German soaps: GZSZ, UU & AWZ

[Huntress]

LOL - I never noticed that before, but you're absolutely right about them using the same poses over and over again.

Alles was zählt has apparently reacted to its ratings crisis: Following the exit of Rosetta Pedone's character Viktoria König in early December, Christina Siemoneit's Sarah Wendt is also on her way out, which brings Sarah's and Marco's (Salvatore Greco) frontburner love story to an end. Siemoneit first aired in September 2011 and will last air in February 2013. Marco will be paired with resident villain Isabelle (Ania Niedieck) instead.

For the first time in the history of German soaps, a pregnant actress will be replaced by another actress during her maternity leave. In the past, characters played by pregnant actresses were simply written off the canvas or were pregnant on the show as well. Now Juliette Menke, who has appeared on AWZ since May 2007 in the role of Lena Bergmann von Altenburg Öztürk, will be replaced by Maria Kempken as of January 2013. It has been stated that Kempken will play the role for at least six months. If Menke will return at all is a different matter. (I have never liked the character of Lena and I don't understand why she has lasted so long while her sister Annette had to die. Instead they just "cloned" Annette by introducing the character of Bea and even making Bea Ingo's (Annette's ex-husband) new love interest.)

In addition, five new characters will be added during the next few weeks, the first one making his debut in tonight's episode: Volkan Isbert as Can Öztürk, Marian's nephew and Deniz's cousin. A teenage troublemaker, Can sets his sights on Zoé (Katharina Woschek), who initially gives him the cold shoulder.

Next year, the following characters will arrive: David Degen, a dance instructor; Bea's younger sister Julia, an aspiring dancer; Marian's yet unnamed mother, who writes relationship guidebooks; and Maximilian's 19-year old daughter Letizia from Argentina. The corresponding actors are still unknown.

Verbotene Liebe is also still in trouble ratings-wise. Early next year, ARD tests a different show, "Heiter bis tödlich", in VL's timeslot on three days (February 12th to 14th). "Heiter bis tödlich" is a criminal series with comedy influences which currently airs at 6.50 p.m. – right after "Verbotene Liebe". In January 2013, "Verbotene Liebe" celebrates its 18th birthday – will the show survive or will it find the same fate as "Marienhof" which was cancelled two years ago shortly after its 18th birthday?

Edited December 28, 2012 by Huntress

[DRW50]

What did you think of Sarah?

I'm surprised it took this long for an actress to be recast during a pregnancy. In the US it used to happen quite often.

[Huntress]

Sarah was a bad-acted character so I'm glad she's out. She should take Marco with her, though. The actor is just as horrible.

Yesterday the new season of Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus! (I'm a Celebrity – Get Me Out of Here!) started. Among the contestants is Claudelle Deckert, who has portrayed Eva Wagner on "Unter uns" since 2001.

An overview of all contestants can be found here: http://www.rtl.de/cms/sendungen/ich-bin-ein-star/dschungelcamp-kandidaten.html

Edited January 12, 2013 by Huntress

[Huntress]

The 7th season of Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus! ended last night. UU's Claudelle Deckert made a respectable third place.

Full results:

12. Helmut Berger (actor, had to leave early because of health reasons)

11. Silva Gonzalez (singer)

10. Klaus Baumgart (singer, replaced Berger)

09. Arno Funke (became famous for blackmailing a department store company, spent many years in jail)

08. Allegra Curtis (actress)

07. Iris Klein (ex-Big Brother-contestant, mother of starlet Daniela Katzenberger)

06. Georgina Bülowious (ex-contestant on Der Bachelor)

05. Patrick Nuo (singer and ex-judge on German Idol)

04. Fiona Erdmann (model, ex-contestant on Germany's Next Top Model, starred on the telenovela Anna und die Liebe)

03. Claudelle Deckert (actress, Unter uns)

02. Olivia Jones (drag artist)

01. Joey Heindle (ex-contestant on German Idol)

Edited January 27, 2013 by Huntress

[Huntress]

A major German soap website conduced a poll on last year's most popular characters, actors and couples.

