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 83 episodes have been produced as of 2019. It was primarily filmed and set aboard the MS Deutschland cruise ship as it sailed to tourist destinations around the world. The destinations depicted are usually the result of product placement. In 2015, the depicted ship was switched to the MS Amadea. Television producer is Wolfgang Rademann.
Das Traumschiff | |
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Genre | Soap opera |
Starring | Heinz Weiss (1981–1999) Siegfried Rauch (1999–2014) Sascha Hehn (2014–2018) Florian Silbereisen (2019–present) |
Country of origin | West Germany (1981–1990) Germany (1990–present) |
No. of episodes | 83 (as of January 2019) |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) | Wolfgang Rademann |
Running time | 90 minutes |
Release | |
Original network | ZDF |
Original release | November 22, 1981 |
External links | |
Website |
In 2007, a Variety magazine 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 American TV series The Love Boat. 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 silver screen as Jerry Cotton's best friend and colleague Phil Decker. When Weiss left the character of Hansen in 1999 he was replaced by Captain Jakob Paulsen, played by Siegfried Rauch. Rauch left the series in 2014 and was followed by Sascha Hehn as Captain Victor Burger with the 2014-screening.
References
- Meza, Ed. "ARD, ZDF dominate German ratings." Variety. Friday October 5, 2007.