EINSTEIN - SERIES 2, EPISODE 1: OPTIK (SAT. 1)

Launched last year, German crime/comedy Einstein returned this week on private channel Sat. 1 for a second series (10 x 45-minute episodes).

Actor and singer Tom Beck (Alarm für Cobra 11 - Die Autobahn Polizeï) stars as Felix Winterberg, the great-great grandson of Albert Einstein and a scientific genius himself. Felix has Huntington's disease (like his father) and he works reluctantly for the Bochum police as a consultant.
 
The bottom line: Rather The Tom Beck Show than Elementary.

Felix Winterberg interrupts his lecture because of a student who is watching a live broadcast of internet star Nana's video channel on her smartphone. Nana is about to present a very special object... which kills her in a spectacular explosion. The police quickly calls Winterberg, who joins Elena Lange (Annika Ernst) and forensic specialist Kirsten Maybach (Haley Louise Jones) on the crime scene. The victim's biggest fan Rosa Marcial (Vita Tepel) and Nana's boyfriend Crazy Alex (Phil Laude), another internet celebrity, are in shock.

Tremmel (Rolf Kanies) and Elena add Energy Drink executive Jens Abmeyer (Jochen Schropp) to the list of suspects. Felix Winterberg finds online fitness coach Zoe (Gizem Emre), Nana's best friend, quite interesting. BKA agent Julia Weigert (Laura Berlin) helps him and Dr. Lee Kwon (Yung Ngo) against old adversaries. Professor Constanze Winterberg (Angela Roy), Felix's mother, becomes the new dean of the university. Written by Matthias Dinter & Martin Ritzenhoff and directed by Dominic Müller, Optik is an effective premiere.

Tom Beck's undeniable gift for fast-paced comedy and a solid cast make Einstein an enjoyable series which doesn't take itself seriously. Sometimes it doesn't work (see the second episode of Series 1) but overall it's fun and entertaining. Let's hope that the rest of Series 2 is as good. Also starring Paul Bohse (Leon Lange) and Christian Hockenbrick (Dr. Rössler). Einstein is produced by Zeitsprung Pictures for Sat. 1 and distributed by Red Arrow Studios. Produced by Dominik Frankowski and Michael Souvignier. Music by Karim S. Elias.

EINSTEIN IS BACK ON SAT.1

He took his time but he's finally back. Following the success of a TV movie aired in March 2015 (!) on German private channel Sat.1, crime comedy Einstein returns tonight with the first two episodes of a 10-episode series.

Actor and singer Tom Beck (Alarm für Cobra 11 - Die Autobahn Polizeï) stars as Felix Winterberg, great-great grandson of Albert Einstein and scientific genius himself, who unwillingly ended up as a police consultant in the 2015 film.

Far from being another procedural with the inevitable eccentric sleuth, Einstein (the TV movie) didn't take itself seriously at all and caught us with Tom Beck's undeniable gift for fast-paced comedy.

You can read our review of the 2015 film for television here:

http://tattard2.blogspot.fr/2016/07/einstein-sat1.html

See also:

http://www.sat1.de/tv/einstein

[Update] A very good, entertaining first episode in line with the TV movie. Regrettably followed by a terrible second episode.

EINSTEIN - THE TV MOVIE (SAT.1)

Following the success of a film for television aired in March 2015 on German private channel Sat.1 (1), crime comedy Einstein is due to return this autumn as a full 10-episode series. 

Actor and singer Tom Beck (Alarm für Cobra 11 - Die Autobahn Polizeï) stars as Felix Winterberg, great-great grandson of Albert Einstein and scientific genius himself, who unwillingly ends up as a police consultant.

Felix "Einstein" Winterberg, aged 33, teaches theoretical physics at this university. He also works for CERN (2) and on a new source of energy based on dark matter. To stay active 21 hours a day he's an heavy user of amphetamines. When Felix learns that he has Huntington's disease (like his father) and will probably not live past age 40, he tries to empty the medicine chest of his doctor! Elena Lange, a cop, arrests him on the way to the hospital for her 8-year old son Leon, who needs a pacemaker.

After Winterberg unexpectedy proves himself to be useful to the police while under arrest, Elena's boss Tremmel blackmails the scientist to assist them about the explosion of a flat rented by presumed terrorists. Felix deduces that they were actually drug dealers and teams up with a reluctant Lange on the case. Someone tries to poison him, his computer is hacked, his turkish dealer (and good friend) is murdered and a mysterious asian agent steals his notes.

Far from being another procedural with the inevitable eccentric sleuth, Einstein (the TV movie) is surprisingly enjoyable. Thanks mainly to Tom Beck's irresistible performance as the flawed genius, both hilarious and (a little) touching. He's surrounded by a solid cast, starting with Annika Ernst as Elena Lange and the talented Rolf Kanies as Stefan Tremmel. South African-born actress Haley Louise Jones plays forensic specialist Kirsten Maybach.

Beck, who played Ben Jäger in Alarm für Cobra 11 from 2008 to 2013, is joined by two other familiar faces from the RTL show: Mark Keller (Weigert) and Katrin Heß as Felix's student Caro. Also starring Jonathan Jakobbson (Leon Lange), Laura Berlin, Constantin von Jascheroff, Hubertus Hartmann (University dean Middelberg), etc. Written by Matthias Dinter & Martin Ritzenhoff and directed by Thomas Jahn, Einstein doesn't take itself seriously at all. It's more fast-paced comedy than a copycat of Elementary, which is certainly better like that as TV wasn't in a desperate need for a new police consultant.

Produced by Zeitsprung Pictures for Sat. 1. Till Derenbach exec produces. Dominik Frankovski & Michael Souvignier are the producers. Music composed by Karim Sebastian Elias. Einstein is distributed by Red Arrow International (Der letzte Bülle). In France, private channel M6 aired the TV movie in September 2015 as Équations criminelles.

[Update - January 4, 2017] Finally, the series will premiere on January 10 with two episodes.

(1) We mentioned Einstein on this blog at the time  but didn't review it due to unforeseen circumstances.
(2) Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire.

http://zeitsprung.de/en/home.html
http://www.quotenmeter.de/n/83779/sat-1-fiction-loos-zurueck-mehr-von-einstein