From Sat.1 to RTLzwei: "Ingenious next to it" returns to TV

For years, "genial next to it" was part of the television program like ketchup was to fries - until Sat.

From Sat.1 to RTLzwei: "Ingenious next to it" returns to TV

For years, "genial next to it" was part of the television program like ketchup was to fries - until Sat.1 pulled the plug last year. But now Hugo Egon Balder, Hella von Sinnen and other comedians are returning. However, with the competition.

The comedy quiz classic "Ingenious next to it" with Hugo Egon Balder, Hella von Sinnen and Wigald Boning returns - but on RTLzwei instead of Sat.1. "Last week we played 'Ingeniously Next' for RTLzwei in a new studio dress... that was great fun," von Sinnen wrote on Facebook.

The episodes will be “shown on six Thursdays from March”. An RTLzwei spokesman confirmed that the broadcaster was referring to "the retro trend on German television" and, in addition to the game show "Das Glücksrad" 2023, was also bringing the rate comedy "Genial daneben" back to TV. The main broadcaster RTL is also bringing classics back into the program, such as "The price is hot" or "The 100,000 mark show".

The show, whose concept goes back to Hugo Egon Balder and Marc Conrad, has an eventful 20-year history. Since 2003 she has been coming on Saturdays for a long time. Then she experienced a break between 2011 and 2017. Since then there have been seven seasons on Sat.1 until the summer of 2021 and also some offshoots. The basic concept of the show is that comedians try to answer difficult questions submitted by viewers in improvisational comedy as wittily as possible.

The three participants Boning, Balder and von Sinnen have a long history together with RTL, whose media group also includes ntv. Balder moderated "Everything Nothing Or" together with von Sinnen in the 90s. Balder also produced the comedy show "Saturday Night" that made Boning famous. There was also a reunion with his ensemble recently. At the end of October, RTL broadcast the "reunion" of the format.