What am I?

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Television series
Original title What am I?
Country of production Federal Republic of Germany
original language German
Year (s) 1955-1958, 1961-1989, 2000-2005
genre Quiz show
music Title melody composed by Jean Thomé
Moderation
First broadcast January 2, 1955 on German television

What am I? , the cheerful career advice , was a quiz show that was broadcast from 1955 to 1958 and from 1961 to 1989 by the first German television and Bavarian radio . The 337 episodes were moderated by Robert Lembke . The concept was later taken up again by various broadcasters.

The broadcast on August 29, 1967 was the first color broadcast of the Bavarian Radio. It was produced at the IFA in Berlin with the help of color cameras from the NDR . Some subsequent broadcasts from Unterföhring were then produced in black and white again.

Idol

The quiz format came from Mark Goodson and Bill Todman and was launched in the US as the game show What's my line? first broadcast on February 2, 1950 on CBS . The program's surprise guests included Marlon Brando , Bette Davis , Doris Day , Marlene Dietrich , Walt Disney , Alfred Hitchcock , Groucho Marx , Frank Sinatra , Salvador Dalí and Ed Wynn . The advice team included u. a. the actress Arlene Francis , who also became known in Germany through the film Eins, Zwei, drei by Billy Wilder . The program was also adopted in the UK and aired from 1951 to 1963. During a visit to the BBC in London in 1954, Robert Lembke acquired the exploitation rights to this broadcast format.

First edition

The first episode was titled “Yes or No. A psychological extemporal with seven unknown sizes ”premiered on January 2, 1955. The moderator was Robert Lembke, as no one else had reported.

The first advice team included:

In the original 80-minute form of “What am I?” Seven professions had to be guessed. The first guest whose profession the team was supposed to find out was Tilde Bublitz-Lindmayer, who worked as a hairdresser. The first star guest was Vico Torriani . On March 21, 1958, the quiz was discontinued after 29 episodes, as the questioning technique had got stuck in the opinion of the audience.

Second edition

After symptoms of fatigue at “What am I?” Lembke presented the quiz “Playing with words” in 1959. Such a change was not unusual at the time, Peter Frankenfeld and Hans-Joachim Kulenkampff also presented new shows every two years. The viewers refused Lembke's new program, however, which resulted in a new edition of "What am I?" From February 11, 1961.

The new advice team consisted of:

The advice team was originally made up of Peter Kottmann, the former head of entertainment at WDR , who was replaced by Baumann in 1962 after his suicide . Anneliese Fleyenschmidt , television announcer and presenter, often alternated with Marianne Koch from 1965 to 1979 . Ingrid Wendl , Austrian TV announcer, was involved in the program as a replacement for Fleyenschmidt and Koch, Max Rüeger as a replacement for Baumann.

Since 1956 Robert Lembke took his fox terrier "Struppi" as a mascot in the program, which was supposed to guard the five-mark pieces. After his death in 1959, the dog "Jacky" was his successor, who was there until December 1968. From then on, Lembke stopped taking dogs into the studio.

Technical and organizational details

Lembke received around 6,000 letters a month in which candidates with more or less rare occupations introduced themselves. 20 to 30 of them were mostly shortlisted. A housewife also appeared before the council team; her profession was guessed very late. "Could your job be carried out by a man?" Asked Guido Baumann. A questioning look and Lembke decided: "Let's say no."

The production costs were modest: Lembke received 6,000 DM per shipment (as of 1974)  (corresponds to 8,516 euros today, adjusted for inflation), the members of the advice team almost 1,000 DM (1,419 euros) each and the assistant Irene Aulich (since 1967) 150 DM (212, 89 euros). After ten no answers, each guest could win a maximum of 50 DM, which, due to inflation, would correspond to 127.77 euros for the first year of broadcasting in 1955 and 43.76 euros for 1989.

The recording took place in Studio 2 of the Bayerischer Rundfunk in Unterföhring near Munich . Twelve programs were produced per year until 1973, after which only eight. Two programs were shot one after the other on each recording date, which also saved costs.

