohlen on the jury. In February 2008, the Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Media demanded a fine of 100,000 euros from RTL over daytime repeats of the show, which it judged harmful to children. It cited the degrading nature of the jury procedure and the editing of the casting sessions, which made a laughing stock of the candidates in front of millions of viewers. Erich Jooß, head of the council of the Bavarian media regulator, spoke of inszenierte Infamie, staged infamy.
When the criticism comes back
On 6 September 2003, the German national team drew 0:0 in Iceland in a qualifier for the European Championship. On ARD, Gerhard Delling called the match a new Tiefpunkt, a low point, and Günter Netzer joined in the criticism. National coach Rudi Völler answered live on air. He accused the interviewer Waldemar Hartmann of having had drei Weizenbier, three wheat beers. After the 2014 World Cup match against Algeria, a ZDF reporter asked Per Mertesacker critical questions. He replied: Glauben Sie, unter den letzten 16 ist eine Karnevalstruppe?! Do you think there is a carnival troupe among the last 16? Then he said he would lie in the ice bath for three days.
Both answers turned on the questioner. Völler later apologized for his wording, but he kept his criticism of the coverage.
The Crooked Picture
The episode Loriot II, broadcast by Radio Bremen on 18 October 1976, included the sketch Zimmerverwüstung, room devastation. An attempt to straighten a crooked picture ends in chaos. Loriot himself was known for working with geradezu „preußischer“ Akribie und unermüdlichem Fleiß, almost “Prussian” meticulousness and tireless diligence. He is said to have worked on weekends and holidays too.
“Top, the Bet Stands!”
ZDF broadcast the first edition of Wetten, dass..? on 14 February 1981. The show was invented by Frank Elstner, who was also its first host. After each bet was read out, the host called Top, die Wette gilt!, done, the bet stands. That was the signal for the candidate to begin. A celebrity Wettpate predicted whether the candidate would succeed. In case the prediction was wrong, the Wettpate offered a stake in advance, or the host set one. In the original bet with the studio audience, the host himself was the Pate, and his stake had to be paid by the end of the evening.
Let’s Make a Deal
An American game show first broadcast in 1963 and still running. The title is the premise. A country that has televised deal-making continuously for sixty years has a settled view of it.