Pastewka

Pastewka is a German television sitcom that began airing on German TV channel Sat.1 in 2005. The series, currently in its sixth season, is set in Cologne, with German actor Bastian Pastewka starring as a fictionalized version of himself. It has been compared to Seinfeld and Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm. The series was awarded, among others, the Rose d'Or and the German Television Prize. Series was directed by Joseph Orr and Jan Markus Linhof.

Pastewka (2005-2020) is a German sitcom created by Chris Geletneky, Sascha Albrecht, Moritz Netenjakob and Oliver Welke for Sat.1, later available on Prime Video. Bastian Pastewka plays a fictionalized version of himself, a television actor whose career and private life keep colliding in present-day Cologne. Sonsee Neu plays Anne Leifert, Matthias Matschke plays Hagen Pastewka, and Bettina Lamprecht plays Svenja Bruck, all drawn into his awkward schemes and romantic missteps. The engine is simple: the protagonist wants professional respect and a stable love life, and his own vanity and tactlessness wreck both. Each roughly twenty-five-minute episode is a self-contained case of social embarrassment, with recurring characters carrying the continuity across ten seasons. The show is a German television sitcom with the cringe-driven, observational rhythm of American comedy, and it blends deadpan wit with sharp self-mockery of celebrity culture. Its tone is sardonic and breezy, with a warm undercurrent beneath the humiliation. Fans of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Seinfeld and Extras will find a similar pleasure in watching a self-absorbed performer stumble through his own life.

Audiences broadly regard Pastewka as a sharp, self-referential German sitcom whose best seasons are among the country's finest comedy, with a few later seasons seen as weaker.

• Curb Your Enthusiasmself-deprecating comedy built on a fictionalized star persona, awkward social cringe, sitcom format
• Seinfeldneurotic everyday situations, sitcom ensemble of friends and family, observational wit
• Extrascomedy about a fictionalized actor navigating showbiz vanity and self-parody

Created by

Chris Geletneky, Sascha Albrecht, Moritz Netenjakob, Oliver Welke

Release Date

2005-09-09

Episode runtime

25 min

Rating

7.9 / 10 (78)

What is Pastewka about?

A fictionalized Bastian Pastewka stumbles through Cologne showbiz and family life in this self-deprecating German sitcom.

What is Pastewka like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Pastewka as brisk, its intensity as mild and its storytelling as simple.

Is Pastewka violent?

No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Pastewka.

What did critics think of Pastewka?

Audiences broadly regard Pastewka as a sharp, self-referential German sitcom whose best seasons are among the country's finest comedy, with a few later seasons seen as weaker.

Which shows are like Pastewka?

Shows with a similar feel include Curb Your Enthusiasm, Seinfeld, and Extras.

How long is Pastewka?

Pastewka: 10 seasons, 97 episodes.

Is Pastewka still running?

No, Pastewka has ended.