Huntress

Carrie Mitchum departed in #991. Mary Sheldon subbed in #992, #993, and #995. Then, Donna was written off the show until Mitchum returned for a few guest appearances in 1994.

Thanks, that was really fascinating to read 😀 I wasn't aware of all these storyline adaptions from later episodes of The Restless Years, but in hindsight, it makes total sense. Milla was a replacement for Marina, Michael for Frank, and Saskia took Julia's spot. The other characters that were introduced in 1993 didn't make a huge impact ... Oh, and of course Jo Gerner is the only character who has stayed on board until today. With a few exceptions (mainly the older cast members), everyone who appeared in the 1993 episodes was gone by summer 1996. Yeah, I know what you mean. They clearly had ideas what kind of stories they wanted to tell, but they didn't really know how to do it (yet). In the first year (when they still adapted the Australian scripts), there were also some stories that were simply dropped. For example, one episode ended with Julia kissing Heiko out of the blue. In the next episode, they acted as if this had never happened and the kiss or any romantic attraction between the two was never brought up again. Some episodes also didn't have a cliffhanger and just ended mid-scene. It was definitely a weird era. I once read that for a long time, the producers tried to hide the fact that the first year of the show even existed 🤣 Like I wrote before, there were also many cringy stories later on. For example, when André buys an ice cream machine for his shop and for a couple of episodes, there are a lot of children singing and dancing inside the shop. The story ended with one of the kids (I think it was Milla's brother) getting an upset stomach after eating too much ice cream. There's also an episode where the characters start singing Christmas carols mid-scene (because the the show wanted to promote a Christmas CD). In 1996, there was a story involving a magician (Felix), who organized a role-playing game called "The Octagon". Basically all the younger characters took part in it, and they had to solve quests and whatnot. It was horrible and lasted way too long. In 1995/1996, there was a story where two "bands" competed against each other, and the winning groups "Just Friends" – consisting of 4 recurring characters – released a couple of Eurodance songs with two of their singles even reaching the Top 10 of the charts. Whenever they released a new single, they were forced into the storylines again between 1996 and 1998. For example, they played a key role in the 1000th episode, and again, when one very popular character died one year later. They also switched two members on two occasions. I mean, the lead singer could actually sing, but the songs were cheap, even for Eurodance standards. The other female member quit the group a year later and somehow became a quite succesful actress. That was their first and most successful song which they also performed a hundred million times on the show:

Cool that you're watching it for the first time. Who are your favorites characters at that point of the show (if you have any 🤣)? I liked Tina, Milla, Vera, and Saskia best. Most of the male cast annoyed me, especially Patrick, Peter, and Clemens. They officially ditched the Australian scripts at episode #231, but surely still borrowed from the Australian scripts (and also from GTST, the Dutch adaption, which at that time had already run for 3 years). Between #231 and #250, they wrote out half of the characters and introduced like 30 new people (major and minor roles). Also, a lot of sets were changed. Back then, they didn't really distinguish between contract and recurring cast which is also reflected in the closing credits. Everyone that appeared in a given episode is just listed in random order. The first "real" closing credits, where you can see who's part of the main cast and who's a guest star, start around #360. There are of course many storylines that are really cheesy and cringy and wouldn't work today. And the acting is horrendous in most cases. That's because most of the actors they hired back then were either completely inexperienced newbies or theater actors. The latter overacted most of the time, and the former ... well, they did the best they could. Which wasn't much in many cases.

1995 – 1996 of GZSZ was amazing – clearly one of the best phases the show had. The cast overhaul in the first half of 1996 was indeed crazy (I mean, they basically lost more than half of the cast in the span of 100 episodes, and most sets had been changed due to the studio move in the fall of 1995), but the introduction of all these newbies was flawless. It felt organic, and the new characters were not carbon copies of the former characters. 1996 🥰 Unlike 1993, where they got rid of everything that wasn't working in the span of 10 episodes and introduced at least two new characters every episode. The cast was so bloated at that time, and most of these new characters were gone half a year later anyway. In early 1997, the show lost steam with too many filler stories, and it didn't recover until later that year with the introduction of Sonja. While the first actress was clearly horrendous, it actually made her storyline even better (from the ugly duckling to the manipulative seductress). Cora also had a "great" (meaning acting so bad it makes you laugh) scene where she accused Vanessa of hitting her with a coat hanger. You don't get such scenes anymore. And of course in 1997, we had the first gay couple on GZSZ with Fabian and Philip. The first lesbian couple was Saskia and Harumi one year earlier (pictured above). I loved the Gerner-Barbara-Sonja-Jörg quadrangle in 1998. Then of course Sonja's car accident happened with her face getting destroyed (and the character being recast in the process). I remember clearly what an absurd moment it was when after a month or so, Sonja removed her bandages and we saw the new actress appearing in the mirror. The "Nataly, Nico, Cora, and Ricky get trapped in a bunker with no food and water" storyline around Christmas 1998 was also well-written. Especially when Cora accidentally destroyed the last water bottle, when Nataly tried to climb through the tiny duct and dislocated her shoulder, or when Cora had a hallucination of Robert König who ordered her to eat Nico "because he wouldn't even notice it" 🤣 There was also a scene where a completely deranged Cora sang a Christmas song to herself. The first half of 1999 was also great, with the virus storyline (which was a last-minute addition because half of the cast was sick with the flu and they had to rewrite storylines quickly), Anna's split personality, Elisabeth's breast cancer, and Zombie Biedermann stalking Katja. Summer 1999 – Late 2001 was probably the worst era of the classic years, especially because of the Bohlstädts (+ Jan) and too much focus on Marie/Kai/Sandra/Moritz. While they were ok-ish actors, the Barbara and Peter recasts were also not working. I hated the fact that both characters had interacted in 1993 – they even worked together at Peter's business at that time –, and then in 1999, they acted as if they had never met before with Peter even saying to his mother "I'm so glad I got to meet Barbara". Then they made Barbara bisexual and paired her with that god-awful Lara (who became a contract role before being dropped a month later without explanation). I think Lara's actress was from Austria and she had an annoying accent. It also didn't make sense that the actor playing Chris spoke with a Northern accent, when his mother and his twin sister clearly did not. The actress playing Cora was also easily recognizable as being from the Hamburg area. It was clear that many younger cast members back then didn't have any prior acting experience. Eventually, Barbara became a crazy kidnapper. Nataly was ruined with the amnesia storyline and her getting pregnant by Gerner. Of course, she was then written out because they "ran out of storylines" for her. Bullshit. At the same time, Flo became addicted to some weird tea and wanted to kill herself. In the span of a couple of months, they completely destroyed three female characters that formerly were assertive, strong women. Bad writing overall. --- Back to current news ... AWZ is bringing back André Dietz as Ingo Zadek later this year. At the beginning of the show, he was only supposed to be a guest character, but he was placed on contract a few months later. Dietz departed AWZ at the end of 2020. Ingo was the show's comic relief, and he and Annette (RIP) were one of the most popular couples back in the day. I don't remember much about his stories in the latter part of his run, only that he was paired with Diana.

Re: How times have changed. You're right about that, but even back in the early days, main characters were usually written off their respective shows once they did something really terrible (like murder, stalking or kidnapping). The bad guys simply needed to be punished. I think at one point one of the producers of the RTL soaps said that they can't have a murderer walking freely around in town. It was mostly recurring or guest characters who turned out to be psychopaths. Compared to US soaps, rape or sexual assault is a trope that has rarely been used on any German soap (current or defunct), and when it happened, the perpetrator (male or female) was a guest character. Also, most deaths occured due to accidents and not because characters were murdered. If someone was indeed murdered, it was a huge shock (for example, when Crazy Auntie Eva killed poor Lizzie, put her in a suitcase, and dragged her body through the woods, leaving behind a trail of blood – now that was a shocking storyline back in 1996). Main characters were usually not allowed to cross a certain moral border, only if they were on their way out. For example, on GZSZ, Barbara was sent to prison after she had kidnapped baby Antonia. Then she came back, tried to kill her sister Sonja, and had to flee the country in the back of a truck. Anna went from being an anorexic supermodel to a complete loon who murdered her therapist because of her split personality. She was institutionalized and never mentioned again. Inka went bananas at school, shot Elisabeth and killed Chris, and was arrested, never to be seen again. When the truth about Sonja faking Flo's death came to light, Sonja was killed in an explosion. On UU, Gideon committed suicide after gunning down Rebecca. Viktor Falkenberg was killed by a plane rotor. (I loved all of these characters, though.) There were only a few cases where characters were redeemed, like André on GZSZ who was a complete nutcase in the beginning (pushing Lilo down a stairway, burying Elisabeth alive and blackmailing various characters), only to become a comic relief and eventually being at peace with everybody. However, psychological violence was clearly allowed – for example, on GZSZ, Gerner verbally abused Barbara when she was an alcoholic. Sonja publically accused Gerner of molesting children. On UU, Viktor Falkenberg did horrible things to his wife Claudia. When it came to physical violence, most villains had henchmen that did dirty work for them. I never really watched VL back in the day (I only remember a lot of actors / characters and probably the most memorable storylines), but Tanja was clearly an outlier. She was an ice-cold murderer and was never really punished for her various crimes – she was always one step ahead of everyone. However, while she remained a menace until the end of the show, the writers also gradually softened her by bringing in her mother, exploring her backstory and having her start her own family. But that was obviously in the later years.

