Think big!
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Think big! |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| length | ~ 25 minutes |
| Episodes | 10 in 1 season |
| genre | Comedy |
| idea | Idea, head author: Frederik Hunschede ; Script: Elena Senft , Anneke Janssen Sandra Schröder , Annekathrin Lang , Thomas Sieben . Director: Wolfgang Groos . |
| music | Fifth Harmony : Worth It |
| First broadcast | February 7, 2020 on Sat.1 |
| occupation | |
| |
Think big! is a German TV series with Hanna Plaß in the lead role.
action
The 24-year-old Nicole lives in Cologne's Chorweiler district , a social hotspot . Through a fight she gets to know Ebru, with whom she befriends. The two decide to open a nail salon together . However, in the absence of adequate qualifications, they will not be granted a loan. In order to make the common dream come true, Nicole buys a fake high school diploma and starts studying business administration . She initially struggled with her studies, but Ebru and her family motivate her not to drop out. At university she slowly befriends the headstrong Johanna, while she develops a rivalry with Alex.
Episode 1: Campussy
Nicole told from the off , as life in Chorweiler and they became friends with Ebru after a brawl. You want to get out of your previous life and want to open a nail salon chain called Spirit Fingers . As a Hartz IV recipient without a school-leaving qualification, vocational training or studies, the bank advisor lets you down cold when asked for a loan. The hand-written, one-sided business plan cannot convince him either. Since Nicole is of the opinion that they have to understand something about finances anyway, she wants to study business administration. She can print a high school diploma from a neighbor for € 70 and enroll at the University of Cologne .
On the first day she arrives too late in the classroom and has to share with Alex, who is also late, for the last free seat. Professor Amling noticed them negatively.
At home with her single mother Silvia, the start of her studies gets little attention - in contrast to the dogs, whose birthday is to be celebrated appropriately. Later Nicole makes sure that the newly bought indoor solarium is returned - even if her mother thinks that it would be good for Nicole so that she no longer looks “like mozzarella ”. In addition, Nicole often has to take care of her kleptomaniac sister Tiffany and listen to "clever" sayings from her brother Dennis. In one situation, Silvia tells her children that she is not looking for a guy for herself, but a father for the children.
In addition to university and family, Nicole has to work in a burger fast-food shop and let her boss Tarek, Ebrus brother, turn her on.
Back at university, Amling announces that a test will be taken the next day; whoever does not pass it is thrown out. To prevent this from happening, Nicole lets herself be locked in the toilet and breaks into Amling's office at night. She is caught by Alex, but they both have the same goal and steal the test sheets from his documents, with the effect that the test is canceled the next day. That is very convenient for Nicole, because she actually wanted to quit her studies and was only motivated by her family and especially Ebru to continue.
Episode 2: Johanna
After Nicole's advice to the family that the apartment needs to be tidied up again, Tiffany brings home her Arab classmate Minura, who apparently doesn't understand a word of German, but brings the whole apartment to a shine. While Silvia, Tiffany and Dennis watch her cleaning, Silvia spontaneously invites her to have dinner with them. Minura is happy to accept and brings her (large) family with her.
The students get a job, they work in teams of two of Amling at the university have . Nicole asks various fellow students for the tandem task, but only receives rejections. When the environmentally conscious nerd Johanna, who she invited into the cafeteria , asks about the tandem task, Nicole cancels . When Nicole still can't find a partner later, she and Alex have to court Johanna. This decides in favor of Nicole, since friends always take precedence. While studying together in the library, Johanna handed Nicole a self-made folder with all the important information for her studies and told her that she had a secret crush on Alex. Nicole promises not to tell anyone. When Nicole meets Alex in the library, she tells him anyway and that she only needs Johanna for one task. Johanna hears both and is accordingly disappointed in Nicole.
First, Nicole blasphemed Ebru about the uncool people at the university and the "crazy flower girl" / "Rapunzel" / "Streber-Ulla" Johanna. Ebru says Nicole doesn't need a college girlfriend because she has Ebru. After Nicole tells her about the situation with Johanna and Alex in the library and shows her the folder, they both see how nice Johanna actually is. Ebru encourages Nicole to have her as a college friend and to apologize to her. Nicole does that and also admits that she faked her high school diploma. Johanna accepts the apology and promises not to tell anyone.
