Michael Wendler’s documentary soap
Even US media are reporting on the Wendler case
There will be no new docu-soap with Michael Wendler and Laura Müller on RTLzwei. Even in the US, the end is an issue.
The outcry was great – and obviously not expected with such vehemence. After heavy criticism, RTLzwei canceled a recently announced TV format with Michael Wendler (50) and his wife Laura Müller (22). The end has now even reached the US media, the industry magazine “Variety” reports.
“We saw the vehemence of the reactions”
“We noticed the vehemence of the reactions and take the voices of our audience seriously,” it said on March 15 including from the station on Instagram. “The planned docu-soap with Michael Wendler and Laura Müller will not be produced and broadcast for RTLzwei.” One has always distanced oneself “from extremism of all kinds” and stands for “open-mindedness and tolerance” at the station.
The day before, the broadcaster announced in a press release that Wendler and his wife should return to German television. A docu-soap about the couple, who is currently expecting their first child together, should be released in 2023. Among other things, the production wanted to accompany the two of them on a childbirth preparation course. The birth should also be part of the show.
Shortly before, Wendler had declared that he would close his Telegram channel, on which he had attracted attention in recent years during the corona pandemic, in particular with conspiracy myths. He left the “Deutschland sucht den Superstar” jury in 2020. With contributions about the “dictatorship” of the federal government during the pandemic, he had made himself unbearable for RTL, and the broadcaster later cut him from episodes that had already been recorded.
The “local Kardashians” are in touch
After the RTLzwei announcement, there was massive headwind for the format, which is no longer planned – also from the RTL Group. That’s what it was called from the in-house streaming service RTL+ on Twitter: “The Michael Wendler documentary soap from RTLzwei will not be available on RTL+ either before or after the TV broadcast.”
Also Carmen (57) and Robert Geiss (59), who can be seen in the RTLzwei format “The Geissens – A Terribly Glamorous Family”, spoke up on Instagram – and threatened to part ways with the station. “Conspiracy ideological statements are not our style. Even if it should result in the Geissens stopping at RTLzwei,” they wrote there, among other things. Variety describes the Geissens as a “wealthy family who are considered the local Kardashians.”