Huntress

Bommel was alright and I don't mind him returning. I'm just afraid that they'll ruin the magic Bommel and Katrin once had. Regarding Deniz: Looks like he and Jenny will be paired up soon. I don't know what to think of this.

Last night, GZSZ celebrated its 6000th episode with a 90-minute episode followed by a 60-minute special called "The GZSZ Success Story". The primetime airing brought GZSZ its best ratings since 2013 as more than 4 million people tuned in. It was the 3rd most watched program on German television yesterday, only topped by ARD's news "Tagesschau" and a crime movie on ZDF. The anniversary episode can be watched here: http://www.tvnow.de/rtl/gzsz/gute-zeiten-schlechte-zeiten-27-folge-5998/player It was also announced that Merlin Leonhardt will return to GZSZ later this summer. The 27-year old actor first joined the show in the fall of 2012 as history student Till "Bommel" Kuhn. Initially a recurring role, Bommel was upgraded to contract status in January 2014 when he fell in love with Katrin Flemming. The unlikely couple quickly became one of the best storylines of 2014. Only six months later, Leonhardt departed the show and only returned for a brief guest appearance – in Katrin's hallucination – in December 2014.

Not really. Considering how many crimes he has committed since 2002, it's completely unbelievable that he's still running around freely and that his neighbors tolerate having him around them. ––– In celebration of GZSZ's 6000th episode, RTL's video streaming service currently offers several classic episodes for free: http://www.tvnow.de/rtl/gzsz/list/jubilaeumsspecial #963 (1996): Heiko, who's accused of being a murderer, says goodbye to Tina and flees the country. With Andy's help, Barbara fakes being kidnapped. Vanessa tells Fabian and Leon that she wants to stay in town so that she can find her biological father. #1280 (1997): After being involved in a car accident, Chrissie dies in Nico's arm. News of her death travels fast among her friends. #1500 (1998): Flo and Andy get married at Berlin Cathedral. #2500 (2002): "Daniel's Bar" explodes and several characters are trapped in the basement. Sonja dies in the wreckage. #2510 (2002): Kai dies in Moritz's arms after watching the sunrise for the very last time. #2687 (2003): Marie decides to become a nun. Sandra drops her off at the convent. Ben and Xenia decide to get married. #2886 (2004): Julia has sex with her teacher Jonas on the school toilet. #3148 (2005): Deniz dies during his and Sandra's wedding. During a prestigious event, Katrin is confronted with her proletarian mother Irene. #3333 (2005): Verena is kidnapped by a bunch of mobsters. John and Paula get married. #3592 (2005): Vincent proposes to Verena. Hannes doesn't want Emily to drop out of school. #3698 (2007): Hannes and Senta are involved in a plane accident. Senta dies at the crash site. #4708 (2011): Verena finds out that Vince is Leon's son. #4801/4802 (2011): Verena dies after being run over by Philip. #4811 (2011): Verena's funeral. #4999/5000/5001 (2012): Pursued by a bunch of mobsters, Gerner has to run for his life and is eventually shot down. During a music event, Pia is torn between John and Leon. #5331/5332/5333 (2013): One year later: During another music event, John and Pia get back together. Zac wants to sell drugs during the festival. #5435 (2014): John & Pia and Emily & Tayfun celebrate a double wedding. #5632 (2014): David has to come clean with his criminal past.

Yes, he has a terminal illness that nobody knows about. I wrote about a summary about Rolf's storylines here: http://boards.soapoperanetwork.com/topic/27994-german-soaps-gzsz-uu-awz/?page=28#comment-1388374 When Rolf fled to Brazil at the end of 2014, he eventually tracked down his daughter Fiona and found out that she was working as a prostitute. Thinking that the Weigel family was responsible for ruining his daughter's life, he hired Tanja and Patrick Novak and ordered them to move to Cologne and wreak havoc in the Weigels' lives. Fiona posed as Tanja and Patrick's daughter. Eventually, Tanja and Patrick stole Rolf's money and went into hiding. Now broke, Rolf committed a robbery and was sent to prison. Fiona tried to help her father and slept with the judge, only to blackmail him afterwards. She even persuaded the other Weigels – especially Till and Sina – to come clean with Rolf. After being released from prison, Rolf didn't want Fiona to become a criminal just like him, so he pulled himself together for Fiona's sake. However, he was jealous of Fiona's relationship with Easy Winter. Rolf donated a part of his liver for Sina's ill baby daughter Amelie and almost died during the surgery. Afterwards, Rolf learned that he had caught a strange, deadly virus. I think this is a rather fitting exit for this troubled character. No, Deniz's storyline is business-related. He's been an employee of the Steinkamp company since at least 2014. I think he started that job while he was with Melanie or during his triangle with Melanie and Letizia. Of course there's always trouble and schemes among the employees, considering that the Steinkamps and their associates are the masters of scheming (well, except Vanessa and Ben). Eventually, Deniz quits his job and opens up a rival business. It's some sort of fitness center.

Preview Pictures May/June 2016 Unter uns 01. Malte (Stefan Bockelmann) and Caro (Ines Kurenbach) get married as Jule (Amrei Haardt) looks on 02. Rufus (Kai Noll) and Britta (Tabea Heynig) worry about their future 03. Robert (Luca Maric) argues with his estranged daughter Andrea (Kristin Meyer) 04. Paco (Milos Vukovic) and Elli (Nora Koppen) are finally happy together 05. Easy (Lars Steinhöfel) and Tobias (Patrick Müller) undertake survival training 06. Jule, Paco and Easy try to help Ringo (Timothy Boldt) who became unconscious 07. Benedikt (Jens Hajek) and Andrea argue about their son's future 08. Ute (Isabell Hertel) has an unexpected one-night-stand with Nikos (Cronis Karakassidis) 09. Rolf (Stefan Franz) bids farewell to his daughter Fiona (Olivia Burkhart) ... 10. ... and then commits suicide Alles was zählt 01. Michelle (Franziska Benz) delivers a great performance at the championship, but in the end, Marie wins the title 02. Later, Simone (Tatjana Clasing, left) tells Marie (Judith Neumann, right) and Diana (Tanja Szewczenko) that Marie has been stripped off her title 03. Carmen (Heike Warmuth) makes a move on Richard (Silvan-Pierre Leirich) – her sister's husband 04. Jenny (Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen, right) surprises Theresa (Mareille Moeller) with a kiss 05. Jenny and Deniz (Igor Dolgatschew) have a heated argument and become sworn enemies 06. Brigitte (Madlen Kaniuth) is surprised about Deniz' rude behavior 07. Ingo (André Dietz) and Diana grow closer 08. While visiting an old coal mine, several characters get trapped inside the mine; Thomas (Daniel Brockhaus) has to help Lena (Juliette Greco) who has cut her arm 09. Thomas, Lena, Diana, Richard, Jenny and a badly injured Christoph (Lars Korten) wait for help 10. While Richard and Simone are missing, Ben (Jörg Rohde, center) and Carmen have to step into their roles in order to cater for a foreign business partner Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten 01.Katrin (Ulrike Frank) is questioned by the police regarding Frederic's murder ... 02. ... just like Maren (Eva Mona Rodekirchen) 03. Ayla (Nadine Menz) cannot resist David (Philipp Christopher) anymore, even though she knows he's dangerous 04. After Katrin has been sent to prison, Jo (Wolfgang Bahro) comforts a devastatedJasmin (Janina Uhse) 05. Jonas (Felix van Deventer, right) tells Alexander (Clemens Löhr) that he can't deal with Maren's problems right now 06. Jasmin and Sophie (Lea Marlen Woitack, right) help Sunny (Valentina Pahde) prepare for her upcoming wedding 07. Selma (Rona Özkan) fakes a sickness so that she can stay in Berlin with Jonas 08. Several of the friends – Anni (Linda Marlen Runge), Jasmin, Mesut (Mustafa Alin), Ayla, Selma, Philip (Jörn Schlönvoigt) and Elena (Elena Garcia Gerlach) – celebrate Ayla's birthday 09. Emily (Anne Menden) worries about Tayfun's (Tayfun Baydar) medical condition 10. Lilly (Iris Mareike Steen) and Amar's (Thando Walbaum) relationship is strained when Amar learns that his wife is still alive in Africa

It's the same sequence as before. They usually film a complete new opening every 2 or 3 years and do smaller updates roughly every six months. Since 2011, AWZ has always been up-to-date with their openings – unlike GZSZ and especially UU. The latter last updated their opening in July 2014. In other AWZ news: Last fall, figure skating was brought back as the show's main sport when a new character, Marie Schmidt, arrived on the canvas. Marie turned out to be Ingo's half-sister. Tobi developed a crush on her, but she just wanted to be friends with him and instead fell in love with Leo. The Steinkamps took Marie under their wings and wanted her to become the next figure skating sensation. Enter Michelle Bauer: The brunette bitch is Simone Steinkamp's niece and also a professional figure skater. Soon, she started hitting on Leo and slept with him. In the meantime, Jenny Steinkamp, a former figure skater herself (Jenny was a member of the figure skating squad before the show began and ended her career in 2008), became Marie and Michelle's coach. When Jenny tried to get rid of Marie because she favored Michelle, Jenny's old nemesis Diana Sommer returned to town after several years of absence and began taking care of Marie. Since October 2015, Marie has been portrayed by Judith Neumann. Today it was announced that the character will receive a recast: On July 8th, 2016, Cheyenne Pahde will step into the role. The rather disturbing thing about this change is that Cheyenne is the identical twin sister of Valentina Pahde, who portrays Sunny Richter on GZSZ. Both shows (which air back-to-back) will now feature a heroine with the same face. In the meantime, UU expands the Küpper family: In January 2015, Serbian actor Luca Maric joined the cast in the contract role of Robert Küpper, a craftsman in his late 50s, who eventually fell in love with original cast member Irene Weigel. Later that year, Robert's mother Roswitha Küpper was introduced, played in a recurring capacity by Andrea Brix. Yesterday, Aaron Koszuta first appeared in the contract role of Valentin Huber, Robert's grandson. Valentin's parents Andrea and Benedikt Huber will be played by Kristin Meyer and Jens Hajek. While Meyer arrives on May 17th, Hajek follows on June 9th. Meyer is best known for her work on GZSZ where she portrayed Iris Cöster on contract from February 2007 to December 2010.

I think Valentina Pahde looks great in almost everything. This is the official print campaign for GZSZ 6000: And some more individual promo pictures: The ladies: Linda Marlen Runge as Anni Brehme / Elena Garcia Gerlach as Elena Castillo Gundlach / Iris Mareike Steen as Lilly Seefeld / Anne Menden as Emily Höfer Badak / Ulrike Frank as Katrin Flemming Gerner / Eva Mona Rodekirchen as Maren Seefeld / Janina Uhse as Jasmin Nowak Flemming LeRoy / Valentine Pahde as Sunny Richter / Menden, Pahde & Uhse / Runge & Lea Marlen Woitack as Sophie Lindh The guys: Wolfgang Bahro as Dr. Hans-Joachim "Jo" Gerner / Philipp Christopher as David Brenner / Thomas Drechsel as Max "Tuner" Krüger / Mustafa Alin as Mesut Yildiz / Felix von Jascheroff as John Bachmann / Jörn Schlönvoigt as Dr. Philip Höfer & Felix van Deventer as Jonas Seefeld Contract stars Tayfun Baydar (Tayfun), Daniel Fehlow (Leon), Vincent Krüger (Vince), Clemens Löhr (Alexander), Nadine Menz (Ayla), Eric Stehfest (Chris) and Rona Özkan (Selma) did not receive any new promotional pictures even though Menz, Stehfest and Özkan do appear in some of the earlier group shots. This past week, it was reported that Nadine Menz had been fired from the show but the actress quickly denied these rumors on Facebook. --- Meanwhile, AWZ has updated its opening sequence. The old versions can be found here: http://boards.soapoperanetwork.com/topic/27994-german-soaps-gzsz-uu-awz/?do=findComment&comment=1441881 This is the first opening to feature Carmen, Michelle and Leo. Sonja, Flo and Bea have been removed. Thomas and Ingo received new footage, and Jenny and Veit's duo shot was altered. Ingo, who previously appeared in version B, was added to Ben's scene in version A, while Iva was moved from version A to Tobi and Marie's duo shot in version B. The backdrops in Richard and Ben's and in Marian and Lena's duo shots were changed. Version 2016.1/A Order: Tatjana Clasing as Simone Steinkamp (original cast member) & Silvan-Pierre Leirich as Richard Steinkamp (original cast member) – Julia Augustin as Vanessa Steinkamp (2006-2009; 2010-2012; 2013; 2014-present) / Lars Korten as Christoph Lukowski (2015-present) – André Dietz as Ingo Zadek (original cast member) / Jörg Rohde as Ben Steinkamp #2 (2009-present) – Julian Bayer as Leo Brück (2015-present) & Daniel Brockhaus as Thomas Brück (2015-present) – Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen as Jenny Steinkamp #4 (2011-present) & Carsten Clemens as Veit Hartmann (2015-present) – Sam Eisenstein as Marian Öztürk (original cast member) & Juliette Greco as Lena Öztürk (2007-present) – Igor Dolgatschew as Deniz Öztürk (2007-present) / Alles was zählt Version 2016.1/B Order: Julia Augustin as Vanessa Steinkamp (2006-2009; 2010-2012; 2013; 2014-present) & Tatjana Clasing als Simone Steinkamp (original cast member) – Igor Dolgatschew as Deniz Öztürk (2007-present) / Lars Korten as Christoph Lukowski (2015-present) – Heike Warmuth as Carmen Bauer (2016-present) & Franziska Benz as Michelle Bauer (2016-present) – Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen as Jenny Steinkamp #4 (2011-present) / Ania Niedieck as Isabelle Reichenbach (2010-present) – Michael Jassin as Tobi Märtz (2015-present) & Judith Neumann as Marie Schmidt (2015-present) / Christina Klein as Iva Lukowski (2014-present) – Silvan-Pierre Leirich as Richard Steinkamp (original cast member) & Jörg Rohde als Ben Steinkamp #2 (2009-present) – Jörg Rohde as Ben Steinkamp #2 (2009-present) / Alles was zählt

Some more promotional photos... this time they really made an effort. Sibling power: John (Felix von Jascheroff), Emily (Anne Menden) and Philip (Jörn Schlönvoigt) Anni (Linda Marlen Runge) and Jasmin (Janina Uhse): Will these two ex-lovers get back together after all the drama? Young love: Jonas (Felix van Deventer) and Selma (Rona Özkan) Who will take the blame for Frederic's death? Jo (Wolfgang Bahro), Katrin (Ulrike Frank); David (Philipp Christopher), Anni (Linda Marlen Runge), Maren (Eva Mona Rodekirchen) or Jasmin (Janine Uhse)? Troubled patchwork family: Sunny (Valentina Pahde), Jo (Wolfgang Bahro), Katrin (Ulrike Frank) and Jasmin (Janina Uhse)

