Bully & Rick

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Television series
German title Bully & Rick
Original title Bully & Rick
Country of production Germany
original language German
Year (s) 2004-2006
length Season 1: 13-16 minutes.
Season 2: 25 minutes
Episodes 26 in 2 seasons
genre Comedy
Theme music Stefan Raab
idea Michael Herbig , Rick Kavanian
music various
First broadcast September 13, 2004 on ProSieben
occupation
  • Rick Kavanian
  • Michael Herbig

Bully & Rick was a German comedy series by and with Michael "Bully" Herbig and Richard Horatio "Rick" Kavanian . It was broadcast for the first time on September 13, 2004 on ProSieben . Two seasons were broadcast between 2004 and 2006, and both have now been released on DVD . Herbig said in an interview that there will probably not be another season.

concept

Each episode consists of a framework in which two people meet. Originally these were almost always completely different characters who had never met before; In the 2nd season the main characters are often married couples, boss & employees, work colleagues, etc. Skits are built into the framework, for example when a character mentions any relative or an event. Calling the series a sketch show is therefore actually incorrect. There is usually no direct connection between the plot and the sketches. The skits were also written before the framework story so that there was more freedom in writing. Besides Bully and Rick acted Alfons Biedermann as an author who is already in the Bullyparade co-wrote and all movies Bullys.

Another trademark of the show is that, with the exception of the extras (and there are exceptions), all characters are played by Bully or Rick, even if there are more than two characters in the scene. This usually requires either the split screen effect or the use of doubles , which show the additional characters from behind in a counter-cut when their actual actor can already be seen in the shot. Bully's double is actor Oliver Engl , who also took on a few extra roles in the series. All of this represents a further difference to many other shows with sketches, where often, despite an actually limited maincast, additional actors are not dispensed with if necessary (e.g. Die Dreisten Drei : 3 main actors and in scenes with more than three People, although technically one could easily do without them, other actors).

The episodes of the first season were shown to an audience in the cinema and recorded. As an opening, Bully and Rick always presented the biographies of the two main characters. This studio part was introduced at short notice, as the individual films were only 13-16 minutes long and ProSieben wanted a half-hour broadcast (including advertising). The episodes of season 2 are a little longer and no longer have a studio part (there is also no laughter from the audience).

Episodes and Seasons

Season 1 (2004), 13 episodes

  • 01: On the plane
  • 02: creative spot
  • 03: Hotel
  • 04: one-way street
  • 05: Interview
  • 06: Fashion Show
  • 07: Record store
  • 08: double fraction
  • 09: Assault accident
  • 10: On the beach
  • 11: negotiation
  • 12:24 minutes
  • 13: The interrogation

Season 2 (2006), 13 episodes

  • 14: Marriage counseling
  • 15: Passport photo machine
  • 16: Late night
  • 17: Call Center
  • 18: Parents' consultation hour
  • 19: At the pool
  • 20: At the doctor
  • 21: prison
  • 22: hand of your daughter
  • 23: Commissioner Sigi
  • 24: shoe store
  • 25: Laundromat
  • 26: Hotel elevator

Characters

In the course of the series, Herbig and Kavanian played or spoke a total of around 450 different characters, of which around 125 appeared in more than one episode. Some of the most common are detailed here.

Brad and Pitt

Brad and Pitt (Bully and Rick) are two disco goers . Their first appearance on "Bully & Rick" they had in the second episode of the first season (creative spot), in which Brad and Pitt appear in a setting that resembles the scene from Brad Pitt and Tyler Durden's explanation of rules in the film " Fight Club " . In subsequent episodes they have nothing to do with Brad Pitt's actual appearance, apart from their looks and names. Presumably they are a permanent allusion to the schizophrenia from "Fight Club". Every time Brad and Pitt meet, they have either not seen each other for a long time, exchange words with no tangible meaning or talk about Brad's problems also seem grotesque. The special feature of their dialogues is that the two always take up each other's name in their sentences, so that the name of the actor already mentioned can often be heard. The figures always appear together; only in a brief scene in the episode The interrogation Brad Pitt is not the billiards to see.

Brad and Pitt are two of the few characters who have already appeared in the Bully Parade, where the names were reversed.

