''Die Wochenshow'' (English: ''The Weekly Show'', lit.: ''The Week's Review'') was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

weekly

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...

show that aired on

Sat.1 Sat.1 is a German free-to-air television channel that is a part of the ProSiebenSat.1 Media Group. It is considered the first privately owned television network in Germany, having been launched in January 1984 as ''PKS'' ''(Programmgesellschaf ...

and was produced by

Brainpool TV Brainpool TV GmbH is a German television production company located in Cologne. It was a subsidiary of VIVA Medien AG between 2001 and 2006, until a management buyout in January 2007, now owned by Banijay. The film '' Stromberg – The Movie'' ...

. 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.

Format

The show is a

news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the tes ...

parody with sketches and recurring characters that often that parody popular celebrities, TV shows and films. It bears similarities to formats such as Not the Nine O'Clock News and Saturday Night Live. The title of the show is a play on '' Die Deutsche Wochenschau'' (a wartime cinema newsreel) and Germany's most prestigious TV news program, ''

Tagesschau (German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality ...

''. Ingolf Lück has occasionally described the show as a modern version of '' Rudis Tagesshow'', a news parody show broadcast from ARD and hosted by Rudi Carrell in the 1980s.

History

The original cast consisted of

Ingolf Lück Ingolf Lück (born 26 April 1958) is a German actor, comedian and television host. Lück was born in Bielefeld. He hosted several sketch comedy shows; the best known, '' Die Wochenshow'', aired on Sat.1 between 1996 and 2002. He also hosted ' ...

Anke Engelke Anke Christina Fischer ( Engelke; born 21 December 1965) is a German comedian, actress, voice actress and television presenter. Personal life Born in Montreal, Canada, Engelke moved to Cologne, Germany in 1971 with her German parents. Early ...

Marco Rima Marco Rima (born April 7, 1961 in Winterthur, Switzerland) is a Swiss actor, comedian, cabaret artist and producer. He grew up in the canton of Zug and studied elementary school teaching. He now lives in Oberägeri, canton of Zug. Career In ...

and Bastian Pastewka. In 1999 Marco Rima was replaced by

Markus Maria Profitlich Markus Maria Profitlich (born 25 March 1960 in Bonn) is a German comedian, actor and voice actor who was a cast member of '' Die Wochenshow'' between 1999 and 2001. He also hosted his own show, '' Mensch Markus'', from 2002 to 2007. Biography ...

and in 2000 Annette Frier replaced Anke Engelke, who left the show to pursue her own projects. in 2001,

Michael Kessler Michael Kessler (born 24 June 1967) is a German actor, comedian and author. Career Theater Kessler had his acting training at the Westfälische Schauspielschule Bochum from 1988 to 1992. Afterwards he began acting roles at Schauspielhaus ...

and Bürger Lars Dietrich joined the cast. The show was a big ratings success from its beginning and still has a

cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

, but was cancelled in 2002 following a drop in ratings. The 2011 revival cast included

, Dave Davis, Friederike Kempter,

Axel Stein Axel Stein (born 28 February 1982) is a German actor and comedian. He was born in Wuppertal and works as an actor in German television and cinema productions. Filmography file:IMG 4576 Axel Stein.JPG, Stein in 2010 * 1999–2008: ''Hausmeiste ...

, Matthias Matschke, Carolin Kebekus, Matze Knop and

Dominik Kuhn Dominik Kuhn (pseudonym: ''Dodokay''; born September 16, 1969) is a German producer, language artist, comedian, director and musician. He is the owner of the production company STARPATROL Entertainment. He got famous in Germany with Swabian fandu ...

.The show's IMDB entry
retrieved 20. December 2012

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wochenshow, Die German comedy television series 1996 German television series debuts 2002 German television series endings German-language television shows Sat.1 original programming