On the move (TV series)
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| Original title | On axis |
 | |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Year (s) | 1978-1996 |
| length | 50 minutes |
| Episodes | 86 in 6 seasons ( list ) |
| genre | Adventure series |
| idea | Georg Feil |
| music | Paul Vincent (Gunia) |
| First broadcast | 1978 on German television |
| occupation | |
|
Main actor:
Supporting cast:
| |
On the move is the title of a German TV series on ARD . The series was shot from 1978 to 1996 and ran on the evening program . 86 episodes were produced.
Idea, cast, realization
The idea for the long-distance driver series came from Georg Feil and the project was then planned and started together with the director Hartmut Griesmayr and the cameraman Joseph Vilsmaier . Casting the leading roles was not easy. We were looking for two suitable actors who can also drive trucks . After initially another cast for the main role of Franz Meersdonk was planned, Manfred Krug , who had just left the GDR for the Federal Republic , was finally hired . As its counterpart Günther Willers is committed Rüdiger Kirschstein . In order to show the everyday life of the truck drivers as realistically and error-free as possible, the experienced self-employed truck driver Engelbert ("Orient-Berti") Teischl from Freising was hired as a consultant for the first season. Teischl drove regularly to the Middle East himself. His job was to help the crew and a. To instruct that the movements, processes and rituals of the truck drivers in the series looked real. Accordingly, in the concept for this series, emphasis was placed on showing the countries, people and cultures as they are, which is why the locals were mostly heard in their national language and no subtitles were offered. In principle, they also relied on extras and often also on actors from the respective country. Authenticity was also the focus of the trucks: Engelbert Teischl provided a Volvo F12 semitrailer (license plate M - ET 2626) from his company Tour-Trans, which was used in the first six episodes, for the shooting. The blue Mercedes-Benz 1632 NG semitrailer with the registration number M - WW 3245 was on loan from Mercedes-Benz.
content
The truck driver Franz Meersdonk (Manfred Krug) works for the Munich forwarding company Mittermann and mainly drives on the Germany - Iran route. The forwarding company is run by Sylvia Mittermann ( Monica Bleibtreu ), who is friends with Franz Meersdonk. This has acquired a larger order, but no more drivers apart from Franz. However, Franz got to know the racing driver Günther Willers (Rüdiger Kirschstein). When his only briefly emerging career was about to come to an end, Meersdonk persuaded him to jointly drive a scheduled freight to Tehran for the forwarding company. Not everything goes smoothly on her tour. First, Franz's truck is mistakenly mistaken for a stolen one, then a hitchhiker causes trouble. Shortly before the destination, Willers' tractor burns down. You bring the cargo to the ferry in Volos and drive home in Franz's tractor unit. The goods are delivered to Iran by Syrian smugglers, but this cannot be seen in the film.
Back in Munich, however, the shipping company is bankrupt and both have to keep their heads above water with new jobs. Just before Meersdonk has to sell his tractor, they get a new tour. When an insurance fraud was resolved in a later episode, however, both finally made money and founded their own forwarding agency: International Transports in Munich.
The partially connected episodes take place chronologically at different locations. Greece, Germany, Tunisia, Algeria, South Africa, Finland / Lapland, Hungary and Italy are some of the locations of the first 26 episodes. The later episodes were filmed in the Netherlands, Thailand, Poland, Austria, Chile, Mexico, France, Spain and Turkey.
The 5th season takes place entirely in Turkey: Willers leaves the company, Meersdonk goes to Turkey and establishes a new branch of International Transports there with Toni Teuffel. At the end of the season, Meersdonk gets married.
The stories are mostly about car thieves, freight fraud, dubious acquaintances and smuggling: Meersdonk and Willers always get into some kind of trouble, from which they can free themselves again. Always striving to achieve something, the good-natured heroes of the series are regularly exploited by corrupt freight forwarders or ripped off by others. So they stay what they are: long-distance drivers, albeit later with their own forwarding agency.
Meersdonk is divorced and has two sons and a daughter. He is a bit grumpy and otherwise resembles Master Petz. His dry comments are never puny, but accurate like his sometimes "slipping" fist. Willers, single and eager to go on an adventure, has been chewing toothpicks since he quit smoking. Although he has given up his racing career, he still likes to play to his talents; Meersdonk usually stands out for its very brisk driving style with the trucks.
Manfred Krug plays as Meersdonk from the 1st to the 48th and from the 55th to 73rd episode (last of the 5th season); in episodes 49 to 54, Christoph M. Ohrt drives in his place as Siegfried von Hofmeister (Latin America) alongside Willers in the Atacama Desert . Willers himself takes several breaks. Actors like Kai Wiesinger as Toni Teuffel (5th season), or Franz Buchrieser as Max Kottan (various episodes) and Dieter Pfaff as Fred take his place. In the fourth season, Charlotte Siebenrock , a woman who sits behind the wheel as Ulli Müllerschön , drives for the International Transports forwarding company . Walo Lüönd as the Swiss Rodriguez (Theo) Pölsterli is another driver in several episodes; he is on the road with Meersdonk in Chile near Valdivia and in Mexico , as well as with Willers and Meersdonk in France . In several episodes, one of the directors, Werner Masten , is shown as a truck driver and rally driver. Meret Becker as Bettina Krüger and Roberta Manfredi as Cinzia play an important role in many episodes in the forwarder's Munich office, especially in season 4.
The last, sixth season (shot from 1996) with new actors mainly takes place in Germany. From episode 74, Armin Rohde as Kaschinski, Markus Knüfken as Eddi, and Nele Mueller-Stöfen as Julia, the drivers.
particularities
In contrast to other series, most of the episodes didn't dub the locals; instead, they spoke in the local language. Inexperienced viewers have the same communication problems as Franz Meersdonk and Günther Willers, which makes the series more authentic. The picture and the answers or questions from Meersdonk and Willers, however, ensure that even the viewer who is not familiar with the language can still understand the meaning of the sometimes longer dialogues. In the episodes that are set in Namibia, South Africa, Mexico and Chile, this was no longer consistently maintained by the script.
From episode 49, the role of Sigi von Hofmeister was newly cast, whereby not only the actor, but also the character of the person changed.
Since the series was conceived and produced by Georg Feil , borrowings from the Schimanski crime scenes such as guest actors ( Eberhard Feik , Chiem van Houweninge and others) or title songs ( Slap Bang in the Middle, Double Dealing ) from various crime scenes were also used as background music.
Filming
Filming was often difficult. In some cases the authorities of the countries in which the film was to be shot did not issue any permits. So should z. B. the other episodes of the first season play after the 5th episode in Turkey, which was not possible due to a lack of approval, so the scripts had to be rewritten at short notice. Those responsible, above all Georg Feil, director Hartmut Griesmayr and cameraman Joseph Vilsmaier, had to reschedule a lot during the shooting. The vehicles were stolen several times in Amsterdam, and illnesses within the team (e.g. due to food intolerance or tropical diseases) hampered the work. Basically, the driving shots were often very difficult and dangerous to shoot. This was because scaffolding for the cameras had to be attached to the tractor units. In the beginning, the film was shot even more adventurously, with the cameraman z. B. placed on the cabin roof. Another often serious problem was also the climatic conditions (e.g. heat and humidity in the tropics, sand and wind in the desert).
Around a third of the team was recruited at each location; not only for catering and logistics, but usually all extras and often actors and sometimes even the director (e.g. in Chile Gustavo Graef-Marino ).
The food wasn't for everyone either: While Rüdiger Kirschstein, according to his own statements, enjoyed the food in Thailand a lot, Manfred Krug regularly had a suitcase with long-life food from Germany with him. This, and also the fact that the team was always housed in a confined space for several months, led to tensions, especially between Krug and Kirschstein, which ultimately led to several breaks in Kirschstein.
music
The theme music of the series is not, as u. a. in the credits of the early episodes is given to the instrumental track "Theme from a non-existent TV Series", which Elton John released on the 1976 album Blue Moves . That piece was only created as a musical loan under the rough cut version of the trailer. Since Elton John's piece of music in question could not or did not want to be used for licensing and financial reasons, Paul Vincent Gunia was asked to compose a separate piece in a similar manner, since the editing sequences were already set in the trailer. From the point of view of copyright law, both compositions must be viewed separately. Elton John is still mentioned in the credits of the first season as a composer.
Opening credits
Up to and including episode 32, the opening credits only contain scenes from the first six episodes of the series. After that, the opening credits change slightly, as Günther Willers left the series and other drivers were integrated. Willers can still be seen alongside Max Kottan and Fred, but Franz Meersdonk and his colleagues are named as drivers. The voice in the opening credits comes from the well-known voice actor Michael Brennicke .
The version for the Mexico episodes (season 3) is only slightly different from the previous one: Willers has disappeared and some new sequences have been added. Sigi von Hofmeister cannot be seen.
The opening credits of the Willers solo episodes stand out most clearly because the traditional title melody lacks the accompanying speaker and only scenes from the 'Willers' season (49-54) are used.
In season 4, the opening credits consist mainly of scenes from this season, with some scenes from the Mexico and Thailand episodes. Franz Meersdonk and Günther Willers are again named as drivers.
For the last "real" season only scenes from the 4th and 5th season are used. Franz Meersdonk and Toni Teuffel are named and only the two can be seen as drivers.
For the remake with Armin Rohde (season 6), the familiar melody is replaced by the song Life Should Be So Easy and the lettering is modified.
DVDs
From 2005 the episodes appeared on DVD . Each box contains up to 15 episodes on 3–4 DVDs. The second season is divided into two boxes. Seasons five and six are combined in one box.
In 2006 the so-called trucker box with all individual boxes as well as the book 'Abgehauen' by Manfred Krug and a soundtrack CD appeared. In 2008 a new box with the entire series was released. In contrast to the individual boxes, this does not contain 24, but only twelve DVDs. This made a stronger compression necessary and the image quality is correspondingly lower.
Episodes
1st season (1978)
| episode | title | places | Guest appearance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Full throttle | Germany | Benno Hoffmann |
| 2 | Just a little mix-up | Austria , Yugoslavia , Greece | Hans-Georg Panczak , Tilly Breidenbach , Peter Millowitsch |
| 3 | The Thessalian Night | Greece | Dieter Eppler , Despina Pajanou , Willy Semmelrogge |
| 4th | Tommy's trip | Greece | Bernd Tauber |
| 5 | Crooks among themselves | Greece | Herbert Fux |
| 6th | Piston seizure | Greece | Giovanni early |
| 7th | Flying start | Germany | Rolf Castell , Dan van Husen |
| 8th | A woman in the bunk | Austria, Italy , Tunisia | Lisa Fitz |
| 9 | Landjäger | Tunisia | Heinz Werner Kraehkamp |
| 10 | Lalla and Kifkif | Tunisia | Hans Heinz Moser , Monika Gabriel |
| 11 | Black cargo | Tunisia | Rijk de Gooyer , Arthur Brauss |
| 12 | Deadly dose | Tunisia | |
| 13 | The desert fever | Niger | Bernd Helfrich , Alf Marholm , Rolf Zacher |
2nd season (1983–1986)
1st part (1983)
| episode | title | places | Guest appearance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14th | The snake pit | Niger | Udo Thomer |
| 15th | Hocus-pocus | Namibia | Dieter Kirchlechner |
| 16 | The last chance | Namibia | Wolfried Lier |
| 17th | Hot trucks | South Africa , Rhodesia | Brian O'Shaughnessy |
| 18th | Hopeless race | South Africa | |
| 19th | convoy | South Africa, Botswana | Karl-Heinz Gierke |
| 20th | Gold prospectors in Lapland | Finland | Monika Lundi |
| 21st | Pula Aika - The unrest time | Finland | Raphael Wilczek |
| 22nd | Eismeerstrasse 6 | Finland | Barbara Morawiecz |
| 23 | At all costs | Finland, Hungary | Herbert Stass |
| 24 | stroke of luck | Hungary | |
| 25th | Sicilian shops | Austria, Italy | Volker Prechtel , Guido Gagliardi , Remo Remotti, Roberta Manfredi , Ugo Fangareggi |
| 26th | Arrivederci | Italy, Germany | Remo Remotti, Horst Naumann , Roberta Manfredi |
Part 2 (1986)
| episode | title | places | Guest appearance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | Mimi | Netherlands , Germany | Nada van Nie |
| 28 | Rotterdam Connection | Netherlands | Jaap Stobbe, Jérôme Reehuis |
| 29 | Thai teak | Thailand | Hidde Maas, Drew Lucas |
| 30th | Borderline cases | Thailand, Burma | Bob Theriault |
| 31 | happy New Year | Thailand | |
| 32 | Franz in luck | Thailand | Hidde Maas |
| Special | On the move in Asia | ||
| 33 | Once straight - once crooked | Germany, Poland | Leonard Lansink , Klaus Abramowsky , Jan Groth , Waldemar Wichlinski |
| 34 | Felix Austria | Poland, ČSSR , Austria | Jan Fedder , Evelyn Engleder , Georg Marischka , Herta Boehm |
| 35 | Water for Santa Margarita | Germany, Chile | Bernd Stephan , Tayfun Bademsoy , Klaus Abramowsky , Renate Muhri , Petra Drechsler |
| 36 | Bad luck in the game | Chile | Tayfun Bademsoy |
| 37 | Agent bluff | Chile | Erich Bar , Despina Pajanou, Herb Andress |
| 38 | Duel in Eldorado | Chile | Peter Sattmann , Cristián Campos |
| 39 | SOS Esmeralda | Chile | Fred Parnes |
| 40 | Welcome to Humberstone | Chile | Shlomit Baytelman |
| 41 | Whoever lies once ... | Chile, Germany | |
| Special | On the move in Latin America |
3rd season (1989)
| episode | title | places | Guest appearance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 42 | Mexican conditions | Germany, Mexico | |
| 43 | Fighting bulls to Santa Maria | Mexico | Roger Cudney |
| 44 | Dirty stones | Mexico | |
| 45 | Race against death | Mexico | Eva-Maria Bendig |
| 46 | Great swap | Mexico | Tilo Prückner , Bruno Schwebel |
| 47 | Missed in the jungle | Mexico | Tilo Prückner, Christine Zierl |
| 48 | Reporter of the Rainbow | Mexico | Klaus Wennemann , Lene Beyer |
| Special | On the move in Mexico | Mexico | |
| 49 | Risky business | Chile , Germany | Wolfgang Reichmann |
| 50 | In the last minute | Chile, Germany | Gunter Berger , Walter Fitz |
| 51 | The curse of the mummy | Chile | Wolfgang Reichmann |
| 52 | The oasis | Chile | Fritz Bachschmidt , Gunnar Möller , Eberhard Feik |
| 53 | Adventure in Valparaiso | Chile | Angelika Bartsch |
| 54 | Elisa | Chile | Robert Giggenbach |
| Special | Ten years "on the move" |
4th season (1991)
| episode | title | places | Guest appearance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55 | Willer's return | Spain , Germany , France | Sabine Postel , Mogens von Gadow , Lutz Reichert , Martin May |
| 56 | Meersdonks son | Spain, Germany | |
| 57 | Ulli | Spain, Germany, France | |
| 58 | Hit and run | France | Chiem van Houweninge |
| 59 | Take off the devil's horns | Spain | Hermann Treusch , Remo Remotti, Walter Tschernich |
| 60 | The scent of the desert | Spain | Rolf Zacher , Martina Gedeck |
| 61 | Double game | Germany, Turkey | Hannelore Elsner |
| 62 | In the lion's den | Turkey, Germany | Peter Moucka, Andreas Borcherding , Jan Bergrath |
| 63 | Paula's secret | Turkey | |
| 64 | Stowaway | Turkey | Birol Unel |
| 65 | Musa and Marie | Turkey, Germany | Birge Schade , Uwe Ochsenknecht |
| 66 | A rival from the old days | Turkey, Germany | Nicolas Brieger , Udo Weinberger |
5th season (1993)
| episode | title | places | Guest appearance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 67 | Eerie cargo | Turkey | Henrik Lauerwald, Joe Bausch |
| 68 | Baby face | Turkey | Bruno Eyron , Uwe Rohde |
| 69 | Golden boy | Turkey | Oliver Hasenfratz , Alexander Wachholz |
| 70 | Odyssey | Turkey | Jochen Nickel |
| 71 | Lilly | Turkey | Sharon Brauner |
| 72 | Players | Turkey | Barbara Rudnik , Claudine Wilde , Joachim Siebenschuh |
| 73 | happy end | Turkey | Regina Nowack |
| Special | Memories of the makers |
6th season (1996)
From season 6, the focus is no longer on Franz Meersdonk and Günther Willers, but on Kaschinski, played by Armin Rohde. The theme music and style of the series also differ.
| episode | title | places | Guest appearance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 74 | Surprise in Rotterdam | Germany, Netherlands | Claude-Oliver Rudolph , Else Quecke |
| 75 | Powder keg | Germany | Wilfried Hochholdinger |
| 76 | Off to Kassel | Germany | Else Quecke |
| 77 | Racing Bull | Germany, Belgium | Friedrich Karl Praetorius , Gerd Koerber |
| 78 | Nothing but trouble with the child | Germany, Netherlands | Sheri Hagen , Nico van der Knaap |
| 79 | Black charge | Germany | László I. Kish |
| 80 | False friends | Germany | Dirk Dautzenberg , Ralf Richter |
| 81 | Where love goes | Germany | Ralph Herforth |
| 82 | Without one game two | Germany | Joe Bausch |
| 83 | human trafficking | Germany | Mirjam Wiesemann |
| 84 | Bel Ami | Germany | Hans-Joachim Grubel , Udo Jolly , Anka Baier , Dieter Schaad , Andreas Wimberger |
| 85 | Lisa and the Pumuckl | Germany | Gernot Duda , Sophie Pflügler , Guido Hoegel , Wookie Mayer , Karlheinz Lemken |
| 86 | Cattle thieves | Germany | Dominique Lorenz , Andreas Borcherding , Stefan Maaß , Elke Krieg |
Remarks:
- ↑ fernsehserien.de [1] and IMDb give 1980 as the year of the first broadcast. In Manfred Krug: MK Bilderbuch and Heiko R. Blum: Manfred Krug - His Life - His Films (in short: Blum ), 1978 is mentioned as the year of the first broadcast.
- ↑ fernsehserien.de and IMDb give 1983 to 1986 as the year of the first broadcast. Blum assigns the corresponding episodes to seasons 2 and 3; however, the data agree. IMDb and Blum assign episodes 40 to 41 to the following season. In the DVD booklet, 1986/87 are named as the years of first broadcast for all episodes of the second season.
- ↑ IMDb and Blum state that the year of the first broadcast was 1987, and episodes 40 and 41 also belong to the third season. In the DVD booklet, however, 1989/90 is mentioned.
- ↑ IMDb gives 1992 and Blum 1991 as the year of the first broadcast; the DVD booklet, however, mentions 1990/91.
- ↑ IMDb gives 1993 and Blum 1992 as the year of the first broadcast; the DVD booklet, however, mentions 1993/94.
Other trucker series
- Truck drivers , SDR , German TV series, 1963, 1964, 1967
- Spedition Marcus , SWF , German TV series, 1968
- Highway Adventure , NBC , American TV series, 1974-1976
- Truck Driver - Adventures on Spain's Roads , TVE , Spanish TV Series, 1978
literature
- Berndt Schulz: Manfred Krug - Portrait of a Singer and Actor, Bastei Lübbe , Bergisch Gladbach, 1989, pp. 87 ff. And pp. 107–114.
- Heiko R. Blum: Manfred Krug - His Life - His Films, Heyne Verlag , Munich, 1993.
- Manfred Krug: MK picture book - a hodgepodge. With texts by Manfred Krug., Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf , Berlin, 2012, pp. 255–282.
Web links
- On the move in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- On the move at Fernsehserien.de
- On the move at EPisodeWorld.com
Individual evidence
- ^ Heiko R. Blum: Manfred Krug - His life - his films, Heyne Verlag, 1993, p. 166ff.
- ↑ a b The memories of the makers (“Making of” the series, 2006). Re-released in 2008 in the “Aufachse” complete box
- ↑ Friend Karli . In: Der Spiegel 40/1988
- ↑ Paul Vincent Gunia: Everyone has probably heard his music before, whether in TV series such as "On the move", ...