'30 Rock' does not translate into German

By Rick Porter

November 3, 2009 5:03 PM

Critical acclaim and piles of Emmys aside, "30 Rock" has never been a big hit in the United States. But compared to the show's recent debut in Germany, its performance on NBC is "Seinfeld" finale massive.

The show's premiere on German TV -- specifically the digital channel ZDFNeo -- on Sunday drew a 0.0 rating. As in, nada, zilch, null. That means, according to The Hollywood Reporter, that fewer than 5,000 people tuned in.

In a word, Woof. If there's any consolation to be had, it's in the fact that ZDFNeo also got a zero rating for a British comedy called "Taking the Flak," and only about 30,000 people tuned in for a showing of the Kiefer Sutherland-Michael Douglas flick "The Sentinel." The HR describes ZDFNeo as a "digital niche channel" that just relaunched with an eye toward younger viewers, but that is one small niche.

There is almost literally nowhere to go but up for "30 Rock" in Germany -- except off the air, I guess. But in the spirit of optimism, we offer a couple of suggestions to help the show improve its lot in Germany.

First, for any German viewer who might stumble on this: We're assuming that the first episode ZDFNeo showed was the pilot, which was not especially good. Rest assured, the show gets a lot better from there.

And for the "30 Rock" producers and ZDFNeo: More Hasselhoff. It is well-established that Germans love David Hasselhoff. We are uncertain of their feelings for Alec Baldwin, so may we suggest digitally placing the Hoff's head on Baldwin's body and having him "play" NBC executive Jack Donaghy? Or perhaps changing the theme song to this?

I would also suggest dubbing in some variations on the East German jokes proffered by Wikipedia, but frankly none of them translate very well. Which, come to think of it, might be the issue with a New York-centered showbiz satire that mines a lot of its humor from semi-obscure nuggets of American pop culture. Plus, I doubt there's an exact German translation for "werewolf bar mitzvah" or "I want to go to there."

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| Comments (28)

28 Comments

it doesn't translate well in English either

cool | November 3, 2009 5:55 PM

When a show isn't funny, it isn't funny in ANY language.

DesertEagle | November 3, 2009 6:57 PM

When people don't have a sense of humor, they don't appreciate funny shows.

Wendy | November 3, 2009 7:17 PM

30rok issunt funy and if sum cabul chanel showd gurmen tv heer nobody wud wach it eethur

MEOW | November 3, 2009 9:19 PM

if 30 rock didn't have the office in front that's about the rating it would get here

notsurpised | November 3, 2009 9:51 PM

I'm not from germany, but from austria, so I german is my native language too... and I have to stay: I'm pretty sure it's not the show's fault. I didn't even know, that "zdfneo" existed until yesterday.
I also read, that some europeans (or germans in that case) don't understand the show's humor, because it's a lot about american culture... that's bullsh*t, if you ask me.
I saw the first two seasons on dvd and love the show. If you know a little bit about america, there should not be a problem at all. you don't have to get every single reference in the show to enjoy it

michael | November 4, 2009 1:03 AM

I am German and I have never heard of that channel so I doubt it's the show's fault ;)
I do watch the original though and I love it.
Also: Germans do NOT, I repeat, do NOT love David Hasselhoff. LOL, whoever started that myth should be shot.. oh I guess I know who started it.

chiana | November 4, 2009 1:22 AM

I, too, am from Germany.
ZDFneo started on Nov. 1 with a clearance of only 40%. There was hardly any promotion for the new digital channel which replaced another digital channel that had an average household rating of 0,1%.
However, this morning, I heard a radio commercial for 30 Rock for the first time.

Germany's fascination with David Hasselhoff ended long ago – around the time Baywatch ended. LOL

redlock | November 4, 2009 1:41 AM

I'm also German and I too have never even heard of ZDFNeo - and I don't know a single Hasselhoff fan. Besides a lot of, especially younger, viewers download American series anyway...

Ricarda | November 4, 2009 2:40 AM

The show isn't very funny. It gets Emmy awards because its a liberal show that makes jokes about the entertainment industry, and the Emmy voters are liberals in the entertainment industry.

Dan H | November 4, 2009 5:17 AM