So what has happened during the summer months on our beloved RTL soaps? Not much, I'd say, although the fall previews do look good, at least for GZSZ and UU. GZSZ introduces a new main character at the end of September: Matilda Kaltenbach, a 29-year-old lawyer who grew up in both Germany and Spain. She comes to Berlin for work and unexpectedly finds family connections there. Apparently, she is another illegitimate child of Dr. Jo Gerner (Wolfgang Bahro) – but is she really? Matilda is also said to have a twin brother. Matilda's mother is seemingly none other than Elinor Schwarz, who had an affair with Gerner in 1995. According to her management, actress Mariella Ahrens, who had her breakthrough back then, is returning to GZSZ after 29 years. She was seen as Elinor for a few months in 1995. Elinor drained Gerner financially just hours before a planned wedding and then fled abroad. Matilda will be played by AWZ alum Anna Katharina Fecher. On AWZ, she played the contract role of Melanie Wendt (2011 – 2012 and 2013 – 2014). Melanie was, among other things, in a relationship with Deniz during her second run. This month, Gerner's youngest child, Johanna, just left the show, as actress Charlott Reschke, who had portrayed her since 2015, finished school and is now taking an extended break. The actress literally grew up on screen. Until now, Gerner has had the following children: Vanessa Richter, née Moreno (contract: 1996 – 1998; guest appearances: 2015 – 2017 and in the spin-off "SUNNY" [2020]) – Vanessa came to the city with her adoptive brothers Fabian and Leon. The three worked as carnival workers. Gerner and Vanessa found out they were father and daughter when Vanessa was diagnosed with leukemia. Later, Vanessa fell in love with Frank Richter. Due to a porn scandal, she left the city in 1998 in a hurry. She has been living in Southeast Asia ever since. Vanessa and Frank had a daughter named Sunny, who came to Berlin as an adult in 2015 and lived with her grandfather Jo Gerner for several years. Dominik Gundlach, née Felix Löpelmann (born in the series in 1994; contract: 2007 – 2014) – Dominik is the son of Gerner and Claudia Löpelmann. He was born in 1994 and was originally named Felix. Claudia gave him up for adoption, and he was subsequently adopted under the name "Dominik" by Michael and Iris Gundlach. After Iris's violent death (she was killed in a car bomb explosion), Claudia returned to find her child. She fell in love with Michael, and the three left the city at the end of 1994. Thirteen years later (Dominik was now an adult), Claudia also passed away, and Dominik learned from Michael that Jo Gerner was his biological father. Dominik moved to Berlin, reconciled with his father, and had numerous love stories, including with Jasmin Flemming, the daughter of Gerner's on-and-off wife, Katrin Flemming. Later, he married Elena Castillo, but tragically died in December 2014 shortly after the wedding in a motorcycle accident. Patrick Gerner, née Graf (born in the series in 1996; contract: 2009 – 2012) – He was originally the son of Gerner's half-brother Patrick Graf and his wife Elke Opitz-Graf. Patrick Sr. died of a brain tumor in early 1996. Shortly after, Elke discovered she was pregnant, and young Patrick Jr. was born a few months later. In 1997, Elke moved to South America with her new partner and Patrick. In 2009, the now-adult Patrick returned to Berlin and tried to claim his place in the Gerner family, often clashing with Dominik. Gerner eventually adopted Patrick. In 2012, a letter from Elke revealed that Gerner was, in fact, Patrick's biological father*. Shortly after, Patrick fell drunk from a rooftop to his death. *This made no sense at all and was a retcon, as Elke and Gerner only had a brief affair in 1994, hated each other afterward, and too much time had passed for her to be pregnant by him. Johanna Flemming-Gerner (recurring: 2005 – 2024) – She is the daughter of Gerner and Katrin Flemming, who hated each other for a long time. Gerner had Johanna kidnapped shortly after birth and declared her dead. When Johanna became seriously ill, Gerner and Katrin called a truce and even formed a small family for a while. In the meantime, they have divorced (multiple times? I'm not sure how often Gerner and Katrin married), and both have new partners. * Fun fact: So far, Johanna (as played by Charlott Reschke) has been the only recurring character to have been included in the show's opening credits. Johanna's whole story in a nutshell: So, basically Gerner and Katrin wanted to take over Rosa Lehmann's bank (the Lehmann Bank) and really went to war with her. Rosa dug into the past and brought all of Gerner's and Katrin's dirty laundry to light. Rosa tells Johanna the harsh truth: "Your mother didn't want you and sold you to your father for 2 million! The deal fell through. After that, your father kidnapped you and made your mother believe you were dead!" The flashbacks / summary of the whole story start around 2:50. Some new outtakes: Current Contract Cast (as of 09/2024): Pauline AFAJA – Flo Kästner Wolfgang BAHRO – Dr. Jo Gerner Lennart BORCHERT – Moritz Bode Josefin BRESSEL – Alicia Bäumler Felix van DEVENTER – Jonas Seefeld Nina ENSMANN – Jessica Reichelt Patrick FERNANDEZ – Carlos Lopes Ulrike FRANK – Katrin Flemming Patrick HEINRICH – Erik Fritsche Felix von JASCHEROFF – John Bachmann Chryssanthi KAVAZI – Laura Bachmann (on maternity leave) Jan KITTMANN – Tobias Evers Olivia MAREI – Toni Ahrens Anne MENDEN – Emily Wiedmann Niklas OSTERLOH – Paul Wiedmann Lars PAPE – Michi Bode Eva Mona RODEKIRCHEN – Maren Seefeld Jörn SCHLÖNVOIGT – Dr. Philip Höfer Laura Dandelion SEIBERT – Zoe Vogt Iris Mareike STEEN – Lilly Seefeld Timur ÜLKER – Nihat Güney Maria WEDIG – Nina Ahrens (on maternity leave) Marc WEINMANN – Luis Ahrens (leaving soon) Gisa ZACH – Yvonne Bode ––– UU loves bringing back old characters only to write them off again: Charlotte Sommer, who had returned in the spring after a 14-year absence, portrayed again by Anna Julia Antonucci (contract: 2008 to 2010), was run over by Stella (Bettine Langehein) and died. Stella, of course, fled the scene. To take part in Charlotte's funeral, her brother Mars also returned after 14 years. The production brought back Marcel Saibert, who was part of the main cast from 2005 to 2010, to reprise the role. For its 30th anniversary, UU seems to be diving into the history of the core Weigel family. In 1994, when the show started, the family consisted of baker Wolfgang, his wife Irene and their children Chris (19 y/o), Till (16 y/o), and Anna (12 y/o). There was also Wolfgang’s mother Margot, who had owned the Schillerallee 10 apartment house for decades, and Margot’s good-natured sister, Sophie. Margot and Sophie hated each other because Sophie once had an affair with Margot's husband Werner. All residents called Margot "der Hausdrache" (literally: the house dragon, meaning something like "shrew"). Irene’s brother Olaf and his teenage daughter Antonia, who had arrived from former East Berlin, also moved to the apartment building. In the first year, the supposedly dead Werner Weigel reappeared after many years but soon fell to his death from the roof of the house. Over the following years, the family changed constantly. Members moved away or died under dramatic circumstances, while new relatives appeared. Some characters were recast once or multiple times. One of the most infamous family members was Wolfgang's illegitimate son, Rolf Jäger, who committed countless terrible deeds, such as blackmail, kidnapping, and even murder. Margot, perhaps the most iconic character from the early years, was buried in 2006 after actress Christiane Maybach had passed away. Wolfgang, Irene, Sophie, and some spouses also passed away, most recently Chris's wife, Corinna Weigel (née Bach). Currently, only four "biological" Weigels still live at Schillerallee 10: Ulrich Weigel's son Paco Weigel (since 2000), Wolfgang's illegitimate daughter Sina Hirschberger (née Uhland) (since 2010), Chris' and Corinna's daughter Cecilia Weigel (born on-screen in 1998; since 2021), and Rolf's son David Junker (since 2022). Now, actors have been cast to play younger versions of Margot and Werner Weigel. What the production has planned is still unknown, but previews feature Cecilia being confronted with messages and dreams from Margot. Current Contract Cast (as of 09/2024): Maxim AGNÉ – Henry Gerlach Sharon BERLINGHOFF – Vivien Lassner Timothy BOLDT – Ringo Huber Julius DOMBRINK – Theo Wolters Floriane EICHHORN – Nadine Pfeiffer Jens HAJEK – Benedikt Huber Benjamin HEINRICH – Benno "Bambi" Hirschberger Isabell HERTEL – Ute Huber Tabea HEYNIG – Britta Schönfeld-Küpper Carina KOLLER – Cecilia Weigel Miriam LAHNSTEIN – Patrizia Neumann-Goldberg Bettine LANGEHEIN – Stella Richter Patrick MÜLLER – Tobias Lassner Valea SCALABRINO – Sina Hirschberger Diego Carlos SEYFARTH – David Junker Lars STEINHÖFEL – Easy Winter Theresa TRASER – Ronja Pfeiffer Milos VUKOVIC – Paco Weigel ––– AWZ, meanwhile, is once again in the process of reinventing itself. Producer Guido Reinhardt, who brought the show to the screens 18 years ago, has been back on board for six months and is trying to turn things around after a dip in ratings. Apparently, a new generation of the core Steinkamp family is being developed, which will become part of the show in 2025. Reinhardt admits that after 18 years, it’s simply difficult to write for characters like Simone, Richard, and Jenny Steinkamp, who have been part of the show since the very beginning, as they don’t want to repeat storylines over and over again. Ice skating as a sport will continue to be a central focus. Currently, the characters Leyla, Charlie, and the newly introduced Valea are part of the squad. Current Contract Cast (as of 09/2024): Suri ABBASSI – Leyla Öztürk Riccardo ANGELINI – Matteo Borazio Berrit ARNOLD – Daniela Bremer Stefan BOCKELMANN – Henning Ziegler Matthias BRÜGGENOLTE – Justus Albrecht Tatjana CLASING – Simone Steinkamp Igor DOLGATSCHEW – Deniz Öztürk Marc DUMITRU – Kilian Reichenbach Shaolyn FERNANDEZ – Charlie Beer Dominik FLADE – Yannick Ziegler (leaving soon) Amrei HAARDT – Nathalie von Altenburg Antonia KOLANO – Valea Borazio Féréba KONÉ – Imani Okana Silvan-Pierre LEIRICH – Richard Steinkamp Francisco MEDINA – Maximilian von Altenburg Jasmin MINZ – Kim Steinkamp Ania NIEDIECK – Isabelle Reichenbach Jörg ROHDE – Ben Steinkamp Sarah Victoria SCHALOW – Hanna Kern Kaja SCHMIDT-TYCHSEN – Jenny Steinkamp Julia WIEDEMANN – Lucie Ziegler