Burkhard Figg diaper

Burkhard Figg-Windel (Rick) was one of the two main characters in the very first episode and has reappeared several times since. At his first appearance he sits on the plane next to the extremely clean and meticulous journalist Fred Pitt (Bully) and annoys him with his penetrating, exaggeratedly happy manner. He describes himself very aptly with the sentence “I just have to laugh about everything - I am 'ne happy nature! ". So he is amused by the behavior of the airline employees, which is also very questionable for Pitt, laughs loudly at the on-board film or asks the stewardess (Bully) to get him a book with his favorite fish jokes. In general he seems to be very extroverted, he nibbles without asking about the food the person sitting next to him has brought with him and tells him stories from his life that Pitt doesn't seem to be particularly interested in. Surprisingly, his life turns out to be not at all pleasant. For example, he was rejected by the Bundeswehr , presumably because of his overweight, which he said, "Why do I need a six-pack when I can afford a whole barrel?" acknowledged. Professionally, he currently sells paints to only two customers, a "crazy surrealist " (Bully) and the Hamburg car painter Rudi (Bully). However, he simply downplays all of these grievances, so that the impression arises that he is compensating for his frustration and his depression with exaggerated (sham) happiness.

In the second season, this impression is reinforced by the fact that the only thing that could be described as sexual intercourse in the broadest sense for him was the fall from a diving platform in the outdoor pool directly on Ms. M. Pfang (Rick), which he accidentally made her got pregnant. The clearest sign of a deeply tragic personality, however, is found in the episode At the Doctor . In this he invites a comedian (Bully) to his home. As it turns out, he only did this to get distraction from the death of his wife (Rick), whose body is still in the apartment. In this scene he also exhibits alcohol-dependent behavior. In the manner typical of a bully, however, the sketch ends with Ms. Figg-Windel waking up again without further explanation and Burkhard falling back into his well-known behavior. In his free time, Burkhard plays bowling and imitates cell phone ringtones with his recorder in order to confuse passers-by with cell phones .

In the Bully parade there was already a figure with the same first name portrayed by Bully, whose life was also always extremely tragic.

Erwin Falthauser

Erwin Falthauser (Bully) is a Bavarian- speaking, slightly overweight 48-year-old man who is quite shy and naive and always tries to be as friendly as possible, even when he is trying to ambush an old couple on the street. He is a party member of the CSU and can often be seen together with Prime Minister Karl Ranzinger (Rick), who praised him for his services to the party (e.g. operating the recording device with the applause that is needed during Ranzinger's speeches or advertising for new party members) with the words “Bravo, Falthauser! We'll be number one again in the world! ”Praises. Falthauser has already been seen in various professions, for example as a shoe seller, UN weapons inspector or - probably best known - judge. In the film Lissi and the Wilder Kaiser , Falthauser appeared in an animated form (with the voice of Bully) as a servant of the King of Bavaria.

Giagl

Giagl (Rick) is a harley-driving , guitar-playing rocker with long black hair and sunglasses , who is generally quite tough and aggressive in appearance, but is basically a very sensitive person. In the more recent episodes he can often be seen together with Inspector Sigi (Bully) in the program "Sigi Knigge - The Sendung with Style", in which Sigi always describes a problematic situation and Giagl has to explain how to behave in it Has. Every time he gives a completely absurd answer, which Sigi always describes as correct (example: "You are sitting with an attractive lady at a candlelight dinner . After the main course, you notice that you have no money with you. What do you do?" - “I simulate a heart attack .” - “And then?” - “And then I'll have dessert brought to me at the hospital .” - “Right.”). His leitmotif is the song Back in Black by the band AC / DC , which is alluded to in almost all of his appearances. In several episodes he appears as a taxi driver .

With a total of eighteen appearances, Giagl is the most common figure. In the second season he can even be seen in twelve of thirteen episodes. Just like Falthauser, he can also be seen (dubbed by Kavanian) in the Lissi film, where he, as King Bussi of Bavaria, is a parody of King Ludwig , so to speak .

With the same tone of voice and the just as brusque manner, Giagl already appeared in the Bullyparade in the "Rucksack TV" category - but here with a completely different appearance.