Episode 3: Scientific What ?!
Nicole has to attend a weekend seminar with Professor Danni-Lenko, called “Mark”, at the university. The seminar paper should be written on the topic of basic business models of modern corporate culture . In the library, Nicole found a book by Professor Amling about it, from which she copied 1: 1 without indicating it. The plagiarism becomes known within the university and Professor Danni-Lenko initiates an exclusion procedure. Through Johanna, however, Nicole learns that Amling's text was already plagiarism. Accordingly, he also has an interest in ending the expulsion procedure (in which he is involved as a committee member) quickly; whatever happens in the end.
At home, Nicole's family takes a package that she has accepted for a neighbor. They tell themselves that the neighbor must have died and that she would have liked the family to take possession of her belongings. They are all the more surprised when the not at all dead neighbor rings their doorbell and asks for the package. The neighbor notices, for example, that Nicole's mother is wearing the outfit she ordered and that her name is on all boxes. The neighbor's son, a police officer, brushes the allegations aside, citing her dementia .
Episode 4: The scholarship
Nicole loses her job in the fast food restaurant because a real estate investor has bought the area and increased rents. Nicole addresses the family's now even more tense financial situation. Since mother Silvia does not want to pursue any other job besides being a specialist in hot ironing, she is considering getting a handicapped ID card because of the perks and in order to be left in peace by the employment agency , but Nicole can dissuade her from doing this. Nicole herself is looking for part-time jobs on the university bulletin board . She meets Alexander and learns that he is applying for a scholarship . The prospect of 1000 € per month motivated Nicole to apply. In the casting that followed, Nicole noticed that the jury was very moved by her social situation, so that she allowed herself to be carried away to mention her supposedly severely disabled mother. Nicole receives the scholarship, but now has to put her mother in a wheelchair at the welcome party to avoid being exposed. When she sees the award ceremony that the real estate investor, because of which she lost her job, wants to adorn herself with her scholarship, she angrily gives him her opinion.
Episode 5: The Fate of Sheila
Nicole and Ebru recall their dream of having their own nail salon above the roofs of Chorweiler. In her family, however, she is confronted with immediate events: the dog Sheila is dying. Although Sheila is already fifteen years old, mother cannot let go of Silvia, also because Sheila was a present from the children's father - two days before he left the family. Therefore, Silvia tries to raise 330 € for an MRI to check the suspicion of cancer.
Silvia sells the family's sofa, Nicole also searches the bulletin board for income opportunities. So she signs up for a medical trial. While waiting for the test, she is put off by a shaky, sweating, cranked (long-term) participant. But Tiffany can persuade Dennis to take the test.
At the university, fellow student Johanna Nicole explains that she can apply for student loans . For the application, however, she needs proof of income u. a. both parents. According to the clerk, a special application without the father's documents would drag on for several years. Nicole is annoyed with the state, which "punishes you for having an asshole from father". Johanna can find her father. Nicole goes to his house with Johanna and Ebru; she leaves, however, without ringing the bell.
Sheila dies. The family buried the dog together in the high-rise estate. In the last scene Nicole is standing in front of her father's house again.
Episode 6: The Sky Paws
After Sheila's death, mother Silvia is still mourning her dog. Following a suggestion from Nicole, she goes to the self-help group "Himmelspfoten", where she meets Hanno. When Hanno comes to visit the Pütz family, the children - according to the negative experiences with Silvia's previous lovers - are hostile. Nicole finally throws him out. But later she realizes that he's not as bad as she thought, but can't convince him to contact Silvia again.
Nicole herself dreams several times of having sex with Alex. She is also looking for a conversation with him, but when his girlfriend comes over to him, Nicole leaves before the conversation has really started.
Episode 7: The Sheriff of Chorweiler
Dennis says he quit his apprenticeship at the supermarket because he was not respected and he will now work as a security employee in the Chorweiler Arkaden . Nicole tries to dissuade him.
From university, she has to do a SWOT analysis in a company of her choice ; she decides the Phenome Nails in the arcades where Ebru is employed. When Ebru refuses a customer's request for red nail polish, Nicole criticizes her for it, after all, a shop also has to make money. Ebru resents her objection that no one has to tell her how to do her job. Only later does Nicole find out that Ebru considers the red to be of inferior quality and does not want the customers to do it.