Filming for the new GZSZ "spin-off" began at the end of May. The official title is "Uferpark – Gute Zeiten, Wilde Zeiten" (= "Uferpark – Good Times, Wild Times"). Official synopsis (translated): "In the heart of Berlin, teenagers Amina, Yunis, Lea, Pepe, and Milo take over an old skatepark (= the aforementioned 'Uferpark') for themselves. The friends form a tight-knit clique, sticking together through thick and thin while grappling with the challenges of growing up: Amina is torn between her best friend Yunis and the enigmatic Ben, whose crew constantly causes trouble in the neighborhood. Lea is questioning her professional skating career, Milo is determined to find his own path in music, and Pepe unexpectedly proves to have managerial skills. Together, the group develops an unwavering determination to defend "their" skatepark against all odds. They stand together for their place in society, for unity, and for themselves as a group." The first official press release didn't mention any crossovers with the main show at all. They could have used some of GZSZ's legacy children for one of the main roles (for example Kate, Oskar Moreno, or even John's son Benjamin), but I guess they don't want to establish too many connections since this new show is aimed at a completely different target audience and will also air on a different channel. The press release also doesn't call it a spin-off, but rather a show that is "set in the GZSZ universe". --- Meanwhile, one of RTL2's trashy pseudo soaps has been given the axe – at least on linear television. "Köln 50667", which has aired weekdays at 6 pm since 2013, has moved to streaming only. The show will continue on RTL+ for at least six months, and two new episodes will be released every week. "Köln 50667" is a spin-off of "Berlin – Tag & Nacht" which was launched in 2011. Both shows boomed when reality shows flooded the television landscape, and for a time they almost had a higher market share than the regular soaps on rivalling channels – but it didn't last long. In 2022, "Köln 50667" only had a market share of 2 %. In a desperate attempt to attract new viewers, half of the cast was fired and replaced by new characters, and even the setting was changed. It didn't work out. In contrast, "Berlin – Tag & Nacht", which airs weekdays at 7 pm (against AWZ and GZSZ on RTL), is still doing okay. --- Some new GZSZ outtakes:

