Add a friend
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Add a friend |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Year (s) | 2012-2014 |
| Production company |
Wiedemann & Berg Filmproduktion ( Endemol ) |
| length | approx. 25 minutes |
| Episodes | 30 in 3 seasons ( list ) |
| genre | Dramedy |
| Theme music | You Kill Me Everyday by Eagle-Eye Cherry |
| idea |
Christian Lyra Sebastian Wehlings |
| First broadcast | September 19, 2012 on TNT Series |
| occupation | |
Add a Friend is a German dramedy - television series and the first self-produced series of a German pay-TV -Senders ( TNT series ). It premiered on TNT series from 2012 to 2014.
content
After a serious car accident with a hit and run, the photographer Felix Wagner has to go to a hospital for several weeks. Since he can not leave his bed, he communicates with his family and friends almost exclusively about the service Google Hangout from Google+ . All other people involved also use social networks on the Internet.
characters
main characters
Felix Wagner
Felix Wagner is a successful photographer. One day he is hit by a car and seriously injured. He has to go to hospital for several weeks and then to rehab. His best friend Tom gives him a laptop that he can use to keep in touch with his friends via social networks. He meets his old school friend Julia Winter for whom he has feelings, but Julia is in a relationship again. At the end of the season it is announced that the car accident was not a coincidence, but should hit him exactly. In the second season he is in rehab.
Tom Schrader
Tom Schrader is Felix's best friend. You already know each other from your earlier school days. Tom is now a successful investment banker. Due to his gambling addiction, Tom mostly has money problems, which are mainly caused by risky online poker . He is involved in criminal machinations in which he also includes Felix. Tom is Sylvia's ex-husband and they have a son named Luis together. He lives with Sylvia, so that Tom rarely visits him. Tom also has an affair with Rita. With the death of his superior Marc Münchberger, he becomes his successor. At the end of the first season he is released by Johanson and promises to start a new life.
Vanessa Jo / Schaller
Vanessa contacts Felix over the internet. At first Vanessa also pretends to be a photographer and is interested in Felix's works. Felix later learns that she is in a wheelchair, but this disability is only faked. At the end of season one, it becomes clear that Vanessa is linked to Felix's car accident.
Gisela and Gerd Wagner
Gisela and Gerd Wagner are Felix's parents. For several years they have been living in a finca on Mallorca . Felix often mediates between the two of them because they have marital problems. Towards the end of the first season they decide to move back to Germany and live near Felix.
Annika Weber
Annika will be Felix's physiotherapist from the second season. From the first moment the two are likeable and they quickly become friends. Annika not only helps Felix to get fit again, but also supports him with other difficulties. The fact that they are attracted to each other cannot be overlooked, but Annika is married and has a daughter.
Former main characters
Norbert
In the first season, Norbert is in the same room as Felix. He's been in the hospital for a long time. He is more childlike, which is why Felix quickly feels disturbed by him.
Dr. Slaughterer
Dr. Metzler is Felix's attending physician. With loose sayings and jokes at the expense of his patients, he makes a rather dubious impression.
Julia Winter
Julia Winter is an old school friend of Felix and Tom. Felix was in love with her once before. After their school days together, they had no more contact. Felix discovered her profile on a social network by chance and has feelings for her again. Julia is now with Peter Danner. Your relationship is not going well. At the end of the first season she has to choose between Peter and Felix and chooses Peter. You want to start over.
Eddie Sharp
From season two, Eddie is Felix's roommate in the rehab clinic and the worst roommate you can imagine. He never misses an opportunity to provoke Felix. But then Eddie suddenly needs Felix's help.
Minor characters
Sylvia
Sylvia is Tom's ex-wife. She now has a new boyfriend. She often complains about Tom because he doesn't care enough about their son Luis.
Luis
Luis is the son of Sylvia and Tom. His academic performance is rather poor and he is bullied by his classmates. He has a good relationship with his father, but he would like more time with him. The relationship with his mother's boyfriend is also good.
Dimitri
Dimitri is Tom's Eastern European friend. They play poker together. Dimitri also helps Tom with his illegal business.
Henry Matteo
Henry Matteo is the chief editor of the travel magazine "Globe". He makes Felix the offer to escape to a desert island for several months.
Peter Danner
Peter Danner is Julia Winter's boyfriend. Felix tries to convince Julia to break up the relationship with him, but at the end of the first season she chooses Peter.
Theresa Langer
Tom's new boss is extremely attractive and tough. Tom messes up his first meeting with her, but soon he wins Frau Langer's respect.
Former minor characters
Sister Susanne
Susanne works as a sister in Felix's hospital. She looks cool, but seems to be a lovable person.
Marc Münchberger
Marc Münchberger is Tom's boss. After he learns that Tom and his girlfriend Rita are having an affair, he breaks up with her. He also wants to quit Tom because of his illegal business. On the way to his boss Johanson he dies of the consequences of a car accident. Tom gets Marc's position, the department head.
Rita
At the beginning of the series, Rita is in a relationship with Tom's superior Marc Münchberger, although she is only keen on the money in this relationship. At the same time she has an affair with Tom. After Münchberger's death, she was in a relationship with his superior Johanson.