Hakan

Hakan (Bully) is the classic image of a modern hip-hopper in the series . He wears a thick sports jacket, sunglasses despite the cloudy weather, sports shoes and a blue baseball cap upside down with the hollow side up. The character always has a lollipop in his mouth and speaks in street jargon. In episode 12 of the second season, he calls Eminem with his nickname "60 Cents" on his cell phone . This parodies the stage name of the hip hopper 50 Cent .

Hans

Hans (Bully) represents the typical couch potato and mother's son. The figure wears unkempt blue jeans that are pulled up to the stomach and have a purple shirt in them, thick horn-rimmed glasses, unkempt curly hair and oversized teeth. Despite this appearance, he considers himself an absolute heartthrob and shows temperament and dancing skills during a casting in episode 3 of the first season (hotel) . In the second season he can be seen almost regularly in small clips , in which he talks about his current feelings and thoughts, mostly licking vanilla ice cream on a beach.

Horatio

Horatio (Rick) is a middle-aged man who says he comes from Ukraine , but does not speak with a typical accent, so his voice differs significantly from Kavanian's imitations of Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko , which he uses in his stand-up program Cosmopilot for the best. Horatio's demeanor is generally harsh and unpleasant, so by far the most frequently spoken sentence is the sharp-tongued request “Shut up!” - he also always describes his only friend Hans (Bully) as a rat or an adder . During the DVD audio commentary, Michael Bully Herbig suspected strong parallels between the personality of Horatios and that of his actor Rick Kavanian, which he did not agree with. When she first appeared, the character was named Dr. Schwacke can be seen as defender of Günter Schwall (Bully) during his divorce proceedings . From the fact that he was forced to cut off his client's word again and again when his statements cast a bad light on his side of the negotiation, the episode of the running gag resulted in Schwackes “Come on, shut up, now!” Always with him an "objection!" by lawyer Waldenfels (Bully), the defense attorney for Hubert Schwall (Rick), was acknowledged, to which Judge Falthauser (Bully) almost always responded with a loud "Rejected!" During the trial, Waldenfels assumes that Schwacke is in cahoots with the bailiff Hans, as both have already been spotted together. In the following sketch, Hans addresses Horatio by the first name Tibor . However, this apparent contradiction is resolved in season 2 by introducing himself as Tibor Horatio at the beginning of an appearance in a comedy club . Horatio is also the middle name of Rick Kavanian.

In the second season, his friendship with Hans comes to the fore, with whom he can be seen in many skits and, despite the friendly tone, is always imperious and superior towards him. In addition, despite his profession as a lawyer, he seems to have committed some serious crimes himself , for example he is seen in an episode burying a corpse .

Hubert "Hubsi" flood

Hubert "Hubsi" Schwall (Rick) is the husband of Günter Schwall (Bully). However, this relationship is often deliberately suppressed when, for example, it is mentioned that Hubsi has several sons or that he and Günter do not live together. In the following trial from the first season, the two were the main characters and wanted to get a divorce in court. The reason for this was that "the Schniedel no longer sings". Schniedel was, however, Hubsi's singing hamster that Günter should have strangled because Hubsi supposedly chased away his turtles. At the end of the hearing, Schniedel was personally called to the stand and actually sang again (in Bully's voice), whereupon Günter and Hubsi immediately made up. Schniedel was accidentally killed by Judge Falthauser with his hammer when he asked for silence in the courtroom. In one episode, when the hotel owner Bernd Grosse-Klöten (Bully) was looking for a real Spaniard as an employee, Hubsi claims to be Spaniard and his real name is Juan Antonio Gonzalez Fernandez de la Playa . When he was seen as an entertainer in a later episode in Spain, he gave his real name again (even if it was a bit different from the first mention). Other jobs that Hubsi already held include: B. UPS deliverers, turtle breeders, assistant to a marriage counselor and, in several episodes, hot dog seller.

Incidentally, Günter Schwall's appearances are limited to the above-mentioned episode Negotiation for the second season; In the first season, however, a visually slightly different from G. Schwall, but very similar in terms of behavior, called Robby , who is also played by Bully, was seen, who mostly appeared together with Hubsi. For example, many elements (mainly dialogues) of the bakery ketch from the episode Hotel (with Robby as the seller) were used in a slightly different form in a butcher's scene in the season 2 episode Call Center (with Günter as the seller).

