Formats

Good talk shows on television should help form the opinion of the viewer. They should also be spontaneous, cheeky and disrespectful. So thinks Harald Keller, who has written a book about the history of the German talk show.

”Today, the meaning of life is to organize drivel competitions and keep gigantic noise machines, howling machines and drivel amplification machines running day and night”, the Dadaist Jean Arp once said. Is the German talk show a howling machine?

That is a question of how you view and define it. Personally, I generally regard a talk show as being, quite literally, a show in which people talk. And in this sense German television has something to offer everyone, whatever their taste or area of interest, even in the highbrow segment – like Das Philosophische Quartett (ZDF), for example, or Bilderstreit (3sat).

The talk show is generally thought to be an American invention. Is that in fact the case?

No. It is only the name which comes from the Anglo-Saxon world. Even back in the days of the Weimar Republic, for instance, public discussions were held in front of an audience – at this point in time without any involvement of the radio, which picked up on this format later. At the same time, the concept of the didactic discussion developed in the early years of German radio and was intended to have an educational and thought-provoking effect. Television then adopted these forms of broadcast in its early days.

Media talk after the talk show

Many of the first talk shows were political discussions. Do talk shows continue (even today) to play a part in the formation of political opinion?

Whether the shows have an impact on individual television viewers I – as a programme historian – am unable to say. What is certainly true, however, is that politicians penetrate through to their “multipliers” by appearing on talk shows. The so-called “political talk shows” are regularly reported on in detail in the media. Such reviews and critical comments are on the increase, not least as a result of the Internet. They are also published more quickly than they used to be, which often generates a sort of snowball effect, thus reaching a wider public.

Niche existence in East Germany

Talk shows offer a forum for free speech – or so one would assume. Did a talk show culture also exist in East Germany?

Just like in the West, there was a tradition in East Germany right from the earliest days of broadcasting of hosting public television debates on cultural themes. As the youth series Jugendfilmclub shows, this was also able to raise particular societal problems via the vehicle of the cultural theme, though this only worked in programming niches. In addition, there were programmes – again just like in the West – which sought to portray public figures within the framework of a discussion. One such show, which unusually was broadcast live, was the Porträt per Telefon series in which viewers could phone in with their own questions.

Gestures are just as important

Talk shows, as a discussion forum, are a genre which is really better suited to the radio...

This assumption was convincingly refuted back in the 1950s by practitioners and theoreticians alike. At the time, people realized how fascinating it can be not only to hear someone speak but also to see the facial expressions and gestures of the person speaking and of his or her listeners. This fascination remains unabated to this day.

A broad offering is the only ideal option

These days, one often has the impression that celebrities only appear on talk shows in order to plug their latest CD or book. Is there more show than talk nowadays?

Obviously, producers look for concrete reasons to invite someone onto their shows. That is neither new nor, in itself, reprehensible. However, it is important to see whether the show then does little more than advertise the article in question or whether the presentation in fact develops into an interesting and entertaining discussion, ideally also between the show’s guests.

What would be the ideal talk show for you these days?

I would not want to see one single talk show that reflects my specific taste, but rather a continued broad and diverse offering. It is important to remember that a talk show host, unlike the presenter of a game show for instance, is not supposed to hog the limelight. He is also not supposed to be in cahoots with his guests, nor to represent their interests, but should question them with an appropriate degree of scepticism.

The “underestimated programming event”

Talk shows, by their very nature, are a transitory phenomenon. What prompted you to write a “history of the German talk show”?

The history of any genre provides insights into our cultural history and can at times unearth surprising and highly fascinating phenomena which may also help other disciplines to further their knowledge.

For example, political discussions staged on the radio and television are very good evidence of how political parties have repeatedly attempted to influence programmes and their contents. This is thematically related, for instance, to the current attempt on the part of political protagonists to have Nikolaus Brender – editor-in-chief at German public service broadcaster ZDF – replaced. What is more, the archives are full of discussions with writers, artists and people in film, television and theatre.

In this sense my aim is to counteract the transitory nature of talk shows and to preserve relevant programming events – particularly those which have been forgotten or were underestimated – by at least providing a description of them.

Do you have a favourite talk show?

Like many other young people at the time, I was a big fan of 3 nach 9 in the 1970s. When I watched the shows again during my research, I found that they are just as gripping as ever. People on these programmes were allowed to be spontaneous, cheeky and feisty in their manner; within a certain framework, rules were allowed to be broken. This disrespectfulness and enthusiastic sharing of opinion was not an end in itself, however, but was intended to shed light on current cultural and social themes and recognizably sought to encourage viewers to form their own opinions.