Johanson
Johanson is the boss of Marc Münchberger, and later Tom Schrader. He is in a relationship with Rita. After a while, Johanson gets on the track of Tom's criminal activities, but Tom blackmailed him with the help of Rita, so that Tom is released but not prosecuted.
production
Add a Friend is produced by Endemol subsidiary Wiedemann & Berg Filmproduktion on behalf of TNT Serie . The idea and the script come from Christian Lyra and Sebastian Wehlings . Tobi Baumann directed the first ten episodes . They were shot from January to early February 2012 in the Bavaria Studios in Munich. A second season was commissioned before the first episode was broadcast. Filming for the ten episodes of the second season was completed in late February 2013.
In June 2013, TNT series extended the series for a final third season.
occupation
Main cast
| role | actor | Season | consequences |
|---|---|---|---|
| Felix Wagner | Ken Duken | 1-3 | 1-30 |
| Tom Schrader | Friedrich Mücke | 1-3 | 1-30 |
| Vanessa Jo | Emilia Schüle | 1-3 | 1-30 |
| Gisela Wagner | Gisela Schneeberger | 1-3 | 1-30 |
| Gerd Wagner | Dietrich Hollinderbäumer | 1-3 | 1-30 |
| Norbert | Sierk Radzei | 1-2 | 1-11 |
| Dr. Slaughterer | Martin Brambach | 1-3 | 1-11, 14 |
| Julia Winter | Friederike Kempter | 1-2 | 2-11 |
| Annika Weber | Julia Hartmann | 2-3 | 11-30 |
| Eddie Sharp | Jochen Nickel | 2 | 11-15 |
Side cast
| role | actor | Season | consequences |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sister Susanne | Gisa Flake | 1-2 | 1-11 |
| Sylvia | Anne Schäfer | 1-3 | 1-30 |
| Luis | Noah Kraus | 1-3 | 1-30 |
| Dimitri | Aydin Isik | 1-3 | 1-30 |
| Rita | Judith Kernke | 1 | 1-10 |
| Marc Münchberger † | Ralph Herforth | 1 | 1-5 |
| Johanson | Volker Brandt | 1 | 3-10 |
| Peter Danner | Manou Lubowski | 1-3 | 6-30 |
| Henry Matteo | Sebastian Gerold | 1 | 6, 10 |
| Theresa Langer | Nadeshda Brennicke | 2-3 | 12-30 |
Episodes
Charisma
Germany
The first season, comprising ten episodes, was broadcast on Wednesdays from September 19 to November 14, 2012 on TNT series . The second season was shown from May 6 to July 8, 2013 and the third season aired from October 6 to December 8, 2014.
From May 9 to 24, 2015, the sixx broadcaster broadcast the series with four episodes in a row as a free TV premiere. So far, the first season and the first two episodes from the second season have aired. The broadcast was terminated due to low audience ratings.
Austria
In Austria, the public broadcaster ORF has broadcast the series since 2013.
The first five episodes of the first season aired in July 2013 and the remaining five episodes of the first season aired in November 2013. The second season was broadcast from November 30, 2013 to April 19, 2014.
reception
criticism
“What is special is that everything is told through Internet conversations. "Add a Friend" is like a modern chamber game in which the people who talk to each other are almost never in the same room. The girl approaches Felix via video conference, he participates in his parents' life via video conference, and Tom flirts with his boss's wife via video conference. Sometimes it's fascinating, sometimes annoying - at least innovative. And it's also practical because it lowers production costs if the action is largely reduced to people sitting in front of computers. "
“ Add a Friend is unique, modern, courageous, a little bit socially critical - and for the first time manages to illustrate how German pay-TV series productions can stand out from the formalized mass of broadcasters. For that reason alone, it is worth switching on. "
“ Add a Friend is not reinventing the wheel. Even if online communication seems innovative, in the end a hangout is just a conversation. In order to function over a longer period of time, further means have to be found that can keep the audience interested. "
Awards
Anke Greifeneder (editing / production), Quirin Berg (production), Tobi Baumann (direction), Sebastian Wehlings and Christian Lyra (book) won the 2013 Grimme Prize in the “Fiction” category for the idea and concept of the format .
Web links
- Add a Friend in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Official website ( Memento of November 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Add a Friend - social media as a connection to the outside world. In: Serienjunkies.de . Retrieved December 20, 2012 .
- ↑ Alexander Krei: TNT series extends "Add a Friend" before the start. In: DWDL.de . September 7, 2012, accessed December 20, 2012 .
- ↑ Alexander Krei: TNT series: Start of shooting for the second "Add a Friend" season. In: DWDL.de . January 11, 2013, accessed January 11, 2013 .
- ↑ Bernd Michael Krannich: Add a Friend: TNT series orders 3rd season of its own production . In: Serienjunkies.de . June 25, 2013. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
- ↑ Alexander Krei: TNT series puts an end to "Add a Friend" . In: DWDL.de . January 22, 2014. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
- ↑ Doris Priesching: Ken Duken: "Viewers declared immature". In: derStandard.at . September 18, 2012, accessed December 20, 2012 .
- ↑ Stefan Niggemeier : Looking for good German material. In: Spiegel Online . September 19, 2012, accessed December 20, 2012 .
- ↑ Jan Schlüter: The Critics: "Add a Friend". In : quotemeter.de . September 19, 2012, accessed December 20, 2012 .
- ^ Roger Förster: Series preview: "Add a Friend". In: wunschliste.de. Retrieved December 20, 2012 .