Forget-Me-Not (TV show)

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Television series
Original title Forget Me Not
Country of production Federal Republic of Germany
original language German
Year (s) 1964-1970
length 90 minutes
Broadcasting
cycle		 8 to 9 times a year
genre Game show
Moderation Peter Frankenfeld
First broadcast October 9, 1964 on ZDF

Forget-me-not was a game show devised and presented by Peter Frankenfeld . Together with Der goldene Schuss, it was one of the two most successful shows of the 1960s on ZDF .

Emergence

idea

In 1961 Peter Frankenfeld developed a show concept with the working title Postcard is sufficient . This included a lottery, which was paid for with welfare stamps . There was something to guess on the show, and the solution was to be sent in with a special postcard. This is because welfare stamps were affixed in a certain order. In addition to the postage stamp on the front, the postcard had stamps on the back. These stamps were supposed to be bought back by the post office, so to speak, and thereby enable the financing of lottery winnings and a charitable cause.

realization

At the Ministry of Post a profit distribution was considered legally problematic. Frankenfeld saw a way out in combining the campaign with an advertising event organized by the Post, so that the profits could be financed from their advertising budget. The postcodes that were to be used from March 1962 after a presentation in November 1961 were ideal for this. Many postal customers, however, decided not to indicate them, which required a large-scale campaign into which the television show could be incorporated. So only a TV station had to be found.

Broadcast on ZDF

The WDR refused, but the newly founded ZDF saw the chance to bind a popular presenter to itself, so that a week before the broadcast began, a contract for four episodes was signed. The preparations for the show took some time, which is why on October 18, 1963, the show All Nonsense is Difficult started, in which selected players from the audience had to do work that they usually did not do, such as forging a horseshoe.

On October 9, 1964, the first edition could be broadcast under the name forget-me-not . The donations were used for physically or mentally handicapped children, for which Hans Mohl had the idea. Compared to Frankenfeld's previous programs, forget-me-not was even bigger, more elaborate and almost perfectly staged, which gave him another boost in popularity - it was the high point of his career.

Forget-me-not ran on Thursdays from 8:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., and from 1969 from 8:15 p.m. to 9:45 p.m.

concept

title

blue side postmark: "Don't forget mine: the zip code"

Forget-me-not was derived from the forget-me-not advertising campaign - the zip code , optionally with the addition: the quick companion . This campaign promoted the use of the up to four-digit postcodes introduced in March 1962 and was expanded to include television with the show. Many of the quizzes and games on the show revolved around guessing four digits and the corresponding city or vice versa.

Forget-me-nots should also refer to the handicapped people who benefited from the donations.

Games

Each forget-me-not broadcast had a theme, for example a large city train station, and an elaborate decoration specially made for it. There were three game rounds related to the topic. It could be games of skill or role-playing. For example, the teammates were supposed to be waiters in a replica restaurant, where they were confused by multiple orders that were changed. The hall games were also important for the spectator game: They included three city names whose postcodes had to be found in the official directory and added up. This solution number then had to be sent in a special form. The players were selected from the audience in the hall - a procedure typical of Frankenfeld, which he had already practiced in previous broadcasts.

Action problem child

The combination of show and charity event was new on German television : the supporting program was the lottery for the newly founded problem child campaign . For this purpose, Frankenfeld took the postal carrier Walter Spahrbier with him to his new show, who pulled the winning tickets out of his leather bag and announced them.

The connection to the post office (guide number) was the show's highlight, which was that viewers could send in postcards to participate in the lottery, on the back of which the four special stamps of the stamp set just sold with surcharge had to be stuck - the welfare stamps . The postage stamp on the front of the participation card did not have to be an additional stamp. For the four special stamps you had to divide the back of the card with two horizontal and three vertical lines into 12 fields, choose four fields, stick a stamp in each and then make it invalid by crossing out. As a result, there were 495 ways to stick the stamps on. Before the broadcast, one of these options was drawn and all letters with this pattern and the correct number of answers were poured into the drawing drum.