Stage design and props
  • a table for the advice team
  • a table for Robert Lembke with a guest
  • (Pre-) nameplates of the advice team
  • Turn-over license plates for Lembke
  • different colored piggy banks
  • a gong with a mallet
  • a signature board
  • Eye masks for the guessing team for celebrity guessing

Procedure and rituals

Since 1961, every program has been divided into four rounds of installments: In the first three rounds, the occupations of the three guests had to be guessed by yes / no or decision-making questions. At the beginning of each round, Robert Lembke asked his guest the standard question in cozy Bavarian language: "Which piglet would you like?" typical - not too revealing - hand gesture. Each member of the advice team was then allowed to ask a question until they received a “no”. Then the right to ask questions was passed on to the next one. After every “no”, Lembke flipped the next higher number plate forwards by hand and threw a five-mark piece into the piggy bank. Either the round was over after the tenth “No” or the profession was guessed. Afterwards, the occupation of the respective guest was usually presented with a recorded film.

The star guest appeared in the fourth round. Previously, the council members had to put on masks and then guess the name of the guest using the same yes / no scheme. The guest was not allowed to answer himself, only nod or shake his head. Robert Lembke answered for him, but always told the team beforehand the gender of the star guest. Instead of a five-mark piece, there was a small gift for every no answer, such as B. a bottle of wine. Mostly the star guest was guessed, often by the "guessing fox" Guido Baumann. After the guessing round, the guest gave a sample of his art (a song or a recorded film scene). Once there was B. Rita Pavone was a guest on the show and after the round of guessing she swung the dance floor with Hans Sachs to the sound of her famous hit “Arrivederci, Hans”.

The spectators who followed the process in the studio were often amused when the advice team pursued wrong leads. The television viewer knew the solution in advance (through a display ). The name of the star guest was also displayed for the viewer before the guessing round, although it was mostly well-known personalities. The acoustic signal (gong) was also common here.

At that time, morals were even stricter than at the later revival with Björn-Hergen Schimpf . Lembke always made sure that the advice team did not communicate with each other. Everyone was on their own when it came their turn. Those who couldn't think of anything else could only pass on the right to ask questions.

Occasionally a member of the advice team knew a non-prominent candidate personally and therefore knew his job straight away. Then the unwritten rule applied that this was indicated and one was eliminated from guessing for this round.

It also happened occasionally that a non-prominent guest was nevertheless a certain level of awareness from the outset, or that Lembke at least assumed that someone from the advice team knew the guest. In such cases, the guest came in disguise, e.g. B. in the studio with a fake beard.

Ritualized sayings

  • "Are you busy with the production or distribution of goods?" (Was usually the first question, no matter by whom)
  • "Could I come to you too?"
  • "Can you do this service for me?" (Guido Baumann)
  • "I pass on to Hans / Anneliese / .."
  • "Do you make people happy / satisfied?"
  • "Am I right in assuming that you are not ..." (Hans Sachs)
  • "Which little pig would you like?" (Robert Lembke)
  • "I hope you enjoyed it a bit and you invite us back to your next What am I?" (Robert Lembke)

Temporary end

After Robert Lembke's death on January 15, 1989, the longest-lived quiz show on German television was discontinued. The last recorded broadcast ran four days earlier. In 1969 the quiz was the most popular program on German television with 75% devices switched on. In the 1980s, “What am I?” Still reached up to 40%.

