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Ein Herz und eine Seele
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Wolfgang Menge (based on Till Death Us Do Part, created by Johnny Speight)
Starring	Heinz Schubert Elisabeth Wiedemann (season one) Hildegard Krekel Diether Krebs (season one) Helga Feddersen (season two) Klaus Dahlen (season two)
Country of origin	Germany
Original language	German
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	25
Production
Running time	44 minutes
Original release
Network	WDR Das Erste
Release	January 15, 1973 (1973-01-15) – November 22, 1976 (1976-11-22)
Related
Till Death Us Do Part All in the Family

Ein Herz und eine Seele (literally "One Heart and One Soul" i.e. "hand in glove") is a German cult sitcom based on the British sitcom Till Death Us Do Part by Johnny Speight. The show premiered on January 15, 1973 and lasted for about twenty episodes, airing its last on November 4, 1974. In 1976, the show had a short-lived revival with another four episodes. Ein Herz und eine Seele was written by Wolfgang Menge.

The show was extremely successful during its initial run and it still proves very popular in reruns. Two episodes in particular, Silvesterpunsch (about the family's New Year's Eve party) and Rosenmontagszug (set during the winter carnival season) have gained such popularity that they are now shown traditionally on German TV on New Year's Eve and Rosenmontag, respectively.

Storyline

The show reflects the life of a petty bourgeois family in West German Wattenscheid, characterised by the social climate of the Willy Brandt era and its political upheavals initiated by the German student movement of 1968. Ein Herz und eine Seele makes intensive use of references to German politics and social issues of the early and mid-1970s, when Germany was still separated, not just in East & West, but also (for West Germany) in liberal & conservative. To feature these proceedings in a TV series broke new ground at that time.

Cast of characters

Family Tetzlaff

Alfred Tetzlaff (Ekel Alfred, * 10. April 1924 in Teplitz-Schönau)

The undisputed star is Ekel ("creep") Alfred Tetzlaff (Heinz Schubert), commercial clerk, a born Sudeten German, Bild reader and reactionary patriarch, who is constantly arguing with his wife Else, his daughter Rita, and his son-in-law Michael. He is a declared foe of the SPD government ruining the country only to sell it to the Mongols, of foreigners, Gastarbeiter, Jews and the women's movement. He claims to have fought in te WEHRMACHT in Poland, Paris (France) and Russia and that he had reached the Rank of an OBERGEFREITEN. In the episode "Schlusswort" it is revealed that he worked at the kitchen of the VERSORGUNGSKOMPANIE and that he spent the last days of the war in the LAZARETT due to severe burns from spilled GRAUPENSUPPE. In the epsiode "Selbstbedienung" he tells stories of requiering goods in France and in Eastern Europe. Alfred's appearance, small in physique with a mustache and side-parted hair, along with his passionate politicking and frequent hand movements, make his character somewhat reminiscent of Adolf Hitler. Raised in Berlin he is a dedicated fan of Hertha BSC, which makes life somewhat hard in the Ruhr area. A recurring element of the series is Alfreds misquotations ("When in Paris, do as the Parisians do", "You or me, that is here the question") and the wrong use of numbers ("That was already done by the Roman Empire a thousand years ago", "Tomorrow is Sunday, whic we only have a hundred times a year"). In the Episode "Silberne Hochhzeit" he also tries to impress with his knowledge of the french lkangauge while being in a PUSH french restaurant called Royale.

Else Dorothea Tetzlaff, (born Böteführ; Elmshorn)

The wife of Alfred, whose fatuity constantly drives him mad. She untiringly speaks up, confusing Pompidou with Pompadour and Kiesinger with Kissinger, honestly astonished that the Germans had elected a Jew chancellor. Ironically, Alfred's use of "dusselige Kuh", literally "silly cow", as a nickname for Else was not allowed in the BBC original: the British character Alf Garnett had to refer to his wife as a "silly moo".She has problems with quotes as well ("always having the Sophoklessword over her head"). When the actress of Else Tetzlaff was changed in the second season from ::: to Helga Fedderse, she gained more confidence and oftentimes DEFIED Alfred.

Rita Graf (born Tetzlaff)

She is the daughter of Alfred and Else Tetzlaff and is working as a shop assistant for cosmetics in a shopping center. She is married to Michael and is living with him in her old room from CHILDHOOD days. She has to suffer a lot of Alfreds hatred, since he thinks his daughter is MISSRATEN. In the very last episode, it is revelaed that she is pregnant.

Michael Graf, Alfreds Son in law

Michael is a supporter of Chancellor Willy Brandt and moreover was raised in East Germany but was able to flee before the Berlin Wall was build, which arouses Alfred's suspicion of him being a Komsomol, a Bolshevik hyena and an anarchist. Michaels's parents still live in East Germany. In the episode "Besuch aus der Ostzone" his parents come to visit the Tetzlaffs to finally met their daughter in law. He works as a mechanic.

Side characters

Miss Suhrbier

She is the neighbour of the family Tetzlaff, whose mere mentioning enrages Alfred. A running gag of the series is the fact, that she is mentioned all the time, but never appears (see mics). Her first name is given as Hertha in one episode, Gerline in another.

Miss Fechner

She is also a neighbour of the family Tetzlaff. She is a friend of Else Tetzlaff.

Miss Burdenski

She lives in the neighborhood as well. Her husband works at the DEUTSCHE POST and her SCHWAGER Erwin appears in one epsiode (""""))

Rübensahn

He is the owner of a small shop in the neighboorhood. Alfred often critises him for his high prices and (concerning Alfred) random opening hours. Some episodes feature him with his first name as Erich, other referr to him as Emil.

Koslowski

He works at a insurance company and seems to be Alfreds only friend. SOme episodes feature him with his first name as Peter, others refer to him as Erwin.

Rudi

He is the owner of a small town pub (called "ECKKNEIPE"), where Alfred is having a drink several times a week and where he is throewn out at least once a month.

Broadcast

The show was originally broadcast in black and white and shown on the regional channel of the North Rhine-Westphalia area, WDR. It moved to Germany's first channel, ARD, on New Year's Eve 1973 with the above-mentioned episode and from that date was produced in colour. Some of the colour episodes are actually remakes or reprises of older black-and-white episodes. The first series is considered to consist of 21 episodes. For the second series, Elisabeth Wiedemann, extremely popular in her role as Else Tetzlaff, was replaced by Helga Feddersen and Michael, formerly played by Diether Krebs, was portrayed by Klaus Dahlen.

The audience clearly did not approve of these changes: after only four episodes of the second series, Ein Herz und eine Seele was cancelled. According to the BBC website, the series was not popular due to the reactionary politics of its lead character. Yet the series, despite its polarization and abusive language, was very popular with up to 15.7 million viewers. It declined in the ratings due to the cast changes in the second series. In 2002, a survey showed the program was Germany's most popular sitcom of all time.

DVD

A DVD Boxset was published in April 2005, not including two black and white epsiodes (episode 1 and 3) as well as two coloured epsiodes (18 and 21). After massive prottests by the fan community the episodes were released at the 12th of September 2005 on a special DVD called "Die verschollenen Folgend" (The lost episodes). The exitence of the 21 epsiode was at that time even unknown by the production society. A new DVD Boxset, containing 8 DVDs, was released in March 2009, including all 25 episodes and bonus material.

Success

EIn Herz und eine Seele was adapted after the US TV-series All in the family (1971-1979) -which is in reverse based on te british TV-series Till death do us part - by Wolfgang Menge. The creator of Till death do us part, Johnny Speight, is mentioned in the ABSPANN of EIn Herz und eine Seele. The changes include the german goverment of that time and the time after the STUDENTENREVOLTEN. The names of the british series were completely adapted. Alfreds name in the british series was Alf, Michael was called Mike and Else and Rita had the excact same name. Even the TARDIS was copied from the ORIGIN, which didn't exist at that time in Germany. As an explanation it was said that the husband of Mrs. Burdenski had installed it because of his work at the Deutsche Post. It was the first Sitcom aired in Germany as well as the first series to confront political topics. The harsh language and the ZOTIGE gags as well as the ideologic POLARISIERUNG of the protagonists with reflection to daily politics were uncommon and were critisised at first, but gained a high popularity later. Although it critised society itself, it was a big step towards anglo saxonian (??)Soaps and Sitcoms, which work with reduced setting, a small amount of actors and workers as well as technical ressources and a high rationality in language and storyline. The reactions of the viewers were different. While most saw it as a satire regarding SPIE?IGE KLEINBÜRGER and the character of Alfred as asum of all its negative attributes, as it was intendet, some didn't understand the irony and felt their views and opinions strengthened through everything Alfred said, claimimng that he said what nobody else dared to say. Wolfgang Menge hoped at that timne that the viewers would see the smiliarities of Alfreds statements and the articels in the BILD-Zeitung. The series was so popular that in Februar 1974, former POSTMINISTER HORST EHMKE compared CDU-politician Alfred Dregger with Alfred Tetzlaff.