Here are some of the results:

Alles was zählt

-> Who's who? http://www.soapsworld.de/alles-was-zaehlt-awz/besetzung

Favorite male character 2012

Ingo Zadek 23.9 %
Ben Steinkamp 18.5 %
Deniz Öztürk 13.2 %
Dr. Axel Schwarz 9.50 %
Richard Steinkamp 8.67 %
Maximilian von Altenburg 7.85 %
Florian Wild 6.19 %
Marian Öztürk 4.95 %
Rüdiger Steinkamp 4.13 %
Jan Marco Schöler 2.89 %

Favorite female character 2012
Isabelle Steinkamp 20.4 %
Annette Bergmann 18.0 %
Simone Steinkamp 11.4 %
Beatrice Meyer 9.01 %
Vanessa Steinkamp 8.19 %
Katja Bergmann 8.19 %
Sarah Wendt 5.32 %
Franziska Steinkamp 5.32 %
Lena Bergmann 4.09 %
Jenny Steinkamp 4.09 %
Zoé Laffort 2.45 %
Viktoria König 2.04 %
Melanie Wendt 1.22 %

Best actor 2012
André Dietz (Ingo Zadek) 30.2 %
Jörg Rohde (Ben Steinkamp) 18.6 %
Daniel Aichinger (Dr. Axel Schwarz) 14.5 %
Silvan-Pierre Leirich (Richard Steinkamp) 10.4 %
Francisco Medina (Maximilian v. Altenburg) 7.55 %
Igor Dolgatschew (Deniz Öztürk) 6.97 %
Ulrich Drewes (Rüdiger Steinkamp) 4.65 %
Michael N. Kuehl (Florian Wild) 4.65 %
Sam Eisenstein (Marian Öztürk) 1.74 %
Salvatore Greco (Jan Marco Schöler) 0.58 %

Best actress 2012
Ania Niedieck (Isabelle Steinkamp) 26.9 %
Tatjana Clasing (Simone Steinkamp) 19.2 %
Ulrike Röseberg (Annette Bergmann) 14.6 %
Julia Augustin (Vanessa Steinkamp) 9.35 %
Caroline Frier (Beatrice Meyer) 7.01 %
Anna-Katharina Samsel (Katja Bergmann) 5.84 %
Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen (Jenny Steinkamp) 4.67 %
Juliette Menke (Lena Bergmann) 3.50 %
Katharina Woschek (Zoé Laffort) 2.92 %
Christina Siemoneit (Sarah Wendt) 2.33 %
Julia Engelmann (Franziska Steinkamp) 1.75 %
Anna Katharina Fecher (Melanie Wendt) 1.16 %
Rosetta Pedone (Viktoria König) 0.58 %

GZSZ

-> Who's who? http://www.soapsworld.de/gute-zeiten-schlechte-zeiten-gzsz/besetzung

Favorite male character 2012

Patrick Gerner 21.2 %
John Bachmann 17.4 %
Tayfun Badak 14.6 %
Vince Köpke 10.4 %
Dr. Jo Gerner 10.4 %
Dominik Gerner 7.61 %
Max "Tuner" Krüger 6.98 %
Zac Klingenthal 5.07 %
Philip Höfer 3.17 %
Alexander Cöster 1.58 %
Leon Moreno 1.26 %

Favorite female character 2012
Emily Höfer 34.2 %
Lilly Seefeld 27.6 %
Katrin Flemming-Gerner 11.8 %
Maren Seefeld 6.64 %
Pia Koch 6.29 %
Jasmin Flemming 5.24 %
Ayla Özgül 4.19 %
Tanja Seefeld 3.14 %
Jacky Krüger 0.69 %

Best actor 2012
Björn Harras (Patrick Gerner) 38.2 %
Wolfgang Bahro (Dr. Jo Gerner) 16.9 %
Felix von Jascheroff (John Bachmann) 10.4 %
Tayfun Baydar (Tayfun Badak) 8.26 %
Vincent Krüger (Vince Köpke) 6.08 %
Raul Richter (Dominik Gerner) 5.65 %
Jascha Rust (Zac Klingenthal) 3.91 %
Thomas Drechsel (Max "Tuner" Krüger) 3.47 %
Jörn Schlönvoigt (Philip Höfer) 3.47 %
Daniel Fehlow (Leon Moreno) 1.73 %
Clemens Löhr (Alexander Cöster) 1.73 %

