The game begins!

Television broadcast
Original title	The game begins! - The big show from 3 to 99
Country of production	Germany
original language	German
Year (s)	2015–2017, 2020
Production company	Riverside Entertainment
length	2015–2017: 150–180, 2020: 90 minutes
Episodes	8th
Broadcasting cycle	two to three times a year
genre	Game show
Director	Frank Hof , Knut Fleischmann , Michael Maier
Moderation	Johannes B. Kerner
First broadcast	March 7, 2015 on ZDF

Moderator Johannes B. Kerner

The game begins! is a German game show that was first broadcast on March 7, 2015 on ZDF . The show, which lasts around three hours, is moderated by Johannes B. Kerner , and Faye Montana led through the show at his side from the second to fourth edition .

concept

In several rounds, prominent candidates played various board games against children. Popular classics as well as new trends were used. The staging of these games was based on the original. At the end of each round, in the first four episodes, the co-host rolled the number of points that the winning team received in each game, a member of the winning team since episode five. Since December 2016, the last four rounds have been duels in which one child competed against a star. It was about double the number of points. In the final game, the teams received the points in the form of playing figures. At the end of the program, the candidates for the winning team were granted their wishes.

In April 2020 there will be a special edition on the occasion of the COVID-19 pandemic . Four prominent teams of two, consisting of a family or a couple, play against each other. In addition to board games, there are also games that are played with household items. The winning team receives 15,000 euros for a good cause.

Co-moderation

• Emma Schweiger (eps. 1)
• Faye Montana (episodes 2 to 4)

expenditure

The winning team for each program is highlighted in green.

episode	date	Team stars	Team children	Show acts / support children	Games
1	07th Mar 2015	Bülent Ceylan Veronica Ferres Hans Sigl Kostja Ullmann	Lilly Clare Johan novel	Nena	Game 1: Spitz, watch out! Game 2: Memory Game 3: Halli Galli Game 4: Make 'n' Break Game 5: Mikado Game 6: Boom Boom Balloon Game 7: Looping Louie Game 8: Trivial Pursuit Game 9: Rush Hour Game 10: 4 wins Final game: Bounce my hat
2	19 Dec 2015	Wolfgang Bosbach Jens Lehmann Conny Lehmann Smudo Michael Kessler	Elsbeth Maximilian Karla Connor	Silver moon Honestly Brothers	Game 1: Senso Game 2: masterpieces Game 3: Baffle Box Game 4: Hamster role Game 5: Lotti Karotti Game 6: Ubongo Game 7: mill Game 8: Diego Dragon Tooth Game 9: City, Country, River Game 10: Mastermind Final game: match point
3	19 Mar 2016	Walter Sittler Judith Rakers Oliver Pocher Tim Mälzer	Enie Eray Kim Annika	Rea Garvey Peter Maffay and Uwe Ochsenknecht	Game 1: maze Game 2: Looping Louie Game 3: Memory Game 4: Lift it Game 5: pack donkey Game 6: Lotti Karotti Game 7: Zoowaboo Game 8: hamster roll Game 9: Dobble Game 10: Donkey Bridge Final game: Bounce my hat
4th	Sep 10 2016	Rolando Villazón Annette Frier Carmen Nebel Max Giermann	Joelina Trixi Janson Max Matteo	Laura Ludwig	Game 1: fauna Game 2: Boom Boom Balloon Game 3: Gobblet Mampfer Game 4: Brainstorm Game 5: Pie Face Game 6: Marble Mikado Game 7: toss coins Game 8: From point to point Game 9: 4 wins Game 10: basketball duel Final game: spiral billiards
5	Dec 28, 2016	Boris Becker Manuela Schwesig Franziska van Almsick Horst lights Paul Panzer Jorge González	Emmie Lee Linda Luke Oscar	Lina Larissa Strahl and Lisa-Marie Koroll	Game 1: Croco Doc Game 2: Memory Game 3: extremely hard Game 4: Ubongo Game 5: Activity Game 6: Lotti Karotti Game 7: Dobble Game 8: Trivial Pursuit Game 9: car racing Game 10: Jungle Speed Final game: Bounce my hat
6th	11th Mar 2017	Olaf Schubert Inca Bause Uschi Glas Fabian Hambüchen Sasha	Sophia Isabella Bela Max	Dagi Bee	Game 1: Bop it! Game 2: Spitz, watch out! Game 3: Rush Hour Game 4: Zoowaboo Game 5: City, Country, River Game 6: fauna Game 7: Brainstorm Game 8: Gobblet Munchers Game 9: Halli Galli Game 10: Elefun Final game: match point
7th	Dec. 27, 2017	Maria Furtwängler Chris Tall David Garrett Wigald Boning Michelle Hunziker	Lenn Louis Julia Nele	Rosa Meinecke and Laila Meinecke	Game 1: Croco Doc Game 2: Ubongo Game 3: Boom Boom Balloon Game 4: Memory Game 5: extremely hard Game 6: Lotti Karotti Game 7: Trivial Pursuit Game 8: basketball duel Game 9: trick ! Game 10: Dobble Final game: Bounce my hat
episode	date	Teams			Games
8th	Apr 22, 2020	Til Schweiger and Luna Schweiger Bettina Zimmermann and Kai Wiesinger Verona Pooth and San Diego Pooth Amira Pocher and Oliver Pocher			Game 1: City, Country, River Game 2: balancing act Game 3: Ubongo Game 4: brackets Game 5: Memory Game 6: Balla Balla Game 7: Dobble Game 8: tealight curling Final game: Bounce my hat