And here are some promo pictures for the 6000th episode: From left to right: Valentina Pahde (Sunny Richter), Janina Uhse (Jasmin Flemming), Anne Menden (Emily Badak) and Linda Marlen Runge (Anni Brehme) From left to right: Iris Mareike Steen (Lilly Seefeld), Philipp Christopher (David Brenner), Thomas Drechsel (Max "Tuner" Krüger), Valentina Pahde (Sunny Richter), Eric Stehfest (Chris Lehmann), Janina Uhse (Jasmin Flemming), Mustafa Alin (Mesut Yildiz) and Nadine Menz (Ayla Höfer) Back row from left to right: Felix van Deventer (Jonas Seefeld), Janina Uhse (Jasmin Flemming), Iris Mareike Steen (Lilly Seefeld) Front row from left to right: Rona Özkan (Selma Özgül), Anne Menden (Emily Badak), Felix von Jascheroff (John Bachmann), Thomas Drechsel (Max "Tuner" Krüger), Elena Garcia Gerlach (Elena Gundlach), Mustafa Alin (Mesut Yildiz), Jörn Schlönvoigt (Philip Höfer), Linda Marlen Runge (Anni Brehme), Valentine Pahde (Sunny Richter) From left to right: Nadine Menz (Ayla Höfer), Eric Stehfest (Chris Lehmann), Rona Özkan (Selma Özgül), Anne Menden (Emily Badak), Janina Uhse (Jasmin Flemming), Valentine Pahde (Sunny Richter), Thomas Drechsel (Max "Tuner" Krüger), Lea Marlen Woitack (Sophie Lindh), Linda Marlen Runge (Anni Brehme), Jörn Schlönvoigt (Philip Höfer) The contract cast of the 6000th episode consists of: Mustafa Alin as Mesut Yildiz (January 2014-present; recurring May 2011-December 2013) Wolfgang Bahro as Dr. Hans-Joachim "Jo" Gerner (February 1993-present) Tayfun Baydar as Tayfun Badak (December 2008-present; exit confirmed) Philipp Christopher as David Brenner (March 2014-present) Felix van Deventer as Jonas Seefeld (July 2014-present) Thomas Drechsel as Max "Tuner" Krüger (June 2010-present; recurring April 2009-June 2010) Daniel Fehlow as Leon Moreno (April 1996-May 1999; April 2001-present) Ulrike Frank as Katrin Flemming (April 2004-present; recurring December 2002-April 2003) Elena Garcia Gerlach as Elena Castillo Gundlach (October 2014-present; recurring July 2013-March 2014) Felix von Jascheroff as John Bachmann (July 2001-February 2014; February 2015-present) Vincent Krüger as Vince Köpke (February 2011-present; could be exiting soon) Clemens Löhr as Alexander Cöster (recast, July 2009-present; character exists since February 2007) Anne Menden as Emily Höfer Badak (December 2004-present) Nadine Menz as Ayla Özgül Höfer (recast, May 2014-present; character exists since September 2009) Valentina Pahde as Sunny Richter (January 2015-present) Eva Mona Rodekirchen as Maren Seefeld (November 2010-present) Linda Marlen Runge as Anni Brehme (July 2013-present) Jörn Schlönvoigt as Philip Höfer (December 2004-present) Iris Mareike Steen as Lilly Seefeld (December 2010-present) Eric Stehfest as Chris Lehmann (December 2014-present) Janina Uhse as Jasmin Nowak Flemming LeRoy (January 2008-present) Lea Marlen Woitack as Sophie Lindh (March 2014-present) Rona Özkan as Selma Özgül (November 2015-present) When the 6000th episode has aired, these actors will have appeared on contract for more than 1000 episodes: Dr. Hans-Joachim "Jo" Gerner, portrayed by Wolfgang Bahro (February 1993-present) Leon Moreno, portrayed by Daniel Fehlow (April 1996-May 1999; April 2001-present) Clemens Richter, portrayed by Frank-Thomas Mende (May 1992-September 2010) -> also appeared as a guest in 2011 Elisabeth Meinhart, portrayed by Lisa Riecken (May 1992-September 2010) -> also appeared as a guest in 2011 A.R. Daniel, portrayed by Hans Christiani (May 1992-July 2009) John Bachmann, portrayed by Felix von Jascheroff (July 2001-February 2014; February 2015-present) Katrin Flemming, portrayed by Ulrike Frank (April 2004-present) -> additional recurring appearances between December 2002 and April 2003 Emily Höfer Badak, portrayed by Anne Menden (December 2004-present) Dr. Philip Höfer, portrayed by Jörn Schlönvoigt (December 2004-present) Verena Koch Moreno, portrayed by Susan Sideropoulos (March 2002-August 2011) -> additional recurring appearances between March and April 2001 Nico A. Weimershaus, portrayed by Raphael Vogt (March 1996-February 2005) Jasmin Nowak Flemming LeRoy, portrayed by Janina Uhse (January 2008-present) Cora Hinze Moreno, portrayed by Nina Bott (October 1997-September 2005) Tayfun Badak, portrayed by Tayfun Baydar (December 2008-??? 2016) Dominik Gundlach Gerner, portrayed by Raul Richter (December 2007-December 2014) -> character existed as a baby in 1994 Alexander Cöster, portrayed by Clemens Löhr (July 2009-present) -> Nik Breidenbach played Alexander on contract from February 2007-April 2009 Senta Lemke, portrayed by Hanne Wolharn (October 2000-February 2007) Paula Rapf Bachmann, portrayed by Josephine Schmidt (November 2002-January 2009) Max "Tuner" Krüger, portrayed by Thomas Drechsel (June 2010-present) -> additional recurring appearances between April 2009 and June 2010 Princess Florentine "Flo Spira" Spirandelli di Montalban, portrayed by Rhea Harder (January 1996-January 2002) -> additional recurring appearances between June and July 2002 Sandra Lemke Ergün, portrayed by Maike von Bremen (August 2002-June 2008) -> Anna Frenzel-Röhl played Sandra on contract from January 2000 to July 2002 Maren Seefeld, portrayed by Eva Mona Rodekirchen (November 2010-present) Lilly Seefeld, portrayed by Iris Mareike Steen (December 2010-present) Vince Köpke, portrayed by Vincent Krüger (February 2011-present) Pia Koch, portrayed by Isabell Horn (March 2009-February 2014; February 2015-May 2015) Andy Lehmann, portrayed by Raphael Schneider (February 1995-April 2000) Vera Richter, portrayed by Angela Neumann (May 1992-May 1997) Elke Opitz-Graf, portrayed by Claudia Weiske (May 1992-May 1997) Hannes Bachmann, portrayed by Klaus-Dieter Klebsch (June 2002-February 2007) Tim Böcking, portrayed by Oliver Bender (June 2004-February 2009) -> Roman Roth played Tim on contract from June 2002 to February 2004 Marie Balzer, portrayed by Jeanette Biedermann (June 1999-March 2004) Ayla Özgül Höfer, portrayed by Sila Sahin (September 2009-February 2014) -> Nadine Menz has played Ayla on contract since May 2014 Nataly Jäger, portrayed by Nadine Dehmel (February 1996-August 2000) Tina Ullrich Zimmermann, portrayed by Sandra Keller (May 1992-August 1996) Henrik Beck, portrayed by Pete Dwojak (February 2005-February 2009) Fabian Moreno, portrayed by Ralf Benson (April 1996-May 2000) -> additional recurring appearances between November 2003 and March 2004

RTL has restructured its on-demand service and now also offers the 5 latest episodes of GZSZ for free: http://www.tvnow.de/rtl/gzsz/jahr/2016/04 AWZ: http://www.tvnow.de/rtl/alles-was-zaehlt/jahr/2016/04 UU: http://www.tvnow.de/rtl/unter-uns/jahr/2016/04 GZSZ's 6000th episode will be shown on May 18th, 2016. Apparently, the anniversary will be celebrated with a primetime showing, meaning that 3 regular episodes will air back to back between 7.40 and 9.15 pm. GZSZ has always celebrated its anniversaries in grand style: #1000 (1996 – 30 minutes): The whole cast took part in a scavenger hunt through Berlin. Tina posed with a snake and won the competition. Charlie walked in on Kim and Leon kissing. #1500 (1998 – 90 minutes [1498-1500 combined]): Princess Florentine "Flo" Spirandelli di Montalban and Andy Lehmann got married at Berlin Cathedral. #2000 (2000 – 60 minutes [special one-hour-episode]): During a charity event, Cora Hinze gave birth to her and Nico's daughter Antonia shortly after Nico's father had died. #2500 (2002 – 90 minutes [2500-2502 combined]): Flo returned to Berlin after having gone missing in Mauretania thanks to her arch nemesis Sonja Wiebe. During Cora and Leon's wedding party at "Daniel's Bar", Flo confronted Sonja. A fight ensued between the two women, leading to the explosion of a gas bottle, which set the whole bar on fire. After more explosions, several characters were trapped in the basement. Sonja died in the wreckage. More than 7 million people watched this episode, which is the highest number for any soap ever. #3000 (2004 – 30 minutes): During a special anniversary week, most of the characters boarded a plane to the Ardennes to take part in Antonia's baptism. Suddenly the plane was about to crash. Hannes and Senta missed the flight due to Senta being drunk. Deniz was jealous that Sandra brought Kike along. Vincent and Elisabeth, who had only entered a sham marriage, grew closer. In the Ardennes, Nico was confronted with Julia's return. At the end of the week, John Bachmann became a hero and landed the plane safely. #3333 (2005 – 90 minutes [3333-3335 combined]): Verena Koch was kidnapped by a bunch of mobsters who wanted to steal her necklace. John and Paula got married. #3500 (2006 – 30 minutes): After setting Jo Gerner's office on fire, Isabel Eggert fled town together with Tim, Verena and Caroline. During an argument, Tim lost control over their car and they crashed into a ditch. At a cabin, Isabel gave birth to her and Tim's son Felix, but died shortly after that. #4000 (2008 – 30 minutes): Jasmin came to the conclusion that Katrin must be her half-sister. While on drugs, Emily Höfer and Franzi Reuter broke into the "Fasan" restaurant. The girls accidentally set the kitchen on fire. Paula tried to rescue her lover Franzi but it was too late. #4500 (2010 – 30 minutes): Regular episode because the show had celebrated 18 years on the air two weeks earlier. During the "birthday" episode, a landslide damaged several buildings in the neighborhood. Carsten and Dascha were hurt and the "Mocca" café was destroyed. The "birthday" episode also featured a crossover with AWZ as AWZ's Simone and Richard Steinkamp visited a charity event hosted by GZSZ's Katrin Flemming-Gerner. #5000 (2012 – 30 minutes): Threatened by mobsters, Jo Gerner had to run for his life while the other characters celebrated a huge music festival. The episode ended with Gerner being shot. #5555 (2014 – 30 minutes): David Brenner was threatened by the mafia which led to a hostage situation at the "Mauerwerk" restaurant, while Bommel left town and left a heart-broken Katrin behind. All anniversary episodes from #1000 to #4500 were released on DVD in 2012.

