Bullyparade was a German late night comedy sketch show which aired from 1997 to 2002 on German channel ProSieben. Michael Herbig, Rick Kavanian and Christian Tramitz were the main cast of the show. Herbig also directed, produced and mainly developed the show, while all three comedians wrote the sketches and characters.
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History and concept
The weekly show featured both taped and live performed sketches. Most sketches were part of a series of sketches featuring special characters and settings. The show had a high rate of running gags, and depictions of daily news, international pop culture parodies as well as European and German public figures. While Michael Herbig acted as host, director and producer, all three comedians wrote the sketches, developed the characters and acted in a wide variety roles. With rising success the show was aired with a studio band in front of a live audience.
In Germany, Bullyparade gained strong cult followings even long time after it had been canceled; its status and popularity can be compared to Monty Python's Flying Circus in the UK. One thing it had in common with the Flying Circus was the frequent use of drag by the main cast.
Due to the regional origin and the background of its creators, Bullyparade is strongly associated with Southern German humor. The dialects and accents used on the show are depicting cultural peculiarities from many different regions all over Germany, Austria, South Tyrol, and Switzerland.
Cast
Michael Herbig, (born 29 April 1968) is a German comedian, actor and filmmaker. His nickname "Bully" (in German commonly associated with the VW Bully, rather than the English term) became part of his stage name as a comedian. He directed, produced and co-wrote all sketches. His characters and parodies on Bullyparade include Bully, Franz Beckenbauer, Winnetou, Sissi, Mr. Spuck (based on Spock), Jesus, Mrs. Schnürrlein, and Heidi.
Christian Tramitz (born 29 July 1955) is a German-Austrian actor, voice actor, musician, and comedian. His characters and parodies on Bullyparade include Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, Reinhold Messner, Toni Polster, Old Shatterhand, Captain Kork (based on James T. Kirk), Peter Lustig, Bernd Bond (based on James Bond), and Arnold Schwarzenegger as The Terminator.
Rick Kavanian (Richard Horatio Kavanian), born 26 January 1971, in Munich, is a German actor, comedian, author and voice actor of Armenian descent. Wearing his glasses for all roles regardless of historical periods or circumstances became his signature look on the show. Some of his characters include the Yeti, a variety of minor Star Trek characters, Jürgen Klinsmann, Greek TV presenter and bandit Dimitri, Batman, many female characters and due to his fluent English, some English-speaking characters.
Released in 2001, the movie Der Schuh des Manitu, also directed by Herbig and written by the trio, is a parody of Spaghetti Westerns and the successful 1960s film adaptations of the Winnetou books written by Karl May. It's based on the show's successful Winnetou sketches, featuring all three comedians in various characters. The movie became the highest-grossing German movie on the domestic market of all time.
In 2004, Michael Herbig produced a second movie, (T)Raumschiff Surprise - Periode 1, which was also based on sketches parodying sci-fi shows like Star Trek and also had great success, becoming the second highest-grossing German movie on the domestic market (as of 2026, it remains the 6th highest-grossing German film). Some characters and sides from the first movie are revisited, or shown from a different perspective. The movie also parodies elements from Star Wars, time travel movies, The X-Files and many other franchises.
A third movie titled Lissi und der wilde Kaiser (2007) was based on the Bullyparade sketch series "Wechseljahre einer Kaiserin" (Menopause of an Empress) was released in 2007. It's based on the Austrian Sissi films starring Romy Schneider, depicting a cheesy version of the in real life tragic life story of Sissi. While Herbig and Tramitz dressed up as the royal couple for the sketches, they are just voicing animated characters in the movie.
Recurring characters and sketches (selection)
Unser (T)Raumschiff (Our Dream/Spaceship)Based on Star Trek (with Tramitz as "Kork" (sounds like "Cock" in the characters' dialect); Herbig as "Mr. Spuck" ("Spit") and Kavanian as Bones, "Schrotty" ("Junk") and "Solo"), the depiction of the characters is stereotypically gay. The sketches also depict aspects of Star Wars and German soap Das Traumschiff.
Winnetou MXXXIVparody of the German Winnetou movie franchise based on the novels by Karl May (with Tramitz as Old Shatterhand and Herbig as Winnetou), depicting stereotypical aspects of spaghetti Westerns, all characters speaking in strong South Bavarian dialects.
Sissi - Wechseljahre einer Kaiserin (Sissi - Menopause of an Empress)Parody of (the Sissi film trilogy starring Romy Schneider, with Tramitz as Emperor Franz, Herbig as Sissi and Kavanian as Field Marshal.
The TerminatorTramitz parodies Schwarzenegger's role.
James BondTramitz as "Bernd Bond" and Herbig as Q.
Pavel and BronkoA made up Czech talk show.
Latrine - die Soap auf dem KloSoap opera where three guys live next to each other in compartments of a public restroom.
Yeti am Mittag (Yeti at noon)Talkshow hosted by the Yeti (Kavanian), featuring different guests, mostly Reinhold Messner (Herbig).
Ronny, Lutz und Löfflerare three alternative permanent students
Christian und Daniel – Piloten aus Leidenschaft (Passionate Pilots)Tramitz and Herbig depicting the glamorous cockpit lives of two Boeing 747 pilots.
HeidiBased on Swiss children's novel character Heidi (Herbig), an orphaned girl living with her grandfather (Tramitz) and showing interest in everyday life questions and Ziegenpeter (Kavanian).
Guest appearances
Over time and with its raise in popularity the show featured prominent guests such as DJ BoBo, Olli Dittrich, Anke Engelke, Erkan und Stefan, Herbert Feuerstein, Sky du Mont, DJ Ötzi, Bastian Pastewka, Stefan Raab and Sasha.