''Schillerstraße'' ("Schiller Street") was a German improvisational comedy show that aired weekly on Sat.1. It was recorded without a script and broadcast unedited to a large extent. The American broadcaster

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

has earned the licence for ''Schillerstraße'' and is to produce its own series.

Idea and show structure

The setting of the show is the living room of the main actor (until 2008 Cordula Stratmann, in 2009

Jürgen Vogel Jürgen Peter Vogel (; born 29 April 1968 in Hamburg) is a German actor and producer. One of the most successful character actors in German cinema, he first broke out in 1992 with his role in ''Little Sharks''.Jürgen Vogel i"German Who is Who"/ ...

- all the actors keep their real names) who lives on the fictional street "Schillerstraße" in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

, Germany. The main character is regularly visited by friends and relatives. The participants only know the topic of the episode in advance. The whole plot has to be improvised comically. The cast receive directions from the ''Spielleiter'' (game master) on their headphones, and have to follow the cues, e.g. "Cordula: Tell the others you're pregnant!". The show mostly airs unedited and things that go wrong are not removed, either. The main cast have included Cordula Stratmann, Annette Frier, Martin "Maddin" Schneider,

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 Ralf Schmitz. They interchange with dozens of other guests. The show was created by Maike Tatzig who is also the show's executive producer. In September 2005 she took over the task of the game master, after Georg Uecker left or had to leave the show for unknown reasons. The show is produced by ''Hurricane Fernsehproduktion GmbH''.

Development

''Schillerstraße'' first aired on 3 September 2004 on the German TV channel Sat.1. The episodes originally only lasted 30 minutes were aired in the later evening programme and were a big success. For this reason, the run time was extended in January 2005 and moved into a prime time slot on Thursdays. On 26 January 2007 ''Schillerstraße'' got a new slot during Friday evening prime time and started with a special 90-minute 100th episode broadcast in which the actors and the game master Maike Tatzig looked back at the previous 99 episodes. The former game master Georg Uecker was not mentioned once; instead they decided to make it look like Maike Tatzig had been the game master since the beginning of the show. After Uecker left the show, producer Maike Tatzig became the game master in autumn 2005, officially due to schedule problems of Uecker. On 20 April 2006 the stage was extended. So that the show could reasonably be continued without Cordula Stratmann, who was on maternity leave and was therefore not available for some episodes, they created a pub next door, the ''Schillereck'' (Schiller corner). Stratmann's pregnancy was never part of the show. Her character on the show became fat and had to go to a diet camp. The pub is "owned" by

Bernhard Hoëcker Bernhard Hoëcker (; born Bernhard Hoecker-von Mühlenfels; 20 March 1970) is a German comedian, actor and television presenter. He is best known for the spoof show Switch, as well as being a permanent member of the previous Genial guessing team ...

, a friend of Cordula's. The stages are set in a right angle. To be able to use both stages in one show, a rotatable audience stand was constructed.

Awards won

Episodes

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

International versions

The format was sold internationally and the rights were sold to the American media company

which is going to produce the show in the United States,

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The rights have been sold as well to France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, the

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Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

, Russia,

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, Hungary,

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Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. In

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

the show is produced and aired by

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

channel kykNet under the title '' Proesstraat''. In 2011 the show was canceled in Germany.

References

Notes Sources

External links

Official Schillerstraße webpage of Sat.1
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schillerstrasse German comedy television series 2004 German television series debuts 2011 German television series endings German-language television shows Sat.1 original programming