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THE ARTS/TELEVISION | FEBRUARY 23, 1998 VOL. 151 NO. 8 |
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Bring the Car Round, Harry After 24 years Derrick, one of the world's favorite TV detectives, is finally driving off into the sunset By JORDAN BONFANTE /BONN
These days, however, Derrick fans are in a funk because Germany's ZDF Television announced that it has just finished shooting the valedictory episode (to be broadcast Sept. 18) about the immensely popular "Oberinspektor" Stephan Derrick. Producer Helmut Ringelmann has decided that after 24 years it is time to retire the aging team. That's like telling the world's Trekkies that the Enterprise has made its last jaunt to boldly go where no one has gone before. But star Horst Tappert, who has always been bemused by the show's appeal, isn't mourning. "I don't know whether it's even right to exert such an influence on people," he says. Tappert, 74, has played Derrick since the show's start in 1974--far too long to be replaced by a younger successor as in the James Bond films. The faithful recognize Tappert's portrayal of the tall but gauche Oberinspektor Derrick with the soulful eyes, horsy teeth and slick-backed pompadour toupee. A far cry from the stereotype of the hip, wisecracking TV cop, Derrick stalks criminals with brains rather than brawn. Often the villain is snared by Derrick's persistent appeals to his usually tormented conscience. Sidekick detective Harry Klein, played by Fritz Wepper, also from the series' start, is more dashing, with shoulder-length blond hair and cool sunglasses. But Derrick's the one women viewers fall for. Of the eight million Germans who on average watch each new episode, two-thirds are female. "Though I'm outwardly not a ladies' man," Tappert reflects, "female fans seem to find shelter with Derrick because he is so reliable." And so pop-philosophical. In an episode called "The Murderer's Daughter," in which a Mafia killer's semi-autistic daughter captures his heart, Derrick visits a smoke-filled Munich poolroom in search of witnesses. But there are no threats, no ruses or deals--Derrick instead writes his number on a blackboard and sermonizes about the ordinary citizen's lamentable instinct to look the other way. "Everybody feels, 'None of my business,'" he lectures. "Well, every murdered person is our--the police's--business." The next day the penitent landlord comes forward with the incriminating evidence. It's at this point that viewers expect to hear what has become Derrick's trademark inanity: "Harry, bring the car round." How to explain the cult popularity of a show that has almost no car chases, no violence and no nudity? For one thing, Derrick falls into a time-proven genre, a direct descendant of such plain-Joe detectives as Paris' Maigret and L.A.'s Columbo. Derrick's sheer inoffensiveness is marketable. The absence of sex sells in the Islamic world and the lack of political slants makes it acceptable in China. Its durability may also arise from Tappert's depiction of the Good German. "In place of the stereotyped SS-style officer who has populated so many post-war movies," observes Wepper, "here finally is a peace-loving German official maintaining order and justice with humanity." Herbert Reinecker, the 83-year-old scriptwriter who has authored all 281 episodes, concurs. "In a time when moral virtues and traditions are breaking down, people are filled with angst," he says. "Derrick's success shows that people feel the need for hope and love and familiar truths." Anguished fans fear that Reinecker might kill off Derrick, and perhaps Harry too, to end the series. They needn't worry. Wepper is negotiating for a semi-sequel about Harry Klein on his own. And at about the time that actor Tappert retires to grow pumpkins in his garden in Hamaroy, Norway, fans watching the final episode will be treated to a surprise ending at a pitch of excitement that only an episode of Derrick could provide. Cardiac patients, beware: He gets promoted and lives happily ever after at Europol in the Hague. .
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ot only are Friday evenings in danger, but our reputation is at
stake worldwide," complained Berlin's daily Die Tageszeitung.
"He has done more for German-French relations than any
politician," moaned Richard Nicolini, head of a French fan club.
Only a Brussels fan, housewife Liu Ru Tong, appeared resigned to
fate, noting that "Maybe we should console ourselves with the
fact that he's stepping down at the height of his success and
fame, like an Oscar winner." The object of such high praise is
the star of a European television program: Derrick, the deadpan
German detective series that has run for more than two decades
and captured an audience of millions on five continents.