Editing Harald Schmidt (section)

== Criticism ==
Especially during the first years of ''Die Harald Schmidt Show'', Schmidt was sometimes criticised for making fun of minorities like foreigners or gays. He also did [[Adolf Hitler]] imitations in his show (in one of these he as Hitler warned young people not to vote for racist and nationalistic parties). Schmidt's more unorthodox and politically incorrect jokes have garnered the show a reputation as [[cult television]] and his supporters accused critics of being incapable of understanding satire.{{citation needed|date=December 2013}}

In the later years of its first run on [[Sat.1]] (circa 2001–2003), the ''Harald Schmidt Show'' became a critics' favourite due to Schmidt's "intellectual" sense of humour, especially for incorporating many references to high culture (be it literature, theater, classical music, painting, or cinema), history, and philosophy. Another recurring item were forays into surrealism and absurdity that were pretty much anathema to commercial or "mainstream" interest: For example, Schmidt hosted one show completely in French (re-broadcast a few days later on Franco-German channel [[Arte]], this ''Show en Francais'' episode gained glowing reviews from French critics). On another occasion, the screen was blacked for half of the show making it into a "radio broadcast". Another time, Schmidt disproved a critic who had written that it is impossible to spend several minutes on TV just cracking nuts without anybody saying anything. The show's reviews and renown among critics gradually worsened during the years of its [[ARD (broadcaster)|ARD]] run (2004–2010), especially because Schmidt's choice of [[Oliver Pocher]] as a new sidekick was considered a mistake that diminished the entire show's quality.