opinion
comeback
“TV Total” is back – and the new presenter has a problem without Stefan Raab
“TV Total” without Stefan Raab – can that work?
© Malte Ossowski / Sven Simon / Picture Alliance
ProSieben brings its formerly best horse out of the stable: “TV Total” is back. Stefan Raab still has his fingers in the game. Nevertheless, the experiment will fail. A comment.
Sebastian Pufpaff, the new moderator of “TV Total”, introduced himself to his new audience on Monday in a remarkably self-deprecating manner. “Who are you?” He asked in a video that ProSieben spread on Twitter. Not from anyone. But from Horst. Horst, whose sentence was one of Stefan Raab’s running gags for years.
Pufpaff’s welcome joke has arrived. And it certainly spoke to people who once turned on the television for “TV Total” once and later four times a week. And of course you can trust Pufpaff to host an entertainment show at prime time. The 45-year-old, who will celebrate its premiere on Wednesday at 8:15 p.m., is a fine entertainer and has a remarkably accurate sense of humor.
But the problem is: Pufpaff is not Stefan Raab. And that is exactly what will almost certainly be the doom of the 45-year-old. As unfair as that may be. Because Raab was more than a successful moderator – and therefore simply cannot be replaced.
Stefan Raab pushed the boundaries of what could be said on “TV Total”
And not because Raab pulled funny scenes from other TV shows through the cocoa, broadcast after broadcast. That would still work today, because the stations still show enough crap to make fun of. However, the fact that Raab became Germany’s greatest TV star cannot be copied: he pushed the boundaries of what could be said when he insulted celebrities, well, in his “Raabigrammen”. He made things possible that were previously unimaginable – for example by mixing up the Eurovision Song Contest first with Guildo Horn and later himself with “Wadde hadde dudde da”. He brought world stars into his show and showed them from a side that had not been seen before – unforgotten how Raab caused storms of enthusiasm with Will Smith. In short: Raab invented viral content before viral content even existed.
Raab shaped a whole TV generation with his humor, his shows and his actions. He caused discussions in the living rooms between parents and their teenagers as to whether what he was doing there was even allowed to be done on television. He set new standards without losing his impertinence. That is the reason why to this day viewers reminisce about the past and still watch his clips on Youtube. Raab was bigger than his own show.
“TV Total”: Stefan Raab completely disappeared from the scene
Precisely because of this, Raab’s departure was a masterpiece. He disappeared without ever reappearing – which keeps memories of his genius alive to this day. But now “TV Total” is coming back. With expectations of the fans of yesteryear that can only be disappointed in the end. The only hope one can have for the ProSieben experiment is that Raab, as the producer, is the brain behind the show. And of course Raab still knows how to make good television.
The comeback of “TV Total” will only be successful if the show reinvents itself and appeals to a younger audience that dares to approach the show with an open mind and does not want Stefan Raab back in the end – which, by the way, would not be a good idea. If that succeeds, from ProSieben’s point of view at least the odds could fit.
The fans of yore could probably not be enthusiastic about the new edition. But that wouldn’t be Sebastian Pufpaff’s problem.