Preview Pictures March/April 2016 Unter uns 01. After having being hit by a car, Caro (Ines Kurenbach) learns that she has lost her baby 02. Eva (Claudelle Deckert) is attacked by one of her former clients 03. Fiona (Olivia Burkhart) tells her father Rolf (Stefan Franz, right) that he has to move out so that Easy (Lars Steinhöfel) can move in with her 04. After having come to the conclusion that they cannot fix their broken marriage, Henning (Benjamin Kiss) says goodbye to Ute (Isabell Hertel) and leaves town for good 05. Irene (Petra Blossey, left) listens to Roswitha's (Andrea Brix) problems 06. Ute is humiliated by Laurenz (Claus Biechle) 07. Eva and Till (Ben Ruedinger) celebrate Noah's birthday 08. Elli (Nora Koppen) tells Paco (Milos Vukovic) that she's still a virgin 09. Irene tasers a burglar, who turns out to be Robert's grandson Valentin (new series regular Aaron Koszuta) 10. Rufus (Kai Noll) supports Britta (Tabea Heynig) who's about to take her driving test Alles was zählt 01. As usual, there's tension during a Steinkamp family dinner as Simone (Tatjana Clasing), Richard (Silvan-Pierre Leirich), Jenny (Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen) and Michelle (Franziska Benz) have a heated argument 02. Jenny wants Marie (Judith Neumann) to win the figure skating championship 03. During the championship, Marie topples and hurts herself 04. Marian (Sam Eisenstein) tries to apologize to Lena (Juliette Greco) 05. Even though she's suspecting her of having an affair with her fiancé Christoph, Vanessa (Julia Augustin) allows Anne (Alexandra Seefisch-Furler) to help her pick a wedding dress 06. Christoph (Lars Korten) complains to Deniz (Igor Dolgatschew) about Veit's behaviour 07. Marian attacks Ingo (André Dietz) when he finds out that Ingo and Lena had sex 08. Ingo introduces Marie to Diana (Tanja Szewczenko) who's back in town after several years of absence 09. Veit promises Jenny to "take care" of Diana (he later tries to run down Diana, but she survives) 10. While being stuck in the elevator, Carmen (Heike Warmuth) and Simone (Tatjana Clasing) have a chance to talk Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten 01. David (Philipp Christopher) and his buddy Tommy (Marc Bluhm) try to escape from their Malaysian prison 02. Thanks to Jasmin (Janina Uhse, middle), Sophie (Lea Marlen Woitack) and Leon (Daniel Fehlow) can finally go on their world trip 03. John (Felix von Jascheroff) and Elena (Elena Garcia Gerlach) have relationship problems 04. Maren (Eva Mona Rodekirchen) realizes that Alexander (Clemens Löhr) knows that she killed Frederic 05. Katrin (Ulrike Frank, right) tells Maren and Anni (Linda Marlen Runge, left) that David might know something about Frederic's murder 06. Ayla (Nadine Menz) suddenly feels attracted to David 07. Anni tries to talk some sense into Selma (Rona Özkan) who's helplessly in love with Jonas 08. Katrin wants to get rid of David 09. Chris (Eric Stehfest) doesn't listen to Jasmin's problems 10. Maja (Anne-Cathrin Märzke) has to tell Tayfun (Tayfun Baydar) that he has terminal cancer

Frederic first appeared on-screen on September 22nd, 2015 and was murdered on January 31st, 2016. The character was first mentioned in 2008 when Jasmin was revealed to be Katrin and Rico's daughter. --- Since January, ZDF.kultur has been repeating the short-lived daily soap "Jede Menge Leben" (A Lot of Life), which originally aired on ZDF between March 6th, 1995 and September 30th, 1996. The show was at first shown three times a week at 6.30 pm. Beginning with episode 83, the soap was shown five times a week at 4.30 pm. All in all, 376 episodes were produced. However, the last 63 episodes were never shown in Germany and only aired in some other European countries (for example in Austria, France and Hungary). "Jede Menge Leben" was ZDF's only attempt at establishing a daily soap. Yet in 2004, they were the first channel to broadcast German-produced telenovelas. "Jede Menge Leben" was about Dorothee Berger, a doctor and the mother of two grown sons named Julian and Niko, who started a new life after divorcing her husband Clemens. Her best friend Hanna, the owner of a model agency, helped Dorothee deal with early trials and tribulations. Clemens was killed off early in the series. Niko impregnated his highschool girlfriend Jenny Wischewski, who came from a troubled household as well. Julian was hit on by his gay friend John, had an affair with Hanna, and tried to commit suicide. Julian's best friend Patrick married radio host Sammy, but then he raped her. Then there was also Mia Grasshoff, who wanted to become a model but was stalked by a lunatic. The show was actually quite decent. Most of the episodes, that have been repeated so far are now on youtube. --- Another short-lived daily soap was "Alle zusammen – jeder für sich" (All Together – Everyone on Their Own) which ran weekdays at 7 pm on RTL2 between November 25th, 1996 and October 30th, 1997. The show was about the neighbors of a fictional backstreet alley. There was a doctor's office, the bar "Pinguin", an auto shop, and a dance studio. AZ was the first soap to feature a male character who lived a double life as a drag queen (Arnold Edel aka "Renee"). All 230 episodes are on youtube. Opening credits (the opening stayed the same during the whole run): Oliver Petszokat as Fritz Dollinger – Daisy Dee as Charlotte Bonali – Matthias Bundschuh as Arnold Edel – Brit Gdanietz as Tamara Juranowa – Kay Böger as Thorsten Kladow – Stephan Hippe as Dr. Lukas Burkhart – Beate Maes as Dr. Heike Burkhart – Dieter Bach as Dr. Bruno Freytag – Peter Hladik as Dr. Hajo Baer – Sandra Gerhard as Pamela Baer – Pamela Großer as Caroline Baer – Denise Zich as Billie Baer --- "Mallorca – Suche nach dem Paradies" (Mallorca – Quest for Paradise) ran weekdays at 7 pm on Pro7 between April 26th, 1999 and February 8th, 2000. It was Pro7's only attempt at establishing a daily soap opera. Entirely filmed on the island Mallorca, the show was a very expensive production. "Mallorca – Suche nach dem Paradies" centered on a group of people – young and old, poor and wealthy – living on the island. Ulrike Frank (who's been on GZSZ as Katrin Flemming since 2002) played Julia Breuer, the first transsexual character on any German soap. All 200 episodes are on youtube. Opening credits order: Judith Rumpf as Nicole Beck – Patrick Gräser as Marc Osterkamp & Alfonso Losa as Thomas Köhler – Judith Kernke as Lena Schilling – Ulrike Frank as Julia Breuer – Yvonne Burbach as Stefanie Stein – Rolf Zmorek as Rolf Stein – Christine Döring as Kim Ambach-Stein – Matthias Haase as Volker Stein & Jenny Jürgens as Christine Stein – Luise Bähr as Carina Stein & Vincenz Kiefer as Lukas Stein – Kike Mas as Felipe Hansen, Wookie Meyer as Eva Hansen & Gaspar Cano as Ricardo Velazquez – Peter Atanassow as Jan Keppler – Broder B. Hendrix as Andreas Breuer – Louise Wischermann as Carmen Diaz --- And finally, the worst of the bunch: "Geliebte Schwestern" ("Beloved Nurses"). This show ran weekdays on Sat.1 from June 2nd, 1997 to June 13th, 1998 at 7 pm. 250 episodes were produced. "Geliebte Schwestern" was about five nurses who worked at the fictional "Academic Hospital". The show was retooled after six months, but couldn't attract enough viewers so it was cancelled. In the final episode, the hospital burned down. This was the show's opening after the retooling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbPkjBNTGgI Order: Annette Schreiber as Ronnie Fritz – Samer Nassif as Felix Reickart – Ivonne Schönherr as Raffaela Steinfeld – Patrick Gräser as Dr. Janosch Steinfeld – Mareike Fell as Micki Beck – Daniel Hartwig as Tommy Beck – Edda Fischer as Eva Schröder – Chaim Alexis Barsuhn as Dr. Philip Seidel – Xenia Seeberg as Angie Wilhelm – Ludwig Schütze as Dr. Georg Steinfeld – Florentine Lahme as Karen Stember

