Pastewka - The 7th Season - Blu-Ray

Content: The long wait is over: Pastewka is finally back! After a coin decided that Bastian (Bastian Pastewka) and Anne (Sonsee Neu) have unceremoniously called off their wedding, the chaotic everyday life slowly returns to the life of the comedian. And in Pastewka's case, of course, this means that he is once again jumping from one faux pas to the next. This starts with a visit to the cemetery with his brother Hagen (Matthias Matschke) and father Volker (Dietrich Hollinderbäumer), where a flower arrangement will have unexpected consequences for a second attempt at marriage to Anne. And Bastian soon has to bitterly regret his decision to help Hugo Egon Balder with his tax problems in a very daring way. The fact that Anne is studying again and is adored by a younger fellow student in her study group doesn't make things any easier either. And then his manager Regine (Sabine Vitula) has also arranged for Bastian to star in a Sketchup revival together with Anke Engelke. And then there is also his favorite enemy Svenja Bruck (Bettina Lamprecht), who never misses an opportunity to make Bastian's life hell...

Fans have had to wait almost two years for new episodes of Pastewka. Although the seventh season had been shot for some time, Sat1 has repeatedly postponed the broadcast date. But now the time has finally come and you can look forward to nine new episodes of probably the best German comedy series of recent years. The humor is sometimes extremely nasty (as in the double episode Die Zeremonie) or deliciously over-the-top (Die Ohrfeige), but mostly hits the mark. Sure, there are a few gags that don't quite hit the spot. But overall, the season's nearly four-hour running time offers an extremely large number of good laughs that still work really well after multiple viewings.

Two storylines take center stage this season. One is about Anne's resumed medical studies and Bastian's jealousy towards slightly too charming younger fellow students. On the other hand, Bastian's attempt to change his career a bit is in the focus after he believes to have reached the low point of his artistic work with the Sketchup revival. So he tries his hand as a standup comedian, which of course goes badly wrong at first. The whole thing reaches its climax in the last episode, in which the series takes itself for a ride. Here Bastian Pastewka makes no secret of the fact that his series was originally not much more than a German variant of the US series Curb your Enthusiasm by Seinfeld co-inventor Larry David.

Anyway, self-irony plays a big role in Pastewka. Not only Pastewka himself proves a lot of courage for self-mockery, but also again his many celebrity guests such as Anke Engelke, Michael Kessler, Ralf Richter or Annette Frier. A special highlight here is the appearance of comedian Johann König, who reveals his preference for more mature women. How he does it and what the consequences are is just too funny.

It is relatively rare that a series still works so well after a run of nine years and a total of seven seasons. But even if the new episodes are perhaps not the best of the series, there is really still no sign of wear and tear on Pastewka. A lot of fun, which - as father Volker would say - the dorks from Sat1 will hopefully send into an eighth round, for which we won't have to wait another two years. Otherwise I'll freak out here! For season 7, however, there is now a very clear: Absolutely worth watching!

Picture + Sound: The picture and sound quality of the Blu-ray is only marginally better compared to the DVD. Overall, the absolutely clean picture is pleasing with good overall sharpness and a coherent color scheme. The audio is in a powerful DTS Stereo mix that powerfully conveys the most important aspect of the series - the amusing dialogue - from the speakers. Good!

Extras: Season 7 again has plenty of bonus material to offer. To a total of four episodes there are very entertaining video commentaries, in which Bastian Pastewka is supported by Anke Engelke (episode 1), Hugo Egon Balder (episode 4), Guido Cantz (episode 5) and Johann König (episode 7). For fans, it's definitely worth checking out.

Continues with a guided tour of the new set by Bastian Pastewka (approx. 10:20 min.), as well as an XL bonus take from The Joker (approx. 6:24 min.) and the sketchup clips shown in the series (approx. 1:33 min.) including outtakes (approx. 1:12 min.). There are also more outtakes from the series (approx. 5:33 min.) and a short clip from the penultimate episode in which Bastian does the crane (approx. 0:28 min.). This is followed by an appearance by Pastewka on TV Total (approx. 13:06 min.), where he talks to Stefan Raab about the filming of season 7. Finally, fans can look forward to three clips with Wolfgang and Anneliese (approx. 16:12 min.), as well as two more with Ottmar Zittlau (approx. 10:35 min.). For Pastewka fans actually an all-round feel-good package.

Conclusion: Almost two years fans had to wait for the seventh season of Pastewka - and it was really worth it. The new episodes have again many wonderful gags, deliciously politically incorrect nastiness and everyday absurdities to offer. The only drawback is that the nine episodes are over far too quickly and can only briefly satisfy the Pastewka hunger that has built up over two years. The Blu-ray presents the seventh season in good picture and sound quality and also has almost 3 hours of extras such as video commentaries, outtakes or a set tour to offer. Absolutely recommended!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp