Einstein (German TV series)

Einstein is a German police procedural dramedy television series that is based on the 2015 film of the same name, written by Martin Ritzenhoff und Matthias Dinter.

Einstein
Genre	Police procedural Crime Comedy drama
Written by	Martin Ritzenhoff Matthias Dinter
Directed by	Thomas Jahn Dominic Müller Felix Stienz Oliver Dommenget
Starring	Tom Beck Annika Ernst Rolf Kanies Haley Louise Jones
Composer	Karim Sebastian Elias
Country of origin	Germany
Original language	German
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	32
Production
Executive producers	Michael Souvignier Dominik Frankowski
Running time	42–47 minutes
Production company	Zeitsprung Pictures
Original release
Network	Sat.1 Sat.1 emotions
Release	January 5, 2017 (2017-01-05) – March 17, 2019 (2019-03-17)

The television series premiered on Sat.1 emotions on January 5, 2017^[1] and has sold to over 100 territories^[2] including a hit in Spain and Portugal on AXN and also in Czech Republic on FilmBox.

On March 29, 2019, Sat.1 canceled the series after three seasons.^[3]

Plot

Felix Winterberg, unknown great-great-grandson of Albert Einstein, is the youngest professor of theoretical physics at Ruhr University Bochum. Winterberg has inherited the genius of Einstein and suffers from the deadly health of Huntington's Chorea, which gives him a remaining life expectancy of about seven years. He must help Kriminalkommissarin (Police commissioner) Elena Lange as an independent consultant under the direction of Kriminaloberkommissar Stefan Tremmel in the investigation of murder cases in order not to end up in prison for violations of the Narcotics Act (unauthorized amphetamine).

Cast

Character	Actor	Occupation	Season
			1	2	3
Prof. Dr. Felix „Einstein“ Winterberg	Tom Beck	Professor at Ruhr University Bochum, independent consultant at Criminal Police in Bochum	Main
Elena Lange	Annika Ernst	Detective at Criminal Police in Bochum	Main
Stefan Tremmel	Rolf Kanies	Detective chief at Criminal Police in Bochum	Main
Kirsten Maybach	Haley Louise Jones	Crime scene investigator	Main
Dr. Lee Kwon	Yung Ngo	Friend of Felix Winterbeg	Recurring
Leon Lange	Paul Bohse	Son of Elena Lange	Recurring
Dr. Rössler	Christian Hockenbrink	Doctor of Felix Winterberg and Leon Lange	Recurring
Prof. Dr. Constanze Winterberg	Angela Roy	Mother of Felix Winterberg, Dean at Ruhr University Bochum (Season 2)	Recurring
Prof. Dr. Stefan Jäger	Reiner Schöne	Former professor of Felix Winterberg	Recurring
Sabine Steenken	Jennifer Poppek	Secretary/personal assistant of dean, Informer of Stefan Jäger	Recurring
Prof. Dr. Oliver Kohaupt	Hubertus Hartmann	Dean at Ruhr University Bochum, Informer of Stefan Jäger	Recurring
Andreas „Andy“	Jesse Albert	Detective	Guest	Recurring
Julia Weigert	Laura Berlin	BKA Agent	Guest	Recurring
Nic Beuser	Wayne Carpendale	Internal investigator		Recurring
Teresa Lange	Merle Collet	Sister of Elena Lange, Aunt of Leon Lange	Guest		Recurring

Episodes

Season 1 (2017)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Original air date (Sat.1 emotions)	Original air date (Sat.1)
1	1	"Ballistik"	January 5, 2017	January 10, 2017
2	2	"ABC"	January 5, 2017	January 10, 2017
3	3	"Schwerkraft"	January 12, 2017	January 17, 2017
4	4	"H2O"	January 12, 2017	January 17, 2017
5	5	"Mikrowellen"	January 19, 2017	January 24, 2017
6	6	"Elvis lebt"	January 19, 2017	January 24, 2017
7	7	"Meganewton"	January 26, 2017	January 31, 2017
8	8	"Thermodynamik"	January 26, 2017	January 31, 2017
9	9	"Magnetismus"	February 2, 2017	February 7, 2017
10	10	"E.M.P."	February 2, 2017	February 7, 2017

Season 2 (2018)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Original air date (Sat.1 emotions)	Original air date (Sat.1)
11	1	"Optik"	February 12, 2018	February 13, 2018
12	2	"Aerodynamik"	February 12, 2018	February 13, 2018
13	3	"Expansion"	February 19, 2018	February 20, 2018
14	4	"Strömung"	February 19, 2018	February 20, 2018
15	5	"Amnesie"	February 26, 2018	February 27, 2018
16	6	"Dr. Rössler"	February 26, 2018	February 27, 2018
17	7	"Anaphylaxie"	March 5, 2018	March 6, 2018
18	8	"Kompression"	March 5, 2018	March 6, 2018
19	9	"Isobaren"	March 12, 2018	March 13, 2018
20	10	"Kollaps"	March 12, 2018	March 13, 2018