#1 hit in Sweden, Norway, Finland Germany, Austria, Switzerland.

Preview Pictures February/March 2016 Unter uns 01. Moritz (Marvin Linke) and Henning (Benjamin Kiss) have a terrible fight because of Henning cheating on Ute with Ricarda Schätzke – with whom Moritz also had an affair with 02. Ringo (Timothy Boldt, left) flirts with another guy (Day Player) 03. Sina (Valea Scalabrino) and Irene (Petra Blossey) are glad that little Amelie can leave the hospital 04. Eva (Claudelle Deckert) and Britta (Tabea Heynig) are desperately waiting for a taxi 05. Fiona (Olivia Burkhart) realizes that Rolf (Stefan Franz) tried to sabotage her relationship with Easy 06. Caro (Ines Kurenbach) learns that's she pregnant 07. Moritz can't understand that Ute (Isabell Hertel) wants to forgive Henning 08. Moritz leaves town without saying goodbye to Henning and Ute 09. Till (Ben Ruedinger) and Sina decide to let Rolf off the hook 10. After finding out that Jule (Amrei Haardt, center) raided her fridge, Caro raids Jule's fridge in return and embarrasses Jule in front of Ringo Alles was zählt 01. Jenny (Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen) flirts with Theresa Kasten (Mareile Moeller) in order to secure a business deal 02. Bea (Caroline Frier) can't tell Ingo (André Dietz) that she's pregnant with Marian's baby 03. Simone (Tatjana Clasing) and Richard (Silvan-Pierre Leirich) open their new ice skating rink 04. Several of the friends – Thomas (Daniel Brockhaus), Vanessa (Julia Augustin), Marian (Sam Eisenstein), Lena (Juliette Greco) and Bea – say goodbye to the "No. 7" bar 05. During Vanessa and Christoph's (Lars Korten) engagement party, a drunk Ingo denounces Jenny in front of all people 06. Simone's half sister Carmen (Heike Warmuth, left) and her daughter Michelle (Franziska Benz) appear in town 07. Marian and Lena find Bea's farewell letter 08. Thomas can't keep Isabelle (Ania Niedieck) from leaving town with Johann (Holger Christian Gotha) 09. Teammates Michelle and Marie (Judith Neumann) can't stand each other 10. Jenny tries to impress her father Richard with a new business idea Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten The incest storyline involving Katrin, Jasmin and Frederic has brought GZSZ its best ratings in months. Jasmin and Frederic fell in love, not knowing that they are daughter and father. Katrin, Jasmin's mother, eventually found out the truth and told Frederic to stay away from Jasmin. But even though he now knew that Jasmin is his daughter, Frederic slept with Jasmin and wanted to leave the country with her. Katrin wanted to prevent this and told Jasmin the shocking truth. While Jasmin got drunk, Katrin went to Frederic's hotel room and ordered him to leave town immediately and told him to never contact her or Jasmin again. However, Frederic threatened to kill Katrin and pushed her against the wall. Suddenly, Frederic was knocked down. The camera then showed Katrin's best friend Maren, who had quietly entered the hotel room and hit Frederic with a wooden statue. Jasmin's ex-girlfriend Anni had also arrived at the scene. The three women quickly realized that Frederic had died. Frederic's death occured in last friday's episode. 01. After Maren (Eva Mona Rodekirchen, center) has murdered Frederic (Dieter Bach), Katrin (Ulrike Frank), Maren and Anni (Linda Marlen Runge) harbor a dark secret and eventually bury his corpse on a construction site 02. Maren almost confides in Alexander (Clemens Löhr) and asks him for a second chance 03. Mesut (Mustafa Alin), Ayla (Nadine Menz), Elena (Elena Garcia Gerlach) and John (Felix von Jascheroff) go on a balloon flight 04. Ayla helps Selma (Rona Özkan) to prepare herself for a date with Jonas 05. Emily (Anne Menden) is furious that Tayfun (Tayfun Baydar) canceled their date because of Mesut 06. Elena sets up a profile for Ayla on an online dating website 07. Lilly (Iris Mareike Steen) and Amar (Thando Walbaum) are happy together 08. Frederic's sister Jana (Julia Bähre) arrives in town and asks Katrin about Frederic's whereabouts 09. Sophie (Lea Marlen Runge, center) is caught in the middle when Emily and Jasmin (Janina Uhse) fight over the future of "Tussi Attack" 10. Elena realizes that the father of Lotta's (Luise Schubert) baby is not Tuner, but another man 11. Anni and Katrin have to overcome their differences in order to support Jasmin 12. Elena tells Tuner (Thomas Drechsel) to stop feeling sorry for himself

No, I doubt that. As 2016 marks AWZ's 10th anniversary, they're apparently trying to lure back viewers who dropped the show during the past few years. According to a press release, Diana will have matured into a strong woman. I can't wait for Jenny to destroy Diana for good. It's also striking that 75% of the current characters existed when Diana was on the show. Only a small portion of the main characters that were introduced after her departure stayed on for more than 1 1/2 years. Especially the ones that were introduced between 2010 and 2014 were short-lived and ill-fated: Claudia, David, Erik, Felix, Florian, Franziska, Joscha, Julia, Kai, Larissa, Letizia, Lukas, Marco, Melanie, Sarah, Raquel, Rüdiger, Toni, Tom, Viktoria, Zóe. The only ones from that period that "survived" for a longer period were Bea, Can and Isabelle. From the 2006/2007 cast, we still have Simone, Richard, Vanessa (with several breaks), Jenny (recast), Ben (recast), Marian, Deniz, Ingo and Lena. There's nobody left from the middle years. Iva joined in late 2014, and Christoph, Tobi, Thomas, Leo, Marie and Veit were 2015 additions. After her departure from AWZ in 2009, Tanja Szewczenko, who was a professional figure skater herself and took part in the 1994 Olympic Games among other things, released a children's book, played a main role in the crime soap opera "Ein Fall für die Anrheiner" from 2011 to 2014, gave birth to her first daughter and took part in the 7th season of "Let's Dance" (Dancing with the Stars) in 2014 where she reached 2nd place.

The results didn't surprise me at all Vanessa & Christoph are the best couple on AWZ right now, and I would have also ranked Tobi and Isabelle as my number #2s. Last week, two exits were confirmed, one on UU and one on GZSZ. On UU, Marvin Linke (Moritz Schönfeld) departs in early March after being on contract for six years. On GZSZ, Tayfun Baydar (Tayfun Badak) will make his final appearance later this year. Baydar joined the cast in December 2008. But the biggest news this week is that AWZ is bringing back original cast member Tanja Szewczenko in her role as Diana Sommer. She will return for a limited run and first air in April. When the show debuted in September 2006, Diana was the main heroine and most of the storylines focused on her trying to become the next figure skating queen. Diana and Jenny fought bitterly – both on the ice and for the affection of Julian Herzog. In late 2007, Diana and Julian got married but he died during the wedding ceremony (thanks to Jenny). In 2008, Diana and Jenny again fought for the same man (Lars Berger), but after a while Diana was relegated to the background and eventually left town in January 2009. Diana still knows a lot of people from the current cast (Jenny, Simone, Richard, Vanessa, Ingo, Marian, Lena, Deniz, Ben) and thus can easily be tied in into current storylines.

