Der Theo
Theo Maassen grew up in Germany and was the only boy in his class in '74 not to become World Champion. With the European Championship approaching and football as a starting point, Theo gives an adventurous tour to get to know the real Germany. Are the Germans smarter, faster, stronger and better than us?
Episodes
TheTheo visits Germany's largest comedy festival to unravel German humor. He dives into the audience of the Dutch comedian Patrick Nederkoorn, who has been performing successfully in Germany for years with his program Die Orangene Gefahr. The internationally recognized fact that Germans have no humor raises questions: why are they always so serious? Why can't they just make a joke for once? Theo investigates the difference between German and Dutch humor and finally ends up at a blind football tournament.
Theo speaks in Berlin with Rudolph Herzog, who researched humor in the Third Reich. He discovered remarkable things. Theo also speaks with the half German-half Dutch Sven Ratzke about the disappeared art of Das Kabarett. And he is present at the Deutsche Tag der Wiedervereinigung, the day on which it is celebrated that the Wall fell and Germany became one country again, but they do not seem to be that united.
Theo meets his German voice double Claus-Peter, also the voice of the German Miss Piggy. In Germany, all films and TV series are dubbed, including Theo's. What can we Dutch learn from these living voice-over machines that manage to squeeze the German language into a film at the millisecond's notice? Theo continues to the cradle of electronic music; Dusseldorf. Birthplace of Kraftwerk who saw themselves as the ultimate Mensch-Maschine. Finally, Theo is with Linh Tran. This lady is a seven-time table football world champion. Her nickname: Die Maschine.
Theo discovers that German culture is actually very unifying: from the traditional Frühschoppen to the endangered club culture of Berlin's nightlife. Everyone is equal. Or is it all just an excuse to drink beer? Theo also visits a special phenomenon: the German National Writers' Team. Why don't we have that? Germans see culture as an essential necessity of life and attach fundamental importance to it. How people express themselves and how they celebrate says a lot about their innermost being; their soul.
In Berlin, Theo visits the star restaurant Nobelhart & Schmutzig, where they have made traditional German cuisine attractive again. Near Munich, Theo goes out with Gisi and Moni Meinel-Hansen, two young sisters who run a centuries-old family brewery. Theo helps during the traditional Bockbieranstich in the brewery. Food and drink are the fuel of every footballer, but German food and drinks are not known for being particularly tasty or healthy. Yet Germans become world champions on a diet of beer and bratwurst. The central question: what is the secret behind the Germans' fuel?
The 1974 World Cup title was actually stolen from us. Because the final was not lost on the field, but here, in this swimming pool. And Theo has tracked down the person responsible. Our national penalty trauma is also being examined: with Dutch national team and Borussia Dortmund handball goalkeeper Tess Wester and German penalty professor Daniel Memmert.