Episodes

Episode 1 to 11 is broadcasting in black and white, the rest is broadcasting in colour.

Season 1 (1973/1974)

Number	Title (original)	Title (English)	Date
01	Das Hähnchen	The chicken	January 15, 1973
02	Der Fernseher	The television set	January 29, 1973
03	Besuch aus der Ostzone	Visit from the east zone	February 12, 1973
04	Die Beerdigung	The funeral	February 26, 1973
05	Die Bombe	The bomb	March 12, 1973
06	Hausverkauf	Real estate sale	March 26, 1973
07	Silberne Hochzeit	Silver wedding anniversary	April 9, 1973
08	Urlaubsvorbereitung	Holiday preparations	April 30, 1973
09	Erntedankfest	Thanksgiving	October 1, 1973
10	Eine schwere Erkrankung	A serious illness	October 28, 1973
11	Der Sittenstrolch	The pervert	November 26, 1973
12	Sylvesterpunsch	New Year's Eve grog	December 31, 1973
13	Der Ofen ist aus	The oven is out	January 28, 1974
14	Rosenmontagszug	Mardi gras procession	February 25, 1974
15	Frühjahrsputz	The spring-cleaning	March 18, 1974
16	Selbstbedienung	Self-service	April 13, 1974
17	Besuch aus der Ostzone	Visit from the east zone (colour version)	June 17, 1974
18	Urlaubsvorbereitung	Holiday Preparations (colour version)	July 15, 1974
19	Tapetenwechsel	Change of scenery, literally: "wallpaper"	August 12, 1974
20	Der Staatsfeind	Public enemy	September 9, 1974
21	Der Sittenstrolch	The pervert (colour version)	November 4, 1974

Season 2 (1976)

Number	Title (original)	Title (English)	Date
22	Telefon!	Telephone!	May 31, 1976
23	Massage	Massage	July 5, 1976
24	Modell Tetzlaff	Model Tetzlaff	September 27, 1976
25	Schlußwort	Closing words	November 22, 1976

Additional facts

A running gag of the series is the neighbour Frau Suhrbier, who is mentioned in several episodes, but never appears. It is nonetheless clear, that Alfred doesn't get along with her, since she is a member of the SPD.party, houseowner and she also demonstrated against something, although it were only high prices. Episode 21 does instead festure her niece Ruth. HILDEGARD KREKEL and DIETER KREBS were also a couple in their private life during the series. After taking the series from the WDR, the ARD remade the first four epsiodes in colour to present them to a broader audience. The plot was kept, but a lot of the dialoges and gas were revised. DUe to the recording of the epsiode one day before broadcast it was possible to work recent events into the script. The colored recording of the epsiode Besuch aus der Ostzone contains a certain irony, since it was recorded during the FIFA World Cup 1974 and the East German soccer team, which was the subject of many jokes in the epsiode, won against the West German Team a few days later. Several stars of the very succesfull german soap opera LINDENSTRA?E appear in minor roles, for example MARIE-LUISE MARJAN (epsiode Urlaubsvorbereitungen as Frau Henning) or WOLFGANG GRÖNEBAUM (in the episodes DIe Beerdigung and Besuch aus der Ostzone) The assistent director Ilse Hofmann had to lay a minor part in the epsiode Rosenmontag, which was indeed recorded during ROSENMONTAG, becuase the original actress was drunk. The role of Alfred Tetzlaff was originally supposed to be played be Gert Fröbe, who then wasn't able to do so because of time reasons. Also planned for the role was Harald Juhnke, but he neither could nor wanted to play a prole. In the epsiode Die Bombe Alfred is asked by the explosive expert if his name his "M. Ahmed Ben Yussuf" where as he answeres is name is "Kara Ben Nemsi Effendi", a reference to his role in KARA BEN NEMSI EFFENDI

See also

• German television comedy

External links

• A survey of the first 20 episodes (in German)

Category:1973 television series debuts Category:1976 television series endings Category:German comedy television series Category:New Year's on television