The show – a Saturday night institution in Germany, Austria and Switzerland – is famous for featuring members of the public performing bizarre or outrageous stunts, and at its peak attracted up to 25 million prime-time viewers, making it the biggest show in German television history.

Its swansong was no exception, with Stiller gamely helping out as a blind 18-year old attempted to fit missing jigsaw pieces into a gigantic puzzle using a form  of human radar – the acoustic echo from the gaps – to deduce the shapes.

Stiller's forfeit would have been to sing Jingle Bells – a fate he was spared after the contestant, Dave Janischek – manged to get all three pieces correct.

Earlier Stiller wiped Leberwurst from the face of another presenter, following a stunt in which a blindfolded 7-year old boy managed to deduce the identities of five dogs – from a possible 22 – just from the way they licked the Leberwurst off his hand.

Stiller was the latest – and last – in a line of A-list Hollywood stars to participate in the programme – often somewhat awkwardly, as most relied on simultaneous translation through an earpiece to know what was going on. And even then could look perplexed by both the German sense of humour and the bizarre stunts.