Raab's new show: Everything stays the same

20, 30 years ago, you could already admire the audacity of Stefan Raab, with which he first established bully television in Germany and then reinvented the entertainment show with great creativity. Audacity is Raab's trademark – unchanged. Because he simply copied himself and mixed his old successful formats “TV total” and “Schlag den Raab” into a “new” show. Anyone who had expected something innovative from his boxing match against Regina Halmich last Saturday was disappointed. We indulge in nostalgic feelings, were excited and got a Raab like before. And that is: exactly like before. Also on Wednesday evening, at the premiere of his weekly “entertainment quiz competition show” with the familiar, cumbersome name “Du gewinnst hier nicht die Million bei Stefan Raab” on the pay streaming channel tv-news. Bold – and brilliant?

Raab's new channel RTL rejoiced

At least successfully, Mann believed RTLThe broadcaster rejoiced on Thursday, without giving any details: “Strongest new customer growth on RTL+ through the first episode of DGHNDMBSR”. Raab’s comeback fight in the linear program had reached dream figures a few days earlier with a peak of almost eight million viewers and a market share of 52.9 percent among 14- to 49-year-olds. The question is: will it be able to stay that way when the joy of seeing each other again has worn off after almost ten years? Will Raab be able to win and keep an audience beyond his fans who have grown older with him? And: will his “TV total” clone be able to compete against the new edition of “TV total” with Sebastian Pufpaff, who is his former home station ProSieben broadcast simultaneously on linear television?

The duel has begun. Incidentally, also with his favourite opponent Dieter Bohlen. His casting show “DSDS” also aired on Wednesday evening at prime time – also on RTLin the freely accessible main program. RTL rejoiced here too: “Among the 14- to 59-year-olds, the show achieved a strong 12.2 percent, thus winning the primetime slot.” Compared to previous seasons, it was: a flop.

So this Wednesday evening was a new high point in nostalgia television. Or low point. Some critics treated Raab as rudely as he treated the “victims” of his jokes. “Shockingly unambitious,” the Mirrora “root canal treatment without anesthesia” felt t-online recalls: “Raab could not have staged his show comeback in a less loving way.” Quotenmeter.de Popular: “a lame stew.”

The new show is a copy of “TV total” and “Schlag den Raab”

The time that has passed since Raab's retreat behind the scenes in 2015 seemed to have been erased in his new format. Blue shirt, jeans, white sneakers – Raab even looked like he used to. “Here I am again. It's that simple!” he said, and off we went, “after almost ten years of summer break,” said a voice off-screen.

This was to be taken literally. The first part of DGHNDMBSR was a “TV total” copy, complete with stand-up comedy and video clips full of embarrassing moments. The target of Raab’s jokes were “Traumschiff” captain Florian Silbereisen, entertainer Jürgen Milski from the 2000 season of “Big Brother” and musician Peter Maffay (“You don’t know where the leather jacket starts and where the skin ends?”). Raab clearly enjoyed it, and his fans celebrated him on X. In the second part, the show finally tipped over into a stripped-down version of “Beat Raab” with quiz questions and games against candidates. One: changing car tires. No one won the million at the start.

Close

And the game for attention? It is a draw for now – between Raab and Pufpaff. Anyone who switched back and forth between their shows could observe two strategic approaches: While Raab acted as if the competition did not exist, Pufpaff played the Raab parodist. With exactly 1.05 million viewers, he repeated the previous week's result. During a game by Raab at RTL+ the show commentator wisely explained: “There are very, very few things in the cosmos that Raab cannot do.” Whether this includes turning back time will become clear in the next few weeks. (with dpa)