Schillerstraße

Schillerstraße (Schiller Street) is a German improvisational comedy show that airs weekly on Sat.1. It is recorded without script and broadcast to a large extent unedited. By now the American broadcaster FOX has earned the licence for Schillerstraße and will produce an own series with them.

Idea and show structure

The setting of the show is the living room of Cordula Stratmann (all the actors keep their real names) in the fictional street "Schillerstraße" in Cologne, Germany. Cordula gets visited by her friends and relatives regularly. The participants only know the topic of the episode in advance. The whole plot has to be improvised comically. They get directions by the "spielleiter" (game master) via headphones that have to be realised, e.g. "Cordula: Tell the others you're pregnant!". The show airs mostly unedited and things that go wrong are not removed, either.

The main cast is made up of Cordula Stratmann, as well as Annette Frier, Martin "Maddin" Schneider, Michael Kessler and Ralf Schmitz as her regular visitors. 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 "Spielleiter", 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 originally only 30 minutes lasting episodes in the later evening programme were a big success. That's why the run time has been extended in January 2005 and moved into a prime time slot on Thursdays. On 26 Januar 2007 "Schillerstraße" got a new slot in the Friday evening prime time and started with a special 90 minutes 100th episode broadcast in which the actors and "spielleiter" Maike Tatzig looked back at the previous 99 episodes. Former "spielleiter" Georg Uecker was not mentioned once, instead they decided to make it look like Maike Tatzig had been "spielleiter" since the beginning of the show.

After Uecker left the show, producer Maike Tatzig became "spielleiter" in autumn 2005, officially due to schedule problems of Uecker.

On 20 April 2006 the stage has been extended. For being able to continue the show reasonable without Cordula Stratmann who was on maternity leave and was therefore not available for some episodes, they created a pub next door which is called "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, 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.

Due to decreasing ratings, the show will return after a long summer recess with a renewed concept. Cordula Stratmann is not going to be part of the show, then.

After being surprisingly successful, the format has been sold internationally. The rights were sold to the American media company Fox which is going to produce the show in the USA, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The rights have been sold as well to France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Romania, Hungary, Turkey and Israel.

Awards won

* 2005 - Rose d'Or "Preis der Presse (Press Award)"
* 2005 - Deutscher Comedypreis (German Comedy Award) as "beste Impro-Serie (best improvised show)"
* 2005 - Deutscher Fernsehpreis (German Television Award) as "beste Impro-Comedy (best improvised comedy)"
* 2006 - Goldene Romy (Golden Romy) in the category "beste Programmidee (best idea)"
* 2006 - Radio Regenbogen Award 2005 in the category "Comedy 2005"

Episodes

eason 1

# Die neue Wohnung (Willkommen in der Schillerstraße) – "The New Flat (Welcome to Schillerstraße)"
# Babysitter wider Willen – "Involuntary Babysitter"
# Gute Geister, schlechte Geister – "Good Ghosts, Bad Ghosts"
# Maddins neue Flamme – "Maddin's New Acquaintance"
# Das Regal – "The Shelf"
# Das Fitness Fieber – "Fitness Fever"
# Die Tupperparty – "Tupperware Party"
# Der Hausputz – "House Cleaning"
# Halloween – "Halloween"
# Die Herbstgrippe – "Autumn Flu"
# Der Führerschein – "Driving License"
# Der Mutterbesuch – "Mother's Visit"
# Der Malkurs – "Painting Course"
# Die defekte Heizung – "The Damaged Radiator"
# Der Charity Ball – "Charity Ball"
# Der Advent – "Advent"

eason 2

17. Frohes Neues – "Happy New Year"
18. Der Ex-Freund – "Ex Boyfriend"
19. Die Hypnose-Kassette – "Hypnosis Cassette"
20. Die Schwangerschaft – "Pregnancy"
21. Kölle Alaaf – "Carnival"
22. Die Observierung – "Observation"
23. Das Gipsbein – "Casted Bone"
24. Die Findelfische – "Foundling Fish"
25. Das Theaterstück – "The Play"
26. Die Nachtschwester – "Night Nurse"
27. Der Lottoschein – "Lottery Ticket"
28. Der Spieleabend – "Game Evening"
29. Guck mal, was da krabbelt – "Look At What's Crawling There"
30. Die Untermieterin – "Subtenant"
31. Die Kontaktanzeige – "Lonely Hearts Ad"
32. Schlüsselalarm – "Key Alert"
33. Das Blind Date – "Blind Date"
34. Himmelfahrtkommando – "Suicide Squad"
35. Die Streithennen – "Brawlerettes"
36. Der kulinarische Nachbar – "Culinary Neighbour"
37. Die Renovierung – "Renovation"
38. Der Liebeskummer – "Lovesick"
39. Die Heimarbeit – "Homework"
40. Bella Italia – "Bella Italia"

