Rooms vacant!

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Television broadcast
Original title Rooms vacant! - Celebrities are looking for a home
ZimmerFrei.svg
Country of production Germany
original language German
Year (s) 1996-2016
Production
company
WDR
length about 60 minutes
Episodes 694 ( list )
Broadcasting
cycle
weekly (sundays)
genre Talk / entertainment
Theme music These Days are old by Spookey Ruben
production Jörn Felix O'Daniel
Moderation
First broadcast July 9, 1996 on WDR television

Rooms vacant! (Full title: Zimmer frei! - Celebrities are looking for a home ) was a weekly television show hosted by Götz Alsmann and Christine Westermann on WDR , which was broadcast in 694 regular episodes from July 1996 to September 25, 2016.

Concept of broadcast

Christine Westermann and Götz Alsmann

The two facilitators appointed two residents of a fictitious Urbanization is (WG) who were looking for a "free room" a "roommate". The prominent guest of the show represented the interested party for the room. During the show, the moderators (and thus also the audience) got to know the guest better through conversations and tested his "flat share suitability" with various games and tasks.

The basic process was always the same: after the greeting, the guest sat down with the moderators to eat. The meal was designed according to the preferences of the guest and was first prepared by the Cologne chef Jörg Blöck , later by the chef Frank Eicks (Bad Münstereifel), shortly before the program began. During the meal, conversations about the guest's life and profession began. In a film, an outside reporter presented the guest's apartment, place of work or vacation home, for example, and conducted an interview with his friends, neighbors or colleagues. The changing external reporters included Manes Meckenstock , Katja Mitchell , Thorsten Schorn , Jörg Thadeusz , Lutz van der Horst and Sabine Heinrich .

In addition, the guest had to solve a picture puzzle , which was portrayed by actors and amateur actors. The term to be guessed was always related to the celebrity and was displayed for the television viewer. Since the moderators helped when needed, the puzzle was always solved. As a reward, the guest received a book, a scarf or a CD for the broadcast.

In the further course of the program, more games were interspersed in which the guest had to prove himself. These party games were less about winning and more about demonstrating humor .

The "flat share room", accessible via a spiral staircase

It was more serious in the "flat share room". This was on a gallery, which could be reached via a spiral staircase , and was thematically decorated in relation to the guest. Here Christine Westermann conducted an interview about the guest's private life.

Martin Reinl with the dog "Wiwaldi" and the circus horse "Horst-Pferdinand"

The conversations then continued on the sofa or at the table. The guest was always confronted with a special figure with whom he had to interact. From 2002 on, the puppeteer Martin Reinl played the dog "Wiwaldi" regularly in this role and played jokes with the celebrity. In the early years Gerburg Jahnke could be seen as the neighbor “Nora Nölle”, who visited the flat share and chatted with the guest. From 1998 to 2008 Cordula Stratmann followed as "Annemie Hülchrath", who also played a neighbor who, in a colorful apron, confronted the guest with bizarre or absurd incidents in her environment and thus lured them out of reserve. The comedian Johann König also appeared in older programs and involved the guest in conversations that were not always serious and sometimes bizarre.

In addition, the guest had to prove himself to the house music. With Götz Alsmann's accompaniment, he sang or played a song of his choice. After the "ultimate adulation", in which a close confidante of the guest praised the guest's advantages in a short film, the program ended with the audience voting. The 140 spectators in the studio voted with green and red cards for or against the admission of the guest to the fictitious shared apartment. Most of the guests received a maximum of ten red cards.

Fritz Pleitgen , Claus Kleber , Anja Kling , Christine Urspruch , Armin Maiwald , Jürgen von der Lippe , Volker Brandt (all 2006), Rocko Schamoni , Christina Stürmer , Mariele Millowitsch (all 2007) and Horst Lichter , Thomas Quasthoff , were without any dissenting votes . Steffi Jones , Adel Tawil , Rudolf Kowalski , Gerburg Jahnke , Lea Linster , Marc Bator , Joachim Fuchsberger , Anna Maria Mühe , Karoline Herfurth , Anna Loos , Stefanie Kloß , Clueso and Matthias Schweighöfer (all 2009), Diana Damrau , Oliver Mommsen , Jürgen Marcus , Katrin Sass , Axel Prahl , Dunja Hayali , Tobias Mann , Paul van Dyk and Alexandra Maria Lara , Erdogan Atalay (all 2010), Claus Theo Gärtner , Reiner Calmund , Stefanie Stappenbeck (2011), Matthias Opdenhövel , Bernhard Hoëcker , Jörg Hartmann (2013), Nelson Müller (2014) and Thomas Gottschalk (2016) were selected.

