Hausmeister Krause – Ordnung muss sein (Janitor Krause - There Has to Be Order) is a German Sitcom series of The Aughts. It ran from 1999 to 2010.
Dieter Krause is the janitor of an apartment block in the Cologne city district of Kalk, which is where he also lives with his family. This familiy consists of Dieter's wife, Lisbeth, and his kids, Tommie and Carmen. But the most important family member is — at least as far as Dieter is concerned — his dachshund, Bodo! This is an obsession Dieter shares with his comrades of the dachshund club.
This show contains examples of:
- Almighty Janitor: Dieter thinks that he is one. But his supervisor, Mr. Makielski, begs to differ...
- Butt-Monkey: When Hilarity Ensues and things go worse, Mr. Makielski always has to suffer the most.
- The Drag-Along: Dieter always manages to persuade his comrade Herbert to help him with his schemes.
- Catchphrase: Several, but the most memorable would be the oath of the dachshund club: Alles für den Dackel, alles für den Club, unser Leben für den Hund! (Everything for the dachshund, everything for the club, our life for the dog!) There is a pun hidden in there: The last part alludes to the expression Alles für die Katz! (Everything for the cat!), meaning All in vain!
- Control Freak: Dieter; and it drives everyone around him (especially Mr. Makielski) crazy!
- Demonic Dummy: One episode features an Ax-Crazy serial killer, whose Kasperle hand-puppet urges him to "play Hannibal".
- Dumb Blonde: Carmen, although she doesn't quite reach her father's level in dumbness.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Carmen always calls her brother Fettie. Perhaps you already guessed it: "Fatty"
- Failure Is the Only Option: Dieter always strives to upgrade his employment contract from part-time position to full-time position - but in the end of each episode, he can be thankful that he still has his poorly paid janitor job at all!
- From Bad to Worse: Many episodes end in outright worst-case scenarios! Utter chaos!
- The "Fun" in "Funeral": In one episode. By the way, the deceased is a dachshund. Of course.
- Genius Ditz: Dieter has managed to screw together technical marvels such as security enforcement machines and an exploding chicken. When Hilarity Ensues (which is inevitably the case!), then because these contraptions work a bit too well.
- Hilarity Ensues
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Oh so many examples!
- Hopeless Suitor: Herbert has a very hopeless crush on Dieter's daughter Carmen. (Herbert: "Ca-Ca-Carmen!" Carmen: "He-He-Herbert!")
- Hormone-Addled Teenager: Tommie and Carmen.
- Hypocritical Humor: Dieter can be very hypocritical. (For example by complaining about all the smutty stuff in a porn magazine while carefully studying it.)
- Gaydar: Subverted! Dieter needs a very long time to realize that the new neighbours (one of them very Camp Gay) are homosexual.
- Get-Rich-Quick Scheme: In one episode, Dieter falls for a pyramid scheme. (Although he doesn't quite get how the money-avalanche can go uphill.)
- Innocent Innuendo: In one episode, Mrs. Ricken wants Dieter to come over to her place and fix a loose screw. Dieter interprets this as a veiled invitation for sexual intercourse, while in fact it was meant literally.
- Limited Wardrobe: Except for Carmen, there isn't much variation regarding what the characters wear. In Dieter's case though, this is justified: Most of the time, he either wears his janitor coat or his club uniform, a visual cue to his two obsessions.
- Mistaken for Dying: Dieter in one episode. He then proceeds to appoint Herbert as his heir, including his job and the hand of his daughter...
- Ms. Fanservice:
Theiss Titillation Theory tends to apply to most of Carmen's outfits. And in one episode, she even runs around in the apartment corridors in only her underwear. - Only Sane Man: Mr. Makielski; the problem is that Dieter only sees a Pointy-Haired Boss in him.
- Our Presidents Are Different: Karl is only the president of the dachshund club (and isn't even the top of the hierarchy), but the club members treat him as if he were an actual head of state.
- Putting on the Reich: While the uniforms worn by the dachshund club members look nothing like Nazi uniforms, there is their ridiculously militaristic and ceremonial behavior. But one cue takes the cake: The title of President Göbel's superior actually is Gauleiter!
- Serious Business: For Dieter and his pals, everything that has to do with dachshunds.
- Stalker with a Crush: Tommie, regarding friends of his sister Carmen.
- Status Quo Is God: The only reason why, after all what he has done, Dieter still has his job / his dachshund club membership / his wife...
- The Stoner: Two of the Krause's neighbours are a New-Age Retro Hippie pair. Dieter wants them to be kicked out of the house, because he (rightly) suspects them to possess
marihunamarijuana, but he never actually finds evidence of this. - Totally Radical: Played for laughs with Tommie's unique speech pattern. (Most importantly, he is turning all kinds of verbs into Unsound Effects.)
- Too Dumb to Live: Dieter doesn't seem to be very susceptible to everything more subtile than a sledgehammer.
- Ultimate Job Security: Considering some of the things that Dieter has done, he should have been fired a dozen times over. (Not that Makielski didn't try that...)
- Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist
- The Von Trope Family:
- Bodo's (Yes, that's the dog!) full name is Bodo von der Hermannsklause.
- In the episode where Lisbeth has a not really rich suitor, Tommie speculates that if she leaves Dieter for this guy, they will soon be named "von Krause"! (Uh, Tommie? Naming conventions do not work that way...)
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Tommie sometimes tries to apply stuff he has seen in horror movies on Real Life.
- Zany Scheme: Ends in a catastrophe most of the time.
