• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, October 24, 2008

What's up with German TV? Now, not only can't you see a good bike race, but you can't hear any good English-language jokes.

MTV Networks Germany is closing down its Comedy Central. It seems shows like "Seinfeld" and "Sarah Silverman" didn't kill -- in comedy lingo. Critics actually said the channel "killed" the jokes by possible bad dubbing.

Early this month big German broadcasters ARD and ZDF said they were not going to broadcast the Tour de France next year because of continued doping among athletes. At almost same time, organizers of Tour of Germany, a modest week-long bike stage race, pulled the plug on next year's event, also because of continuing drug abuse problems among top cyclists during this past summer's Tour de France.

In a rare pull back of its global brands, MTV blamed a lack of performance of the German version of its U.S. cable network to draw viewers. German cycling officials blamed phony sports and TV performances for their decision.

For sure, dubbing isn't drugging. Dubbing lessens TV performances, while drugging does the opposite for cyclists' performances -- and in turn, what appears on TV with higher ratings.  Cyclist's performances were almost cartoon-like  -- and we are now told it was all fiction. Germans won't stand for fiction and animation in their reality shows; no one should.

The question is what lessons are to be learned here. Should we demand full disclosure for what we see on TV -- eliminating any layers obfuscating original content?  

Dubbing of comedies shouldn't be allowed -- in any language in any format.  Drugging should be banned as well for sports programming, and perhaps also for scripted shows -- even if some writers claim their best stuff came from a spell on drugs or alcohol.

Some people say drugging in sports is okay - as long as we know beforehand, as long as we tell the young and old fans of the health dangers. That's a complicated road to travel. The health of  real-life athletes is a serious matter; dubbing of a TV show, not so much.

Real-life TV competitions and fictional TV entertainment aren't always fair. Maybe that's one real TV lesson to learn once in a while.

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