List of ARD broadcasts with Robert Lembke

EPISODE 1950s STAR GUESTS
01 01/02/1955 Vico Torriani
03/13/1955
04/11/1955
05/07/1955
05/28/1955
06/30/1955
07/28/1955
08/20/1955
09/10/1955
October 23, 1955 Ruth Leuwerik
November 19, 1955
December 11, 1955
02/25/1956
03/31/1956
04/21/1956
06/03/1956
08/25/1956
09/22/1956
10/25/1956
December 11, 1956
01/26/1957
03/30/1957
05/11/1957
07/20/1957
08/17/1957
11/02/1957
1957 Caterina Valente
29 03/21/1958 Anneliese Rothenberger , Rudolf Vogel , Sepp Herberger
EPISODE 1960s STAR GUESTS
02/11/1961 Armin Hary
03/25/1961 Elsie Attenhofer
04/22/1961 Elfie Pertramer
05/27/1961 Willy Hagara
06/24/1961 Paul Dahlke
07/28/1961 Franz Grothe
08/18/1961 Cornelia Froboess
09/13/1961 Kurt Boehme
04.10.1961 Michl Lang
11/15/1961 Willy Birgel
December 20, 1961 Ilse Werner , Josef Niessen
January 17, 1962 Maria Andergast
02/17/1962 Joachim Fuchsberger
03/28/1962 Bibi Johns
04/18/1962 Barbi Henneberger
05/16/1962 Bill Ramsey
06/13/1962 Trude Hesterberg
07/18/1962 Erika Koeth
08/15/1962 Felix von Eckardt
09/12/1962 Hermann Prey
10/17/1962 Manfred Germar
11/07/1962 Ralf Bendix , Willi Daume , Melitta Muszely
December 11, 1962 Hugo Strasser
01/09/1963 Olive Moorefield
02/13/1963 Hans Jürgen Diedrich
03/13/1963 Hans Hotter
04/17/1963 Hermann Prey , Wolfgang Windgassen
05/22/1963 Luise Ullrich
06/26/1963 Fritz Wunderlich
07/31/1963 Rita prank
08/21/1963 Ernst Fritz Fürbringer
09/25/1963 Willy Reichert
October 16, 1963 Maria Stader
11/06/1963 Fred Bertelmann
December 04, 1963 Ingeborg Hallstein
January 15, 1964 Lale Andersen
02/26/1964 Ursula Noack
03/11/1964 Therese Giehse
39 04/22/1964 Peter Alexander
40 05/06/1964 Charlie Rivel
41 06/24/1964 Ludwig Schmidseder
42 07/22/1964 Hans Hopf
43 08/26/1964 Liselotte powder
44 09/23/1964 Hertha Töpper
45 October 28, 1964 Gloria Davy
46 11/25/1964 Willi Holdorf
47 December 31, 1964 Rudolf Koeckert
48 01/20/1965 Michael Jary
49 02/17/1965 Hanne again
50 03/17/1965 Kieth Engen
51 04/07/1965 Lisa della Casa
52 05/12/1965 Regine Heitzer
53 06/16/1965 Agnes Fink
54 07/14/1965 Anja Silja
55 08/25/1965 Jess Thomas
56 09/29/1965 Heidi cable
57 10/27/1965 Christiane Hörbiger
58 11/24/1965 Hilde Güden
59 12/22/1965 Regensburg Cathedral Sparrows
60 01/26/1966 Vico Torriani
61 02/23/1966 Carl Schuricht
62 March 16, 1966 Inge Meysel
63 04/20/1966 Johanna von Koczian
64 May 25, 1966 Hans-Jochen Vogel
65 06/22/1966 Esther & Abi Ofarim
66 07/20/1966 Anneliese Rothenberger
67 08/23/1966 Ursula Herking
68 09/20/1966 Hilde Krahl , Wolfgang Liebeneiner
69 10/25/1966 Udo Juergens
70 11/22/1966 Heinz Rühmann
71 December 20, 1966 Wastl Fanderl
72 02/28/1967 Graziella Sciutti
73 03/21/1967 Heidelinde Weis
74 04/18/1967 Dieter Hildebrandt
75 05/23/1967 Margit Schramm
76 06/27/1967 Henry Vahl
77 07/25/1967 Leonie Rysanek
78 08/15/1967 Rudolf shock
79 08/29/1967 Luis Trenker
80 09/26/1967 Wilhelm Bungert
81 October 24, 1967 Gitte Hænning
82 11/21/1967 Eva Pflug
83 December 19, 1967 Schöneberg Boys' Choir
84 01/23/1968 Caterina Valente
85 02/20/1968 Cornelia Froboess
86 03/19/1968 Grethe Weiser
87 04/23/1968 Sabine Sinjen
88 05/21/1968 Josef Neckermann
89 06/25/1968 Helmut Zacharias
90 07/23/1968 Josef Meinrad
91 08/20/1968 Gerhard Winkler
