Der Tatortreiniger

I have only seen three episodes so far (thank you MHz International Mystery channel, and also Comcast for carrying it!), but I can tell you right now that this show totally, absolutely, brilliantly, rocks.

Crime Scene Cleaner is one of the funniest things I have ever watched. EVER. Bjarne Mädel, who plays our "hero" is brilliant. The writing, even as translated into English, is hysterically funny. The show is simply jaw-dropping, mind-numbing, amazing. It is surreal, bizarre, somewhat existential and laugh-out-loud-at-your-TV funny.

It's about a man (Heiko 'Schotty' Schotte) whose job it is to clean up the horrid leftovers after a terrible crime has taken place -- for example the leavings of a murder or a suicide. His motto is "My work starts where others pass in horror," (which can be interpreted in several ways). During the course of his job he meets, let us say, some extremely strange people.... a sweet old lady obsessed with her sofa (who maybe isn't as sweet as she seems), a grumpy writer whose dead aunt didn't help his writer's block, and a charming, dedicated, prostitute.

Schotty is a decent bloke. A sort of Everyman. He's kind and honest. He turns on the TV to watch soccer at one crime scene (but feels bad when his boss catches him at it), and at another crime scene when offered a bribe, he turns it down. He's likable, kind of cute, and goodhearted.

I am told Crime Scene Cleaner is incredibly popular in Germany. I am not surprised. It is really fun to watch. The episodes are less than 30 minutes and they go by so fast, you're left wishing for more. (Incidentally, don't turn it off before the credits end).

There are a lot of in-jokes to be found here -- for example, Schotty's ringtone is the theme for Germany's (if not the planet's) longest running crime series ("Tatort"). Characters show up from other German crime shows and make fun of themselves.

The writers are not adverse to making political statements of the progressive kind. The shrewd adeptness of these proclamations just adds to the brilliance of the show.

Der Tatortreiniger is perfect. Simply perfect. Watch it if you can.

And MHz Worldview International Mystery -- thank you so much for all you do! Please show as many Crime Scene Cleaner episodes as possible!

German TV productions are usually meh at best. Sure, there was Heimat or Berlin Alexanderplatz, but mostly they suffer from small budgets and even smaller ambition. Crime Scene Cleaner is the rare exception from the rule, a real gem of unhurried and intelligent comedy. And more importantly, it is original. Not some knock-off, stuff you've seen before. The format allows it to be great in spite of a most likely abysmally small budget.

So far you are stuck with Canal+ in France and Network MHZ in the US, to actually see the show. Which is more than you can say for most German TV, but sadly the show is far from readily available. But it certainly worth the 30 day trial of MHZ streaming service.

Give it a try, you will not regret it...

I won't spoil it. But this series is a light hearted black comedy from start to finish with the most amazing and baffling series finale I've ever seen. The series runs for 7 seasons, but it only totals 31 episodes with an ave running time of 30 mins each. So easy binge watching right here. While the episodes are not connected to each other, you do want to pay attention to every detail as it will all come down in the last episode. Bjarne Mädel (that goofy gangster from "How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast)") is at his prime. It mostly depicts (northern) German dry humor (which does exists) and sure is the go-to series you want to know and brag about at the next party.

The show is very good. Most of the times.

Some episodes are better than others but the writer has a brilliant mind with a dry and dark humor.

This is not so often to get from women writers. I was surprised that the scripts were written by one person. There are so much bizarre situations and pointy dialogues that I thought that have to be a team.

The acting is good and some of the guests for example Viviane de Muynck in Tauschgeschäfte do outstanding work. It seems to me that they saw a chance for an impressive performance and used it.

The directing is not much to mention. And it looks like the show has not much money. But that is not important because the best thing is the good writing.

Very German seems to me that the show has to go a long way to get to its right place in the public. It seems to be hidden in the corner of the NDR. As someone said correctly. There ore not much funny shows in Germany.

Bjarne Mädel displays his acting abilities once again, yet this time he'S not playing a man child like he did in Strommberg. This time he's the every-man with a rather unusual job. He's the one who get's paid for cleaning up crime scenes. However it ain't the cleaning that's entertaining , it's the people with whom he gotta deal while cleaning up. Nazis,Vegans,Murderer,Reality TV Stars,Shaman Priests, just to name a few. The jokes are sometimes on him, and sometimes on the person that he encounters. Right now "Crime Scene Cleaner"(or Der Tatortreiniger" in German)is one of the few good German productions on television. other memorable German TV shows are:"Circus Haligali" and "Walulis Sieht fern"