Best actress 2012
Anne Menden (Emily Höfer) 41.2 %
Iris Mareike Steen (Lilly Seefeld) 17.9 %
Ulrike Frank (Katrin Flemming-Gerner) 14.3 %
Senta-Sofia Delliponti (Tanja Seefeld) 6.72 %
Isabell Horn (Pia Koch) 6.72 %
Eva Mona Rodekirchen (Maren Seefeld) 6.72 %
Sila Sahin (Ayla Özgül) 2.69 %
Janina Uhse (Jasmin Flemming) 2.24 %
Samia Dauenhauer (Jacky Krüger) 1.34 %

Unter uns

-> Who's who? http://www.soapsworld.de/unter-uns-uu/besetzung

Favorite male character 2012

Tobias Lassner 37.7 %
Erik Hansen 34.7 %
Easy Winter 8.19 %
Ringo Beckmann 6.88 %
Till Weigel 2.61 %
Rolf Jäger 2.25 %
Malte Winter 1.90 %
Paco Weigel 1.78 %
Bela Hoffmann 1.42 %
Moritz Schönfeld 0.83 %
Rufus Sturm 0.59 %
Henning Fink 0.59 %
Paul Beckmann 0.23 %
Nils Hoffmann 0.11 %

Favorite female character 2012
Micki Fink 36.8 %
Sina Uhland 29.3 %
Eva Wagner 10.5 %
Britta Schönfeld 5.68 %
Ute Fink 3.83 %
Suji Wagner 3.30 %
Anna Weigel 2.64 %
Rebecca Mattern 2.24 %
Lili Mattern 2.24 %
Kira Beckmann 1.84 %
Irene Weigel 1.05 %
Sonja Beckmann 0.26 %
Bine Kern 0.13 %

Best actor 2012
Patrick Müller (Tobias Lassner) 36.1 %
Maximilian Claus (Erik Hansen) 32.5 %
Timothy Boldt (Ringo Beckmann) 7.89 %
Stefan Franz (Rolf Jäger) 6.45 %
Lars Steinhöfel (Easy Winter) 4.16 %
Stefan Bockelmann (Malte Winter) 3.87 %
Kai Noll (Rufus Sturm) 3.15 %
Ben Ruedinger (Till Weigel) 2.43 %
Milos Vukovic (Paco Weigel) 1.29 %
Bela Klentze (Bela Hoffmann) 0.86 %
Martin Baden (Nils Hoffmann) 0.57 %
Marvin Linke (Moritz Schönfeld) 0.28 %
Benjamin Kiss (Henning Fink) 0.28 %
Eric Langner (Paul Beckmann) 0.14 %

Best actress 2012
Joy Lee Juana Abiola-Müller (Micki Fink) 37.5 %
Valea Scalabrino (Sina Uhland) 26.5 %
Tabea Heynig (Britta Schönfeld) 12.5 %
Claudelle Deckert (Eva Wagner) 11.2 %
Marylu Saskia Poolman (Anna Weigel) 4.61 %
Imke Brügger (Rebecca Mattern) 2.63 %
Isabell Hertel (Ute Fink) 1.53 %
Sarah Bogen (Lili Mattern) 0.87 %
Petra Blossey (Irene Weigel) 0.65 %
Mine Voss (Suji Wagner) 0.65 %
Barbara Prakopenka (Kira Beckmann) 0.65 %
Ela Paul (Bine Kern) 0.21 %
Anne Apitzsch (Sonja Beckmann) 0.21 %

Verbotene Liebe

-> Who's who? http://www.deutsche-dailys.de/verbotene-liebe/rollen

Favorite male character 2012

Oliver Sabel 35.8 %
Christian Mann 27.8 %
Ansgar von Lahnstein 10.2 %
Tristan von Lahnstein 8 %
Sebastian von Lahnstein 5.2 %
Ricardo Mendes 5.2 %
Arno Brandner 3.06 %
Emilio Sanchez 1.86 %
Timo Mendes 0.93 %
Andi Fritzsche 0.8 %
Thomas Wolf 0.26 %
Ludwig von Lahnstein 0.26 %
Hagen von Lahnstein 0.26 %
Daniel Fritzsche 0.13 %

