Poor Vinzenz Kiefer. The co-star of Alarm fĂŒr Cobra 11: die Autobahnpolizei, which commemorates its 20th anniversary next year, will be written out of the show, and not by his choice.
Since the departure of Tom Beck as Ben JĂ€ger a few years ago, the producers of the long-running German action series decided to take a darker turn. Cobra 11 has always been able to reinvent itself with the times, hence the long run, and the light comedy that crept in to such awful episodes as âBabyalarmâ or the predictable âbad guys with automatic weaponsâ plots of âCodename Tigerâ (which even had a homage to Michael Bay) was deemed to be at odds with what viewers wanted. Out with Beck. In with Kiefer, a grittier looking young actor who had had a single guest outing in Cobra 11 some years earlier in another role, as a troubled young offender called Dennis Kortmann out to avenge the death of his younger brother.
The new character of Alex Brandt (incredibly close in name to Kommissar Rexâs Alex Brandtner, played by another short-lived Cobra 11 co-star, Gedeon Burkhard) seemed tailor-made for Kiefer, now 37, a deep, highly talented actor. Brandt had a back-story, caught amongst corrupt police officers which saw him go to prison, something that Cobra 11 producers tried to inject in the mid-2000s when Gedeon Burkhard replaced the ever-popular RĂ©nĂ© Steinke. The writers and story editors introduced story threads that spanned the whole season. It was all in keeping with the Zeitgeist, but, ratings dropped, despite a spectacular season finalĂ© inspired by Vantage Point but much more cleverly executed within the 45-minute running time. We finally saw some acting chops from the entire cast: star ErdoÄan Atalay got to exercise his not inconsiderable talent as family man and cop Semir Gerkhan, and there was even a hint of “will they or won’t they?” between Brandt and Katrin HeĂ’s Jenny Dornâwho had previously been in a relationship with Niels Kurvin’s Hartmut Freund character. Yet on occasion, Alarm fĂŒr Cobra 11 was even beaten by Germanyâs Next Top Model, a show which it usually trumped. And Kiefer is the fall guy.
Burkhard, too, presided over what was considered a darker, moodier season of Cobra 11 in 2007â8, yet ratings fell, and he was given the axe.
Itâs a given that the reinventions help the series, but the obsession with ratings has meant Cobra 11 returning to a level of humour and escapism each time the network, RTL, panics. In a Facebook poll this author set up with 786 respondents, fans regard Tom Beck as the best co-star (565 votes), with Kiefer a distant second (116). Old stars such as Steinke still hold up (67) despite their departure nearly a decade ago.
Why âpoor Vinzenz Kieferâ? Today, his successor, Daniel Roesner (top) was announced, which means Kiefer has to complete and, later, promote his work knowing that Alex Brandt may well be killed off (the fate of less popular co-stars) and that heâs on his way out. Alex Brandt may be the gloomy, moody DCI, but behind-the-scenes photos shared by Atalay and HeĂ show that there are plenty of hijinks, with everyone getting on well. HeĂ posted her sadness at the announcement her colleague would be given the boot on Instagram and Facebook, and Atalay ceased posting to his social media altogether (although whether that was the reason is unknown).
Roesner has the ingredients for the escapist audience: he excels in light comedy, he has a friendlier face, and he is already known to Cobra 11 audiences for playing Tacho, whom we first met in 2010 while at the police academy. His character, along with Axel Steinâs Turbo, was so popular that he was brought back for a second guest spot in 2011, and Action Concept, the makers of the series, attempted a TV pilot called Turbo und Tacho, where it is revealed that his full name is Andreas Tachinski.
Roesner wonât be playing Tachinski this time; instead, after a haircut and a new wardrobe, heâll be playing a cop called Paul Renner, and whether he designed Futura or not while working at the Bauhaus has not yet been explained. His presence will likely see a return to the escapist, self-contained scripts, with the characters turning more two-dimensional again.
Beckâs years proved that the show can rebound, but the past two with Kiefer gained him a loyal following, too. The core may well want escapism but Kiefer probably brought viewers who could leave; assuming they knew Cobra 11 had transformed to begin with. Do we want our TV heroes to be light while things are tough; or do we want them to reflect the hard times we have today? Whether RTL has calculated correctly or not will be seen when Roesnerâs episodes start with the 20th anniversary of the series; but it will be looking to reclaim the Thursday night prime-time slot more regularly than Cobra 11 has been doing in the last year. Expect huge promotions for the 20thâand to establish Roesner in the new role as RTL attempts to get its audience back.
Posts tagged ‘Zeitgeist’
The minutiĂŠ of 2011
18.12.2011As some of you know, I have been using Tumblr since 2007, and when Vox died (at least for me) in 2009, I began using Tumblr more. It was good to record brief thoughts of little consequence, but as I hunted through the archive for 2011, I realized it was quite a good way to see what little thoughts crept up during the year.
I had blogged less on Tumblr in the last few weeks, just out of sheer busy-ness, and because Facebookâs Timeline has been quite a compelling way to get instant gratification from posts from people I know. But Tumblr has its uses.
In the spirit of my âHistory of the Decade’ series, here are the unimportantâand some very importantâthings that piqued my interest during 2011.
January: The Hustle crew is back in Brum, but without the ‘created by Tony Jordan’ credit on some episodes.
January
Why is Tony Jordanâs name missing from these episodes of Hustle?
We put JY&A Consulting on to the jya.co domain.
Zen is awesome, even if the male cast largely speaks with English accents and the female cast speaks with Italian and French ones.
John Barry dies. My favourite composer. RIP.
February
The Christchurch earthquake and stories of tragedy and heroism.
The fall and fall of Charlie Sheen, and if recasting Two and a Half Men, put Martin Sheen in it and set it in 2040.
Mad Dogs begins.
February: Mad Dogs: great British telly. Philip Glenister adopts a Gene Hunt pose, but with Marc Warren instead of John Simm.
March
Firefox 3 crashes a lot.
Kelly Adams is off the market, boys.
Mad Dogs finishes.
The Americans make William & Kate with Los Angeles and Hollywood standing in for Buckingham Palace, London, Klosters, St Andrewâs and other locations.
April
I go on telly to dis the copyright amendments in a new bill, which has been spurred on by Hollywood lobbyists. Farewell the presumption of innocence and due process.
Elisabeth Sladen dies.
Everyone talking about Pippa Middletonâs rear end.
April: This seems to be the enduring image of the UK Royal Wedding.
May
Cheryl Cole goes to America for X Factor USA. Then she comes back.
Karen Gillan films Weâll Take Manhattan with the first on-set photo released.
More post office closures.
June: Australians unite against homophobes who pressure a billboard company to take down a safe-sex ad.
June
Australians unite against a billboard company that takes down an ad featuring a gay couple. The CEO responds within the day, which is a contrast to how Wellington Airport conducted itself over public outcry over âWelly-woodâ Part II.
MSG is evil.
A redhead wins Miss USA.
July
People go on to Google Plus to talk about Google Plus.
The Murdoch Press phone-hacking scandal.
UN: internet is a human right.
August
I think the movie The Avengers is about John Steed and Emma Peel.
September
The Unscripted exhibition and I get photographed with Jekyll himself, James Nesbitt. Oh, and the Mayor.
Nigerian con-men send me a 419 scamâin hard copy.
Facebook Timeline.
Old School, New School exhibition has Joe Churchward and Mark Geardâs typeface designs.
October: The Russian Sam Tyler.
October
Rugby.
Russians remake Life on Mars.
More ânek minnitâ.
Gaddafi owned a Toyota (just like bin Laden).
November
Mongrels is back.
Ricky Gervais will be back for the Golden Globes.
The Sweeney will be back.
December: Britney Spears gets engaged again. A few years ago, The Times of India talked about her first marriage to Jason Alexanderâand finds the wrong photo.
December
My roses are blooming.
