Line #40 Series/RaumschiffGamestar


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/raumschiff_gamestar_dvd.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:Top: [[MadDoctor Dr. Chris]], [[AxCrazy SO Peter]], [[OnlySaneMan First Mate Martin]], and [[BunnyEarsLawyer Captain Langer]]. Bottom: The (second) ''[=GameStar=]'', in all her CG glory [[note]]on the cover of the first DVD omnibus, released after season 3; the text on the bottom-left reads "Experience the [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative most thrilling adventures of any starship crewed by game reviewers]]!"[[/note]]]]
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4	->''"Oh Gott, wir werden alle sterben!"'' [[labelnote:Ger.]]"Oh God, we are all going to die!"[[/labelnote]]
5	-->-- '''Captain Langer''''s CatchPhrase
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7	''[=Raumschiff GameStar=]'' (RSGS for short) [[labelnote:Ger.]]"Raumschiff" means "Spaceship".[[/labelnote]] was a German {{Live Action\|TVTropes}} GagSeries produced by the staff of the PC gaming magazine [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GameStar GameStar]] between 1997 and 2004 and [[DirectToVideo released on CDs (later, DVDs) that came with each issue]]. The magazine editors and layout designers were cast as either the heroic crew of the CoolStarship ''[=GameStar=]'' (e.g. with the editor-in-chief playing TheCaptain) or the villainous adepts of TheDarkSide commanded by TheEmperor. They [[WalkingTheEarth travel the universe]] and fight each other for no apparent reason.
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9	The series was first and foremost a continuous AffectionateParody of classic and contemporary VideoGames, TV {{Series}}, {{Film}}s, and ScienceFiction literature, with the most noticeable {{pastiche}}s being of ''Franchise/StarTrek'' (the goodies) and ''Franchise/StarWars'' (the baddies). ''RSGS'' ran for [[Recap/RaumschiffGamestar five seasons and 58 episodes]], each about six minutes long on average, and was discontinued when the original editor-in-chief left the magazine. It was released in its entirety on [=DVDs=] twice but never translated from German. Nowadays, it can also be watched for free on the [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE9D8EBC2E18C5F95 official GameStar YouTube channel]] (German only).
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11	In June 2009, the series was seemingly UnCanceled, with the release of a trailer (watch it with [[FanSub English subs]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZHS6fHYlhQ here]]) parodying the ''[[Film/StarTrek2009 Star Trek]]'''s. However, as of December 2009 issue, this proved to be a RealTrailerFakeMovie: instead, the third season of the SpiritualSuccessor to ''RSGS'', ''Die Redaktion'', started "airing".
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13	----
14	!! Tropes found in the series:
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16	* AggressiveNegotiations: In one episode (released ''just before Film/AttackOfTheClones'' hit the screens), Darth Vader confronts the crew and the lower-rank Gamestars suggest that TheCaptain and Vader resolve their disagreements diplomatically but without them. Vader gladly accepts: "Very well, here is my basis for argumentation..." and flips on his lightsaber.
17	* AllJustADream: Episode 49.
18	* BigGood: Admiral von Heimburg episodically throughout the series.
19	* BootCampEpisode: Episode 39, aptly titled "Drill Sergeant".
20	* BrainWithAManualControl: When the ''[[CoolStarship GameStar]]'''s communications officer Mikkl ends up on the Death Star with a bomb surgically inserted into his body, the villains decide that their best cause of action is to shrink Darth Mopp to minuscule size and send him into Mikkl's brain to defuse the bomb manually. While there, Mopp discovers a control room inside and causes the [=GameStars=] a lot of trouble when they eventually rescue Mikkl.
21	* ConvenientlyTimedAttackFromBehind: How Peter saves the crew from [[spoiler:Darth Vader early in season four]].
22	* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: Upon capturing GS communications officer Mikkl, Darth Lott plans to makes him listen to {{techno}} music until his brain turns into "watery broth".
23	* CoolStarship: The ''Gamestar''. Especially the last two.