Johann Borsewich and Mrs. Manuela Pfang

Johann Borsewich and Ms. Manuela Pfang (Bully and Rick) are lovers who never get closer in any episode in which it appears, because something unexpected always happens or Manuela misinterprets Johann's statements and storms off with insult. Ms. Pfang can be seen as a shy receptionist in the episode “Job Interview” and in other episodes she shows herself in typical work clothes and glasses (she only lost her Swabian dialect in the second season). Because of her job in that episode, she was given the name “M. Pfang ”, which can be read on their name tag. She is not a woman of many words, she usually only answers with a typical Rick woman laugh or in very short sentences. Geography teacher Johann is more of the open, yet romantic type. At each of her appearances, he openly confesses to Ms. Pfang his ideas, dreams and wishes, which are always formulated very melodiously, but which never come of anything.

Julia

Julia (Rick) is a strongly extroverted, even slightly hyperactive young woman, whose trademark is her distinctive, loud laugh, which is similar to that of Mrs. Pfang (see above) and some other women portrayed by Rick. While she already appeared in the Bully Parade, but always alone there, in Bully & Rick she often appears at the side of her best friend Katja (Bully), a red-haired young lady with a behavior similar to Julia. The two play a major role in the "Two Angels for Charlie " sketches, a recurring category in season two that is an obvious parody of the Three Angels for Charlie films. The running gag of these skits is that Charly (spoken by Bully) does not speak to his angels over a loudspeaker, as in the films, but that he is actually physically the loudspeaker. So he wears Julia and Katya for example, to take him into the city because he has accepted a new job as speaker in a supermarket, or can be used as siren on the car of the troops attach to loudly "Tatü-tata!" To warble.

Commissioner Sigi

Inspector Sigi (Bully) is a goofy, Bavarian police officer who often solves or tries to solve murder cases. In the 2nd season, however, he can almost always be seen as "Knigge-Sigi" in the program "Sigi-Knigge - The Sendung with Style", where he asks Giagl (Rick) an "interesting behavior and behavior question" every time, which is always answered in a rather absurd but correct way according to Sigi. The character was known as Sigi Schwarz already in the Bullyparade to see where he similarly as Knigge Sigi multiple choice presented -Ask to which the answer is (almost) always "It's something to snack on." Was.

Prime Minister Dr. Karl Ranzinger

Prime Minister Dr. Karl Ranzinger (Rick) is the ultra-conservative Bavarian Prime Minister of the CSU (which is only mentioned in the series, however, only the opposition ) and in every way an obvious parody of Edmund Stoiber . He can often be seen together with Erwin Falthauser (Bully) (see above) and whenever he can, he tries to make the world a little better - primarily, of course, because it helps him win more voters. For example, he advises Commissioner Sigi (Bully) to buy a diaper instead of a simple pair of underpants, as the sperm cells would be better caught in them and thus more future citizens (= future taxpayers) could arise.

Nobby and Nobby

Nobby and Nobby (Rick and Bully) are two saxon turtles , often seen in short sketches , who have been facing each other on a beach on an island for eighty years. Their conversations almost always begin with the words "You, Nobby ..." - "Was'n?", Followed by philosophical questions, everyday problems or simple taunts, usually followed by ironic and malicious laughter from the Nobby portrayed by Rick. Due to their predicament, the turtles usually comment on the respective topic very cynically , annoyed or bored and nagging (Examples: “If you had the chance to live your life again, what would you do differently?” - “I would Put it the other way around, you asshole . ”(Follow Hotel );“ I see something that you can't see. ”-“ What? ”-“ A stupid face. ”(Follow Fashion Show )). In the style of a stereotypical elderly couple, the two seem to have grown fond of each other over the years despite or perhaps because of their mutual rejection in principle.

With a total of fifteen appearances, the turtles are by far the most common characters, despite the fact that their appearances offer little flexibility. Because of the unique setting and structure of the sketches, they never come into contact with other characters and cannot be incorporated directly into the framework.

Herbig explained in an interview that the idea for the sketches came to him when he noticed on a cold morning that the profile of the freezing Rick was similar to that of a turtle. According to the DVD audio commentary, Bully and Rick were actually physically lying on the beach in their turtle costumes for an extended period of time during the shooting; their heads were not inserted into the picture on a green screen.

