Der Tatortreiniger

I'll just endorse Laura's excellent review above and keep this very short.

Der Tatortreiniger is outstanding -- a seriously funny series with plots that are a wonderful combination of the surreal and the mundane and writing that is breathtakingly clever. Bjarne Madel and the guest actors in each episode deliver the rapid-fire lines with perfect throw-away understatement.

It's rare to find myself laughing out loud almost all the way through any show, let alone each one in a series. What a treat! Thank you MHz indeed. Can't wait for the DVD release.

I'm usually a bit put off by philosophy in the guise of comedy, or most movies for that matter (e.g., that god-awful one from Germany years ago, about angels descending into taverns to bloviate to customers). But "Crime Scene Cleaner" does it adroitly and, IMHO, hilariously.

What puzzles me, however, are the two scathing negatives from German posters. I admit I don't know Mr. Madel's previous roles so I can't say whether he just cuts and pastes his performances here. But to say that CSC "sucks" in comparison to what's on American TV is a gobsmacker. If the poster could direct me to the U.S. sitcom that's crisply dialogued and nicely played by the supporting actors, and which is pitched as high, I'll watch it in a trice!

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.

Found this on MHZ a couple of years ago and was immediately enamored with it. Laugh out loud surprise moments are my favorites here, those times when out of nowhere, something absurd will happen, often something shocking or even terrible, but within the context of the plot, truly funny (the show gives us permission to laugh at these absurd moments, despite the often tragic circumstances preceding them). When that happens, I'm glad the show is subtitled so I don't miss the dialogue that's occurring when I'm laughing. I really started to appreciate it after about 3 or 4 episodes, at which point I realized that one is really a little morality play. But its morality is not foist upon you, Instead, it draws you in, dipping its toe into the human condition with humor, and along the way invites the viewer to do the same. The shows often end abruptly, but the result is that the 'moral' center of the episode sticks with you. It brings you to the point where you really start thinking about the particular topic of the day, and then it leaves you there. I.e., It doesn't finish the thinking for you. It explores some often compelling moral and philosophical issues, and the diversity of human beings, with humor and, importantly, compassion. That balance makes it and its stories accessible and not "preachy". I hope MHZ shows more recent episodes (the last 2 I watched were from 2014) because I'm really curious to see how the show evolves.