Best German Sitcom for Intermediate Learner?

[AlexTG]

I'd like to add a sitcom to my German consumption. I had good experiences with Un Gars, Une Fille in French and Casados con Hijos in Spanish when I still had low comprehension. Ideally such a sitcom would:
1. Be funny.
2. Not have much word play (since puns and stuff are just too hard at this level)
3. Be easy to work out what's happening from the visuals.
4. Use standard, classic sitcom plots so I know what's gonna happen before it happens (I've watched a lot of sitcoms in my life)
5. Not have people yelling over each other much.
6. Not have much background noise.
7. Not have too much slang.
8. Have lots of episodes.

Well, okay, it's a long list, you don't need to meet all the requirements. Any recommendations? I feel like Stromberg might be a good choice, since I already know the two English language Offices so well, but I think I've read somewhere it has a lot of word play? I've already seen Extr@ btw.

[andrepleite]

What about watching English sitcoms in German? To be honest, there are not many (good) German sitcoms.
I found "Unter einer Decke" in the early 90s pretty funny, thought I have no more idea what happened there (The British original was called "The two of us").
"Ein Herz und eine Seele", also known as "Ekel Alfred" is something you have to check out (sitcom from the 70s). Pretty good, but maybe a little bit too much yelling about each other for your taste.

Other sitcoms you might like:
- Allles Atze
- Hausmeister Krause
- Ritas Welt
- Pastewka

"Stromberg" is surely the most successful German comedy series in the last decade(s) and e. g. "Ritas Welt" and "Pastewka" are not really funny IMO.
"Heute Show" is pretty funny. But it's not really a sitcom. It's a mixture between weekly news and turning politicans into ridicule.

[Eliza]

You might want to look at "Türkisch für Anfänger", which is apparently THE German sitcom of the past few years. Take it from a native German who doesn't watch a lot of television

If it doesn't have to be a sitcom, you might like "Der Tatortreiniger" (with a bit of nordic dialect) or "Switch". Switch mocks popular German TV shows and gives you a good idea about our culture in general You can find some chunks of it on the Website of the private channel ProSieben or on Youtube. My personal favorite is Heidi Klum's "Nein"

http://www.prosieben.de/tv/switch-reloaded/video/22-topmodel-heidis-ernaehrungstipps-clip

[Ari]

Der Tatortreiniger is one of my favorite shows in any language, all categories, but it's not really a sitcom and it doesn't have that many episodes. I ran out far too quickly.

Personally, I've been watching Family Guy dubbed into German. Dubbed shows are usually a lot easier to understand than native shows, so they're nice to have in the beginning. You can save the native shows for when your ability is stronger. I know, I know, you want to watch the real German stuff, but that stuff will still be there. Family Guy also has tons and tons of episodes, which is nice, and it's pretty "easy watching".

A few more seasons of that, and some more reading, and I'll be getting back to native German TV, like Stromberg, Türkisch für Anfänger and Mord mit Aussicht. And watching Der Tatortreiniger again, because it's absolutely brilliant.

[daegga]

The classics would be Lindenstraße and GZSZ. They are not funny though. Many love them, many hate them. But they should be easy enough with lots of episodes.
Well, not quite sitcom, it's soap opera. But it's almost the same, minus the fun part (which is hard to find in German TV...)

[Teango]

I've started watching Der Tatortreiniger and this black comedy is just my cup of tea; I can't wait to watch the next episode! One thing was bugging me throughout the first episode though... I knew I'd seen the main protagonist "Schotty" somewhere else before (it was more his voice and mannerisms than anything else that gave it away), but I couldn't quite place him...and then it hit me, he's Ernie from Stromberg!! Vielen Dank, guys.

[Cavesa]

I am probably significantly less advanced than you but I've tried half an episode of Friends in German and I think it might fit most of your requirements. I am personally gonna try Friends once I have time for German again.

Almost forgot to mention it (and hearts don't suffice this time): Thanks for a great thread and all the ideas here!

[daegga]

Fuller House is now airing on Netflix, also in German. Pretty much everyone (old enough) knows the original Full House around here. It should work in pretty much any western language, given it mostly plays indoors and the the few cultural references are mostly Greek.

[DaveAgain]

I've started watching Der Tatortreiniger and this black comedy is just my cup of tea; I can't wait to watch the next episode! One thing was bugging me throughout the first episode though... I knew I'd seen the main protagonist "Schotty" somewhere else before (it was more his voice and mannerisms than anything else that gave it away), but I couldn't quite place him...and then it hit me, he's Ernie from Stromberg!! Vielen Dank, guys.

He's also Dietmar Schäffer from Mord mit Aussicht - Bjarne Mädel.

[golyplot]

It doesn't have that many episodes, but I remember liking Mama ist unmöglich. You can find the episodes on Youtube (with a couple scenes muted due to rights issues). One cool thing about the show is that at one point they host an American exchange student, and I thought it was cool seeing their stereotypes of Americans.