What happened to GERMAN TELEVISION? (Caution, #Satire!)

Back in the 90s, I was known as a tv junkie. Sometimes, I was so psyched about a specific episode of the X-Files that I watched the rerun at 2:55 am and was late for school the next day, or technically the same.

It's not a coincidence that the first thing that comes to mind when contemplating German television is a series from the US (albeit shot in Canada back then). Television in Germany has always had a lot of cash (public tv from mandatory fees, private television from ads) but hardly any courage (except for Niels Ruf, of course). The most original format in the late nineties, "RTL Samstag Nacht", for example, was a shameless copy of SNL, which had already proven to be a huge success in the US.

So when I recently turned on the tv in Germany and somehow connected it to my smartphone using futuristic nano-technology, I was shocked and pleasantly surprised at the same time. OH BOY, things do have changed!!

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First, there was a young host with a funny name in what seemed to be some sort of subversive underground studio, sitting in front of two fancy tv sets bathed in extremly cool blue (en)light. He looked like a nice and easygoing guy, but once I listened to him, I figured that he JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH! He wants free college, a minimum wage, maternity leave (a guy!) -- even though we already have that! At least, he claims to be "a moderate on guns". I don't know what that means, but I'll keep it in mind, just in case.

Secondly, there was an interesting character who goes by the pseudonym TJ Kirk (Thomas-Jens? Thomas-Jan?). He also seemed kind of ungrateful and kept ranting about a crazy little thing called YouTube, even though we are paying him trough our monthly fees and he has big sponsors like IsellBongsAsaSideHustle.com! He seems to have a predilection for producing controversial content, which resulted in some of his clips being "buried", as he metaphorically put it.

Well, Germany is notorious for strict regulations and overwhelming bureaucracy. If you don't like that, why don't you go to a free country, ha? Mach doch rüber!

Maybe most shocking was the third program. It was hosted by a powerful AI visualised as a golden Kangoroo that was endowed with a very potent language code and used some sort of logic algorithm to dissect the arguments of his opponents. I instantly turned off the tv! A golden Kangoroo here in the land of cows and Catholicism? This was idolatry!

I am so glad the X-Files are back!!

Sources:

Secular Talk: https://www.youtube.com/user/SecularTalk

TJ Kirk: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheAmazingAtheist

AIU: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg6MuFVugHwWCp1YDQDAy1w