Dailation of the Saturday evening: Thomas Gottschalk announces show-off

The German TV audience has a certain routine in saying goodbye to Thomas Gottschalk. In 1992 he said for the first time with « Wetten, dass ..? », In 2011 he stopped there for the second time. In 2023 he gave the ZDF classic for the third and last time. He always remained very present. But now he goes one step further and says goodbye to his most important transmitter.

He is now older than the Pope

« I looked after the Saturday evening and had a grip on Saturday evening, » said Gottschalk on the RTL show « Because you don’t know what happens »-a format by Barbara Schöneberger, Günther Jauch and himself. But he always emphasized: If the day was reached when he was older than the pope, the newly chosen Pontifex Leo XIV is 69 years old. However, the TV routine agreed to perform again in the early December. The « Bild » newspaper had previously reported.

« I will 75 the next Sunday (May 18) and that is the point for a moderator where you should say that you take yourself out, » said the 74-year-old. At a time when many people in Germany expect a return of the 1990s in politics under Chancellor Friedrich Merz, this cult decade now ends on television.

In a league with Rudi Carrell and Hans Rosenthal

Gottschalk is one of the most successful showmaster in the history of German television. He is in the tradition of legends such as Rudi Carrell (1934-2006), Hans Rosenthal (1925-1987), Joachim Fuchsberger (1927-2014) and Hans-Joachim Kulenkampff (1921-1998). The last remaining show dino of this caliber besides him is « Wetten, dass ..? »-inventor Frank Elstner (83).

In the great time of « Wetten, dass ..? » Gottschalk sometimes gathered almost 18 million people in front of the screen. They saw in 1995 how Michael Jackson hung at the « Earth Song » over the ZDF stage. In 1998, as Götz George freaked out because « Thommy » supposedly found out about his new film so badly. In 2004, how Angelina Jolie wore a huge sausage around her neck. The show made great moments of conversation.

« At my age you no longer have to be » cool «  »

Also outside of « Wetten, dass ..? » Gottschalk was always very busy. At the age of 70 he won a knowledge duel against Joko Winterscheidt: among other things, because he reminded hammer and circle on the GDR flag and not hammer and sickle like Winterscheidt. He made him the host of the ProSieben show « Who steals the show? ».

Even with the surprise show « Because you don’t know what happens » on RTL, he drove top quotas until his announcement. So the audience should by no means write him off.

In contrast, Gottschalk has recently learned the headwind more often when he critically commented on social issues. Sometimes sexism was sometimes accused. In his book « unfiltered » he talks about the show business, the influencer scene, the gender and the « Generation Z ». He no longer consider whether what he says is politically correct, Gottschalk recently told the dpa. « At my age you no longer have to be » cool « , I was all my life. »