Merry Christmas 2 - DVD

Content: After the great success of their first joint Christmas show, which among other things. with the Grimme Award and the Bavarian Television Award 2008 has been awarded, the folk music duo Wolfgang and Anneliese alias Bastian Pastewka and Anke Engelke now returns in "Fröhliche Weihnachten 2". With many more or less prominent guest stars such as Whitney Houston, Gunther Emmerlich, Gregor Gysi, Cindy from Marzahn or DJ Ötzi (all portrayed by Pastewka and Engelke) Wolfgang and Anneliese lead through a show full of heart and Christmas flair.

There are presented new trend sports for the ski slope, the relief action "Aua on the finger!" supported, Wolfgang and Anneliese sing the most beautiful hits of the year and Ottmar Zittlau provides tips for the perfect Christmas tree - which does not necessarily have to be a tree. Christmas can come!

"Fröhliche Weihnachten 2" does not quite reach the class of the first Christmas show, but was still quite rightly awarded the German Comedy Award 2010. Because the duo Pastewka/Engelke is simply great in their different roles. Wolfgang and Anneliese are (unfortunately) damn close to reality, yet far enough exaggerated to provide good laughs time and again - especially when the camera stays on the couple a little too long after the moderations and shows how much they really "love each other. And their interpretation of hits like "Stadt" or "Allein Allein" in the folk music manner are just unbelievably funny!

But also the other characters brings the comedy duo with a lot of wit on the screen. For example, Pastewka delights with a great Michael Wendler imitation and in one of his parade roles, the fashion-conscious Ottmar Zittlau. Engelke makes the viewer laugh as a North German presenter as well as Whitney Houston or Jogi Löw. And the idea of "Aua on the finger" is just brilliant. Sure, not all the gags hit home and some characters and impersonations are just less funny than others. But overall, "Happy Christmas 2" offers enough good reasons to become a must-have gift under the Christmas tree.

Picture + Sound: Rich, atmospheric colors and overall sharpness at a good TV level make the technical realization of the DVD quite successful. The same goes for the well-mixed stereo sound, where all the gags come across well.

Extras: In addition to the show, the DVD has about 18 minutes of more fun to offer. In addition to over 6 minutes of partly very funny outtakes, there is still a dance medley, a photo gallery, not sent statements to "Aua on the finger!", as well as amusing program announcements by Ottmar Zittlau, Gunther Emmerlich or Gregor Gysi, among others. In addition, there are four more program tips, including, of course, for the DVD for the first "Fröhliche Weihnachten" show.

Conclusion: "Fröhliche Weihnachten 2" is not quite as successful as its predecessor. But the show is able to entertain very well thanks to the versatile and perfectly harmonizing hosts. The DVD is very nicely designed (with Advent doors and Christmas stickers) and also has a few amusing extras to offer. For all who want to spend Christmas not only contemplative, but with a lot of laughter, absolutely recommended!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp