| OberMegaTrans/ss2022/Geissens final | |
|---|---|
| German | Die Geissens – Eine schrecklich glamouröse Familie |
| Genre | Reality television |
| Created by | Martina Taubert |
| Narrated by | Michael Betz |
| Opening theme |
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| Composer | Leon Sander |
| Country of origin | Germany |
| Original language | German |
| No. of seasons | 20 |
| No. of episodes | 277 and 11 specials |
| Production | |
| Producers | P. Ach, F. Reinhardt |
| Running time | 45 minutes |
| Production companies | Joker Productions GmbH (2011–2015), Geiss TV GmbH (since 2015) |
| Original release | |
| Release | January 3, 2011 |
The Geissens - A Terribly Glamerous Family
editThe Geissens - A Terribly Glamerous Family is a TV-production broadcasted by RTL Zwei starring the family of millionaires Robert and Carmen Geiss.
Premise
editThe show portrays the travels and luxurious everyday affairs of the Geiss family. Both RTL Zwei and Geiss family assure the public that the show follows the actual life of the family but a lot of critics question this. Contrary to ordinary everyday life, work only plays a subordinate role in the lives of the family members that is characterized by leisure activities and traveling.
Cast
editFamily The Geiss family originates from Cologne; their main residency is in Monaco and they own vacation homes in Saint-Tropez and Kitzbuehel. Robert Geiss founded the active wear label "Uncle Sam" in January 1986 with his brother. January 1995, they sold all their company shares, each possesing 50%, for an estimated 140 millionen DM. March 2013, Robert Geiss made a comeback into the fashion sphere with his new clothing label Roberto Geissini. Carmen Geiss was crowned "Miss Fitness" in 1982. Robert and Carmen's two daughters are enrolled in an internationale school in Monaco. While Robert Geiss' parents, Grandma Margret and Grandpa Reinhold, appeared in the first few seasons, they no longer are a part of the show as a dispute caused a discord between them and Carmen Geiss. There has been no contact between the families for years.
Contents
editThe series supposedly portrays the family's every-day life of luxury, ranging from luxurious shopping tours to the acquisition of prestigious real estate as well as pompous childrens' birthday parties. The clash of their sophisticated lifestyle and the familiy's simple mentality typical of their hometown Cologne makes the reality TV series appealing to viewers.
Production
editInitially, the programme was produced by the Cologne production company Joker Productions. Carmen and Robert Geiss received a fee for their appearance. From mid-2014, Robert Geiss wanted a share in the production company, which is why he founded the company GeissTV GmbH together with Carmen and Endemol Shine Group, and a smaller partner, in which Carmen and Robert Geiss held a 40% share. After ten months, Endemol got out again. In October 2015, Roberto Geissini Holding AG took control of GeissTV, so that now, Robert Geiss is the sole shareholder.
Broadcast
editThe broadcast series premiered on January 3rd, 2011 and ended on February 14th, 2011. The first season contained seven episodes, which aired on German TV chanel RTL Zwei on Mondays during prime time at 8:15 pm. The first episode reached an audience of approximately 1.5 million viewers.
Reception
editThe series was satirized multiple times by German comedy shows such as Switch reloaded or the 1LIVE comedy series Global Geiss.[8]
The German newspaper Die Welt describes The Geissens - A terribly glamorous family as "always a little too much, too bling-bling, too much glitter" and claims this is how ordinary Germans would imagine rich people. Time and again, “the petty bourgeoisie breaks out of them”. Die Welt explains the allure of the TV-series through the fullfilment of the "longing for images of exotic destinations - and more than that: A pleasurable vicarious embarrassment, the nice feeling of being better than some boorish millionaire."[9]
The German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung assumed the feeling of meeting real people who experienced a more exciting, carefree and plumper life than oneself that the viewers were given to be the reason for the sucess of the format. In addition, the newspaper classified the programme as a "trash format".[11] Stefan Winterbauer criticised Robert Geiss' proximity to the red-light milieu, with whose protagonists he was being in contact and whose bad manners and prejudices he assumed.[12]
In an article by Lars-Marten Nagel and Tim Röhn in the newspaper Welt am Sonntag, Robert Geiss' aggressive manners in particular were criticised.