92 09/24/1968 Karin Huebner
93 October 29, 1968 Roy Black
94 11/26/1968 Robert proud
95 December 17, 1968 Alexandra
96 01/14/1969 Karl Schiller
97 02/11/1969 Jürgen von Manger
98 03/11/1969 Claire Watson
99 04/22/1969 Nadja Tiller
100 05/20/1969 Hildegard Knef
101 06/24/1969 Wencke Myhre
102 07/15/1969 Felicia Weathers
103 08/19/1969 Walter Berry , Christa Ludwig
104 09/23/1969 Shmuel Rodensky
105 10/21/1969 Irene Mann
106 11/25/1969 Heintje
107 12/30/1969 Françoise Hardy
EPISODE 1970s STAR GUESTS
108 01/20/1970 Helen Vita
109 02/24/1970 Renate Holm
110 March 24, 1970 Rita Pavone
111 04/21/1970 Freddy Quinn
112 May 19, 1970 Anna Moffo
113 06/23/1970 Fritz Rieger
114 07/21/1970 Heinz Haber
115 August 18, 1970 Uschi Glas
116 09/22/1970 Peter Alexander , Werner Bochmann
117 10/20/1970 Mireille Mathieu
118 11/17/1970 Wilma Lipp
119 December 22, 1970 Karel Gott
120 01/26/1971 Willy Millowitsch
121 02/23/1971 Heinz Erhardt
122 03/23/1971 Günter Netzer
123 04/20/1971 Roberto Blanco
124 05/18/1971 Gilbert Bécaud
125 06/15/1971 Rex gildo
126 07/27/1971 Wolfgang Sawallisch
127 08/24/1971 Ralph Maria Siegel , Olympic hostess Silvia Sommerlath (later Silvia of Sweden )
128 09/21/1971 Katja Ebstein
129 October 19, 1971 Vicky Leandros
130 11/16/1971 Salvatore Adamo
131 December 21, 1971 Daliah Lavi
132 January 11, 1972 Ivan Rebroff
133 02/08/1972 Dietmar Schönherr
134 07.03.1972 Gert Frobe
135 04/04/1972 Jacques-Yves Cousteau
136 05/02/1972 Viktor de Kowa
137 05/30/1972 James Last
138 06/27/1972 Reinhard Mey
139 07/25/1972 Dagmar Koller
140 08/22/1972 Vicco von Bülow
141 09/26/1972 Senta Berger
142 October 31, 1972 Michael Schanze
143 11/28/1972 Werner Finck
144 January 16, 1973 Charles Aznavour
145 02/13/1973 Gustav Knuth
146 03/13/1973 Rudi Carrell
147 04/10/1973 Mary Roos
148 05/08/1973 Tony Marshall
149 06/05/1973 Juliette Gréco
150 07/03/1973 Ursula Herking
151 07/31/1973 Heino
152 08/28/1973
153 09/25/1973 Marianne Mendt
154 23.10.1973 Erika Pluhar
155 11/20/1973 René Kollo
156 01/29/1974 Paul Kuhn
157 02/26/1974 Peter Rubin
158 03/26/1974 Gundula Janowitz
159 04/23/1974 Bruce Low
160 05/28/1974 Cindy & Bert
161 07/02/1974 Lilli Palmer
162 09/03/1974 Fritz Muliar
163 09/24/1974 Edith Mathis
164 05/11/1974 Manfred Köhnlechner
165 December 3, 1974 Peter Minich
166 01/28/1975 Rudolf Platte
167 02/25/1975 Brigitte Fassbaender
168 04/25/1975 Johannes Heesters
169 04/29/1975 Ephraim Kishon
170 May 27, 1975 Roy Etzel
171 09/02/1975 Peter Schreier
172 09/30/1975 Walter Bruch
173 October 28, 1975 Dalida
174 11/25/1975 Curd Juergens
175 December 23, 1975 Tölzer Boys Choir
176 01/20/1976 Elisabeth Flickenschildt
177 02/17/1976 Emil Steinberger
178 03/30/1976 Bernhard Russi
179 04/27/1976 Margot Fonteyn
180 06/01/1976 Otto Waalkes
181 06/29/1976 Helmuth Lohner
182 05.10.1976 Boy Gobert
183 11/02/1976 Theo Adam
184 11/30/1976 Gunter Gabriel
185 12/28/1976 Ernst Hilbich
186 02/01/1977 Friedrich Torberg
187 03/01/1977 Michael Heltau
188 04/12/1977 Rudolf Fernau
189 05/17/1977 Peter Horton
190 06/21/1977 Silver Convention
191 07/26/1977 Margot Werner
192 08/30/1977 Ingrid Steeger
193 09/27/1977 Peter Igelhoff
194 11/08/1977 Nana Mouskouri
195 12/13/1977 Reri Grist
196 January 17, 1978 Max Greger
