Das Traumschiff
Das Traumschiff ("The Dream Ship") is a West German-German television series by ZDF. The series, about a cruise ship that travels to places around the world, debuted in 1981 and became one of the most-watched television shows in Germany. A total of 69 episodes have been produced as of 2013. A 2007 Variety article described the series as a '"Love Boat"-like cruise liner skein.'[1]
Forerunner
The series repeated some clichés that had already successfully been used in Heinz Rühmann's feature film "The Captain" which had been based on Richard Gordon's novel "The Captain's Table".
Premise
The premise of the series resembled the US-American TV series Hotel, only that it would show a hotel on sea and moreover occasionally impressions of different exotic countries (or at least their harbours). It presented a place where all kinds of people appeared as guests and could hereby show a variety of extraordinary characters, fates, schemes and relationships. Guests either brought their problems with them or just got into trouble by encountering folks they wouldn't have met under normal circumstances. Still everything would lead to a happy-end in each episode.
Actors
Captain Heinz Hansen was played by Heinz Weiss who in younger years had been successful on the silverscreen as Jerry Cotton's best friend and colleague "Phil Decker". When Heinz Weiss left the series captain Heinz Hansen was replaced by captain Jakob Paulsen who was played by Siegfried Rauch.
References
- ↑ Meza, Ed. "ARD, ZDF dominate German ratings." Variety. Friday October 5, 2007.