In the arcades she also meets her brother several times when he is doing his new job. The meetings are full of conflict and Nicole has to realize that Dennis is no longer just the little brother he used to be.
Episode 8: The internship
Nicole has to do an internship for the university; Dennis suspects that because of her place of residence in Chorweiler, she only receives rejections. While she is complaining to Professor Amling about this, Alex comes into the office and wants to confirm that it is okay if he does the internship with his father in the management consultancy . Amling does not find this very ambitious, but allows it if Nicole also gets an internship there.
At the beginning of the internship, Mr. Hilker has words of praise for Nicole, as she has realizable dreams, but entrusts her with the simplest tasks such as copying, shredding files and clearing away dishes. For this reason Nicole wants to break off the internship; She even receives a confirmation from Professor Amling that she has nevertheless achieved the university performance. Nicole feels gripped by the honor and wants to fight her way through. During an appointment at the management consultancy, she has several good suggestions for the customer's waffle restaurant, which she knows personally from Chorweiler. Mr. Hilker is also enthusiastic about Nicole and instructs her to prepare a presentation while it is up to Alex to clear the dishes. When Nicole suggests to Alex's father that they do the presentation in pairs, they fall apart and Nicole is fired. As soon as she got home, she called the waffle seller and offered her an internship.
At home, Dennis wants to "be his man in the house" and repair the washing machine that is still working because it makes strange noises. The repair attempt fails and so he feels compelled to buy a used machine from a dealer in the underground car park for expensive money from the household budget. When the machine turns out to be broken, he is desperate and admits to Silvia his failure. By calling his mother, she gets the dealer to go back and repair the original machine.
Episode 9: Tiffany
At the university there are semester exams. The exam sheet is already in front of Nicole when she sees on her cell phone that Tiffany's school is calling - Tiffany's mother could not be reached. Even if this prevents her from taking the exam, Nicole drives to Tiffany's school. Tiffany broke her classmate Tom's nose and is about to be expelled from school. Through Nicole's persuasion, Tiffany gets a "last last chance" when she does aggression therapy (boxing). Tiffany wants to be left alone by Nicole, whereupon she replies that she doesn't care now whether she goes to therapy or not and whether she has to go to jail or not.
Nicole learns from Professor Amling that the catch-up exam is the day after next. She makes an appointment to study with Johanna the next morning, which she forgets because she wants to visit Tiffany while she is boxing. There she meets the trainer Lea, whose teeth she once knocked out. Lea sees Nicole as a bad role model and says she should keep her distance from Tiffany. Lea also wants to get an impression of Tiffany's situation at home with the Pützens and whether her environment gives her stability. Mother Silvia suspects that Tiffany actually likes Tom. Nicole followed up on this tip the next morning: instead of going to the final exam, she went to school and dragged Tom to boxing training. There she gets him to apologize to Tiffany and Lea for sharing a nude photo of Tiffany on social media. Tiffany is reconciled with Nicole and persuades her to take the final exam.
Episode 10: BFF
Nicole passed the first semester. Professor Amling has an internship for the holidays. Since Nicole actually wanted to go to the Nail Academy with Ebru at that time, she asked for a few more days to think about it. Johanna congratulates her and suggests studying during the semester break . Nicole wants to celebrate in the "semester break" and invites Johanna for the evening.
After Nicole and Ebru have brought Johanna's styling to an acceptable level, the party evening begins. First in a shisha bar and at Tarek. Johanna does not seem to take much and is quickly either drunk or drunk. At the next station, the semester party , Ebru doesn't feel at home at all and tries to persuade Nicole to leave. She agrees, but goes "briefly" away and lets Alex persuade her to have a round of beer pong . When Alex wants to kiss her, Nicole turns away in horror. The drunk Johanna arrives and reveals that Nicole has faked her Abitur. Nicole is angry with Johanna and she also clashes with Ebru because Ebru suspects that she doesn't want to pursue their common dream of a nail salon any further and that she betrayed it, also through Johanna's inauguration about the fake Abi.
