Kaisermühlen Blues (1992– )

This series was one of the greatest TV successes ever in Austria, probably because it was - at least in the beginning - very close to "real life" in Vienna. It tells about a group of people living in the working class quarter of Kaisermühlen in Vienna. In its first episodes, the series became something of a scandal because of its frank and sometimes bad language. The characters are typical for the Vienna working class and the series also took up some serious issues like xenophobia. In later episodes, however, the story became more and more improbable, some new characters emerged who were only meant for fun but didn't have any depth (like the really funny, but quite caricatural character Joschi Täubler and the right-wing politician Vysloczil whom I found really annoying because he was only a caricature of far-right politician Jörg Haider, nothing more). The series can probably only be understood if you are familiar with the Austrian way of life and with Viennese dialect. On the whole, a refreshingly realistic production that features the "crème" of Austrian comedians and comical actors.