Paul

Paul (Rick) is a good-humored young man from Hamburg, whose private life (e.g. job) is never mentioned directly, although he appears very often. Rick Kavanian said in an interview on the DVD for the first season, however, that the figure represents a pimp according to his interpretation . Paul's appearance, the dark sunglasses, the hairstyle and the many gold jewelry underline this statement. In the first season he can be seen in several skits in the garage of his friend Rudi (Bully), where he wants to pick up his Isetta or have it repainted. Isetta is a young woman, probably his girlfriend or one of his employed prostitutes , who is always treated like a car in the scenes. For example, Rudi paints Isetta's fingernails with a spray device intended for painting cars, or puns arise within the conversation, e.g. B. "I asked you to take out the bumps!" - "It's no longer worth it before your vacation, because someone in Italy will bang you back in anyway."

In the second season, Paul plays one of the two main roles in the episode prison . He is arrested for smuggling expired punchlines across the Czech border, according to the prologue . His age is given in this episode as 42.

The Saxon policewoman

The Saxon policewoman (Bully) is a quite masculine -looking law enforcement officer with short hair, a hollow back and hanging breasts and thus represents an emancipated woman who has integrated herself into a professional male domain. Her demeanor is generally grim, her tone harsh and imperious . Your zodiac sign is Aries . In the second season it turns out that she is the illegitimate daughter of Burkhard Figg-Windel (Rick) and Manuela Pfang (Rick), whose birth, as mentioned above, resulted from Burkhard falling from the diving platform on Ms. Pfang in the outdoor pool. Since then, the Federal Diving Tower Minister has advised never to enter the 10-meter tower without a condom .

Uwe

Uwe (Bully) is since the second season of regularly occurring young man on pretty much all the typical hippie - clichés are true: long hair, speaks slowly and calmly, Kiffer , left, etc. to see politically sometimes in very simple jobs, for example as Cable carrier in the television studio, office worker, once he even claims to be a student, he subsequently gets a very well-paid position as chairman of the board in his company at the pool from multi-billionaire and business tycoon Günter Werner Schröder (Rick) due to his apparently excellent qualifications. This represents an excellent example of a character rupture typical of the comedy genre , when a generally rather stereotypical figure does or utters something that does not suit their behavior or appearance or is otherwise unexpected. Uwe's last name is the episode Elternsprechstunde According grains . He is good friends with Hanslang (Rick) and can therefore often be seen in his esoteric shop , where the two have sophisticated and often rhymed discussions.

Wayne McCormick

Wayne McCormick (Bully) is an elderly multi-billionaire . Although he is American by name and is always known as "Mr." is addressed, he speaks with a slight Ruhrpott dialect . His appearance is always very extravagant, eccentric and self-absorbed, but he is still extremely generous. For example, he gives Mrs. Weber (Rick), who accidentally hit his Cadillac with her shopping cart and thus caused an invisible total write-off, which McCormick described as such , a first-class ticket to Acapulco so that she can recover from her shock could. He always carries his fortune with him in black suitcases with clearly visible “1 million”, “1.5 million” etc. printed on them, and generally seems to be spending more money than he is earning. He has an adult son, Sven McCormick (Rick), who is taken hostage almost every day . Together with a police sergeant (Rick), McCormick always negotiates in a surprisingly peaceful way with the hostage-taker and does not seem to have a problem with his financial loss or antipathy towards the criminals.

Sven plays one of the two main roles in the episode Doppelbruch (Season 1), in which he tries his hand at being a burglar because, thanks to his father, he has no financial problems, he wants to stand on his own two feet and needs a job due to his frequent kidnappings where he can work at night. At the end of the episode, however, his father and the sergeant ring the doorbell of the robbed Mitch Müller (Bully) and demand Sven's immediate release, because they believe Mitch to be a hostage-taker because they discovered Sven's bicycle in front of the house.

Parodies

As in the Bully Parade, real celebrities , historical personalities and fictional characters from films, series or literature were occasionally parodied in Bully & Rick .

Michael Bully Herbig presented Franz Beckenbauer , Bob Ross , Don Johnson as Miami Vice- Cop James Crockett, Pumuckl , Harry Potter , Elvis Presley , Adolf Hitler , Karl Lagerfeld , Bill Kaulitz from Tokio Hotel , Steve Martin , Paris Hilton , Michael Jackson , Lothar Matthäus , Cyrano de Bergerac , Sleeping Beauty , Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel .

