Huntress

Not only will Isabell Horn return to GZSZ, she will also bring her character Pia to AWZ. According to an interview she gave this week, the actress said that she will mainly film for AWZ while visiting GZSZ from time to time. This will be the first big crossover in the history of German soaps. In 2010, GZSZ and AWZ already had a short crossover when AWZ's Simone and Richard Steinkamp came to Berlin to attend an event hosted by GZSZ's Katrin Flemming. There are also news regarding VL's future: The first six weekly episodes will bring closure to the current storylines and will result in a big showdown. Beginning with episode 7, the show will move into a new direction, probably with a smaller main cast. The season will then end with a cliffhanger before the summer break. In April 2015, the network has to decide whether the show will live on for another season. Next week, another mixture of a daily soap and a reality show starts airing on RTL weekdays at 5 pm, right before "Unter uns". The show is called "Berlin Models" and – guess what – follows the antics of a bunch of models working for an agency in Berlin. I cannot see this show lasting longer than three months. This is the official website: http://www.rtl.de/cms/sendungen/berlin-models-unser-leben-unser-traum.html

I felt that the writers didn't know what to do with Sydney after season 3. In season 4, Sydney was still part of the Michael/Kimberly/Jane drama, but this time it wasn't about her and what she wanted. She was rather being used as a plot device instead of being portrayed as a real character. In addition, she was often used as a comic relief. Whenever Sydney was in a confrontation in earlier seasons, the audience was rooting for Sydney because even though she was usually in the wrong, she was portrayed as being the misunderstood underdog. Sydney in season 4 was completely different. She was more immature and acted like a childish brat. In addition, she was severely dumbed down. Somehow this went hand in hand with Jane becoming more assertive. In season 5, Sydney – like Alison and Jake – suffered from the isolated storylines. It surely didn't help that she was completely seperated from Michael, Kimberly and Peter. I can't remember them interacting at all. I also think that Jane and Sydney needed each other to balance each other out. Sydney didn't work without Jane, and Jane didn't work without Sydney (that's why Jane was such a bore in season 1 and again in season 7).

They weren't happy and voiced their opinions all over the internet. The next day, a network executive declared that the show will still be called "Verbotene Liebe" and that the renaming was just a misunderstanding. Yeah, right. This whole thing is a mess and they should have just cancelled the show instead of sucking the last drop of blood out of it. But VL is not the only soap that's in trouble. I wrote about AWZ's mass firing a while ago (the firings of Anna Katharina Fecher, Hannes Sell, Jennifer Dessin-Brasching, Jenny Bach, Yara Hassan, Michéle Fichtner and Naima Fehrenbacher), and now the once so powerful GZSZ is also suffering from declining ratings. Since two more fan favorites are leaving during the next few weeks – Raul Richter's Dominik Gundlach will be killed off in November and Jascha Rust's Zac Klingenthal will depart the canvas in December –, the producers are obviously afraid that even more viewers will dump the soap, so they decided to bring back two former fan favorites: Felix von Jascheroff and Isabell Horn return to the soap in January 2015. Both actors left the show this past February after their characters John Bachmann and Pia Koch got married. Back then, it was reported that von Jascheroff was leaving the show after 13 years because he wanted to other things. His co-star Isabell Horn had to leave with him because the writers didn't know what to do with Pia once John was gone. Now both actors are reportedly very happy to be back on the set. This is only the second time in the 22-year old show's history that GZSZ is bringing back a former character as a contract role. The only other case was Daniel Fehlow as Leon Moreno who returned in 2001 after a two-year absence. He's still on contract as of today. Usually former contract roles only appeared as guests after their exit, or former recurring roles were upgraded to contract roles.

