Harald Schmidt

Harald Schmidt is a German television entertainer.

Related Topics:
German - Entertainer

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Schmidt is host of the German late night show comparable to Late Night with Conan O'Brien or Late Night with David Letterman, which has now begun a second run after a year-long "creative break". The original show, named Die Harald Schmidt Show and shown on German television network SAT.1, featured stand-up comedy as well as famous national and international guests. The set, general feel and many of his earlier gags were in fact acquired directly from David Letterman ("studiocams", etc.). In the course of time, Schmidt, however, developed his own flavor of more high-brow, sophisticated humor. Schmidt has now begun a second run with a new show on publicly funded ARD, this time without "celebrity" interviews and with even more discussion of current events in a rather freely associative manner. As the German entertainer Thomas Gottschalk recently quipped, Schmidt will always attract the student and intellectual crowd, Gottschalk himself will take care of the rest.

Related Topics:
Late Night with Conan O'Brien - Late Night with David Letterman - Television network - SAT.1 - David Letterman - ARD - Thomas Gottschalk

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The self-proclaimed hypochondriac became popular for his cynical jokes and intellectual wit. He models himself after people like Johnny Carson and Conan O'Brien, but adds important factors and qualities to his show that neither of these models has. He engages in long, seemingly boring conversations with his "editor-in-chief" Manuel Andrack, who sits at a desk next to Schmidt's, and, like Letterman, also includes his staff into the show. For instance, his band leader Helmut Zerlett and his cue card girl Suzana Novinscak (both omitted in the new show).

Related Topics:
Hypochondria - Johnny Carson - Conan O'Brien - Manuel Andrack - Helmut Zerlett - Suzana Novinscak

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Especially during the first years of Die Harald Schmidt Show, Schmidt was sometimes criticised for making fun of minorities like foreigners or gays. His supporters felt that those critics were incapable of understanding satire. Indeed, a steady number of viewers liked the show, many seeing it as a kind of cult television. In its later years, the show became a critic's favourite due to Schmidt's "intellectual" sense of humour. For example, he hosted one show completely in French. On another occasion, the screen was blacked for half of the show making it into a "radio broadcast". Another time, he disproved a critic who had written that it is impossible to spend several minutes on TV just cracking nuts.

Related Topics:
Satire - Cult television - French - Radio broadcast

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Awards include the viewers choice award Bambi, the Grimme Award, the Golden Camera and the Golden Lion as best showmaster.

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