''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 **Ge ...

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 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 A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

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 ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' is a British television sketch comedy show which was broadcast on BBC2 from 1979 to 1982. Originally shown as a comedy alternative to the '' Nine O'Clock News'' on BBC1, it features satirical sketches on then-curren ...

and

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

. The title of the show is a play on ''

Die Deutsche Wochenschau ''Die Deutsche Wochenschau'' (''The German Weekly Review'') was the title of the unified newsreel series released in the cinemas of Nazi Germany from June 1940 until the end of World War II. The coordinated newsreel production was set up as a vi ...

'' (a wartime cinema newsreel) and Germany's most prestigious TV news program, '' Tagesschau''. 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 Rudi Carrell (born Rudolf Wijbrand Kesselaar; 19 December 1934 – 7 July 2006) was a Dutch entertainer. Along with famous entertainers such as Johannes Heesters and Linda de Mol, he was one of the most successful Dutch personalities active in ...

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,

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 Bastian Pastewka (born 4 April 1972) is a German actor and comedian. In Bochum, he first became known to a wider audience in Germany around 1996 as a regular cast member of the comedy show ''Die Wochenshow'' (engl.: The Weekly Show), essentiall ...

. In 1999 Marco Rima was replaced by Markus Maria Profitlich and in 2000

Annette Frier Annette Frier (born 22 January 1974) is a German actress and comedian. Early life She has a younger sister, Caroline (born 1983) and an older sister. After the Abitur she studied classical acting at the school of the German theater "Der Kell ...

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 Friederike Kempter (born 23 August 1979) is a German actress. Her acting credits include films like ''Pandorum'' and ''A Coffee in Berlin'' as well as television shows like '' Ladykracher'' and '' Hauptstadtrevier''. She has played Police Komm ...

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 Matthias is a name derived from the Greek Ματθαίος, in origin similar to Matthew. People Notable people named Matthias include the following: In religion: * Saint Matthias, chosen as an apostle in Acts 1:21–26 to replace Judas Iscariot ...

Carolin Kebekus Carolin Kebekus (born 9 May 1980) is a German comedian and television personality. Biography Born in Bergisch Gladbach, Kebekus grew up as daughter of a social education worker and a banker in Köln-Ostheim. Her younger Brother David Kebe i ...

, Matze Knop and Dominik Kuhn.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