I looked at my husband from the couch where I was comfortably ensconced in a snuggy, and said "ich liebe diese Schnauze. Die ist so lustig". He promply burst out laughing. What I meant to say, of course, was that I loved the Schnulze, which means "a kitschy or schmaltzy film". Schnauze in German means snout (like of a dog!).
The embarassing moment aside German public television is unique. My Sunday evenings (like those of many others) are devoted to either a Tatort or to a kitschy film on ZDF (sometimes to both, thanks to everything being available on the internet).
America has its Law & Order, which has been around for nearly 20 years. Tatort is also a detective series, but it has been around for nearly four decades and is ingrained into German pop culture. Each German state has its own version of Tatort (which literally means the scene of the crime); so there is a Munster Tatort, a Munich Tatort, a Berlin Tatort and even a Viennese Tatort.
The charm of each series is its local colour. I have learnt to recognise regional accents and regional foods from the various Tatorts. For example, the Cologne detectives always stop after each Tatort at their favourite stand for curry wurst and beer, as is, I am told, typical for the Rhineland. The ones from Munich often has the murder taking place in a Biergarten.
Different Tatorts tackle different themes. Some Tatorts like the one from Munster are slapsticky, others like the one from Hamburg featuring Turkish detective Cenk Batu are reminiscent of a Bourne movie. Yet others are intended to be educational (and not just entertaining), like the ones from Bodensee often featuring environmental cases and the ones from Berlin featuring issues relating to immigration and corruption.
All Germans have a favourite Tatort detective - and they sometimes discuss who their favourite Tatort detective is, the way Indians discuss cricket players or Bollywood actors. Funnily enough almost all the Tatort detectives are either in failed relationships, single parents or otherwise lone wolves. The Tatorts also feature their (usually failed) relationships; I am always surprised how much sex and nudity there is on German public TV at 8:15 on a Sunday!
The embarassing moment aside German public television is unique. My Sunday evenings (like those of many others) are devoted to either a Tatort or to a kitschy film on ZDF (sometimes to both, thanks to everything being available on the internet).
America has its Law & Order, which has been around for nearly 20 years. Tatort is also a detective series, but it has been around for nearly four decades and is ingrained into German pop culture. Each German state has its own version of Tatort (which literally means the scene of the crime); so there is a Munster Tatort, a Munich Tatort, a Berlin Tatort and even a Viennese Tatort.
The charm of each series is its local colour. I have learnt to recognise regional accents and regional foods from the various Tatorts. For example, the Cologne detectives always stop after each Tatort at their favourite stand for curry wurst and beer, as is, I am told, typical for the Rhineland. The ones from Munich often has the murder taking place in a Biergarten.
Different Tatorts tackle different themes. Some Tatorts like the one from Munster are slapsticky, others like the one from Hamburg featuring Turkish detective Cenk Batu are reminiscent of a Bourne movie. Yet others are intended to be educational (and not just entertaining), like the ones from Bodensee often featuring environmental cases and the ones from Berlin featuring issues relating to immigration and corruption.
All Germans have a favourite Tatort detective - and they sometimes discuss who their favourite Tatort detective is, the way Indians discuss cricket players or Bollywood actors. Funnily enough almost all the Tatort detectives are either in failed relationships, single parents or otherwise lone wolves. The Tatorts also feature their (usually failed) relationships; I am always surprised how much sex and nudity there is on German public TV at 8:15 on a Sunday!
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