Mostly red cards were given to Frédéric von Anhalt , Rolf Zacher , Cherno Jobatey , Mathieu Carrière , HA Schult and Martin Sonneborn .

From 2011, the 15th anniversary of the show, numerous guests were invited a second time (see below ). In that case, the guests were allowed to bring their own picture puzzle, which Christine Westermann and Götz Alsmann had to solve. In some cases, red and green cards were no longer used to vote on the collection; Instead, the audience “honored” the guest with gold cards at the end.

history

Rooms vacant! started in summer 1996 as a gap filler for the summer break. The WDR tried out various new broadcasting concepts, of which only this program survived. Initially, 18 issues were planned in six weeks, not a long-term format. Götz Alsmann called the show "a screensaver" at the time. The concept was developed by a team of authors and editors from different areas of the WDR. The basis was the idea of ​​Heiner Heller, a 1Live editor, to set up a talk show in the vicinity of a shared apartment.

In the course of time there have been various changes in the course of the program. Eating together was introduced later and the number of games was lower. The guest did not necessarily have to solve the picture puzzle. However, it had to prove itself in practical tests when cooking and cleaning. A real “live flat-sharing community” was connected to each program, which mostly consisted of students and could interfere with the current program at any time to ask questions or express opinions about the guest. Luigi Colani and Rudolph Moshammer acted as style consultants and commented on the outfits of the guests via video or gave furnishing tips. The audience voted by show of hands.

Formative for rooms available from the start! was the creative costume design. Hubertine Roderburg was responsible as a costume designer for the majority of the over 14,000 costumes .

For a while, several prominent personalities appeared as "neighbors". In addition to Johann König, they included Cordula Stratmann (as "Annemie Hülchrath") and the Missfits , Käthe Lachmann , Hennes Bender , Knacki Deuser , Ingo Appelt , Martin Bruß, Christoph Brüske , Arthur Senkrecht and Gerburg Jahnke . Before 2004, Martin Reinl played "The demanding roles" (consisting of a speaking toilet and kitchen roll as well as rollmops and neck roll), which were originally a picture puzzle. In addition, Jürgen Drews rang regularly and asked to be admitted. He was always rejected by Götz Alsmann with various reasons. The same fate befell Harry Wijnvoord and Gotthilf Fischer .

In the first broadcasts, the latter was considered the actual inhabitant of the free room. Because he was supposedly on a trip around the world, he sent holiday greetings by video, later even from space. In the 18th show, which should be the last according to the original plans, Fischer was determined as the winner of the free room with the game Reise nach Jerusalem .

In 2012 the show got a refreshment in the form of a new studio. Well-known elements such as the kitchen were either removed or adapted to the new set. The new studio now looked more elegant and above all offered more space for the studio activities.

Group picture with some of the guests of the farewell program

In January 2015, Götz Alsmann announced in an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung that the format would end in 2016. A two hour farewell party from Zimmer frei! with many guests from previous programs was broadcast on September 25, 2016.

Withheld shipments

Several programs were broadcast very late or not at all.

The WDR broadcast the edition with Cherno Jobatey on February 7, 1999 on November 23, 2003, four years after it was recorded. Alsmann and Westermann annoyed the guest with various allusions to his previous dyslexia (through alphabet soup , ABC plaster , Scrabble ) and provocative questions ("Can you actually do something?") So much that the guest temporarily left the studio and then reluctantly involved. Between the recording and the broadcast, the moderators spoke of their “Chernobyl” several times, referring to the Chernobyl disaster . On the occasion of a review in the issue of March 4, 2012, Alsmann and Westermann for the first time offered an excuse for this that they had "not smeared themselves with fame".

The program with Jim Rakete , recorded in January 2003 , never aired. The room-free editor Hans-Georg Kellner justified this with the fact that rocket was not willing to "adapt to the particularities of 'room free'". The WDR gave no reason.

A program with Martin Sonneborn announced for October 4, 2009 was initially not to be broadcast, but after increased media interest and increased audience inquiries, it found its way to an unscheduled slot in the night program at short notice. The reason for the non-broadcasting was given by a spokeswoman for the WDR that the program did not meet the standards of content. During the broadcast, Sonneborn acted as chairman of the satirical party The Party and ignored the usual questions about his private personality in the broadcast. Furthermore, there had already been tensions between him and Christine Westermann before the broadcast, which had intensified during the course of the recording. According to his own statement, in the withdrawn TV show, he also indirectly promoted the cancellation of the GEZ .

