Balko is a German prime time television series broadcast on the private TV channel RTL. It is a police detective story with comical twists featuring two inspectors of the Dortmund police, Balko and his colleague Klaus Krapp. Balko's main characteristics are his coolness and his consistently laid-back appearance, whereas “Krappi” is a typical mama’s boy and very clumsy. The series started in 1995 and has won several television awards.
Ritas Welt is a German television sitcom that premiered on RTL on 17 September 1999 and ended its run after five successful seasons on 19 December 2003. Starring Gaby Köster, the show was about a confident sales assistant, Rita Kruse; her fight with her self-righteous boss, Achim Schuhmann; and her life with her loving husband Horst and their two children, Sandra and Markus. Through it all, Rita is supported by her wacky best friend Gisi Wiemers.
Tutti Frutti was the German version of the Italian game show Colpo Grosso. It was aired from 21 January 1990 through to 21 February 1993 on RTL plus for three seasons, totaling approximately 140 episodes. It was the first erotic TV show on German television and was also available to viewers across Europe as it was broadcast without encryption via the Astra satellite which could be received over a wide area and was popular with 'early adopter' satellite enthusiasts in the UK. The show caused substantial outrage at the time, as partial nudity was a central feature.
The show was innovative in broadcasting 3D effect film clips where the background was scrolled across the screen at a slower speed than dancers in the foreground, thereby giving the effect of depth on a 2D screen using the Pulfrich effect.
Deutschland sucht den Superstar is a German reality talent show, also commonly known by its initials DSDS. Part of the Idol franchise, it was created by English media mogul Simon Fuller as a spin-off from the British show Pop Idol, of which two series were broadcast between the years of 2001 and 2003. Debuting to mediocre ratings in October 2002 on the RTL network, the show has since become one of the most successful shows on German television.
The program aims to discover the best singer in the country through a series of nationwide auditions in which viewer voting determines the winner. Voting is done through telephone and SMS text voting.
The adventures of professional transporter Frank Martin, who can always be counted on to get the job done—discreetly. Operating in a seedy underworld of dangerous criminals and desperate players, his three rules are: Never change the deal, no names, and never open the package. Occasionally, complications arise and rules get broken.
Alles Atze is a German comedy television series which aired on RTL between 2000 and 2007. The series revolves around the fictional character Atze Schröder.
Der Clown was a German television series that ran between 21 April 1998 and 11 October 2001. It ran for 46 episodes, and starred Sven Martinek, Diana Frank, Thomas Anzenhofer and Volkmar Kleinert.
Der Clown was also a 2005 film.
Bernds Hexe is a German comedy television series about a banker who is married to a witch. The series is a joint venture between Cologne Filmproduktion GmbH and Grundy Light Entertainment. It aired on RTL in 39 episodes between 2002 and 2005.
Verschollen was a German TV show about a group of people after their plane crashes on an island. It had a run of 28 episodes on RTL Television before being canceled because of low ratings.