Facebook Timeline gets rolled out to the public, so they make it worse.
Occupy continues.
Britney Spears gets engaged: remember that time she married George Costanza off Seinfeld ?
Tags: 2011, blogosphere, celebrity, culture, Facebook, Google, history, humour, Jack Yan, JY&A Consulting, JY&A Fonts, law, Lucire, media, news, Tumblr, TV, UK, Zeitgeist
Posted in culture, interests, internet, media, New Zealand, TV, UK, USA, Wellington | No Comments »
The rise of the city brand
17.03.2010I donât have the other writersâ permission to show their side of this Facebook dialogue, but we had been chatting about growing the creative clusters here in Wellington as one of my mayoral policies.
I wrote:
Mostly by focusing on growing creative clusters and taking a bigger slice of the cake. So it is not from technocratic ideas or the notion that we are liberating more of the economy, but by growing entrepreneurship. The city will take the most socially responsible, entrepreneurial start-ups and act as an agent to grow them (with an agreement that they remain in Wellington, of course) and create the capital flows to get them funded. I realize there is Grow Wellington already, but their ambit will be shifted.
So, itâs economic growth from the bottomâup.
Then (italics added for this post):
The clusters have naturally formed but they can get so much stronger. If the city is being them, then there is no reason Wellington cannot become internationally known for them. I think in this last week I have shown that borders mean very little to me, and anyone who wants to be mayor in the 2010s needs to have a similar mindset. We are not competing just for national resources, but global ones; and by being part of the global community, we might start bridging more communities and getting some greater global understanding. The nationâstate as it was understood in the 20th century is dying as a concept, and governments have only themselves to blame. Things are shifting to the individualâcommunity level, and you are right, real things happen when it is people acting at the coal face. Those who distance themselves will not be equipped for this century.
I wish I could claim I had some vision of the death of the nation–state years ago, but I hadnât. It was something that dawned on me fairly recently, given the scepticism many people (not just in New Zealand) are having toward their national governments. There are many factors, from governmental misbehaviour to the simple fact of a very divergent population, but very importantly we have the rise of technologies that give rise to people power. We want to know that political leaders are one with the public, prepared to do their bidding.
People are reclaiming their voices, prepared to tell those in authority what they think. Even without the authority, a few of you have told me what you thinkâgood and bad. Thatâs the way it should be in a democracyâand if we truly believe people are equal. Finally, we are organizing ourselves into active groups more rapidly than before.
Nation brands are harder to pull off because some marketers are failing to grasp the overall philosophy underlying their people. In New Zealand, we might accept the â100 per cent pureâ ideal of our destination-branding campaign, but surely being a New Zealander is something far less clearâis the Kiwi spirit not in independence, innovation, team spirit and, once that team is formed, taking a punt? Very seldom do we see such unified efforts as the successful âIncredible Indiaâ, which must have changed perceptions of that Asian country more effectively than any nation branding campaign from the continent. It is, however, easier to understand the concept behind a city, and to gain agreement on its meaning.
The other thing that is emerging in the 2010s is the rise of one-to-one communications across the planet. We might argue we have had this since the internet first dawned, and we can even trace this back to the first satellite TV links, but this is the decade that these ideas are mainstreaming and available to more people than ever before. Twitter is a wonderful example of the awareness of individuals and the death of national borders (which is why it is feared by certain dictatorial rĂ©gimes): suddenly we are in a community together, fighting everything from copyright law to commemorating the death of a woman during the Iranian electionâs bloody aftermath.
I am reminded of a seminal moment on the Phil Donahue show, where he linked his 1980s, Cold War-era audience via satellite with a similar group in the USSR, hosted by Vladimir Posner. There was a tense, icy moment till one of the Russians stated that if he could reach out across the airwaves and give his American counterpart a hug, he would. Humanity came through.
Anti-Americanism is a very interesting concept, because the American national image has leaned regularly toward the negative. No more so than during the Cold War, in the USSR. Certain American corporations and lobby groups have a lot to answer for, so you donât even need to travel back in time to find that hatred. How many times have we heard during the 2000â8 period, outside the United States, âI donât mind the Americans, but I hate Bushâ?