197 02/21/1978 Helen Donath
198 03/28/1978 Roger Whittaker
199 05/02/1978 Peter Ustinov
200 06/06/1978 Hazy Osterwald
201 07/11/1978 Volker Lechtenbrink
202 09/19/1978 Otto Schenk
203 10/17/1978 Peter Kraus
204 11/14/1978 Milva
205 December 07, 1978 Sylvia Geszty
January 16, 1979 André Heller
02/20/1979 Fredl Fesl
03/27/1979 Sophia Loren
05/01/1979 Ursela Monn
06/05/1979 Martin hero
07/10/1979 Ingrid Bjoner
09/04/1979 Elfriede Ott
10/09/1979 Margret Dünser
11/20/1979 Harry Belafonte
December 18, 1979 Mildred Scheel
EPISODE 1980s STAR GUESTS
January 15, 1980 Joana
02/26/1980 Dieter Hallervorden
April 8, 1980 Samy Molcho
05/20/1980 Konstantin Wecker
07/01/1980 Paul Hörbiger
250 07/29/1980 Julia Migenes
09/02/1980 Ludwig Hirsch
07.10.1980 Louise Martini
11/18/1980 Stephan Sulke
12/30/1980 Kurt Boehme
01/27/1981 Gotthilf Fischer
03/03/1981 Franz Alt , Kurt Felix , Friedrich Nowottny
04/07/1981 Peter Hofmann
05/12/1981 Werner Schneyder
06/16/1981 Erni Singerl
07/21/1981 Howard Carpendale
08/25/1981 Ralph Siegel , Karel Gott
09/29/1981 Gitte Hænning
11/03/1981 Elizabeth Teissier
December 8, 1981 Horst Stern
01/12/1982 Pierre Brice , Richard Clayderman
02/16/1982 Lucia Popp
03/30/1982 Jupp Derwall
05/11/1982 Walter Sedlmayr
06/15/1982 Nicole
07/20/1982 Roland Kaiser
08/24/1982 Waldemar Kmentt
09/28/1982 Bud Spencer
11/23/1982 Carl Raddatz
December 21, 1982 Gustl Bayrhammer
01/04/1983 Marianne Hoppe
03/08/1983 Chris Howland
04/05/1983 Denise Biellmann
05/03/1983 Sydne Rome
07/05/1983 Liv Ullmann
08/16/1983 Werner Höfer
09/01/1983 Costa Cordalis
09/27/1983 Thomas Gottschalk , Mike Krüger
11/01/1983 Edda Moser
December 6, 1983 Veronica Carstens
01/31/1984 Zsa Zsa Gabor
03/06/1984 Beatrice Richter
04/10/1984 Bernd Weikl
05/15/1984 Maxl Graf
09/04/1984 Julius Hackethal
10/09/1984 Peter Weck
11/27/1984 Bernhard Vogel
01/01/1985 Bernd Gottschalk
02/26/1985 Lore Lorentz
March 26, 1985 Carl-Heinz Schroth
300 05/04/1985 Vico Torriani
301 May 21, 1985 Siegfried Lowitz
302 06/25/1985 Axel von Ambesser , Reiner Klimke
303 07/23/1985 Peter Cornelius
304 08/20/1985 Wants to fly quad
305 09/10/1985 Paola Felix
306 10/22/1985 Dave Dudley
307 November 19, 1985 Heinz Sielmann
308 01/14/1986 Peter Alexander , Franz Beckenbauer
309 02/18/1986 Klaus Hofmann
310 03/18/1986 Georges Moustaki
311 04/22/1986 Rolf Knie , Gaston & Pipo
312 06/03/1986 Mary & Gordy
313 07/08/1986 Michael Ende
314 08/12/1986 Mike Kruger
315 09/16/1986 GRACE, Peter Wirnsberger
316 10/28/1986 Peter Maffay
317 12/02/1986 Rondò Veneziano
318 01/06/1987 Franz Xaver Kroetz
319 02/17/1987 Rainhard Fendrich
320 04/14/1987 Jennifer Rush
321 05/05/1987 Teddy Podgorski
322 05/26/1987 Pirmin Zurbriggen
323 07/07/1987 Francisco Araiza
324 08/11/1987 Harald Juhnke
325 09/15/1987 Helmut Fischer
326 10/20/1987 Eberhard Diepgen
327 December 01, 1987 Jil Sander
328 02/09/1988 Angelika Milster
329 03/15/1988 first general uncertainty
330 04/26/1988 Wolfgang Reichmann
331 May 24, 1988 Evelyn Hamann
332 07/05/1988 Audrey Hepburn
333 08/02/1988 Thomas Gottschalk
334 09/13/1988 40 guests of honor for Robert Lembke's 75th birthday
335 11/01/1988 Eddie Constantine
336 11/29/1988 Karl Ridderbusch
337 01/10/1989 Oleg Popow - Last broadcast with Robert Lembke

Revivals

Sat 1

Guido Baumann moderated the show in 1990 with the old advice team on the private broadcaster Sat.1 under the title “Heiter weiter” . The quiz show was discontinued after 26 episodes.

First German television

From 1990 to 1993, Bayerischer Rundfunk continued Joachim Fuchsberger's broadcast under the title “Yes or No” with 60 episodes. The advice team consisted of:

Cable one

On October 5, 2000, the show was reissued by kabel eins , moderated by Björn-Hergen Schimpf . The advice team consisted of:

Since the 12th season of the show on Kabel 1, a guest rate fox has visited every show and replaced a member of the advice team. Schimpf changed Robert Lembke's question about the piggy bank into “Which sow exactly?” Or “Which animal from here?”.

With the introduction of the euro, the conceptual task of what amount should be played had to be solved. The largest regular unit here only goes up to the two euro coin. This problem was solved by purchasing three sets of ten five-mark pieces from a coin dealer for production. After the broadcast, the winnings were converted into euros and given to the candidate.

The main change compared to the original was that the advice team was allowed to find solutions together; so there was wild chatter, Feuerstein left z. B. once outraged the table and demonstratively sat down in the audience or Tanja Schumann danced on the table.

During the piloting there was a complete second advice team, which u. a. the one from “ All nothing right ?! “Well-known Hella belonged to her senses . Based on market research results, however, the other panel prevailed.

An additional guessing round with Mr. X was introduced at Kabel Eins . This was a person who civilly bears the name of a celebrity or a well-known fictional character from film, television or novels. There were candidates named Stephen King or Heinz Rühmann. It was a question of guessing this name.

After a total of twelve seasons produced, the show was discontinued in early 2005.

ProSieben

In his TV total program , Stefan Raab tried, based on “What am I?” In “Who am I and what am I actually doing here?” To guess an employee whose work was then presented by asking yes-no. Elton guided through the guessing game, in which the employee could win up to ten five-mark pieces. TV total was discontinued in December 2015.

NDR

In August 2020, NDR broadcast the 100th broadcast of Hardly to believe! in which a four-person guessing team has to guess special occupations or experiences of visitors.

Parody of the November 2nd 1976 broadcast

In the Harald Schmidt Show , excerpts from the program from November 2, 1976 were shown and then parodied with the hand puppets Bimmel and Bommel . These said among other things:

  • Lembke: “Which little pig would you like?” Bommel: “What did he say?” Bimmel: “He said we should choose a pig.” Bommel: “Well, Tony Marshall .” Bimmel: “No, which color we want. "
  • Bommel: "He's got a sweet bottom." Bimmel: "Bommel, that's a piggy bank."

literature

Related concepts

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ br.de: Bayerischer Rundfunk then and now
  2. ↑ youtube.com: What am I - job housewife - 1962 with Robert Lembke