Ukraine was my personal winner last night, and it will easily come top 3 in the Grand Final. I was also pleasantly surprised by Lithuania's and Slovenia's live performances. Sweden and the UK delivered as well. Meanwhile, both Australia and Azerbaijan, which I adore in their studio versions, completely fell flat on stage, so their NQ was inevitable. Q: Croatia Cyprus Finland Ireland Lithuania Luxembourg Portugal Serbia Slovenia Ukraine NQ: Australia Azerbaijan Iceland Moldova Poland

Yes, Deniz is still on AWZ. He's been working as a figure skating coach for the Steinkamps for quite some time, and at some point he got married to Imani, but I'm not sure if they are still together 🤨 AWZ's contract cast as of April 2024: Suri ABBASSI as Leyla Öztürk (2021-present) Berrit ARNOLD as Daniela Bremer (2021-present; recurring previously) Stefan BOCKELMANN as Henning Ziegler (2021-present) Matthias BRÜGGENOLTE as Justus Albrecht (2020-present) Tatjana CLASING as Simone Steinkamp (2006-present) Igor DOLGATSCHEW as Deniz Öztürk (2007-present) Marc DUMITRU as Kilian Reichenbach (2022-present) Shaolyn FERNANDEZ as Charlotte Beer (2024-present) Dominik FLADE as Yannick Ziegler (2020-present) Alexandra FONSATTI as Chiara Nadolny (2019-present) Féréba KONÉ as Imani Okana (2022-present) Silvan-Pierre LEIRICH as Richard Steinkamp (2006-present) Francisco MEDINA as Maximilian von Altenburg (2007-present with innumerable breaks) Jasmin MINZ as Kim Steinkamp (2020-present) Ania NIEDIECK as Isabelle Reichenbach (2010-present) Jörg ROHDE as Ben Steinkamp #2 (2009-present) Sarah Victoria SCHALOW as Hanna Kern (2023-present) Kaja SCHMIDT-TYCHSEN as Jenny Steinkamp #4 (2011-present) Julia WIEDEMANN as Lucie Ziegler (2020-2023; 2023-present)

