Ever heard of the band Tokio Hotel? Neither did we until we started watching the new Netflix reality series Kaultiz & Kaulitz. But that’s kind of the point: Twin brothers Bill and Tom Kaulitz have been able to build private lives for themselves in Los Angeles because they were so popular in Europe, any kind of private life was impossible. But now they star in a reality show that gives viewers a glimpse into a year of their lives. Will they be able to stay anonymous in the U.S. after this?
KAULITZ & KAULITZ: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: Bill and Tom Kaulitz sit for their side interviews as we see scenes from their very active lives in the first season of Kaultiz & Kaulitz.
The Gist: Bill and Tom are identical twins and have been performing in the band Tokio Hotel since 2001 — when they were at the tender age of 12. Yes, they’ve been stars for 2/3 of their lives, and we see them at the tail end of a five month European tour.
The brothers are very close — they lived together until Tom got married to Heidi Klum five years ago — but Tom is pretty much done with being on the road, and we see Tom’s unvarnished grumpiness in the face of the positive attitude of his more out-there brother Bill.
Bill has learned to embrace a lot about how different he is, including his sexuality. And, while he enjoys his alone time and uses work to stave off loneliness, he’s always been the one who wanted a relationship. Now Tom, more the antisocial type, is married with stepkids, grilling on the weekends when the twins are home in Los Angeles, and Bill is cruising the apps looking for guys whom he knows are bad for him.
Back home at the end of their tour — we see Bill’s house but not Tom’s — Bill is looking to make some very last-minute arrangements for their pair’s 34th birthday party. He wants an alien theme, and wants the venue to be the “Invisible House” at Joshua Tree, which has a fully-mirrored exterior. Bill’s assistant Lea calls around to see if the people reserving the house can be paid to vacate that day, and he goes shopping with his best friend Sara to find an outfit that fits the alien theme best. He uses his “secret” AMEX card, which Tom finds out about when the producers tell him about it during a confessional interview.
In the meantime, Tom meets with Devon, who lived with the twins when they moved to L.A. and is one of their closest friends. Friends like Devon keep Tom grounded and feeling like he’s living what Bill calls “a middle-class life, but bigger.” What also keeps him grounded is picking up the poop that the puppies that Heidi gave him for his birthday leave around the house.
Bill gets the Invisible House for his party, and, after suggesting that he and Tom go on a skydiving adventure together — which he knows Tom won’t go for — he tells his twin that they’re going to rent an RV and go on a road trip together. The two of them argued more on this tour than they ever had before, with some seriously heavy discussions going back and forth, and Bill feels that time together without work getting in the way will help them reconnect.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Kaultiz & Kaultiz is pretty standard celebrity reality stuff, more in the Kardashians category than anything else.
Our Take: In the U.S., we generally know that Tom Kaultiz is married to Heidi Klum, but that’s about it. To be honest, we had completely forgotten about that fact until we saw Klum introduce herself as Tom’s wife. That relative anonymity is why the Kaulitz twins live in Los Angeles as opposed to their native Germany; the popularity of Tokio Hotel led to security problems for the twins back when they were in their early 20s, and they moved to L.A. because the band wasn’t well-known there and they could live relatively anonymous lives.
We wonder if this series will blow all that up. Despite the fact that much of the show is in German, there’s more than enough English to keep reality fans watching, and the style of the show is very slick and in-tune with what reality fans love.
Another thing that may lead to the show becoming an unexpected hit is that it’s pretty entertaining, mainly due to Bill Kaultiz’ effervescent personality and his willingness to let the cameras into his home and his life. He’s funny, more self-effacing than you might think, and he provides a great contrast to his more buttoned-down twin.
In fact, the show may be much more about Bill’s life than it is about Tom’s. We learn from Bill that Tom won’t allow cameras in his house. Heidi Klum is interviewed, and we see her at the birthday party, but any glimpses into her and Tom’s life is fleeting. If it weren’t for Bill’s willingness to be open to the cameras, the show would be awfully dull.
Yes, the two of them have that “twin thing” going when they’re together, and despite the recent tension, they are amazingly close. That will likely drive most of what we see during this first season, including that RV road trip that they’ll be going on. But it’s slightly disappointing that one of the twins has decided to not even give viewers even a cursory look at his family life, as justifiable as that decision is.
Sex and Skin: Besides Bill being shirtless a lot, there’s nothing.
Parting Shot: During the birthday party, Sara tells the twins she gave them a gift that they need to walk through the dark desert landscape to reach. They give her the light poles they were carrying and hug her. No worries, though, it’s nothing all that scary.
Sleeper Star: Lea is a very patient, accommodating assistant for Bill. So we’ll give this to her.
Most Pilot-y Line: It could be because the show is geared towards an audience who knows the Kaulitz brothers already, but some up-top explanation about their long careers, and how they started as essentially child rock stars, would have been helpful.
Our Call: STREAM IT. Even though we only see some insight into the private lives of one of the Kaulitz brothers, Kaulitz & Kaultiz still works because Bill is a hoot and the brothers’ closeness is readily apparent when they’re on screen together.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
The post Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Kaulitz & Kaultiz’ On Netflix, A Reality Show About Twin Brother Rock Stars, One Of Whom Is Married To Heidi Klum appeared first on Decider.
