Stefan Raab
Is there also a comeback for these “TV total” formats?
Stefan Raab in his stock car outfit.
© imago/Future Image
“TV total” has been back for a few months and the “diving” and the “Wok World Cup” are on the way. Will there be more comebacks?
The comeback trend on German TV continues unabated – this applies in particular to numerous formats by Stefan Raab (55), which initially got dusty in some drawer because of his withdrawal. While “Schlag den Raab” offshoots continued to be seen on TV in different versions, ProSieben surprised a few months ago with a new edition of the original show “TV total”. Sebastian Pufpaff (45) has been leading the cult show since November 2021.
In February, the competitor broadcaster RTL announced that it would bring the legendary “tower jumping” back to the screen. The show will therefore be produced in the summer of 2022. And ProSieben is also giving another show a second chance and announced a new edition of the “TV total Wok-WM” yesterday Monday. It is to take place for the first time in the coming winter of 2022/2023 – of course with Pufpaff as the new “TV total” face. But which recurring shows does Stefan Raab still have in his quiver that could be suitable for a revival?
“SSDSGPS”, “SSDSDSSWEMUGABRTLAD” and “TVTNSFDWADKHUWGNEMKAKVANBÜDLZT”
As a parody of the flood of casting shows in the early 2000s, Raab first initiated the show “SSDSGPS” (“Stefan is looking for the Super Grand Prix Star”) and later SSDSDSSWEMUGABRTLAD (“Stefan is looking for the superstar who should sing what he wants, and is also welcome to appear on RTL!”). Despite the fun basic idea, the show was more serious than many would have expected – and more successful than some real templates. The artists Max Mutzke (40) and Stefanie Heinzmann (32) emerged from the programs, and they can still be found regularly in the charts in this country. Another casting spin-off was “TVTNSFDWADKHUWGNEMKAKVANBÜDLZT” (“TV total’s next beautiful woman, who’s got what it takes and can do a little more than just carrying clothes from A to B down the catwalk”), a pastiche of the model -Casting show “Germany’s next top model”.
“Federal Vision Song Contest”
In 2005, Stefan Raab invented the “Bundesvision Song Contest” as a counter-movement to the then ailing Eurovision Song Contest. He invited a musical act from each federal state to perform his current song. Just like at the ESC, the show took place the following year in the state of the winner. The title holders include illustrious names from the German music scene such as Seeed, Mark Forster, Juli and Tim Bendzko. A total of eleven shows were produced. The last one took place on August 29, 2015 in Bremen.
“TV Total Stock Car Crash Challenge”
It all started with a small “TV total” contribution for the “Raab in Danger” section. Hooked on the idea of stock car racing, the moderator developed his own full-length format from it: the “TV total Stock Car Crash Challenge”. From 2005 to 2015 he organized a stock car event in the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen, in which celebrities bowled their way out of the race in the corresponding vehicles in different classes – sometimes even with caravans on the trailer hitch.
“Car Ball”
In his game show “Schlag den Raab” the entertainer came into contact with the sport “Autoball” for the first time – and was obviously so enthusiastic that he developed an independent format from it. Two teams compete against each other in vehicles and try to place a ball in a goal. Raab first adopted the simple rules for his own show with many celebrities during the regular European Football Championship in 2008. Tournaments in 2010, 2012 and 2014 followed.
“TV total PokerStars.de Night”
Stefan Raab organized his “TV total PokerStars.de Night” a total of 46 times between 2006 and 2016. The presenter and entertainer jumped on the poker hype of the time, which spread from 2006 thanks to the first Bond film with Daniel Craig, “Casino Royale”, established worldwide. During his poker night, he played the classic No Limit Texas Hold’em variant and invited numerous celebrities as well as “normal participants”. The winners include Simone Thomalla, DJ Bobo, Tim Mälzer, Steffen Henssler and even a certain Florian Silbereisen.
Other shows did not become a long-running hit
Numerous other show ideas were brought to TV by Raab, but then not pursued after one or two episodes – for a variety of reasons. In 2004 he tested a celebrity show jumping competition and a high jump competition, in 2006 a parallel slalom race, in 2009 the German Ice Football Cup and beach volleyball, different boxing formats and two Headis shows, almost table tennis per head.
Is ProSieben planning other formats?
The television makers would certainly not be short of ideas if they were to dig into the archives at Raab. However, none of the formats seems to be in preparation at the moment, at least not at ProSieben. As the broadcaster explained when asked by the news agency spot on news, there are currently “no concrete plans” for this. “But life and ProSieben are full of surprises,” said a spokeswoman.