Barbara Sotelsek (Sonja) has indeed been axed from AWZ. She will last air next week (January 25th, 2016) as Sonja leaves town with her daughter Flo (Julia Albrecht). Fan favorite Ania Niedieck (Isabelle) will depart the show in March since the actress is expecting her first baby. Niedieck joined the cast in April 2010, and since then Isabelle has been married to Ben Steinkamp, Ben's father Richard Steinkamp and the dangerous Maximilian von Altenburg. She's also had affairs with Richard's other son Jan Marco Schöler and dancer Felix Landeck. Currently Isabelle's involved with Sonja's ex-husband Thomas Brück, but also had a fatal one-night-stand with Thomas's son Leo. It's no surprise that she's on the outs with every female character on the show. In turn, two new members of the Steinkamp family will arrive in February: Heike Warmuth and Franziska Benz have joined the cast in the new contract roles of "Carmen" and "Michelle". Carmen is Simone Steinkamp's trashy half-sister, and Michelle is Carmen's daughter and a professional figure skater. We will probably see a Marie-Tobi-Leo-Michelle quadrangle during the next months. Apparently, there is also going to be a new gay storyline involving original character Jenny Steinkamp (Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen is the fourth actress in the role). In order to secure an important business deal, Jenny flirts with a woman named Theresa (Mareile Moeller). After three failed marriages with different men, Jenny slowly begins to question her sexuality. These were results of the biggest annual online poll regarding German soaps in the "Favorite Characters" categories (the poll has ~ 50 categories): AWZ Favorite Male Character 2015 Christoph Lukowski 22.4 % * Tobi Märtz 11.8 % * Ben Steinkamp 10.6 % Ingo Zadek 10.2 % Deniz Öztürk 9.79 % Richard Steinkamp 8.97 % Veit Hartmann 6.53 % * Maximilian von Altenburg 6.12 % ** Can Öztürk 5.30 % ** Marian Öztürk 3.67 % Erik Schulte 2.85 % ** Leo Brück 1.22 % * Thomas Brück 0.40 % * Favorite Female Character 2015 Vanessa Steinkamp 27.8 % Isabelle Reichenbach 17.0 % Simone Steinkamp 13.2 % Bea Meyer-Zadek 7.88 % Julia Meyer 5.80 % ** Jenny Steinkamp 5.80 % Pia Koch 4.97 % * Katja Bergmann 4.14 % ** Lena Öztürk 3.31 % Iva Lukowski 2.90 % Toni Fuchs 1.65 % ** Sonja Brück 1.24 % * Raquel Santana 1.24 % ** Marie Schmidt 1.24 % * Flo Brück 1.24 % * Larissa Schuhmann 0.41 % ** GZSZ Favorite Male Character 2015 Jo Gerner 17.7 % John Bachmann 14.6 % Max "Tuner" Krüger 12.6 % Philip Höfer 10.1 % Jonas Seefeld 9.85 % Leon Moreno 7.60 % Chris Lehmann 6.76 % Mesut Yildiz 5.63 % David Brenner 5.63 % Tayfun Badak 4.78 % Vince Köpke 3.66 % Alexander Cöster 0.84 % Favorite Female Character 2015 Jasmin Flemming 47.5 % Anni Brehme 26.1 % Katrin Flemming 7.58 % Sunny Richter 7.33 % * Sophie Lindh 2.83 % Emily Höfer 2.66 % Maren Seefeld 2.25 % Elena Gundlach 1.08 % Pia Koch 0.75 % ** Lilly Seefeld 0.75 % Ayla Höfer 0.58 % Selma Özgül 0.25 % * Mieke "Mieze" Lutze 0.16 % ** Nele Lehmann 0.08 % ** UU Favorite Male Character 2015 Tobias Lassner 14.2 % Rufus Sturm 13.3 % Till Weigel 13.0 % Robert Küpper 12.8 % * Rolf Jäger 11.9 % Ringo Beckmann 10.8 % Benno "Bambi" Hirschberger 6.14 % Moritz Schönfeld 5.96 % Easy Winter 5.96 % Henning Fink 2.53 % Paco Weigel 1.44 % Malte Winter 1.26 % Sascha Brenner 0.36 % ** Favorite Female Character 2015 Eva Wagner 17.3 % Britta Schönfeld 15.6 % Sina Hirschberger 12.7 % Ute Fink 11.6 % Micki Fink 9.67 % Irene Weigel 8.79 % Jule Kasper 5.93 % * Caro Kasper 4.83 % Lisa Brück 4.61 % ** Fiona Fischer 3.29 % * Elli Schneider 2.85 % * Leonie Weidenfeld 1.09 % ** Josephine "Joe" Johlke 1.09 % ** Kimberley Pötter 0.43 % ** * Character debuted in 2015 ** Character departed in 2015

Ratings 2013 – 2015 Alles was zählt (RTL) 2013: Total viewers: 2.46m / Market share 14-49: 14.7% 2014: Total viewers: 2.24m / Market share 14-49: 13.1% 2015: Total viewers: 2.14m / Market share 14-49: 13.6% Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten (RTL) 2013: Total viewers: 3.25m / Market share 14-49: 20.3%2014: Total viewers: 2.91m / Market share 14-49: 17.8%2015: Total viewers: 2.66m / Market share 14-49: 16.9% Unter uns (RTL) 2013: Total viewers: 1.49m / Market share 14-49: 13.5%2014: Total viewers: 1.28m / Market share 14-49: 13.5%2015: Total viewers: 1.15m / Market share 14-49: 13.5% Verbotene Liebe (ARD, cancelled in 2015) 2013: Total viewers: 1.18m / Total market share: 6.9% / Market share 14-49: 4.6%2014: Total viewers: 1.17m / Total market share: 7.0% / Market share 14-49: 4.6%2015 (daily airings): Total viewers: 1.29m / Total market share: 6.2% / Market share 14-49: 3.8% 2015 (weekly airings): Total viewers: 0.99m / Total market share: 4.8% / Market share 14-49: 2.8% Rote Rosen (ARD)2014: Total viewers: 1.61m / Total market share: 17.1% / Market share 14-49: 6.3%2015: Total viewers: 1.57m / Total market share: 16.2% / Market share 14-49: 6.7% Sturm der Liebe (ARD)2014: Total viewers: 2.07m / Total market share: 20.4% / Market share 14-49: 8.2%2015: Total viewers: 2.04m / Total market share: 19.4% / Market share 14-49: 7.4% Berlin – Tag & Nacht (RTL2) 2013: Total viewers: 1.26m / Market share 14-49: 12.5%2014: Total viewers: 1.13m / Market share 14-49: 11.6%2015: Total viewers: 1.02m / Market share 14-49: 10.6% Köln 50667 (RTL2) 2013: Total viewers: 0.89m / Market share 14-49: 11.5% 2014: Total viewers: 0.71m / Market share 14-49: 9.7% 2015: Total viewers: 0.67m / Market share 14-49: 9.2%

