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Berlin (dpa) - It would be called tragic comedy in a film.
But because it is a series, there is now another creative word, how the six-part work «MaPa» by Alex Lindh can best be described.
The miniseries started a year ago with the streaming service Joyn + and can now be seen in the ARD media library until May 16 with the public co-producer RBB (Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg).
The series describes itself as "Sadcom", that is, sad (sad) comedy - based on the genre "Sitcom", which is a case word from "situation" and "comedy", that is, situation comedy.
But the well-rehearsed laughter in the background is missing as it used to be.
The gags aren't screams either, but rather absurdities that make you smile.
The art of the makers is to stop the looming tears with a laugh.
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«MaPa» with Maximilian Mauff in the leading role revolves around the needs of a young single father in Berlin who takes care of baby Lene after the sudden death of his girlfriend.
As mom and dad at the same time, Metin has to switch between diapers, the exhausting care of friends and his mother, find time to mourn, between organizing the daycare and going to work.
The word “Sadcom” has been around for a number of years, the American series “Louie” is considered to be the pioneer, the British series “Fleabag” by and with Phoebe Waller-Bridge is considered the highlight.
In professional circles, the catchy word "Sadcom" is considered a PR invention, but it can be applied to dramedy series that deal with grief in a comical way, as Timo Gößler puts it, the lecturer in dramaturgy and serial narration at the Potsdam Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf is.
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This includes the mourning series “After Life” by and with Ricky Gervais or the German Netflix series “The Last Word” with Anke Engelke as widow and mourning speaker.
Experts such as Gößler describe productions as "dramedy" that narrate serious content with humor horizontally (i.e. across episodes).
It can be about addictions, depression or other serious issues.
Examples are “Feel Good” with Mae Martin, “End of the Fucking World” with Alex Lawther or “The Mopes” with Nora Tschirner.
For a long time, a few genre terms were sufficient for German television.
For example Saturday evening shows, quizzes, crime novels, family series, soap, multi-part series or doctor or hospital series - think of “Die Schwarzwaldklinik”, “Der Landarzt”, “Praxis Bülowbogen”, “Just in case Stefanie”, “Doctor's Diary”.
Internationally, one would call medical series such as “Der Bergdoktor”, “In allerfreund” or “Charité” a medical (or medical drama).
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Whereby the “Charité” multi-part series over various decades could also be considered a history series, which is internationally known as “Period Drama”.
This means films or series that are set in a certain time (i.e. historical period) in order to tell more generally applicable things about this historical epoch.
Great international successes are for example “Downton Abbey”, the Queen series “The Crown” or “Bridgerton”.
In the past 20 years or so, video makers have also coined terms such as casting shows, reality TV, docusoap, factual entertainment, scripted reality and infotainment.
The SWR show "Gottschalk celebrates: 18 again!"
with Thomas Gottschalk and celebrity guests it is even called “Timetainment”.
In the age of streaming services at the latest, more and more differentiating terms seep into common usage.
A so-called anthology series was "Alfred Hitchcock presented" in the 50s and 60s. But it was only with “Black Mirror” or “Love, Death & Robots” that millions learned to name this genre, in which each episode has different characters, plot and cast. There are also anthology series in which characters, plot and cast change from season to season - such as “Fargo”, “True Detective”, “American Crime”, “American Horror Story”.
German films such as “Das Millionenspiel” (1970) or the WDR show “Smog” (1973) have been a “mockumentary” (fictional documentary parodying the documentary film genre), but it has only been a few years since it became so chic English named.
In Germany, for example, there was “Schorsch Aigner - The Man Who Was Franz Beckenbauer” with Olli Dittrich, the series “Other Parents” on TNT Comedy or the ARD production “How to Tatort” about the new Bremen “Tatort” team.
After previous programs such as “Schillerstrasse”, “Frei Schnauze” or “Genial beseben”, the improvisational comedy genre was given a new boost this year with the German edition of the Ernstbleib format “LOL - Last One Laughing” on Amazon Prime Video.
There should be a second season in 2021 with Michael "Bully" Herbig, Anke Engelke and other stars.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210504-99-458608 / 2