24	* DoomedHomeTown: The Game Reviewers' Planet a.k.a. Feldkirchen is this to most of the ''Gamestar'' crew after it is destroyed by the Death Star just before the first season.
25	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first season is markedly different from the other four: there are no uniforms, no catchphrase for the Captain, the ''[=GameStar=]'' looks more like a good version of the Death Star than like ''[[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Enterprise]]'', some members of her crew never appear afterwards, the Empire is commanded by Darth Vader instead of the Emperor (who is only mentioned), etc.
26	* EverybodyDiesEnding: The ending of the fifth (and final) season saw the [=GameStar=] and the Death Star colliding with each other and exploding, presumably killing everyone on board. Certainly puts Captain Langer's CatchPhrase into perspective...
27	* EvilCounterpart: Inverted, the original ''[=GameStar=]'' looked like a [[LighterAndSofter softer and fluffier]] version of Death Star (which it was built to fight), complete with a giant CND sign instead of Death Star's WaveMotionGun. Also, their names, though it's probably more of a coincidence.
28	* ExactWords: In the first episode, Mick the Flight Sim Reviewer is promised a chance to "review everything that has wings". His eventual job? [[spoiler:Ornithology studies.]]
29	* FakeStatic: In episode 22, when Mikkl dictates the coordinates for a time jump, Peter just ''has'' to open a bag of chips at the very same moment.
30	* GermanHumour: Lots and lots.
31	* GilliganCut: When the new First Mate Stangl learns about the overalls, he is certain he is exempt from having to wear them. Next scene is him grumbling and putting one on.
32	* GotVolunteered: Often employed by Captain Langer to find participants for risky missions. To be fair, though, [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking he then often comes along]].
33	* HilariousOuttakes: After almost every episode.
34	* HostageSituation: A TwoPartEpisode in the third season is dedicated to a wacky hostage exchange of Mikkl against Darth Mopp.
35	* HowWeGotHere: Season three opens with the ''[=GameStar=]'' preparing for a desperate LastStand against the Death Star and being utterly destroyed. The narration rewinds to five years earlier, technically making the rest of the series this trope... except that the series ended just over 4.5 years later, technically never reaching that point again ([[spoiler:and both parties are destroyed under different circumstances in the GrandFinale]]). Confusing matters even further is an almost identical scene in episode 22 (where the ''[=GameStar=]'' warps away in the last moment) which takes place [[TimeTravel centuries in the past relative to the start of the season]], not five years in the future.
36	* HumanPopsicle: Flight Engineer Tony starts the first season in deep freeze, ''a la'' [[Film/ReturnOfTheJedi Han Solo]].
37	* ImADoctorNotAPlaceholder: When [[spoiler:Martin is dying]], Captain Langer demands from Dr. Chris to do something, to which he can only reply "I am a doctor, not a maintenance technician!"
38	* ImprovisedLightningRod: When the crew of the eponymous starship is stuck in TheMiddleAges, they obtain the energy necessary for their time jump back to modernity by catching a lightning with a flying kite (and [[ItMakesSenseInContext redirecting it to the ship with a frying pan]]).
39	* InvisibleWriting: The employee contract clause that forces all crew members (except TheCaptain and the medical officer) to wear bright orange overalls is printed in ink that is only visible if you hold the paper against the light of a full moon on a certain date and day of the week.
40	* JesusWasWayCool: UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} makes a cameo in episode 50 to warn the [=GameStars=] about impending apocalypse resulting from the [[spoiler:theft of the Golden C64]].
41	* KilledOffForReal: Despite the series' comedic approach, several characters (most prominently, [[spoiler:Martin and Darth Lott]], though the latter makes a guest appearance in the fifth season) do get killed off for real... which usually has to do with their respective actors leaving the magazine staff.
42	* LooksLikeJesus: Jesus' actor makes an appearance AsHimself in season five, asking the viewers to rescue him from this show if they need "an experienced Jesus impersonator".
43	* MacGuffin: In season 4, the newly-christened third ''[=GameStar=]'' is tasked with recovering the "Golden Platform/Commodore64" -- the last personal computer that (supposedly) didn't waste any computational time and thus "ran at light speed".[[note]]The motivation being that modern computers waste so much time through inefficient design, that the world is in danger of ''literally'' [[RaceAgainstTheClock running out of it]].[[/note]] When the Empire learns about this mission, they immediately jump on the chance to do something evil by thwarting it, and later on, a MegaCorp (all but stated to be Creator/{{Microsoft}}) hires an operative to retrieve the golden hardware for their own R&D, as well. While everyone fights for its possession, however, none of them actually do anything with the [=GC64=], which could have just as well been replaced with any other artifact.
44	* TheMafia: Don Michelangelo's organization in episode 40.
45	* MythArc: The hunt for the Golden Platform/{{Commodore 64}} in season four. Other seasons didn't have one.
46	* NoEnding: [[spoiler:Season four ends with the Wise Man from the Mountains securing the Golden C64 from the Evil Emperor and his goons, and then immediately, Darth Lott and Darth Schmitz holding him at gunpoint. The next episode started season five, leaving the Golden C64 arc without a clear resolution.]]
47	* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: Mikkl and Peter join the ''[=GameStar=]'' crew at gunpoint. It works out, though.
48	* PuffOfLogic: In episode 4x15, an AlienInvasion is thwarted by a random bystander calculating that the probability of the ''[=GameStar=]'', the Death Star, and the Andromedans duking it out over Earth at the same time is exactly zero -- the aliens promptly disappear in a puff of logic (although the other two parties are mysteriously unaffected). Subverted immediately thereafter when the same bystander claims that a meteorite from Krypton hitting just behind him at that very moment is just as improbable -- can you guess what happens next?
49	* {{Pun}}: The 2009 trailer plays with the CatchPhrase:
50	** "Wir werden... Haare färben?" -- "We're all going to... dye hair?"
51	** "Wir werden alle... werben?" -- "We're all going to... advertise?"
52	** "Wir werden alle... Serben?" -- "We're all going to... become Serbs?"
53	* PuttingTheBandBackTogether:
54	** The first season opens this way, [[RealLifeWritesThePlot mirroring the real-life]] search of the editor-in-chief of the newly started ''[=GameStar=]'' magazine for his former colleagues from ''PC Player'' (a major German gaming magazine at the time).
55	** Also, the second season, after the first season crew is [[spoiler:trapped in a StableTimeLoop]].
56	* RapidHairGrowth: PlayedForLaughs when the (bald) First Mate Stangl starts mutating into the [[TheDreaded Stanglnator]], he suddenly "grows" not only wild blond hair, but also a pair of CoolShades, a [[HellBentForLeather leather jacket]], and a [[InstrumentOfMurder battle guitar]].
57	* RationalizingTheOverkill: In one episode, Darth Vader orders his henchman to deliver a parcel bomb onto the eponymous starship. When the henchman rightly points out that the Gamestar is currently sinking, anyway, Vader retorts "Twice destroyed holds better."
58	* ReadingAheadInTheScript:
59	** In episode 26, Captain Langer figures out the villains' EvilPlan by reading it from the script of the episode.
60	** Also, in episode 53, [[spoiler:the "schematics of the Death Star engine" that the [=GameStars=] steal turn out to be the script of the episode]].
61	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Specifically, the introduction and deaths of many major characters coincided with their respective actors joining and leaving the editorial staff of the magazine.
62	* RealTime: The penultimate episode 57 (aptly titled "Echtzeit") takes place in real time. Never mind the fact that it features the usual wacky ''RSGS'' time travel.
63	* RealTrailerFakeMovie: The 2009 trailer.
64	* RecruitmentByRescue: Both Mr. Lenhardt and Martin join the crew in return for Captain Langer saving their lives.
65	* RepeatedRehearsalFailure: PlayedForLaughs in the RealTrailerFakeMovie for its fake "reboot", where the AlternateUniverse version of Captain Langer repeatedly attempts to get Prime!Langer's CatchPhrase right, but always messes up in hilariously rhyming ways. The original Captain's CatchPhrase is "Wir werden alle sterben!" (German for "We are all going to die!"), while the AU!Captain's attempts included "Wir werden alle werben" ("We are all going to advertise"), "Wir werden alle erben" ("We are all going to inherit"), "Wir werden Haare färben" ("We are going to dye hair"), and "Wir werden alle Serben" ("We are all going to become Serbs").
66	* ResetButton: Invoked in a fifth season episode, when the GS crew end up in an [[ComicBook/{{Asterix}} ancient Gaul settlement]]. When Cadet Klinge asks how are they ever gonna get back to their ship, the Captain reassures him that everything will be back to normal by the next episode.
67	* RoboticReveal: In the first season, Terminator!Mick (after getting shot by Charles).
68	* RunningGag: The same as the CatchPhrase above. TheCaptain even {{lampshade}}s it in a bonus episode.
69	* ShooOutTheClowns: In an inversion, the show's [[DarkerAndEdgier darkest and edgiest]] character, Charles, was ousted after season one to make way for more clowns, just as the series was about to find its own identity.
70	* ShoutOut: The series runs on them.
71	* SlidingScaleOfContinuity: The series swung between Level 5 (Full Lockout) in seasons 1, 2, and 4 and Level 4 (Arc-based Episodic) in seasons 3 and 5, occasionally tapping into Level 3 (Subtle Continuity) at some points in the third and fourth seasons.
72	* SlidingScaleOfFourthWallHardness: The FourthWall has never been particularly solid in ''RSGS'' but towards the fifth season, the characters became ever more aware and savvy of their fictional nature.
73	* StableTimeLoop: The entire first season. [[spoiler:It starts with Captain Langer assembling the crew from the survivors of the Game Reviewers' Planet gone [[Film/ANewHope Alderaan]], and ends with him traveling back in time to help said survivors (including his younger self) escape from the planet before the Empire destroys it and disappearing.]]
74	* ViolenceIsNotAnOption: PlayedForLaughs. When threatened by a space terrorist, TheCaptain of the (ostensibly) good guys prepares to answer with a volley from the ship's main gun, only to be informed that ''all'' weaponry is currently in maintenance, and that he instead should seek a diplomatic solution.
75	* VirtualAssistantBlunder: In the episode "Open Death Star Day", Darth Mopp gets carried away hurling insults at the supposedly dumb Death Star visitors, not realizing that the Death Star's voice activated AI interprets everything he says as a command, eventually leading to a massive malfunction.
76	* VisualPun:
77	** One particularly subtle example is that Captain Langer is one of the shortest characters of the show... while one of the meanings of "Langer" in German is "long one" or "a tall person". [[TheOtherDarrin Michael Graf]], who played him in the 2009 trailer, had to lower his relative height to other actors artificially (usually by standing on his knees).
78	** Also, dozens happen on misinterpretations of the Captain's orders. Always followed by the CatchPhrase.
79	*** "So, Mikkl, bin fertig! Gib Stoff!", literally: "Alas, Mikkl, I'm ready! Hand me the cloth!", the latter colloquially meaning "Speed up!". The literal thing happens.
80	*** "Das reicht nicht. Wir brauchen mehr Saft!" - "That's not enough. We need more juice!", with "juice" intended to mean "power". Guess what he gets then...
81	* WeightAndSwitch: In episode 18, Rudi swaps a pack of exquisite Imperial Coffee used for propulsion by the Death Star engine with one of the ''[=GameStar=]''[='s=] own sloppy brew, crippling said engine.
82	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Mr. Lenhardt is the first crew member the Captain [[RecruitmentByRescue saves/recruits]] and has an entire episode ("[[Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock The Search for Lenhardt]]", no less) dedicated to him, but is never found or mentioned again in the first season. In the second, he appears briefly but gets derailed again and ends up in an Imperial base -- and is never heard from again.
83	* YouGotMurder: Half of the first season revolves around Darth Vader trying to smuggle a parcel bomb onto the ''[=GameStar=]'' and [[spoiler:accidentally blowing up the Death Star instead]].

Context Series / RaumschiffGamestar