For similar reasons, a program recorded in 1998 with Christoph Schlingensief was not broadcast regularly. Like Sonneborn, Schlingensief had advertised his satirical party Chance 2000 .

guest list

From March 2011 the following guests were invited to the show a second time: Alfons Schuhbeck , Barbara Schöneberger , Frank Elstner , Sasha , Michael Schanze , Karl Moik , Anne Will , Jens Riewa , Sabine Postel , Ralf Schmitz , Hape Kerkeling , Annette Frier , Simone Thomalla , Ina Müller , Bernd Stelter , Horst Lichter , Jürgen von der Lippe , Claudia Roth , Maite Kelly , Peter Kraus , Andrea Kiewel , Sandra Maischberger , Dieter Pfaff , Johann Lafer , Mirja Boes , Kai Pflaume , Hugo Egon Balder , Léa Linster , Nina Hagen , Olli Dittrich , Roland Kaiser , Oliver Welke , Wolfgang Niedecken , Bettina Tietjen , Miroslav Nemec , Til Schweiger , Guido Cantz , Bettina Böttinger , Wigald Boning , Andy Borg , Tim Mälzer , Thomas Hermanns , Wencke Myhre , Ludger Stratmann , Armin Rohde , Michael Kessler , Ulrike Folkerts , Matthias Opdenhövel , Semino Rossi , Kim Fisher , Max Moor , Bernhard Hoëcker , Natalia Wörner , Mariele Millowitsch , Ann-Kathrin Kramer , Harald Krassnitzer , Birgit Sch rowange , Sven Plöger , Reinhold Beckmann , Caroline Peters , Wilfried Schmickler , Wotan Wilke Möhring , Oliver Mommsen , Christine Neubauer , Mary Roos , Uwe Ochsenknecht , Ranga Yogeshwar , ChrisTine Urspruch , Denis Scheck , Gerburg Jahnke , Konrad Beikircher , Sarah Connor , Armin Maiwald , Meret Becker , Katrin Bauerfeind , Markus Lanz , Richy Müller and Axel Prahl .

Production and broadcast

The 60-minute program was broadcast on Sunday evening at 10:15 p.m. on WDR television . Repetitions run on some third-party programs of ARD as well as the digital additional program One . A program was broadcast live about every four weeks . In the same week, four to five shows were produced in a row that were broadcast live on tape . The program was produced alternately on the WDR site in Cologne-Bocklemünd or in the WDR broadcasting center in downtown Cologne ( Appellhofplatz / Wallrafplatz ).

Because the show was so successful, WDR temporarily postponed it to prime time at 8:15 p.m. However, when the market shares fell below one percent, the broadcaster had to revise the decision. Rooms vacant! also ran on a test basis in the first . A 90-minute anniversary episode with guest Udo Jürgens was broadcast there.

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. resume on cordula-stratmann.de
  2. Meedia: This is how Sonneborn flew out of the WDR program . In: meedia.de . Retrieved September 9, 2012.
  3. WDR: The Concept - Prominent Shared Apartment ( Memento from February 18, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), viewed February 5, 2010
  4. Hubertine Roderburg in the IMDB, since 1996 costume design for rooms free! Retrieved August 15, 2017 .
  5. rooms available! Fact # 9 Clothes make the man. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on August 16, 2017 ; accessed on August 15, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / reportage.wdr.de
  6. ^ Out after 20 years: "Zimmer frei" ends in 2016 , in: dwdl.de, as seen on January 20, 2015
  7. SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg Germany: Last episode "Zimmer frei!": Farewell party with a shower head. In: SPIEGEL ONLINE. Retrieved October 3, 2016 .
  8. ^ Protected embarrassment on tagesspiegel.de
  9. Ulli Tückmantel: WDR banishes episode in the archive ( Memento of the original from December 24th, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.rp-online.de archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , RP online, October 5, 2009
  10. Ulli Tückmantel: “There is a lack of respect for the GEZ payer” ( memento of the original from October 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.rp-online.de archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Interview with Martin Sonneborn), RP online, October 7, 2009
  11. Alexander Becker: This is how Sonneborn flew out of the WDR program ( memento of the original from October 9, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Interview with Martin Sonneborn), Meedia, October 6, 2009  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / meedia.de