The problem child campaign also made a significant contribution to the success of Forget-Me-Not : The first episode brought in 500,000 DM, all together 36.1 million DM, of which 20.3 million went to the lottery and 15.8 million to donations. In 1970, Peter Frankenfeld was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit, 1st class , for his efforts to promote the problem child campaign .

Show blocks

The show included Max Greger with his big band and the ZDF television ballet. Mainly German-speaking singing stars were invited, such as Peter Alexander , Curd Jürgens , Rudolf Schock or Caterina Valente . There was also an artistic or comic interlude, the latter with well-known actors such as Gert Fröbe . In addition, the ballet had a performance, either alone or with singers, with Peter Frankenfeld himself or his wife Lonny Kellner performing.

First color edition

As a second color show, ZDF broadcast forget-me-not on August 31, 1967 . Just like the first show, it was The Golden Shot from the previous Friday, it came from Berlin and took place in front of 5,000 spectators in the Deutschlandhalle . The theme was Berlin Lunapark in 1912 .

The End

Situation in 1969

At the end of the 1960s, Frankenfeld demanded a moderate increase in salary from ZDF because he would design the entire show on his own. At the station, however, it was decided that the showmaster was too old and that a rejuvenation had to take place. The original purpose of the broadcast, to advertise postcodes, had become obsolete in the course of time. Statistics also showed a partially negative trend: in the telephone audience survey, the average value for the first two years was +5.7, for 1968 +4, and for 1969 and 1970 only +3.2, with some consequences only reached +2. Added to this was the falling income from the lottery, which had fallen from DM 5.39 million in the first two years to DM 1.7 million in 1969, which also did not compensate for the steadily increasing income from donations - so there were fewer and fewer postcards sent in. However, the viewing participation was at a high level during the entire term with a peak value of 78% in 1968 and 77% for the 44th edition in February 1970. This means that forget-me-not was before the end of The Golden Shot and came straight to High Chaparral , File number XY… unsolved and The Commissioner .

Failure to extend the contract

Returning from their vacation trip in the summer of 1969, the Frankenfelds found a letter requesting a meeting with ZDF program director Joseph Viehöver . Since people were usually only asked to go to Mainz to sign a contract, the assumption was that it was a renewed extension of forget-me-nots . In his overcrowded office, however, Viehöver only asked for understanding that the program would be discontinued with the 47th issue. Frankenfeld's request to continue until the 50th edition could not be granted, as the end should be before the summer break. In the meantime, ZDF had commissioned Wim Thoelke with a follow-up program, but did not tell Frankenfeld about it. The problem child campaign should also end after five years. In order to prevent the facilities for the disabled from being closed, the general manager Thoelke asked them to continue, which also happened in Drei Mal Neun .

Record of good deeds

The last show was the 47th edition on April 16, 1970 from Cologne. Since the first show, after every forget-me-not show, there has been an action problem child program , from the seventh show on with the addition of a balance of good deeds . This broadcast reported which projects were supported with the donations received in the last show.

After the last show, forget-me-nots followed on May 21, 1970 - a record of good deeds . In this broadcast, however, there was no report on the use of donations, but a 45-minute long documentary recorded in Frankenfeld's private house. It showed Frankenfeld as an author, set designer and moderator.

Situation after hiring

Peter Frankenfeld was disappointed that he had been dropped instead of asking him for a new show. At that time, however, ZDF was generally of the opinion that entertainment shows also had to deal with social issues, as demonstrated by the show Wünsch Dir was, which started in 1969 . Only when it became clear that this did not go down well with many viewers, when Peter Gerlach was appointed head of department and then Joseph Viehöver suddenly died, did the situation change. For so long Frankenfeld was without his own TV show and had to be modest with smaller formats and guest appearances with his colleagues. Then it went on with music is trumps .

Renaissance of the broadcast

To introduce the five-digit numbers in July 1993 , the private television station attacked RTL , the forget-me-with the idea of Rudi Carrell conceived and moderated Show The post goes off! back on.

