Why "Wetten, dass...?" has burned itself into the collective memory
For more than 40 years, "Wetten, dass...?" has shaped the TV landscape. In between: lots of ridicule, malice and changing presenters. Now show host Thomas Gottschalk has switched off the lights with his last edition. Will we soon miss the good old days? Or are we just nostalgic?
The cult show "Wetten, dass...?" flickered across the TV nation's screens for the last time on Saturday evening. More than twelve million people watched Thomas Gottschalk present a show that an entire generation grew up with. Much has been written about the show host in recent years: He was an old, white man and had fallen out of time. He no longer reaches the young audience with his old man jokes and what's more: this constant knee patting of female stars is annoying!
Every petitesse, every lapse was blown out of proportion by the media. It was soon said that only boomers were celebrating the entertainer, while young people couldn't get anything out of this entertainment dinosaur.
In this episode of the ntv podcast "Ditt & Datt & Dittrich", Verena and Ronny talk about the reactions to the last edition of "Wetten, dass...?", about Tommy's motives for really turning out the lights and about the ideas of what entertainment should look like in order to be rated "good".
The popularity of Thomas Gottschalk on ZDF's "Wetten, dass...?" has endured even among younger generations, as evidenced by the high viewership of his final episode. Despite some criticism about his style of humor and old-fashioned approaches, Thomas remains a beloved figure in German entertainment.
Reference to the change in entertainment landscape over the years was also made during Verena and Ronny's discussion on the "Ditt & Datt & Dittrich" podcast, where they explored the evolving demands and expectations of modern audiences.
Source: www.ntv.de