No, I can't say that. The 12th season was a farce. Sonja and Deniz don't have any chemistry and Sonja as a character is dull as dishwater. Same goes for her ex-husband Thomas. With the upcoming departures of Pia, Bea and Flo, AWZ seems to be cleaning house again, so I hope that some more characters get the axe. The only ones I would keep are Richard, Simone, Jenny, Veit, Vanessa, Christoph, Marie, Tobi and Isabelle. Even though they are long-running characters, Ben, Lena, Marian, Deniz and Ingo need to go to make room for some fresh faces. Sonja, Thomas and their son Leo should be killed off immediately, and Iva... I just don't have any words for this stupid b*tch. Meanwhile GZSZ has released a new season trailer for the first weeks of 2016: http://www.rtl.de/cms/gzsz-seasontrailer-fliehen-jasmin-und-frederic-aus-liebe-2613754.html The incest story will take a shocking turn with Katrin, Maren and Anni doing something horrible in order to protect Jasmin; Sophie thinks that Leon is cheating on her with Maren, while Maren realizes she still loves Alex; John is torn between Elena and his loyalty to Philip; and Selma finally has a chance with Jonas. This is what's happening in the video: Katrin and Anni stand in front of a construction site at night / Maren looks terrified / Anni drives her car at night, crying / Emily sees something strange / Katrin cries / Selma and Jonas almost kiss / Sunny looks worried / Katrin to Frederic: "Here's the proof: Jasmin is your biological daughter. You have to break up with her! As soon as possible!" / Frederic to Jasmin: "It's over." / Jasmin cries: "He asked me if I wanted to be his wife! Why did he break up with me?" / Frederic: "She needs to know why I broke with up her! She has a right to hear the truth!" Katrin: "The truth would destroy her! And I won't let that happen, never in my life!" / Sophie sees Leon and Maren together. / Sophie to Emily: "Leon is cheating on me with Maren." / Lilly: "Amar and I are moving to Norway." Jonas: "What? For good?" / Selma tries on a skimpy swimming suit. / Emily takes part in a fashion show and is seen on the catwalk. Tayfun cheers her on. / Announcer: "Here she is: Emily Badak, co-owner of 'Tussi Attack'." Emily looks satisfied. / Jasmin screams "No!" and has a meltdown on the street. Frederic can't say a word. / Jasmin visits Frederic and wants to seduce him. "I love you," she whispers. / Leon sends a text message to Maren: "Sophie knows about the double room." Maren replies: "Crap. Did you tell her everything?" / Flashback to Maren and Leon waking up naked in a hotel room together. / Philip and John on the subway. Philip: "She [Elena] doesn't know that you're meeting me, huh?" John: "You're my brother. We'll get through this. Somehow." Elena spots the two together. / Emily and Tayfun kiss. Mesut walks in on them: "I don't believe this!" / Maren to Leon: "Why can't I get Alex out of my system?" Alex stands behind them. He smiles and says "Hi". / John: "Philip is family, and if you can't accept that..." Elena: "Then what? Do you want to break up with me?" / Maren to Alex: "I love you and I don't want to lose you." / Maren stands in front of the construction site. / Frederic to Jasmin: "We don't have a chance here in Berlin. I can't tell you why, but you have to trust me. Come with me to Australia." He gives her two flight tickets. / Katrin to an unseen person: "Have you ever been to prison?" / Jasmin screams at Katrin: "Who? Who is he?" / Katrin: "You wouldn't want to go to prison, trust me." / Katrin, Maren and Anni stand in front of the construction site. / Maren to Alex, with tears in her eyes: "I did something really horrible..."

AWZ announced that Julia Albrecht, Isabell Horn and Caroline Maria Frier will exit the soap in early 2016. Albrecht joined the cast in January 2015 as teenager Flo Brück, who had to deal with the divorce of her parents Sonja and Thomas. However, other than acting like a brat and having a crush on her mother's new boyfriend Deniz, Flo didn't have much to do, so her exit isn't that surprising. Too bad Flo doesn't take her boring parents and her brother with her. Albrecht's last airdate is January 25th, 2016. Horn's last airdate is February 8th, 2016. In February 2015, she brought her character Pia Koch from GZSZ to AWZ which was the first major cross-over between two soaps. It's unclear if she will return to GZSZ at a later date. Pia still has many ties to the current cast (ex-husband, ex-lover, several close friends). After 3 1/2 years, it's also time to say goodbye to Caroline Maria Frier and her character Beatrice "Bea" Meyer Steinkamp Zadek. Currently married to Ingo (André Dietz), Bea will soon have a one-night-stand with Marian (Sam Eisenstein) which is probably tied to her exit storyline. Caroline Maria Frier's final airdate is February 29th, 2016. The younger sister of popular comedian Annette Frier joined AWZ in August 2012. --- The 12th season of Big Brother Germany ended on December 22th, 2015. Six contestants remained in the house until the finale and were voted out in this order: 6th place: Thomas 5th place: Christian 4th place: Bianca 3rd place: Guido 2th place: Sharon 1st place: Lusy After the finale, sixx announced that they won't produce a 13th season in 2016. The 12th season had an average market share of 2%. --- On December 17th, 2015, Jamie-Lee Kriewitz won the 5th season of The Voice of Germany. She will probably fade into obscurity soon like most casting show winners before her.

That's hard to say. GZSZ, AWZ and UU had some great storylines, for example the incest story on GZSZ, the Fiona reveal on UU, or the bus accident and Veit's revenge on the Steinkamp family on AWZ. All in all, they were basically the same as in the years before, neither better nor worse. Yesterday "Lindenstraße" aired its live episode (#1559 – "Hinter der Tür") for its 30th anniversary. I don't know if ARD's on-demand service is country restricted, but here's the link to the episode: http://mediathek.daserste.de/Lindenstraße/Folge-1559-Hinter-der-Tür/Das-Erste/Video?documentId=32080056&topRessort&bcastId=5280 The episode had the regular length of 29 minutes with a "making off" on the show's set in Cologne before and after the airing (which are included in the video). The episode included a tragic twist:

The soap year 2015 is almost over and previews have arrived covering the first half of January 2016, so it's time for a little retrospective. Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten (RTL) Total episodes in 2015: 251 (#5653 to #5904) Contract arrivals: Valentina Pahde as Sunny Richter (January 2015-present) Rona Özkan as Selma Özgül (November 2015-present) Contract departures: Isabell Horn as Pia Koch (March 2009-February 2014; February 2015-May 2015; permanently crossed over to AWZ) Ramona Dempsey as Nele Lehmann (August 2013-August 2015) Franziska van der Heide as Mieke "Mieze" Lutze (August 2013-August 2015) Unter uns (RTL) Total episodes in 2015: 251 (#5008 to #5259) Contract arrivals: Amrei Haardt as Jule Kasper (January 2015-present) Luca Maric as Robert Küpper (January 2015-present) Olivia Burkhart as Fiona Fischer aka Fiona Novak (April 2015-present) Nora Koppen as Elli Schneider (September 2015-present) Contract departures: Svenja Jung as Lisa Brück (January 2014-January 2015) Sarah Hannemann as Josephine "Joe" Johlke (December 2013-March 2015) Maja Lehrer as Kimberley Pötter (June 2014-April 2015) Joy Lee Juana Abiola-Müller as Micki Fink Lassner (January 2009-May 2015) Alexander Sholti as Dr. Sascha Brenner (December 2013-July 2015) Maria Kempken as Leonie Weidenfeld #2 (April 2014-October 2015) Alles was zählt (RTL) Total episodes in 2015: 250 (#2087 to #2337) The 24/03/2015 episode was pre-empted due to coverage of the crash of Germanwings Flight 9525 in the French Alps. Contract arrivals: Barbara Sotelsek as Sonja Brück (January 2015-present) Julia Albrecht as Flo Brück (January 2015-January 2016, exit already confirmed) Daniel Brockhaus as Dr. Thomas Brück (January 2015-present) Lars Korten as Christoph Lukowski (January 2015-present) Isabell Horn as Pia Koch (crossed over from GZSZ, February 2015-January 2016, exit already confirmed) Carsten Clemens as Veit Hartmann (June 2015-present) Michael Jassin as Tobi Märtz (July 2015-present; recurring previously) Judith Neumann as Marie Schmidt (October 2015-present) Julian Bayer as Leo Brück (November 2015-present) Contract departures: Alexander Wüst as Erik Schulte (May 2014-January 2015) Jenny Bach as Julia Meyer (February 2013-January 2015) Yara Hassan as Raquel Santana (September 2013-January 2015) Michéle Fichtner as Toni Fuchs (October 2014-January 2015) Naima Fehrenbacher as Larissa Schuhmann (October 2014-February 2015) Anna Katharina Samsel as Katja Bergmann (December 2009-July 2015) Volkan Isbert as Can Öztürk (December 2012-July 2015) Verbotene Liebe (ARD) Total episodes in 2015: 32 (#4632 to #4664) #4647 was the last daily episode airing on 29/01/2015. #4648 and #4649 were edited together and aired as one single episode on 06/02/2015. #4650 was the first weekly episode airing on 27/02/2015. #4664 was the show's final episode airing on 26/06/2015. Contract departures: Clara Gerst as Lara Cornelius #2 (Daily: 2014-2015, last appearance in #4647) Henrike Fehrs as Alexa Berg (Daily: 2013-2015; Weekly: last appearance in #4652) Janina Isabell Batoly as Bella Jacob (Daily: 2012-2015; Weekly: last appearance in #4653) Sascha Pederiva as Sascha Vukovic (Daily: 2013-2015; Weekly: last appearance in #4655) Marc Barthel as Tim Helmke (Daily: 2014-2015; Weekly: last appearance in #4656) Mickey Hardt as Dr. Jo Helmke (Daily: 2014-2015; Weekly: last appearance in #4559) Dominic Saleh-Zaki as Andi Fritzsche (Daily: 2001-2007; 2009-2015; Weekly: last appearance in #4660) Gabriele Metzger as Charlie Schneider (Daily: 1995-2015; Weekly: last appearance in #4661) Jens Hartwig as Tristan von Lahnstein (Daily: 2009-2015; Weekly: last appearance in #4662) Tatjana Kästel as Rebecca von Lahnstein #2 (Daily: 2012-2015; Weekly: last appearance in #4662) Martina Servatius as Elisabeth Ryan Brandner von Lahnstein (Daily: 1999-2015; Weekly: last appearance in #4662) Sebastian Schlemmer as Sebastian von Lahnstein #2 (Daily: 2009-2015; Weekly: last appearance in #4663) Cast of the Final Episode: Daniel Axt as Jannik Anders (Weekly: #4657-#4664) Wolfram Grandezka as Ansgar von Lahnstein (Daily: 2004-2015; Weekly: full run) Christoph Kottenkamp as Frank Helmke (Daily: 2011-2015; Weekly: full run) Miriam Lahnstein as Tanja Wittkamp von Anstetten von Lahnstein (Daily: 1995-1998, 2001, 2004-2015; Weekly: full run) Nicole Mieth as Kim Wolf von Lahnstein #2 (Daily: 2011-2015; Weekly: full run) Nic Romm as Frederic Schwarz (Weekly: #4657-#4664) Stefanie Rösner as Mila von Draskow (Weekly: #4555-#4664) Bastian Semm as Martin Vogt (Weekly: #4653-#4664) Florian Wünsche as Emilio Sanchez (Daily: 2011-2015; Weekly: full run) Verena Zimmermann as Nico Brandner von Lahnstein (Daily: 2002-2007, 2010-2012; Weekly: #4655-#4664) Mila (Sat.1/sixx/Sat.1 Emotions) Total episodes: 75 (#1-#75) #1 aired on 07/09/2015 on Sat.1. After the airing of #10, Sat.1 removed the show from its schedule due to low ratings. The remaining episodes are shown on the pay-tv channel Sat.1 Emotions and repeated one week later on sixx. The show concludes with #75 on 13/12/2015. Rote Rosen (ARD) Total episodes in 2015: 233 (#1878-#2111) Sturm der Liebe (ARD) Total episodes in 2015: 233 (#2139-#2372)

