RTL shows “RTL Saturday Night – The Reunion” on October 29 (also via RTL). The well-known comedy sketch show ran extremely successfully on German TV from 1993 to 1998 and always lured viewers in front of the television on Saturdays just before midnight. What is planned for the big reunion show and will the format return in the long term?
RTL has announced “RTL Saturday night – the reunion” as a big gala show with the stars of yesteryear. Olli Dittrich (65), Wigald Boning (55), Stefan Jürgens (59), Tanja Schumann (60), Tommy Krappweis (50), Mark Weigel (53) and Esther Schweins (52) will be there. They will present sketch classics such as “Two Chairs – One Opinion” or “News from Spocht” as well as parodies and music. Hugo Egon Balder (72), the former producer of the comedy format, will lead through the evening.
Die Prinzen are part of the party as a special musical guest. Together with Die Doofen (Dittrich and Boning) they sing for the TV comeback “(Du muss ein) Schwein sein”, one of the biggest hits from Leipzig in 1995. The reinterpretation was released on CD for the first time as part of the Prinzen album “Crown of Creation”. They are now performing the song together for the first time on TV.
“As the producer at the time, to moderate the big ‘RTL Saturday Night’ reunion and meet the old crew makes me very happy. It will be fun,” said Hugo Egon Balder before the show was broadcast. It also goes without saying that “of course we also pay tribute to our friend Mirco Nontschew on the show.”
Mirco Nontschew (1969-2021) was part of the regular cast of the Saturday night show and was part of the ensemble from 1993 to the end of 1998. Later he also celebrated successes in the cinema with the “7 Dwarfs” films by his colleague Otto Waalkes (74). He also took part in the first and third seasons of the Amazon Prime Video comedy show “LOL: Last One Laughing”. The comedian died on December 3, 2021 at the age of 52 in his Berlin apartment.
In addition to the homage in the reunion show, RTL will then show a special at 11:35 p.m. The “Best of” is intended to “commemorate the most unforgettable skits and songs as well as the most popular gags and dance numbers by the exceptional artist”. The “RTL Saturday Night” crew and other comedians will pay tribute to their colleague and friend.
Some of the “Saturday Night” skits still enjoy cult status today – including the “Saturday Night News” column with the sports show satire “Spocht”. The show was very popular and received awards such as the Bambi, the Bavarian TV Prize, the Radio Luxemburg Lion and the Grimme Prize.
But is the format now getting a second chance and will it be seen more often on TV again? “RTL Saturday Night” will probably not come back permanently, as Hugo Egon Balder recently explained at the Munich Media Days and emphasized that the comeback will remain a one-off thing.
