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Hallo Spencer | |
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Created by | Winfried Debertin[1] |
Starring | Joachim Hall Wilhelm Helmrich et al. |
Country of origin | Germany |
Original language | German |
No. of episodes | 275 |
Production | |
Running time | 29 minutes per episode (German version), 22 minutes (US version) |
Original release | |
Network | NDR |
Release | December 27, 1979 2001 | –
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) |
Hallo Spencer is a German children's television series, created by Winfried Debertin and produced by Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) from 1979 until 2001.[2] In these 22 years, 275 episodes were filmed, including a number of 'specials' featuring the characters taking part in traditional fairy tale and nursery rhyme-themed stories.
It is a puppet based show, featuring characters created and operated in the same fashion as Jim Henson's Muppets and Sesame Street, and, in fact, some of the show's staff were former employees of Sesamstraße, the German version of Sesame Street. To this day, the series is popular and well loved in its home country to the extent that the theme park Heide Park featured a themed area devoted to the show until it was removed in 2017. In 2023, it was reported that the animatronics that came from the area were stolen and vandalized.[3]
The series has been repeated on the commercial channels Nickelodeon Germany and on the pay-TV channel Premiere. Episodes were regularly found on regional broadcast stations until March 2011.
The series has three spinoffs: The Adventures of Max and Molly, Poldi and the Dragons and Spencer Kids.
A film produced for ZDF under the title “Hallo Spencer - Der Film” has been announced for 2024, in which, among others, German television presenter Jan Böhmermann will take on a role.[4][5] The film premiered at Filmfest München in July 2024.[6]