Season 3 (2019)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Original air date (Sat.1 emotions)	Original air date (Sat.1)
21	1	"Fallout (1)"	January 13, 2019	January 7, 2019
22	2	"Fallout (2)"	January 13, 2019	January 14, 2019
23	3	"Siedepunkt"	January 20, 2019	January 21, 2019
24	4	"K.I."	January 27, 2019	January 28, 2019
25	5	"Oxidation"	February 3, 2019	February 4, 2019
26	6	"Skin-Effekt"	February 10, 2019	February 11, 2019
27	7	"Gamma-Hydroxy-Butansäure"	February 17, 2019	February 18, 2019
28	8	"Prisma"	February 24, 2019	February 25, 2019
29	9	"Antischall"	March 3, 2019	March 4, 2019
30	10	"Kybernetik"	March 10, 2019	March 11, 2019
31	11	"Extension"	March 17, 2019	March 18, 2019
32	12	"Infrarot"	March 17, 2019	March 18, 2019

Reception

Ratings

No. in series	Air date (Sat.1)	Viewers (in millions)		Share
		all	14–49 years	all	14–49 years
1	January 10, 2017	2.56 Mio.	1.14 Mio.	7.7%	10.8%
2	January 10, 2017	2.31 Mio.	1.11 Mio.	7.4%	10.5%
3	January 17, 2017	2.36 Mio.	1.20 Mio.	7.2%	11.3%
4	January 17, 2017	2.39 Mio.	1.26 Mio.	7.7%	12.2%
5	January 24, 2017	2.00 Mio.	0.99 Mio.	6.0%	9.2%
6	January 24, 2017	2.07 Mio.	1.09 Mio.	6.6%	10.2%
7	January 31, 2017	2.43 Mio.	1.11 Mio.	7.5%	10.4%
8	January 31, 2017	2.28 Mio.	1.11 Mio.	7.3%	10.3%
9	February 7, 2017	2.34 Mio.	1.20 Mio.	7.0%	10.6%
10	February 7, 2017	2.28 Mio.	1.13 Mio.	7.2%	10.2%
11	February 13, 2018	1.94 Mio.	0.96 Mio.	5.9%	9.2%
12	February 13, 2018	1.97 Mio.	1.00 Mio.	6.4%	10.1%
13	February 20, 2018	1.78 Mio.	TBA	TBA	9.0%
14	February 20, 2018	1.57 Mio.	TBA	TBA	7.2%
15	February 27, 2018	1.68 Mio.	0.91 Mio.	5.0%	8.3%
16	February 27, 2018	1.63 Mio.	0.82 Mio.	5.4%	8.2%
17	March 6, 2018	1.42 Mio.	0.69 Mio.	4.3%	6.6%
18	March 6, 2018	1.42 Mio.	0.72 Mio.	4.5%	6.9%
19	March 13, 2018	1.84 Mio.	0.93 Mio.	5.7%	9.2%
20	March 13, 2018	1.68 Mio.	0.81 Mio.	5.6%	8.3%

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
2018	Jupiter Award	Best TV series (National)	Season 1	Nominated	[4]
2019	Jupiter Award	Best TV series (National)	Season 2	Nominated

Adaptations

American adaptation

In October 2018, an adaptation of the series at NBC was announced, with a creative team that included writer Michael Reisz, Carol Mendelsohn, and Tariq Jalil in association with Universal Television.^[5] That adaptation was not picked up, but in October 2020, another US adaptation was announced, this time for CBS,^[6] however it was not picked up, but in June 2024 it has been re-developed for the US adaptation with Andy Breckman and Randy Zisk.^[7] On August 6, 2024, it has ordered a pilot production commitment for the series with Breckman as showrunner and Zisk as director in the series.^[8] On October 3, 2024, it was announced that Matthew Gray Gubler had joined the production as Lew Einstein.^[9] On November 26, 2024, it has announced that Rosa Salazar would star as Detective Inspector Maddie Paris.^[10]

Czech adaptation

In May 2021, an adaptation by Prima televize Einstein – Případy nesnesitelného génia starring Vojtěch Kotek started broadcasting.

Slovak adaptation

In February 2023, an adaptation by TV Joj Einstein starring Juraj Loj started broadcasting.

See also

• List of German television series