Here's a "behind the scenes" video of GZSZ's anniversary photo shoot: And some new outtakes:

On April 15th, 2024, GZSZ will celebrate its 8000th episode. In contrast to previous anniversaries, this episode will be of regular length. The 8000th episode will focus on the murder trial against Carlos (Patrick Fernandez), with Alicia (Josefin Bressel), Katrin (Ulrike Frank) and Tobias (Jan Kittmann) also being front and center. The show is also having a "back from the dead" moment since Lara Dandelion Seibert returns to the show a few episodes before the anniversary. Last summer, Seibert recurred as Zoe Vogt, a professional killer. In September 2023, Zoe was severely injured after a hostage situation and seemingly died off-screen. Fast forward to now, when an unsuspecting Yvonne runs into a vitally alive Zoe at a gas station ... Seibert is now on contract with the show. Current Contract Cast (as of #8000): Pauline AFAJA as Flo Kästner (March 2024-present; recurring previously) Wolfgang BAHRO as Dr. Jo Gerner (February 1993-present) Lennart BORCHERT as Moritz Bode (June 2020-present) Josefin BRESSEL as Alicia Bäumler (October 2023-present) Felix van DEVENTER as Jonas Seefeld (July 2014-present) Patrick FERNANDEZ as Carlos Lopes (November 2022-present) Ulrike FRANK as Katrin Flemming (April 2004-present; recurring previously) Patrick HEINRICH as Erik Fritsche (May 2019-present; recurring previously) Felix von JASCHEROFF as John Bachmann (July 2001-February 2014; February 2015-present) Jan KITTMANN as Tobias Evers (October 2020-present) Olivia MAREI as Toni Ahrens (July 2018-November 2022; October 2023-present) Anne MENDEN as Emily Wiedmann (December 2004-present) Niklas OSTERLOH as Paul Wiedmann (December 2016-present) Lars PAPE as Michi Bode (July 2022-present; recurring previously) Eva Mona RODEKIRCHEN as Maren Seefeld (December 2010-September 2022; June 2023-present) Jörn SCHLÖNVOIGT as Dr. Philip Höfer (December 2004-present) Lara Dandelion SEIBERT (April 2024-present; recurring previously) Iris Mareike STEEN as Lilly Seefeld (December 2010-present) Timur ÜLKER as Nihat Güney (September 2018-present) Marc WEINMANN as Luis Ahrens #2 (September 2021-present) Gisa ZACH as Yvonne Bode (January 2019-present) Currently on maternity leave: Nina ENSMANN as Jessica Reichelt Chryssanthi KAVAZI as Laura Bachmann Maria WEDIG as Nina Ahrens Meanwhile, the other two RTL soaps are ... just there. I think AWZ has introduced a new figure skater and has a lesbian wedding coming up, but they're absolutely building no momentum. Maximilian has returned for the umpteenth time, but no one cares. UU is bringing back another forgotten character from the distant past in the form of Charlotte Sommer, a contract role from 2008 to 2010. At least she will be played by her original portrayer Anna Julia Antonucci.

I'm sure Germany will end up dead last again this year. Our NF had three better options – Ryk, Marie Reim and Galant – but somehow, the German public always votes for the underdogs. We can only prevent coming last if some other dud (like San Marino, Slovenia, or Malta) qualifies from the semi-finals, but most other countries receive at least a few pity points from their neighbors. Germany usually doesn't, even though we are the country with the most neighbors in Europe 🤣 This is my current Top 10: France Austria Australia Ukraine Belgium Denmark Norway Netherlands United Kingdom Spain Just missing out: Czechia Cyprus Estonia Sweden Finland

The UK has the same problem as Germany (my country): Both countries usually pick contemporary songs which are radio-friendly, but their staging is often bland and forgettable. In the past 10 years, Germany has only had one entry that finished higher than 18th place (including 4 last places!), and the UK hasn't fared much better. And some more entries ... this year's field is nearly complete. We're still waiting for the songs from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Israel. Hera Björk won Iceland's national final with the song "Scared of Heights" but it's unclear if she will compete in Stockholm following some drama. Australia 2024: Electric Fields / "One Milkali (One Blood)" Language: English Austria 2024: Kaleen / "We Will Rave" Language: English Greece 2024: Marina Satti / "Zari" Language: Greek / English Portugal 2024: Iolanda / "Grito" Language: Portuguese Serbia 2024: Teya Dora / "Ramonda" Language: Serbian

