2018 was the year in which the series arrived on German television in a big way. There have been more productions in this format than ever before, from the private station to the public broadcaster. This is also reflected in the nominations for the Grimme Prize, the most important independent TV show.
Five series are nominated in the section fiction. Two of them are productions of the small station TNT series, namely the grotesque comedy "Arthur's Law" with Jan Josef Liefers and the cyber-thriller "Hackerville" about Romanian computer kids, which in cooperation with the pay-TV Sender HBO Europe was born.
In addition, two ZDF series hopes to make a Grimme Prize: the financial thriller "Bad Banks" about investment bankers and the thriller series "The Secretary" with Iris Berben. With the eight-part war drama "The Boat" (Sky), a reissue of the classic by Wolfgang Petersen, the most expensive German series production of last year is also nominated.
But also many classic nineties are nominated in the category fiction, such as the rape drama "Seven Hours" (Arte / BR) with Bibiana Beglau or "Family Lotzmann on the barricades" (ARD Degeto) by Axel Ranisch. From the "Tatort" series, the episodes "Meta" (RBB) and "The Man Who Lies" (SWR) were selected. Hopes for the prize may also make the two-parter "Gladbeck" (ARD Degeto / RB).
In addition to the documentaries "In the Shadow of the Net World - The Cleaners", "Eskimo Limon - Popsicles - Of Winners and Losers" (NDR) and "In the Labyrinth of Power: Protocol of Government Formation" (SWR / NDR / RBB) "Kulenkampffs Schuhe", a montage about the early days of West German television (SWR / HR). And the elaborate docudrama series "War of Dreams" (SWR / NDR / RBB / WDR / ORF / ARTE) is also on the candidate list.
The entertainment category includes the shows "CATCH! The big Sat1 catch Friday" (Sat.1) with Luke Mockridge and "Because they do not know what's happening - The Jauch-Gottschalk-Schöneberger-Show" (RTL) nominated , The return of Charlotte Roche to the TV screen with the experimental talk format "The Story of an Evening ..." (NDR) has chances to win a trophy. There could also be another Grimme Prize for Jan Böhmermann - he is the show special "Let yourself monitor! - The Prism is a Dancer Show" (ZDFneo) on the list.
A total of 70 productions and individual performances were nominated for the 55th Grimme Prize. There were more than 850 submissions and suggestions. From january 26, the juries will meet in Marl for a total of 16 Grimme prizes. The awards will be presented on 5 April 2019 at the Theater der Stadt Marl.
Editor's note: SPIEGEL ONLINE editor Christian Buß is a member of the Grimme jury.