Broadcasts on ZDF

The programs were broadcast on ZDF on the following dates:

Star guests

DATE EPISODE STAR GUESTS
10/09/1964 01
11/20/1964 02
07/01/1965 03 Elephant lady "Moni"
02/11/1965 04
03/11/1965 05
04/01/1965 06
05/20/1965 07
06/24/1965 08
09/09/1965 09
07.10.1965 10
11/25/1965 11
12/30/1965 12
02/17/1966 13
03/17/1966 14th Lale Andersen , Peggy March , Willy Millowitsch
May 26, 1966 15th Horst Fischer , Rolf Rosemeier , Wolfgang Sauer
06/30/1966 16 Mireille Mathieu , Horst Jankowski , Rolf Rosemeier, Rudolf Schock
09/08/1966 17th David Dalmour , Marianne Dalmour , Udo Jürgens , Maria Neglia
10/13/1966 18th France Gall
11/10/1966 19th Dalida , Jonny Roberts
December 15, 1966 20th Beate Hasenau , Hazy Osterwald , Vico Torriani , Bender Children's Choir, Jong Brothers
01/19/1967 21st
02/23/1967 22nd
03/23/1967 23 Hermanas Benitez , Zarah Leander , Fred Roby
06/01/1967 24
07/06/1967 25th
08/31/1967 26th Peter Alexander , Bully Buhlan , Edith Hancke , Bubi Scholz , Ewald Wenck , Lonny Kellner , Die Kaiserjäger, Achim Medro, The Terrys, Die Dominos
10/12/1967 27
December 07, 1967 28
01/11/1968 29 Eddie Constantine , Kai Fischer , David McCallum , Dunja Rajter , Robert Vaughn , Ralf Wolter
02/08/1968 30th Marika Rökk , Bror Mauritz-Hansen, Charlie Rivel
07.03.1968 31 Henri Salvador , Mac Ronay
04/04/1968 32 Adriano Celentano , Mario del Monaco , Dalida
05/23/1968 33 La Chunga, Gino Donati, Massiel , Sandra and Sharon
10/03/1968 34 Violetta Ferrari , Hildegard Knef , Grady Wilson
11/21/1968 35 Roy Black , Renate Holm , Andy Fisher
December 19, 1968 36 Regensburger Domspatzen , Rudolf Schock
January 16, 1969 37 Aimable, Jacques Dutronc , Gene Reed, The Cuban Cossacks, Jean-Claude Pascal , Georgette Plana
02/13/1969 38 Vittorio Casagrande , France Gall , Rex Gildo , Siw Malmkvist , Olive Moorefield , Fred Ray & Silvia, Gene Reed
03/13/1969 39 Gert Fröbe , Lonny Kellner , Willy Millowitsch , Eva Pflug , Sabo , Fritz Schulz-Reichel
04/10/1969 40 Fred Bertelmann , Heintje , Mieke Telkamp , Dutch Swing College Band
05/22/1969 41 Marika Rökk
09.10.1969 42 The Casuals , Joe Dolan , Udo Jürgens , Royal Scotch Band, Helen Shapiro
11/20/1969 43 Antoine , Ralf Bendix , Karin Hübner , Gunther Philipp , Les Ricards
December 18, 1969 44 Chris Andrews , Alfons Bauer , Kruno Cigoj , Katja Ebstein , Karel Gott , Anneliese Rothenberger , Sepp Manchechner
02/12/1970 45 Peter Alexander , Robert Stolz , Sigrid Martikke , Janosch Negyesy
March 19, 1970 46 Chris Andrews , Mona Baptiste , Les Cascadeurs, Galetti, Curd Jürgens
04/16/1970 47 Antoine , Eartha Kitt , Jonny Hill , Gert Fröbe , Mireille Mathieu

She had to take a break from June to September 1968, as the post office sold special stamps for the Olympic Games instead of charity stamps during this period .

According to the ZDF archive, most of the show's tapes are now considered deleted. Recordings are only available from issues 9, 22, 25, 26, 32, 42, 43, 45 and 47, although not in all cases the entire program is involved.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j The German TV stars, chapter Peter Frankenfeld
  2. ↑ That was my life, chapter postcard is enough
  3. ↑ a b That was my life, chapter The director is asking
  4. ↑ Online archive of the Wiener Arbeiter-Zeitung and the Hamburger Abendblatt, credits of the original broadcasts and the ZDF broadcast protocol

literature

Web links