Getting a closer look how German TV is made

ZDF Fernsehgarten

Last Friday I had the opportunity to go to Mainz in Germany to visit the ZDF studios. ZDF is a German TV channel which is also known as "Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen" ("Second German TV Channel). It has studios all over the world, from New York to Toykio, and also one in every German Bundesland. But the main studios are in Mainz and I was so much looking forward to this, because I like many shows on that channel and I just love to get a closer look how German TV works and how some shows are produced. So I was excited, and it was very intersting. I learned a lot about how the make their daily News Show and how stressful this job is, I saw some sets and studios, the control room, storage place for all the costumes and so much more.

From May till October ZDF shows the Fernsehgarten which is a show that contains music and acrobatic acts; beauty, cooking and gardening tips, sports talk and much more. I mostly love it because the whole show is filmed outside, and I love such summer shows. It has a variety of different things, so it's one of those shows you can go to with your whole family and everyone finds something she likes. There are not many shows like that on TV.

Normally the Fernsehgarten is shown every Sunday, but not today because of "Wetten, dass...?", the most popular German TV show (I already wrote twice about Samuel Koch who had a bad accident on the show in December 2010). The summer edition of the show takes place in Palma de Mallorca, and many people from ZDF had to fly to the Spanish isle to prepare the show and so there were not enough people this week for the Fernsehgarten.

pics from the place where the ZDF Fernsehgarten is filmed

"Wetten, dass...?" is about different bets. So everyone who can do something incredibly, whatever it is but mostly some kinda crazy (because this is TV and you want people to talk about you) can place a bet. If he gets invited to the show, the contestant tells something about himself, shows his bet and has the chance to win a car. 4 bets are shown in every show, plus one children bet.

I really love such summer shows which doesn't need a studio. I like it more when it's outside and I really liked yesterday's show. My favorite bet was the man who jumped into his pants. So now if you're a man, this is how you have to put on your pants :D

Have you already made a studio tour? Which shows do you like on TV? Do you prefer shows filmed in a studio or outside? Please leave a comment below.