Yeah, German TV in general is just pathetically bad, however the documentaries produced by NDR ("die nordreportage") and some others of the "Dritte"/"Spartensen

Yeah, German TV in general is just pathetically bad, however the documentaries produced by NDR ("die nordreportage") and some others of the "Dritte"/"Spartensender" [0] are really quite good most of the time. Interesting topics, rarely any fluff or artificial tension, almost no overly dramatic music just for the sake of it, just all around well produced programmes. An interesting programme from one of the "Dritte" called WDR was e.g. "Feuer & Flamme". On the topic of "Krimis" (crime drama type shows) however I have to agree with the other commenters that it's just formulaic trash. "Tatort" for example is by many regarded as a good or even excellent show, from when I tried watching it a few times over the years, it was often just the "moral education packaged in flat drama" with a very see-through "current issues" topic selection. Just pathetic. Don't get me wrong, I also rewatched some less recent American crime dramas like NCIS etc. and especially in one episode of NCIS LA (really lame spin-off IMO) it was very much "How dare you be a hacker and government whistleblower, don't you know how that hurts Our Troops(tm)?" with the black bald guy saying that to and then assaulting that suspect. YAY, moral panic! [0]: for foreigners, these are the state-run/-sponsored TV channels for different large parts of Germany, like NDR for the northern part etc. Basically smaller regional parts of the ARD/ZDF.