Underplayed Gems

Wetten, dass..? (1981)

Wetten, dass..? poster
Directed by
Frank Hof, Volker Weicker, Alexander Arnz
Genre
game show
Country
Germany, Austria, Switzerland
Length
35 seasons, 217 episodes
Rated
13+
Rating
5.4 of 10 from 20 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this series is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

This German-language game show has contestants make bets on whether they can perform unusual tasks or stunts. A studio audience, celebrity guests, and viewers at home participate in the excitement. It was a hugely popular Saturday night television event across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

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What happens

Wetten, dass..? (German pronunciation: [ˈvɛtn̩ ˈdas]; German for "Wanna bet that..?") is a German-language Saturday entertainment television show. It is the largest and most successful television show in Europe. Its format was the basis for the British show You Bet! and the American show Wanna Bet? The shows were broadcast live six to eight times a year from different cities in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. There were also seven open-air summer shows, broadcast from Amphitheatre Xanten, Plaça de Toros de Palma de Mallorca, Disneyland Paris, Waldbühne Berlin, and Aspendos Roman Theatre. Each of the shows, which were shown without commercial interruption, was usually scheduled to last for about two to three hours, but it was not uncommon for a show to run as much as 45 minutes longer. The game show gained great popularity in the German-speaking countries through the presenters Frank Elstner, who was also the creator, and Thomas Gottschalk in the 1980s and 1990s. After that, especially due to the takeover of Markus Lanz, the audience ratings dropped significantly, which caused the discontinuation of the show in 2014. From 2021 to 2023, Thomas Gottschalk returned for one episode each year. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.