More entries: Croatia 2024: Baby Lasagna / "Rim Tim Tagi Dim" Language: English Cyprus 2024: Silia Kapsis / "Liar" Language: English The Netherlands 2024: Joost Klein / "Europapa" Language: Dutch San Marino 2024: Megara / "11:11" Language: Spanish Switzerland 2024: Nemo / "The Code" Language: English United Kingdom 2024: Olly Alexander / "Dizzy" Language: English

Two more entries: Belgium 2024: Mustii / "Before the Party's Over" Language: English Poland 2024: LUNA / "The Tower" Language: English

I noticed there's no topic for this legendary event yet @OzFrog Following Sweden's Loreen winning the 2023 Contest with the song "Tattoo", the 68th Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Malmö, Sweden, with the Grand Final taking place 11 May 2024. 37 countries will take part, with Romania being the only country not returning from last year's edition. In turn, Luxembourg returns to the Contest after having been absent for 31 years. They last participated in 1993. Several countries have already selected their entries via national finals or internal selections. Semi Final 1 (7 May 2024): Australia Azerbaijan Croatia Cyprus Finland Iceland Ireland Luxembourg Lithuania Moldova Poland Portugal Serbia Slovenia Ukraine Semi Final 2 (9 May 2024): Albania Armenia Austria Belgium Czechia Denmark Estonia Georgia Greece Israel Latvia Malta Netherlands Norway San Marino Switzerland Automatic Finalists (11 May 2024): France Germany Italy Spain Sweden (host country) United Kingdom + 10 qualifiers from Semi Final 1 + 10 qualifiers from Semi Final 2 Albania 2024: Besa / "Zemrën n'dorë" Language: Albanian Czechia 2024: Aiko / "Pedestal" Language: English Denmark 2024: Saba / "Sand" Language: English Estonia 2024: 5miinust and Puuluup / "(Nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi" Language: Estonian Finland 2024: Windows95man / "No Rules!" Language: English France 2024: Slimane / "Mon amour" Language: French Germany 2024: Isaak / "Always on the Run" Language: English Ireland 2024: Bambie Thug / "Doomsday Blue" Language: English Italy 2024: Angelina Mango / "La noia" Language: Italian Latvia 2024: Dons / "Hollow" Language: English Lithuania 2024: Silvester Belt / "Luktelk" Language: Lithuanian Luxembourg 2024: Tali / "Fighter" Language: French / English Malta 2024: Sarah Bonnici / "Loop" Language: English Moldova 2024: Natalia Barbu / "In the Middle" Language: English Norway 2024: Gåte / "Ulveham" Language: Norwegian Slovenia 2024: Raiven / "Veronika" Language: Slovene Spain 2024: Nebulossa / "Zorra" Language: Spanish Ukraine 2024: Jerry Heil & Alyona Alyona / "Theresa + Maria" Language: Ukrainian / English

Some news: Thomas Drechsel (Tuner) is departing GZSZ in late February/early March 2024 after being on contract for almost 14 years. In the past few years, the character hasn't had a major storyline and he should have been written out ages ago. Last year, the same could have been said for Felix van Deventer's Jonas, but they finally managed to turn the tables and gave Jonas a major arc with his sudden paralysis. Making of the updated opening credits: The actors' favorite scenes of 2023: Outtakes:

Rena Sofer. Did Melrose Place, Just Shoot Me, 24, and various other stuff before returning to daytime on B&B. Krista Allen also comes to mind.

B&B: Tricia Quick as a replacement for Taylor in 2002. Tricia was also a psychiatrist, looked a lot like Taylor, and had brief flings with both Ridge and Thorne. After 4 months, she was dropped to recurring and soon left the canvas.

Meanwhile, GZSZ receives yet another spin-off: UFA Serial Drama is currently developing and casting a new series that is set in the GZSZ universe – and which will be aimed at children! The new series will feature a handful of young protagonists and is supposed to air on RTL Super (RTL's children and family channel) and online on RTL+. The first season will consist of 26 episodes.

From the 90210 universe: In 1994, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen auditioned for a role on "Models, Inc." before she landed the part of Valerie Malone on "Beverly Hills, 90210". https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-09-04-tv-34509-story.html