Actually, this has been quite a big story on GZSZ. In June, Thando Walbaum joined the cast in the recurring role of Amar Akram, a refugee from Mali. In Berlin, Amar met Chris Lehmann who is an enviromental activist. In order to help Amar, Anni (who's a lesbian) agreed to marry him. Lilly, who previously had a brief romance with Chris, fell in love with Amar, but then Chris became jealous and told the police that Amar's marriage to Anni was a scam. Amar had to flee the country and left a heart-broken Lilly behind. She was furious with Chris. Lilly then wanted to find Amar but Lilly's mother Maren intervened which led to a big fight between mother and daughter. Since Thando Walbaum is currently filming for GZSZ again, Amar will pop up again in late December. The bakery has been an integral part of UU since the very beginning. It is owned by the Weigel family and a lot of characters have worked there over the past 21 years.

Not at all. While she's a capable actress, she was completely wrong for the role of Leonie. That woman was supposed to be a free spirit and a globetrotter (not to mention that she was very sexy in her first incarnation), but Maria played her like some farm girl from rural Bavaria. Little update on Big Brother 12: Week 1: During the first week, all 13 contestants were up for eviction. Week 2: Sophia was eliminated. Week 3: Hans-Christian and Tim were up for eviction. Tim left voluntarily during the week. Thus, Manuel, Àsa, Isabell and Atchi were also up for eviction. Week 4: Isabell was eliminated. New contestants Mary and Guido entered the house. Week 5: Hans-Christian and Guido were up for eviction. Week 6: Hans-Christian was eliminated. Week 7: Lusy, Àsa, Sharon and Guido were up for eviction. Week 8: Àsa was eliminated. New contestants Beate and Natascha entered the house. 8 more weeks to go until the finale. Preview Pictures for November/December 2015 Unter uns 01. Fiona (Olivia Burkhart, r.) cannot understand why everyone hates her father Rolf so much and quits her job at the bakery, leaving Irene (Petra Blossey) speechless 02.Easy (Lars Steinhöfel) is hurt when the old tailor shop collapses 03. The residents of Schillerallee have fun at the annual carnival party 04. Henning (Benjamin Kiss) cheats on Ute with Ricarda (Anna-Lena Class) 05. Bambi (Benjamin Heinrich) tells Rolf (Stefan Franz) to stay away from Sina and her baby 06. Will Bambi and Sina (Valea Scalabrino) mend their broken marriage? 07. When Irene and Robert (Luca Maric) confront Rolf, Fiona takes her father's side 08. Britta (Tabea Heynig) and Rufus (Kai Noll) try to build a family 09. Ricarda also sleeps with Henning's son Moritz (Marvin Linke) 10. After Ringo had an accident, Tobias (Patrick Müller), Elli (Nora Koppen), Caro (Ines Kurenbach) and Jule (Amrei Haardt) wait for news on condition 11. Rolf threatens Eva (Claudelle Deckert) 12. Due to heavy work load at the bakery, Irene severely hurts her back 13. Henning catches Ricarda with Moritz 14. Britta and Caro receive bad news regarding their business Alles was zählt 01. Ingo (André Dietz) and Caroline (Olivia Augustinski) help Marie (Judith Neumann) who had an training accident due to a manipulated prop 02. Ben (Jörg Rohde, r.) thinks that Tobi is Iva's stalker and threatens him 03. Vanessa (Julia Augustin) finds the golden dumbbell, which went missing earlier, in Christoph's belongings 04. Isabelle (Ania Niedieck) plans to marry Thomas in Las Vegas 05. Tobi tries to be there for Marie who can't feel her legs after the accident 06. Brigitte (Madlen Kaniuth) and Marian (Sam Eisenstein) gossip about Isabelle 07. Veit (Carsten Clemens) cannot bear having Jenny (Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen) around him 08. Veit tells a heart-broken Pia (Isabell Horn) that they won't have more than just an affair 09. Isabelle tells Sonja (Barbara Sotelsek) that her and Thomas are now living together 10. Tobi asks Ingo (André Dietz) and Bea (Caroline Frier) for advice on how he could impress Marie Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten 01. Anni (Linda Marlen Runge) is surprised when her dad shows up and wants to get to know her girlfriend 02. Jonas (Felix van Deventer) desperately wants Lilly (Iris Mareike Steen) and Maren to make up 03. To help refugees, Chris (Eric Stehfest) and Motsi Mabuse (as herself) host a charity event 04. Elena (Elena Garcia Gerlach) and John (Felix von Jascheroff) still don't trust Philip (Jörn Schlönvoigt) 05. Anni confronts Frederic (Dieter Bach) about going behind Jasmin's back 06. Ayla (Nadine Menz, r.) welcomes her cousin Selma (new series regular Rona Özkan) to Berlin 07. Leon (Daniel Fehlow) is worried about Maren (Eva Mona Rodekirchen) 08. Elena and John just want to be happy 09. When Lilly realizes that Maren has done everything she can to find Amar, she forgives her mother 10. Gerner (Wolfgang Bahro, r.) tells David (Philipp Christopher) to play by his rules 11. After realizing that Philip was Elena's stalker, Tuner (Thomas Drechsel) gives Philip a grilling 12. Leon blames Emily (Anne Menden) for Sophie's accident 13. Chris and Anni are taken into police custody 14. During a press conference, Gerner and Sunny (Valentina Pahde) are shocked by Alex's announcement

Finally a song in French is hitting the charts across Europe again.