Rick Kavanian parodied Gerd Rubenbauer , Ozzy and Kelly Osbourne , Uli Hoeneß , Philip Michael Thomas as Miami Vice-Cop Ricardo Tubbs, Meister Eder , Ron Weasley , Captain Ahab , Monica Bellucci , the drone Willi from Maya the Bee , Geppetto , and Roxane, the cousin of the aforementioned Cyrano.

Figures from the bully parade

In addition to the figures from the Bully Parade, which were firmly integrated into the series (Sigi, Julia, etc.) and also play significantly larger roles here than in the parade, very well-known and popular Bully Parade figures occasionally had short cameo appearances , for example the hippies Lutz (Bully; 24 minutes and briefly heard in Call Center ) and Löffler (Rick; leading role in laundromat ), the casting participant Grille (Bully; Fashion Show ) or the Greek Dimitri Stoupakis (Rick; leading role in Am Strand and also briefly in Call Center to hear).

More figures

  • Armandor (Herbig), gruff criminal, often in prison
  • Britta (Herbig), stylish business woman
  • Gonzalez (Kavanian), Mexican innkeeper
  • Guru (Kavanian), own Peter Draguritschenko , Franconian record seller and DJ
  • Hanslang (Kavanian), long-haired esoteric shop owner and eco-enthusiast, friend of Uwe
  • Harry (Herbig) and Werner (Kavanian), two retirees
  • Juanita (Kavanian), Spanish cleaning lady from Barcelona
  • Kingstonboy (Kavanian), Jamaican dealer, sells bizarre things such as: B. Designer Schnitzel
  • Mr Maus (Kavanian), Italian gangster, explains various phenomena in Mafioso-style in a parody of the show with the mouse
  • Prince Meisenherz (Herbig), idiot nobleman
  • Sergeant Randolf Morris (Herbig), bad-tempered criminal investigator
  • Mitch Müller (Herbig), wealthy young club-goer and heartthrob
  • The pilot (Herbig)
  • Commander Richards (Herbig) from Cincinnati and Commander Kasparov (Kavanian) from Vladivostok , two NASA astronauts , can always be seen in their space shuttle

Reactions & criticism

Both seasons achieved consistently satisfactory ratings; the show was rated very positively by some viewers, but many long-established fans lacked proximity to the Bullyparade . The completely new format and the absence of Christian Tramitz were received negatively by them.

Others

  • According to the making-of , Bully & Rick is a continuation of the concept of the short film Easy Bully , which was made before the bully parade.
  • In some scenes, the series self-ironically refers to its peculiarities, for example Burkhard Figg-Windel (Rick) says about an on-board film in which Bully Dr. Alan Grant from the film Jurassic Park portrays to Fred Pitt (Bully): "The one scientist who looked very much like you!" To which Pitt replies: "Why, he had a hat on." This of course alludes to them The fact that almost all characters are only played by two actors, which means that the possibilities to visually differentiate between the characters are limited. Another episode refers to the often very little connection between the framework and the sketches, in which Judge Erwin Falthauser (Bully) says after a rather absurd sketch, "I don't quite understand what this has to do with the trial."
  • In the episode Doppelbruch , in a scene in which the two intruders zap through the channels of a television, short excerpts from the bully parade, the shoe of Manitu , (T) spaceship surprise - period 1 and Easy Bully can be seen. The burglar Marco portrayed by Bully comments on this with the words "It's just crap on television again."
  • As a result of the negotiation , Jumbo Schreiner has an extra role as boxer Jumbo. Schreiner already played similar characters in the Bully Parade and in the film (T) Raumschiff Surprise.
  • Alfons Biedermann, co-author of the series, speaks two sentences as the police chief, who can be heard over a radio, in the episode robbery .
  • The episode Late Night from the second season is the only one in which three instead of the usual two main characters appear. Two of them are played by Bully.
  • A special feature of the framework story of the episode Shoe Store from the second season is the camera perspective used as a stylistic device , which only reveals the legs and feet of the characters to the viewer, appropriate to the location . Because of this, it is not clear which or whether Bully and Rick actually embodied characters in the framework (apart from the characters' voices).

Awards

Web links