German-dubbed versions sometimes diverge greatly from the original, especially in adding humorous elements absent from the original. In extreme cases, such as The Persuaders! or Erik the Viking, the German-dubbed version was more successful than the English original. Often, translation adds sexually explicit gags the U.S. versions might not be allowed to use. For example, in Bewitched, the translators changed "The Do Not Disturb sign will hang on the door tonight" to "The only hanging thing tonight will be the Do Not Disturb sign". This practice was the most prevalent from the 1960s to 80s, from the 1990s onwards it became much less common.
German-dubbed versions sometimes diverge greatly from the original, especially in adding humorous elements absent from the original. In extreme cases, such as The Persuaders! or Erik the Viking, the German-dubbed version was more successful than the English original. Often, translation adds sexually explicit gags the U.S. versions might not be allowed to use. For example, in Bewitched, the translators changed "The Do Not Disturb sign will hang on the door tonight" to "The only hanging thing tonight will be the Do Not Disturb sign". This practice was the most prevalent from the 1960s to 80s, from the 1990s onwards it became much less common.