Costa Cordalis

Every evening at 6:45 p.m. sharp, a prominent guest takes a seat on the red sofa—and DAS! provides daily updates on what's hot in the north.

TV presenter Markus Lanz invites prominent guests and experts from all areas of public life to his colourful talk show. As a rule, there are four guests, introduced individually to contribute their personal experiences to the topics.

The Harald Schmidt Show is a German late night talk show hosted on Sky Deutschland by comedian Harald Schmidt. The show first aired from 5 December 1995 to 23 December 2003 on Sat.1. Schmidt then moved his show to Das Erste as Harald Schmidt and Schmidt & Pocher, but he returned to Sat.1 on 13 September 2011. After cancellation on Sat.1, the show continued on Sky Deutschland in September 2012.

A long-running German-language entertainment television show based on the format of the British show You Bet! and the American show Wanna Bet?.

The show was meant to compete with those on West German television. To this end it was fairly successful even attracting a following in parts of West Germany which could receive Eastern TV. Its production values were high. Apart from song and dance numbers and appearances from East German celebrities, almost every broadcast featured well-known stars from the west, often after their popularity had peaked in their home countries.

Rex Gildo’s songs and musicals made him very popular. His best-known song was “Fiesta Mexicana” from 1972. Rosa von Praunheim tells the story of his life in the context of the gay pride movement, the normative pressures of the Schlager music industry, and the profound changes currently underway.

On the occasion of Hape Kerkeling's 50th birthday, the "Gala Film" tells the story of the adventurous preparations in Berlin's Friedrichstadt-Palast for a lavish gala show that will, of course, never take place. Barbara Schöneberger takes on the role of the presenter and Hape himself appears as the chaotic director of the supposed "show", as his incompetent manager and as a pushy journalist.

Schlager is the stalwart of German pop culture and emerges stronger from every modernization crisis. But what are the stories behind the flawless backdrop of the German Schlager world? What makes Schlager stars true artists and German songs a perennial commercial success? The 90-minute documentary "Deutschland Schlagerland" goes in search of the personal stories behind the music, travels to provincial stages and big cities, talks to producers and performers. The aim is no less than to explain and understand the social and cultural phenomenon of "Schlager" in its entirety.