The sun always shines on German TV...
It's Saturday night in Germany, and I'm watching TV with my mom. German TV is so weird. They (still) have the big Saturday prime time variety shows. They have "live" lip-synched music performances in them (usually by people who make no other appearances except on German TV anymore, like Joe Cocker -and probably David Hasselhoff), and a big audience, and they're live, and so if they run over their allotted time, they just push all the other shows after it back.
This one that was on tonight strikes me as particularly German. The basic idea is that these ordinary people come up with crazy things to do, like climb up 100 yards on a rope with their bare hands, in 5 minutes, and then they have celebrity guests who place a bet on whether these people can do it or not. If the celebrity loses the bet, they have to do something "funny" or charitable or whatever. I'm always fascinated when they have foreign celebrities, because you wonder how much about this show has been explained to them. Plus, they have to sit on this couch for at least 3 hours during the show, and I don't think they have an interpreter the entire time. What must they be thinking?!
They also always have a challenge posed by someone in the audience to the host of the show, who places a bet as well. The challenge has to be accomplished by the end of the show, although the host has been known to drag out the show just so he can win his bet. Tonight, the challenge was to set up a genuine Octoberfest in Berlin (where the show was being broadcast from), with 100 people in lederhosen and 50 Japanese tourists, and an oompah band and beer. The host bet they couldn't do it, but then they did. Heaven only knows how they found 50 Japanese tourists who would find about about the challenge and go down there to make it happen.
All of this is just so bizarre. And people LOVE it. The show has been on for as long as I can remember. Who knows what effect watching this had on my brain growing up -to some of you, this may explain some things...
This one that was on tonight strikes me as particularly German. The basic idea is that these ordinary people come up with crazy things to do, like climb up 100 yards on a rope with their bare hands, in 5 minutes, and then they have celebrity guests who place a bet on whether these people can do it or not. If the celebrity loses the bet, they have to do something "funny" or charitable or whatever. I'm always fascinated when they have foreign celebrities, because you wonder how much about this show has been explained to them. Plus, they have to sit on this couch for at least 3 hours during the show, and I don't think they have an interpreter the entire time. What must they be thinking?!
They also always have a challenge posed by someone in the audience to the host of the show, who places a bet as well. The challenge has to be accomplished by the end of the show, although the host has been known to drag out the show just so he can win his bet. Tonight, the challenge was to set up a genuine Octoberfest in Berlin (where the show was being broadcast from), with 100 people in lederhosen and 50 Japanese tourists, and an oompah band and beer. The host bet they couldn't do it, but then they did. Heaven only knows how they found 50 Japanese tourists who would find about about the challenge and go down there to make it happen.
All of this is just so bizarre. And people LOVE it. The show has been on for as long as I can remember. Who knows what effect watching this had on my brain growing up -to some of you, this may explain some things...
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