I get plenty of strange looks for my preferring the -ize ending, being told that it was âAmericanâ and, therefore, inferior and unsuitable for consumption in New Zealand. I simply point them to the authority I trained with in my work: the Concise Oxford Dictionary. For as long as I can remember, -ize is English and the first variant in that publication. My fatherâs 1950sâ edition and my 1989 one agree on this point. The use of -ise is French, and it only began coming in to English as a knee-jerk reaction against âAmerican Englishâ. But the âwisdomâ prevails: if the Yanks (a term that some of my American friends find humorous, since in the US it only applies to a certain part of the population) use it, it must be bad. Look at the Ford Taurus.
It is a trivial thing to argue about, but it is an example of how silly things get. I get dissed while half the population believe their Microsoft Word default spellcheck and write jewelry. By all means, oppose the technocratic abuse of workers wherever it comes from; oppose those lobby groups trying to wreak havoc on our private lives. If they happen to be in the US, direct your wrath at those groups via email or whatever means you have. On those areas the nationâstate is not dead yetânot when we need central governments to safeguard our rights. Or when we need someone to root for in a football match. But for everyday matters, being against any one nationâand I have been accused of Japan-bashing (which, incidentally, I deny)âis futile, because we are now so much more aware of how much individuals in other countries are like us, thanks to all these social media.
Once we start reducing the arguments down to individuals and groups, we begin taking the nation brand out of it. We begin liaising as a global community. For all the hard times I give Facebook, it has probably done more to give us a glimpse in to foreign countries as âjust another place my friend lives inâ than any travel show on TV. We begin understanding theirs are lives just like our own. We realize that not all Japanese eat whale meat or even care about it. We realize that many Iranians do not believe that their government has a mandate to govern. We realize some Sri Lankans believe their recent election was unfair. (It is, for instance, hard to imagine things getting more personal than when an arrested opposition leaderâs daughter starts blogging.) When we reach out, we reach out to people, not to countries.
Where is, then, our pride about where we live? I argueâas this whole âWellywoodâ sign dĂ©bĂącle has shownâthat it resides at the city level. We have a far more homogeneous idea of what our cities stand for, and as we come together and choose to live in any one place, we take into our regard what we believe that cityâs assets and image to be. Over time, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. New Wellingtonians choose to make this their home because they see it either as the most creative city in the nation or they are fed up with the excesses of a more northern location. It is, as two of my friends who have left their Auckland home this year put it, âmore cerebralâ. While there have been city campaigns that have been botchedââI Am Dunedinâ was met by plenty of criticism by Dunedinitesâthere is at least some understanding among citizens, who feel they need no slogan to unite them. (In Wellington, who has uttered âAbsolutely positivelyâ in recent years?)
So the 2010s are the time of city brands. At Medinge, my friend and colleague Philippe Mihailovich stressed that while âMade in Chinaâ was naff, âMade in Shanghaiâ had cachet. Over the weekend, I joked with one friend over poor French workmanship on the CitroĂ«n SMâthough âMade in Parisâ would probably do quite well for fashion and fragrance (Philippe has more on this, too). Wellington deserves to be alongside the great cities of this world if we can show technological and creative leadershipâand we get willing leadership prepared to understand just how we compare and compete at a global level. We already have the unity as we all understand who we are; we now need the voice.
Tags: anti-Americanism, Aotearoa, branding, city branding, competition, democratization, destination branding, Facebook, history, image, Jack Yan, language, marketing, mayoralty, Medinge Group, nation branding, nationalism, nationâstate, New Zealand, Philippe Mihailovich, place branding, politics, prejudice, technology, Twitter, USA, USSR, Wellington, Whanganui-a-Tara, Zeitgeist
Posted in branding, business, culture, India, internet, leadership, marketing, New Zealand, politics, technology, USA, Wellington | 5 Comments »