''Familie Heinz Becker'' is a German

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

that aired from 1992 through 2004, created, written and directed by and starring German comedian and cabaret artist Gerd Dudenhöffer. It is based on Dudenhöffer's most famous character Heinz Becker, whom he also had previously played live on stage and continues to play until today in various stage programs.

Synopsis

The show revolves around the everday normal lives of Heinz Becker, a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

fuddy-duddy "Fuddy-duddy" (or "fuddy duddy" or "fuddy-dud") is a term for a person who is fussy while old-fashioned, traditionalist, conformist or conservative, sometimes almost to the point of eccentricity or geekiness. It is a slang term, mildly derogatory ...

and

reactionary In politics, a reactionary is a person who favors a return to a previous state of society which they believe possessed positive characteristics absent from contemporary.''The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought'' Third Edition, (1999) p. 729. ...

ordinary

Saarland Saarland (, ; ) is a state of Germany in the southwest of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and the smallest in ...

man, and his family, consistiong of his son Stefan and his wife Hilde, as well as those of neighbors and onlookers, although the focus of the series changed over the course of the series. In the first season, much of the humor was derived from Heinz's petty behavior; the character of his wife, Hilde, was not played for laughs. During seasons 2–4, Hilde's character became more naive but was devoted; much of the humor came from family dialogues. After Season 4, the focus shifted more to public life. Seasons 6 and 7 are not as well esteemed by critics as they repeat a number of older jokes and much of the comedy came from awkward situations, misspeaking, and other more mainstream comedic elements. As one of the first TV programmes regularly to broadcast the

accent with elements of dialect (" Saarpfälzisch") throughout Germany, it has been seen as contributing to the recognition of the regional culture.

Episode list

External links

* 1992 German television series debuts 2004 German television series endings German television sitcoms German-language television shows Das Erste original programming {{Germany-comedy-tv-prog-stub