A legend goes. Thomas Gottschalk says goodbye to his audience with one last RTL show. We recall five chapters from his career that you have long forgotten. The farewell show “Because they don’t know what’s happening” with Gottschalk, Schöneberger and Jauch runs on Saturday, December 6th, from 8:15 p.m. on RTL.
Read more: Seven “Bet that ..?” scandals that wouldn’t exist today
1. Groper, prankster and first-name bad habits: Thomas Gottschalk and the criticism
Table of Contents
- 1. Groper, prankster and first-name bad habits: Thomas Gottschalk and the criticism
- 2. Gottschalk as a computer game pioneer and discoverer of Heidi Klum
- 3. The Supernoses: The film careers of Gottschalk and Mike Krüger
- 4. Gottschalk’s enmity with Dieter Bohlen
- 5. Tommy sings: Thomas Gottschalk’s excursions into music
When Thomas Gottschalk played Frank Elstner on “Wetten,dass..?” in 1987. replaced, the “Spiegel” published a long preliminary report. The vocabulary alone makes it clear how long ago it all happened. Gottschalk is perceived as a “blond rogue”, as “cheeky” and as someone who enforces the “first-name bad habits” on television. It is said that he described himself at the time as “the Gottschalk risk”. As we know, the danger was overestimated. Gottschalk achieved ratings records because he captured the spirit of the times better than anyone else. What he did and said was perceived as a violation of the rules with astonishment – but it has long corresponded to the feeling of millions of viewers.
How it all began: On December 13, 1986, Frank Elstner introduced Thomas Gottschalk as his successor on the “Wetten, dass ..?” show from Hagen.
Photo: Imago/teutopress
Almost four decades later, that is no longer true. Gottschalk has changed less than the rest of society. It falls out of time and becomes a projection surface for both poles of the debate. Some defend their longing for the “Gypsy Schnitzel” in it, others look for a spark of sexism for the pleasant indignation. By the way, this criticism is also surprisingly old. Even before Gottschalk sat on the betting sofa for the first time, the “Spiegel” had warned: “The groper likes to attack his conversation partners.”
Read more: Porn, grabbing and disgust bets: Which “Bet that ..?” suggestions were rejected
2. Gottschalk as a computer game pioneer and discoverer of Heidi Klum
The connection between Gottschalk and “Wetten, dass…?” is and remains unique. Whatever he did before, it seems, only led to this – from the flippant presentations on the radio to the evening talk “Well, something like that!” Whatever he did after that had to fail if only for him to get to “Bet that ..?” could return. Anyone who enjoys time capsules will find real treasures in Gottschalk’s escapades. From 1977 to 1981 he hosted the game show “Telespiele” for ARD. The studio audience played the very first computer games like “Pong” together. Today the format is honored in the Berlin Computer Games Museum.
And when Gottschalk ended the betting show for the first time in 1992 – at the time with fewer expenses than Frank Elstner under his belt – he developed the first daily late-night show on German television for RTL. Three years before the Harald Schmidt show. One of the lasting achievements of “Gottschalk Late Night” was the “Model ’92” casting. The winner, unknown at the time, was 19-year-old Heidi Klum.
3. The Supernoses: The film careers of Gottschalk and Mike Krüger
Two nonconformist young talents are turning the established media inside out: What Joko and Klaas are today were Thomas Gottschalk and Mike Krüger in the 1980s. The first stood for coolness as a music journalist for Bavarian Radio, the second was what was then called a stupid bard, and therefore professionally funny. In 1982, Krüger and Gottschalk shot the comedy film “Piratensender Powerplay” together. It became a four-part film series under the label “Supernase”. Under their real first names, Mike and Tommy play something similar to themselves: funny anarchos in German entertainment.
Two noses, four films: Mike Krüger and Gottschalk became cinema stars in the 1980s as “super noses”.
Foto: imago/United Archives
Gottschalk managed to extend his film career into the 1990s – even into Hollywood. In the US comedy “Look Who’s Talking!” (1989) he is just the German voice of a talking baby, dubbed by Bruce Willis in the original. In “Sister Act 2” (1993) Gottschalk really plays a part as Father Wolfgang – at least alongside supestar Whoopi Goldberg.
Read more: This is how the evening went when Thomas Gottschalk gave DSDS the death blow
4. Gottschalk’s enmity with Dieter Bohlen
Public broadcasting versus private broadcasting, family entertainment versus trash TV, uncle humor versus proletarian gags: all of this resonates when Dieter Bohlen sits on Gottschalk’s betting sofa on October 4, 2003. A year after the launch of “DSDS,” he sees himself as the unstoppable future of entertainment. Bohlen then puts Gottschalk in a stranglehold in front of the camera: an ironic regicide that is actually more than a joke. Four years later, RTL broadcasts Bohlen’s “DSDS” in a new slot directly against “Wetten, dass ..?” and thus contributes to Gottschalk’s decline in ratings. A year after leaving ZDF, in 2012, Gottschalk became a co-juror on RTL’s “Supertalent” – under Dieter Bohlen. Late satisfaction in 2021: After RTL Bohlen shoots, Gottschalk takes over the final shows as DSDS guest juror.
Bohlen creates a symbolic photo for the ratings battle between DSDS and “Wetten, dass ..?”.
Foto: imago images/Wall
5. Tommy sings: Thomas Gottschalk’s excursions into music
One might think that Gottschalk’s suffering from the zeitgeist only began in old age. In fact, the adjustment problems began when he was just 50. After losing a bet in the hall, Gottschalk wants to take part in the ESC preliminary round and writes the song “What Happened to Rock’n’Roll” for this purpose. A little sample: “When my children make music / there’s nothing left for me to laugh about. / I always listen to hip-hop, rap and techno from the children’s room.” In the rest of the song, Gottschalk makes fun of Eminem and pleads for AC/DC.
He used to rap himself! In 1980, Gottschalk parodied the hip-hip classic “Rapper’s Delight” in the presenter fun band GLS United. It was also a meta song in which Gottschalk listed all his favorite bands. AC/DC was already there back then too. And another one, of course: “No honkytonk, no violin sound, it has to be a banger. / And with good rock, with rock’n’roll, Maffay also fits in.” In fact, Peter Maffay was also the musician with the most “Wetten, dass ..?” visits with 19 appearances. Gottschalk’s musical worldview is consistent and completely unchanged since 1980.