Odds

episode	date	spectator		Market share
		total	14 to 49 years	total	14 to 49 years
1	07th Mar 2015	4.62 million	1.25 million	16.4%	12.6%
2	19 Dec 2015	3.38 million	0.69 million	11.4%	06.7%
3	19 Mar 2016	3.80 million	0.85 million	13.5%	09.2%
4th	Sep 10 2016	2.72 million	0.59 million	11.4%	07.6%
5	Dec 28, 2016	4.33 million	1.02 million	14.2%	09.6%
6th	11th Mar 2017	3.52 million	0.81 million	11.7%	08.2%
7th	Dec. 27, 2017	3.74 million	0.89 million	12.4%	09.6%
8th	Apr 22, 2020	3.63 million	0.85 million	11.4%	07.6%

criticism

Antje Hildebrandt from Die Welt judged after the first broadcast that the show concept "didn't sound particularly original even on paper". Kerner had "annoyed the audience with a cocktail of hackneyed phrases (...) and an artificially turned up cheerfulness that literally ingratiated itself with the children". He also treated his co-presenter Emma Schweiger like a “studio palm”: She “stood around on stage as if ordered and not picked up” and “didn't really know what she had lost in the show ".

Frank Lübberding praised the program for the FAZ and considers it “so successful, old-fashioned, because it contradicts everything that the television critics otherwise demand”. He ascribes a participatory factor to the show, which “even the teenagers who otherwise consider everything that parents have in store for suggestions to be boring to be boring” could not avoid.

Web links

• Official website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Faye Montana replaces Emma Schweiger , gala.de, accessed on December 6, 2015
2. ↑ Primetime check: Saturday, March 7th, 2015.quotemeter.de , accessed on March 8th, 2015 . 
3. ↑ Primetime check: Saturday, December 19, 2015.quotemeter.de, accessed on December 20, 2015 . 
4. ↑ Primetime check: Saturday, March 19, 2016.quotemeter.de, accessed on March 20, 2016 . 
5. ↑ Primetime check: Saturday, September 10, 2016.quotemeter.de, accessed on September 11, 2016 . 
6. ↑ Primetime check: Wednesday, December 28, 2016.quotemeter.de, accessed on December 29, 2016 . 
7. ↑ Primetime check: Saturday, March 11, 2017.quotemeter.de, accessed on March 12, 2017 . 
8. ↑ Primetime check: Wednesday, December 27, 2017.quotemeter.de, accessed on December 28, 2017 . 
9. ↑ Primetime check: Wednesday, April 22, 2020.quotemeter.de , accessed on April 23, 2020 . 
10. ↑ Antje Hildebrandt: Kerner treats Emma Schweiger like a studio palm , welt.de, March 8, 2015, accessed December 6, 2015
11. ↑ Frank Lübberding: We just want to play , faz.net, March 8, 2015, accessed on March 7, 2016