Paper short abstract:

On- and offline commentary on ‘realism’ in the popular German/Austrian/Swiss police procedural TATORT provides an insight into its viewer’s perspectives – on watching television, on society’s problems, and on recipients responsibilities in politics.

Paper long abstract:

In my thesis on the long-running German/Austrian/Swiss crime television series TATORT, I focused on its viewers and the criteria which become important by commenting on it - while watching, online, or in the time between episodes.

One of the most important criteria for the viewers of the series (which often addresses current issues in society) is realism. What my interviewees call 'realism' is not only the realistic visualization of police work. From their point of view a story looks real as soon as complex social, political or personal problems are displayed: We see dysfunctional families, corruption, poverty, and child pornography. The murder case of each episode is solved, but structural problems are shown as being persistent. Thus its viewers consider TATORT episodes better and more 'realistic' than other TV series that tend to happy endings.

By seeing the social world in such a 'realistic' way in a fictional story, comparisons to watching news arise. Recipients discuss the political potential of the series to 'make a difference'. Some viewers even argue that watching the series makes people politically active. Based on interviews with TATORT viewers, analysis of online fora, and my field notes on watching viewers watch and discuss the police procedural I argue that group dynamics, past political engagements, viewers thoughts on the political power of media, and personal experiences with the issues presented in the series strongly influence TATORT viewers in taking a stand in this debate.