Favorite female character 2012
Rebecca von Lahnstein 22.0 %
Tanja von Anstetten 13.6 %
Marlene von Lahnstein 12.5 %
Charlie Schneider 11.7 %
Bella Jacob 11.5 %
Jessica Stiehl 9.85 %
Dana Wolf 4.19 %
Clarissa von Anstetten 3.98 %
Helena von Lahnstein 3.14 %
Nico von Lahnstein 2.93 %
Kim Wolf 1.88 %
Leonie Richter 1.46 %
Viktoria Wolf 1.04 %

Best actor 2012
Jo Weil (Oliver Sabel) 35.1 %
Thore Schölermann (Christian Mann) 23.5 %
Jens Hartwig (Tristan von Lahnstein) 12.7 %
Wolfram Grandezka (Ansgar von Lahnstein) 9.62 %
Daniel Sellier (Ricardo Mendes) 6.46 %
Sebastian Schlemmer (Seb. von Lahnstein) 5.83 %
Konrad Krauss (Arno Brandner) 3.47 %
Florian Wünsche (Emilio Sanchez) 1.10 %
Till Demtrøder (Thomas Wolf) 0.78 %
Krystian Martinek (Ludwig von Lahnstein) 0.63 %
Remo Schulze (Timo Mendes) 0.47 %
Christoph Mory (Hagen von Lahnstein) 0.15 %
Dominic Saleh-Zaki (Andi Fritzsche) 0 %
Dirk Moritz (Daniel Fritzsche) 0 %

Best actress 2012
Tatjana Kästel (Rebecca von Lahnstein) 26.3 %
Miriam Lahnstein (Tanja von Anstetten) 15.6 %
Melanie Kogler (Marlene von Lahnstein) 11.8 %
Gabriele Metzger (Charlie Schneider) 10.4 %
Janina Isabell Batoly (Bella Jacob) 10 %
Jana Julie Kilka (Jessica Stiehl) 8.18 %
Isa Jank (Clarissa von Anstetten) 4.54 %
Martina Servatius (Elisabeth von Lahnstein) 4.09 %
Diane Willems (Dana Wolf) 2.5 %
Verena Zimmermann (Nico von Lahnstein) 1.36 %
Stefanie Bock (Leonie Richter) 1.36 %
Renee Weibel (Helena von Lahnstein) 1.36 %
Nicole Mieth (Kim Wolf) 1.36 %
Patricia Schäfer (Viktoria Wolf) 0.90 %

[DRW50]

Thanks. I guess the Chrolli fans voted hard in the VL poll.

Not the same support for Deniz on AWZ though...

I never did watch AWZ too much but I thought Ingo was very likeable and cute.

[CassieFan]

Carl, is Clarissa leaving again? (Verbotene liebe)

[Huntress]

I'm not Carl, but I can answer

Yes, Clarissa's on her way out again. Her return in the Mallorca storyline in 2011 was great, but once Jan and Julia had left in January 2012 and Clarissa had been relocated to Düsseldorf, they didn't know how to use her. Her last airdate is March 20th, 2013. According to an official statement, Isa Jank is just taking an extended break, but we all know what that means.

Remo Schulze who has played Clarissa's nephew Timo Mendes since 2011 is also on his way out. So are Krystian Martinek (Ludwig von Lahnstein) and Christoph Mary (Hagen von Lahnstein). Both apparently die in a plane crash.

VL still suffers from very poor ratings. We can be lucky if the show survives into 2014.

AWZ on the other hand has been retooled again with the introduction of the "Dance Academy", run by Jenny and Simone Steinkamp. Four new characters have arrived on the scene:

• Andreas Hofer as David M. Degen, a dance instructor, who will be torn between Jenny and Simone
• Jenny Bach as Julia Meyer, an aspiring dancer and Bea's younger sister
• Jennifer Dessin-Brasching as Letizia Kaldenhoff, Julia's biggest rival in the academy and Maximilian's long-lost daughter from Argentina
• Marc Schöttner as Lukas Levin, David's son, a dancer and a love interest for Julia and Letizia

Jenny Bach, Marc Schötter and Jennifer Dessin-Brasching on the AWZ set

The show has also featured a lot of nude scenes lately, most notably by Jörg Rohde (Ben Steinkamp) and Volkan Isbert (Can Öztürk).

[DRW50]

Thanks Huntress. You know far more about this than I could, believe me.