eason 3

41. Die Rückkehr – "The Return"
42. Die Parteifreunde (Spezial) – "Party Friends (Special)"
43. Die verlorenen Jungs – "The Lost Boys"
44. Der Zahn – "Tooth"
45. Das Oktoberfest – "Oktoberfest"
46. Die Quizshow – "Quiz Show"
47. Der Stromausfall – "Blackout"
48. Die Bewerbung – "Job Application"
49. Vaterbesuch – "Father's visit"
50. Die Urlaubsbekanntschaft – "Holiday Acquaintance"
51. Die Rivalen – "Rivals"
52. Der Geburtstag – "Birthday"
53. Der Esoteriktrip – "Esotericism Trip"
54. Der Töpferkurs – "Potter's Workshop"
55. Der Fremdverliebte – "Foreign Lover"
56. Das Liebeshoroskop – "Love Horoscope"
57. Die Schlägerei – "Fight"
58. Das Weihnachtswichteln – "Secret Santa"
59. Der Ski-Urlaub – "Ski Holiday"
60. Der Pechvogel – "Jinx"
61. Der Schwiegerelternschreck – "Son-In-Law"
62. Der Tanzwettbewerb – "Dancing Contest"
63. Der Lebensmitteltest – "Food Control"
64. Der Fahnenflüchtling – "Deserter"
65. Die Geschiedenen – "The Divorced"
66. Die Jecken sind los – "The Crazy Are Coming"
67. Der neue Ralf – "The New Ralf"
68. Der Einbruch – "Break-In"
69. Der Personaltrainer – "Personnel Trainer"
70. Der Frühjahrsputz – "Spring-Cleaning"
71. Der Ausrutscher – "Slipping"
72. Deutschlands neues Topmodel – "Germany's New Top Model"
73. Frohe Ostern – "Happy Easter"
74. Die Erbschaft – "Legacy"
75. Die unfreiwillige WG – "Flat Share By Accident"
76. Der Psychologe* – "Psychologist"
77. Der Abschied – "Good Bye"
78. Die Anstreicher* – "Painters"
79. Die Nervenkrise* – "Nervous Crisis"
80. Die Eröffnungsparty* – "The Opening Party"
81. Warten auf Gast Nr.1* – "Waiting For Guest No. 1"
82. Profikellner gesucht!* – "Master Waiter Wanted"
83. Die Marketingkampagne* – "Marketing Campaign"
84. Die Karaokeparty* – "Karaoke Party"

Cordula Stratmann was not available for the episodes marked with an asterisk.

eason 4

85. Willkommen zurück! – "Welcome Back!"
86. Die veränderte Cordula – "Changed Cordula"
87. Die Geschäftsidee – "Business Idea"
88. Der Wasserschaden – "Water Damage"
89. Der Gutachter – "The Assessor"
90. Der Astronaut – "The Astronaut"
91. Der Kurschatten – "Diet Camp Acquaintance"
92. Die Wette – "The Bet"
93. Der Liebesbote – "Messenger of Love"
94. Der Martinszug – "St. Martin's Procession"
95. Die Wetterfee – "Weather Host"
96. Der Hochzeitsplaner – "Wedding Planner"
97. Das Tai-Chi-Video – "Tai Chi Tape"
98. Die Mehrwertsteuererhöhung – "Increase of VAT"
99. Der Weihnachtsbasar – "Christmas Bazaar"
100. Der Director's Cut – "Director's Cut"
101. Der Steckbrief – "Profile"
102. Tetjes Schwester – "Tetje's Sister"
103. Die Karnevalsparty – "Carnival Party"
104. Der zweite Frühling – "Indian Summer"
105. Die Thekenbauer – "Bar Builders"
106. Die Safari – "Safari"
107. Die Kegelbahn – "Bowling Alley"
108. Der Wasserhahn – "Water Tap"
109. Bernhards Rückkehr – "Bernhard's Return"
110. Der Mönch – "The Monk"
111. Der Talentwettbewerb – "Talent Competition"

External links

* [http://www.sat1.de/comedy_show/schillerstrasse/ Official Schillerstraße webpage of Sat.1]
*imdb title|id=0424718|title=Schillerstraße