I don't know what happened behind the scenes at UU, but first Corinna died in March, then Jenny left earlier this month, and now Chris is also gone. Why did they bring back these three original characters if they don't do anything with them in the long run? Corinna and Chris should have become the new heads of the Weigel family ... but now, no member of the core family is left, except Paco and Sina. Instead Claudelle Deckert (Eva), who earlier this year left the show after 22 years because "she was over it", returned a few days ago. There's going to be another "Event Week" in November called "Vertrau mir – Ich bin dein Mörder!" ("Trust Me – I'm Your Murderer!") which will focus on Eva and Dominic (Jo Weil). This is the official synopsis: Lawyer Eva Wagner (Claudelle Deckert) has made powerful enemies in the underworld and needed to go into hiding. She had to leave her great love Dominic Adams (Jo Weil) behind. Ute Kiefer (Isabell Hertel) is not entirely innocent of this. She now does everything she can to reunite the couple and confides in Jakob Huber (Alexander Milo). But Jakob plays a dangerous double game and lures evil into Schillerallee. Bomb alert! The residents are in extreme danger and have to take the fight for their lives into their own hands. The explosive ordnance defense specialist Henry Gerlach (Maxim Agné) is called to help. A race against time begins: The head of the criminal organization, Hector Mertens, has planted the bomb and wants to let it explode if Eva doesn't surrender herself to him ... Speaking of grave danger, GZSZ recently had a storyline which culminated in a hostage situation: Also, GZSZ has shot on location in Paris, France. A special feature-length episode feauturing the Paris storyline will air sometime later this year. Apparently, the main characters will be Laura (Chryssanthi Kavazi), John (Felix von Jascheroff) and Emily (Anne Menden). Some new outtakes: Flashback: Dominik's funeral (December 2014): Last, but not least: Sat.1's new daily soap venture "Die Landarztpraxis" ("The Country Doctor") debuts on October 23rd, 2023 at 7.45 pm – which means it airs against GZSZ. This is bound to be yet another flop for Sat.1. For now, they've ordered 60 episodes. Caroline Frier (of AWZ fame) plays the main character. Oliver Franck (ex-GZSZ) also stars. The other cast members are still unknown.

Quite interesting that Kin Shriner (Dr. Brian Carey) and Ellen Wheeler (Sarah) were contract players although both of their stints only lasted around 30 episodes. I also didn't know that Ken Hanes (Mike Guthrie) used to be on contract from 1995 to 1996.

Haha, that's because they are not "proper" soaps, but pseudo-soaps – basically scripted reality shows with non-actors (in German, we call these kind of people "Laiendarsteller"). This is so disappointing. They brought Jenny back after 25 years (not counting her brief guest appearance two years ago), made her a regular, and now she's leaving again this month. Apparently Jo Weil (Dominic) is now a contract player on UU, and he will soon be reunited with his former "Verbotene Liebe" co-star Miriam Lahnstein, who has joined the show as "Patrizia", Stella's mother. Lahnstein is best-known for her role als villainess Tanja von Lahnstein on VL, whom she played from 1995 to 2001, from 2004 to the show's cancellation in 2015, and in the short-lived reboot "Verbotene Liebe – Next Generation" (2020-2021). Another familiar face joins AWZ later this month: Sila Sahin, who rose to fame as Ayla Özgül-Höfer on GZSZ, plays Miray Öztürk, a relative of Leyla's (Suri Abbassi). Sahin starred on GZSZ from 2009 to 2014, until she abruptly left the show and her character had to be recast within a short span of time.

I started re-watching the show from the very beginning a couple of weeks ago and have now reached the middle of season 5 (Jane's departure). Watching the seasons back to back in such a short span of time, it's really striking that seasons 2 and 3 are the "golden era" of the show. Usually you had 3 storylines per episodes, and that was totally fine for a cast of 8 or 9 regular characters plus a set of rotating recurring/guest stars. When season 4 started, there was a major shift – suddenly everyone acted and looked much older than these characters were supposed to be. For example, Billy is said to be in his mid-20s in season 5, but everyone looks at least 10 years older than that. The storylines in season 4 are very OTT, especially everything involving Kimberly. Also, there were now at least 5 different storylines per episode. However, while Amanda and Peter were clearly pushed as the show's main characters at that point, all the characters still had equal screentime. I also liked those little scenes where characters that usually didn't have much overlap had a brief chat in the courtyard or at "Shooters", for example such combinations as Kimberly/Jake or Sydney/Alison. It felt like they were truly neighbors or were part of each other's lives. After Brooke's death, the show takes a turn to the "dark side". There are no longer any funny dialogues, and everyone really hated each other. I loved Brooke and wished she'd stayed on board much longer. In season 5, the cast was way too large, and suddenly you have like 7 different storylines per episode, with several characters only having 2 or 3 scenes each episode. Some characters, who used to be in each other's orbits in previous seasons, don't even interact with each other anymore. For example, Jane didn't share a single scene with Michael, Matt or Kimberly, and Kimberly hasn't shared a single scene with Sydney. Apart from Amanda, Peter and Sydney, Taylor and Kyle don't interact with anybody in the apartment complex. The few instances where Taylor briefly talked to Kimberly, Jane, Billy, Alison or Jake, it felt like they were in completely different shows. I don't think Kimberly ever met Samantha or Kyle. Speaking of Samantha, I don't mind her this time around. I remember that I couldn't stand her in season 6, but so far, she's been unoffending. I would have preferred her staying with Craig instead of getting involved with Billy because that would have caused more drama, and Craig was wasted in the boring Amanda/Peter mess.