Nicole leaves the party alone and drives to her father's house. When she stands in front of the door, it is already morning and she starts talking to her (presumed) stepmother. Nicole does not reveal her true identity, but pretends to be an interviewer from the university. In the house she also gets to know her (presumed) half-sister before she hastily leaves the house again. A short time later, Professor Amling stops next to her in the car, which says he lives in the area. He takes her for a while and gives her the advice to look after herself and not want to please everyone. In the last scene Nicole sits alone over the roofs of Chorweiler.
production
The scenes in Chorweiler were shot on site, the interior scenes in the studio.
reception
The series received mostly positive reviews: The Hörzu comes to the end
"You should see because:
... we were really happy when we saw the first two episodes. Perhaps the wheel will not be completely reinvented and of course you have to see how the format develops. But Hanna Plaß convinces as an underdog heroine and the script hits the right mixture of idiosyncratic humor and heart. Because you also make friends with all the characters surprisingly quickly, the anticipation for the sequel is there from the start. The series seems to have what it takes to be a stroke of luck in the German (comedy) series landscape. "
On DWDL.de is summed "This is fun, especially since most punch accurately and be turned with great enthusiasm." After a detailed discussion, Tilmann P. Gangloff gave the series 4 out of 6 stars. Oliver Junge expressed himself ambiguously in the FAZ : "The punch lines are right, the timing and score are right; Wolfgang Groos and Tobias Wiemann stage the strong-women-climber fairy tale in a trashy cool way. But the development is still to be expected. And sociolects are funny and exaggerated heard all too often in comedy by now. "Think Big" doesn't think big beyond private television. "
Under the heading "Think Big!": Finally good comedy from Germany again , Vanessa Schneider from Bayerischer Rundfunk sums up:
“Making jokes about Hartz4 recipients and less privileged people can backfire pretty quickly. But "Think Big" doesn't either. All characters have their strengths and weaknesses, which you can of course laugh about, but above all, they enable us to empathize with them and not prejudice them. The series constantly picks up on prejudices - against students and people who haven't studied, against stylish women and business administration professionals - but then the series breaks these stereotypes very cleverly. "Think Big!" totally surprised. Nicole's family is weird, but amiable and her friend Ebru has the best counterattacks. In general: Most of the jokes are correct because the actors (including Anselm Bresgott [...]) have good timing.
It would be a real shame if these first ten episodes stayed - just because nobody from "Think Big!" heard. Really good comedy series from Germany are far too rare anyway. "
The series, which was broadcast on television, on sat1.de and on Joyn , reached fewer television viewers than expected.
nomination
The series is nominated for the German Television Award 2020 in the category Best Comedy Series .
Web links
- Think big! in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- full episodes on sat1.de
- Information about the people and companies involved on Crew United
Interviews and reports
- Interview with Hanna Plaß about the series
- Report on Vivien Sczesny
- Interview with Sat.1 editor Birgit Brandes about the series
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Manuel Weis: “Think Big!” - leading actress Hanna Plaß: 'The series reminds me a lot of real sitcom hits like “Friends” or “Roseanne” ”. quotenmeter.de , February 7, 2020, accessed on February 8, 2020 .
- ↑ Gunther Reinhardt: Plattenbau-Barbie goes to university. Stuttgarter Zeitung , February 7, 2020, accessed on February 8, 2020 .
- ↑ roles and actors. Sat.1 , accessed on February 8, 2020 .
- ↑ Think Big • From prefabricated buildings to big business. Hörzu , February 4, 2020, accessed on February 11, 2020 .
- ↑ Alexander Krei: How good are the two comedy series reboots on Sat.1? DWDL.de , February 7, 2020, accessed on February 11, 2020 .
- ^ Tilmann P. Gangloff : Series "Think Big!" Tittelbach.tv , accessed on February 11, 2020 .
- ↑ Oliver Junge: About tables and benches. FAZ , February 7, 2020, accessed on February 11, 2020 .
- ↑ Vanessa Schneider: "Think Big!": Finally good comedy from Germany again. Bayerischer Rundfunk , March 3, 2020, accessed on March 9, 2020 .
- ↑ Timo Niemeier: "Think Big" also disappoints in Sat.1 at the finale. dwdl , March 7, 2020, accessed March 9, 2020 .
- ↑ German TV Prize 2020: nominations have been made. Meedia , June 4, 2020, accessed June 8, 2020 .