Is Deniz in any story?

Edited March 10, 2013 by CarlD2

[Huntress]

No, and I don't know what they're going to do with him since there's no viable love interest for him on the canvas.

Right now there are the following love stories:

Jenny/David/Simone

Isabelle/Marco

Ben/Bea/Ingo/Katja

Marian/Lena

Can/Zoé

Julia/Lukas/Letizia

Richard, Rüdiger, Maximilian and Deniz are currently single. Since Richard, Rüdiger and Maximilian are older and straight, Deniz will most likely have to wait until a new character is introduced. I just hope they don't do a Marian/Lena/Deniz triangle.

[Huntress]

According to the latest spoilers, Deniz and Katja will have a fling even though Katja is hopelessly in love with Ingo.

They obviously don't have any ideas left for Deniz and Katja so they decided to pair them up. They have like zero chemistry.

[DRW50]

Thanks. Maybe he'll have a nude scene.

[Huntress]

Preview pictures: April 2013

Unter uns

1. Till (Ben Ruedinger) and Anna (Marylu Saskia Poolman) 2. Sina (Valea Scalabrino) visits Rolf (Stefan Franz) in jail 3. Britta (Tabea Heynig) and Malte (Stefan Bockelmann) get married in prison 4. Kira (Barbara Prakopenka) and Ringo (Timothy Boldt) 5. Ute (Isabell Hertel) and Henning (Benjamin Kiss) 6. Britta and Rolf 7. Rolf in court 8. Erik (Maximilian Claus) and Irene (Petra Blossey) 9. Eva (Claudelle Deckert), Till and their newborn child 10. Suji (Laura Maria Heid) and Easy (Lars Steinhöfel)

Alles was zählt

1. Letizia (Jennifer Dessin-Brasching) 2. Julia (Jenny Bach) and Can (Volkan Isbert) 3. David (Andreas Hofer) and Simone (Tatjana Clasing) 4. Rüdiger (Ulrich Drewes) and Isabelle (Ania Niedieck) 5. Isabelle, Bea (Caroline Frier) and Ingo (André Dietz) 6. Ingo, Bea and Rüdiger 7. Julia and Can 8. Deniz (Igor Dolgatschew) and Katja (Anna Katharina Samsel) 9. Letizia, Julia and Lukas (Marc Schöttner) 10. Can

Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten

1. John (Felix von Jascheroff) and Tayfun (Tayfun Baydar) 2. Emily (Anne Menden) and Ayla (Sila Sahin) 3. Zac (Jascha Rust) and Jo Gerner (Wolfgang Bahro) 4. Katrin (Ulrike Frank) and Alexander (Clemens Löhr) 5. Tayfun, Pia (Isabell Horn) and John 6. Kurt (Tim Williams) and Jasmin (Janina Uhse) 7. Mesut (Mustafa Alin) and Pia 8. Emily, Pia and Jasmin 9. Katrin and Alexander 10. John, Philip (Jörn Schlönvoigt), Emily and Pia

[DRW50]

Thanks. That photo of Ingo and the poor woman with their heads pressed together makes me laugh.

[Huntress]

Yeah, poor Ingo and Bea. Rüdiger's taking them, Isabelle and Marco hostage at the Steinkamp center. In the turn of events, Rüdiger finds out that Marco is not his, but his brother Richard's son. Rüdiger shoots Isabelle and Marco saves her life, which of course leads to them becoming attracted to one another. Bea and Ingo also grow closer. Rüdiger gets arrested by the police, but he can escape and swears revenge at Richard. He takes Richard hostage and wants to flee the country by assuming Richard's identity. While being locked up, Richard has a heart attack. Of course in the end the "bad" brother is put in jail for good – which is a pity because Rüdiger was a good foe for the Steinkamp family. He hasn't even lasted a full year on the show.

Looks like Katharina Woschek (Zoé) is also on her way out, so Zoé and Can will be history soon.

On "Unter uns", there is another recast as Laura Maria Heid will step into the contract role of Suji on April 25th, 2013. The distant Korean cousin of Eva (Claudelle Deckert) has been a resident of the apartment house since April 2012. Mine Voss, the first and current actress, has decided to leave the soap in order to focus on her studies.

Laura Maria Heid and Mine Voss