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.

First episode of my sitcom 'Artists of Life'

Finally there it is - The Tryout Takeoff - the first episode of my sitcom 'Artists Of Life'. Like the pilot you can read the whole script here or on my Movellas site. A list with all episodes, and free download links can be also found when you click on 'Artists of Life' tab here on my blog. New episodes will be released every second Sunday. Please don't change anything or distribute any of the scripts without my permission. Thanks. Please feel free to tell me your opinion on it.

And here is a new interview of me talking about what's gonna happen in the first few episodes.

Click on the picture to open PDF-file to read the interview.
If a link isn't working, please write me. Thanks.

Why do we dance?

Do you like to dance? I do, but I'm not a really good dancer. I just love music, I love to watch musicals, so I already look forward to the Tony Awards, my favorite of all award shows. I mostly enjoy the opening numbers and knowing that this year's host is gonna be Neil Patrick Harris again will make it one more time legen-wait for it-dary. He can not only act, but is also an amazing singer and dancer.

Dancing is a good way to express your feelings, to show them. There are slow and fast dances, you can dance to almost all kind of music. Some dances are part of a culture, like in Latin America the Salsa or Rumba. People all over the world dance these dances, and of course there are many more.

Years ago the girls danced to impress the men, to entertain them. Now even men love to dance. And some are pretty good. I am very impressed by these shadow dancers. They don't sing like in a musical, they don't need words to tell a story, they simply dance.

As much as I love watching people dancing, I am not a big fan of dancing shows on Tv actually. But like I already tweeted there is a new dancing show in Germany called "Got to Dance" in which they are looking for the best dancers, single dancers or whole dancing crews. I'm very interested how this is gonna be. The original of the show is from the UK, and I already watched a few videos on youtube. I so enjoyed and simply love Ruff Diamond - their performances are just amazing!!!

So since I saw the promotional trailer of the German "Got To Dance" version, which included a scene from the Big Bang Theory flash mob last year and I was like - was that Melissa Rauch?? - I googled the trailer, watched it again and am now waiting when that show starts Thursday June 20 on Pro7 and Friday June 21 on Sat1.

In this trailer there is the question like the title of this blog post: Why do we dance?
Why do you dance? Do you love to dance?

I do. Whenever I feel lonely, or upset, I listen to music and it helps me to feel better and to rethink everything. Music often inspires me, helps me to see things differently. Dancing is also a good way to release fears, pressure and anger. Dancing can improve your self-confidence. People who wanna do something healthy but don't like sports much, they should think about dancing. You don't have to be a professional dancer, you just do it for fun. Just like Kaley Cuoco who convinced the cast and crew of the CBS hit comedy to do a flash mob.

We dance because we are born to. We dance because it makes fun, because we can bond with each other, we can do something together, be part of a crew and feel connected. We can show our emotions, and don't need words to communicate. We see people dancing and understand it, no matter which language we speak.