Initially the producers claimed it was based on a character from a past ProSieben comedy,[1] in spite of many elements resembling the BBC series The Office. Only after the BBC threatened with legal action was credit given to the creators of The Office, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. The first season, which appeared in 2004, contained eight episodes. A second season of ten episodes, although not initially planned, was launched on September 11, 2005. A third season was launched on March 5, 2007 and contains eight episodes. A fourth season was officially announced in 2007; the number of episodes and the first screening date are not known yet.

The series became popular partly due to the actor playing Bernd Stromberg, Christoph Maria Herbst, and partly due to the Office-inspired script by Ralf Husmann. Christoph Maria's real-to-life acting efforts made his character a cult figure among many Germans.

The show takes place at the office of the fictional "Capitol-Versicherung AG" ("Capitol Insurance Inc."), where the trivial day-to-day events take place in an eerie atmosphere oscillating between mobbing and sycophancy.

As a spin-off, the success of the show spawned a fun dictionary, "Chef - Deutsch / Deutsch - Chef. Klartext am Arbeitsplatz" ("Boss - German / German - Boss. Plaintext at the workplace"), which was published under the advertising pseudonym of "Bernd Stromberg" by German dictionary publishing company, Langenscheidt, shortly before the third season began airing in March 2007. The book is a bestseller in Germany and topped the non-fiction charts of Der Spiegel.

• Official Website

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