“Sat.1 Cult Show Weeks”
These TV classics are making a comeback
“The Pyramid” is moderated by Jörg Pilawa.
© SAT.1 / Marc Rehbeck
Sat.1 brings well-known show classics back to TV. The “Sat.1 Kult-Show-Wochen” includes two quiz shows and a dating format.
The “Sat.1 Kult-Show-Wochen” starts this Monday (February 6) with “Die Pyramide” (8:15 p.m. in Sat.1). In the coming weeks, “Dating Game – Who should be your sweetheart” (February 13) and “Jeopardy!” (February 20) flicker across the TV screen again. Here’s what you need to know about the reboots and origins of the original shows.
“The pyramid”
On March 16, 1979, “The Pyramid” premiered on ZDF. The show is based on the US game show The $10,000 Pyramid. Two candidates have to explain different terms in different ways (pantomime, paraphrasing of terms) in a very short time, without using parts of the term itself.
The format had a total of 15 seasons with 164 episodes, which were moderated by Dieter Thomas Heck (1937-2018) until 1994. A new edition with 20 episodes was presented in 2012 by moderator Micky Beisenherz (45). From 1996 to 1999 there was also the show “Have you words?!” in Sat.1, which worked according to the same game principle and was presented by Jörg Pilawa (57).
The moderator will also moderate the new edition. In the, actress Simone Thomalla (57), moderator Ruth Moschner (46), actor Tom Beck (44) and comedian Bastian Bielendorfer (38) will explain terms to their team partner with words and gestures. Only the duo with the most points gets to play the pyramid and collect money at the end of each round. A total of up to 22,000 euros beckon.
“Dating Game – Who should be your sweetheart”
On October 9, 1987, Bayerischer Rundfunk broadcast the first “Herzblatt” edition, with Rudi Carrell (1934-2006) leading the show for a long time. The dome show has become an absolute cult on German TV, with a total of 3,704 candidates standing in front of the famous partition in the 463 programs so far. After Carrell, the show was presented by Rainhard Fendrich (67), Hera Lind (65), Alexander Mazza (50) and Jörg Pilawa, among others. From October 6, 2001 to November 5, 2004, Pilawa presented a total of 47 “Herzblatt” issues (episodes 397 to 443, seasons 15 to 17).
And Pilawa will also present this new edition, in which again in several rounds three candidates want to convince the single on the other side of the wall. “I really watch a lot of old shows and I also know that a lot of them weren’t as great as I imagine them to be. But ‘Herzblatt’ or ‘Die Pyramide’ are completely timeless and that’s why I’m happy to be reviving them now to leave,” he explains in the Sat.1 statement. “Herzblatt” is not only the mother of all dating shows, “the great thing about this dating show is that it also has something voyeuristic,” says the moderator. “Because as a spectator, you actually know which of the three candidates she should take sitting there, and unfortunately she often chose the wrong one.”
A voice should also not be missing in the comeback show: In the first show in 1987, Susi Müller summarized the statements of the candidates from the off and will again help the singles with their date selection this time.
“Jeopardy!”
On October 17, 1994, “Jeopardy!”, which also comes from the USA and had its first successes there in the 1960s, went on the air on RTL. In the quiz show, no answers to questions are sought, but the appropriate questions must be formulated for the existing answers. Frank Elstner (80) moderated the “Otherwise Quiz” until 1998. Successors were Gerriet Danz (58) from 1998 to 2000 for tm3 and Joachim Llambi (58) from 2016 to 2017 for RTLplus.
This time, Ruth Moschner is taking over the show, which will now run at prime time. “‘Jeopardy!’ has always been a daily quiz show before the evening and that’s why we’re trying to play a big tournament with our concept and choose the smartest person out of nine ‘Jeopardy!’ crazies and make the excitement a little bit bigger,” explains Moschner in advance . “We get to know the participants better and feel all the more sympathy when something succeeds or when the dream of making big money is shattered.” In three pre-selection rounds and a final, the moderator selects the guessing star from nine players, who has the right question for almost all of the answers and can win up to 50,000 euros.