Say goodbye to "Verbotene Liebe", say hello to "Vergeltung". Today it was announced that the 20-year old soap "Verbotene Liebe" will not only change its broadcasting format from daily to weekly airings, the show will also receive a new name. From 2015 on, the drama will be known as "Vergeltung" ("Revenge"/"Vengeance"/"Payback"). The premise: A new character, Mila von Draskow, arrives in town to take revenge on the aristocratic von Lahnstein family. Mila is a friend of Nico von Lahnstein (Verena Zimmermann-Bonato). The latter returns to the canvas full-time after being on contract from 2002 to 2007 and again from 2010 to 2012. She last appeared in this year's online special. Three other new cast members have started filming this month. Similarities to the US primetime drama "Revenge" cannot be denied. In Germany, the original "Revenge" is shown on VOX, a sister channel of RTL.

Preview Pictures for October/November 2014: Unter uns 01. Bambi (Benjamin Heinrich, right) threatens Rolf (Stefan Franz) to stay away from his family 02. Till (Ben Ruedinger, left) senses that something is going on between Sascha and Eva and asks Malte (Stefan Bockelmann) for his opinion 03. Joe (Sarah Hannemann) agrees to continue working with Orkan (Karim Günes) 04. Micki (Joy Lee Juana Abiola-Möller) tries to make Tobias jealous by dancing with Nikos (Chronis Karakassidis) 05. Ringo (Timothy Boldt) tries to settle a dispute between Kira (Barbara Prakopenka) and Kimberly (Maja Lehrer) 06. When her colleague Tom (Frederic Heidorn, right) molests her, Lisa (Svenja Jung) takes matters into her own hands 07. Leonie (Maria Kempken) and Paco (Milos Vukovic) plan their wedding 08. Ute (Isabell Hertel, left) and Henning (Benjamin Kiss) ask Kimberly to stay with them 09. Eva (Claudelle Deckert) threatens to ruin Rolf's life once and for all 10. Eva breaks down because of her pill addiction Alles was zählt 01. Raquel (Yara Hassan) meets Toni (new series regular Michéle Fichtner) for the first time 02. Melanie (Anna Katharina Fecher, left) is furious when she witnesses an intimate moment between Deniz (Igor Dolgatschew) and Letizia (Jennifer Dessin-Brasching) 03. After breaking up with Deniz, Melanie leaves town and says goodbye to her friends Bea, Ben, Ingo, Julia, Lena and Can 04. Larissa (Naima Fehrenbacher, middle) arrives in town and meets her half-sister Isabelle (Ania Niedieck, right) 05. Rafael (Nikolas Schmid) seeks revenge and kidnaps Letizia 06. Julia (Jenny Bach, middle) tries to forget her sorrows and dances the night away 07. Katja (Anna Katharina Samsel) and Can (Volkan Isbert) cannot mend their relationship 08. Rafael holds Letizia and Vanessa (Julia Augustin) at gunpoint 09. After the diner has burnt down, Bea (Caroline Frier) and Ingo (André Dietz) are in trouble 10. Rafael shoots Letizia in the head while Vanessa has to watch 11. Richard (Silvan-Pierre Leirich) and Simone (Tatjana Clasing) are confronted with Letizia's bloody corpse 12. Can and his new girlfriend Susi (Sarah Thonig) Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten 01. Leon (Daniel Fehlow, left) visits Tayfun (Tayfun Baydar) in the hospital 02. Tuner (Thomas Drechsel) undergoes heart surgery 03. Nele (Ramona Dempsey) is furious after Mesut (Mustafa Alin) has ruined her favorite top 04. Ayla (Nadine Menz) tries to support Tayfun whose life has been shattered 05. Vince (Vincent Krüger) is beaten up 06. Jo (Wolfgang Bahro) proposes to Sophie (Lea Marlen Woitack) 07. Mieze (Franziska van der Heide) takes care of Vince 08. Jasmin (Janina Uhse, middle) is jealous when Anni (Linda Marlen Runge) flirts with Lia (Alisa Nikolaus) 09. Dominik (Raul Richter) and Elena (Elena Garcia Gerlach) get married 10. Nele catches the bridal bouquet Verbotene Liebe 01. Olli (Jo Weil) consoles Bella (Janina Isabell Batoly), not knowing that she is in love with the same guy he is lusting after 02. And that would be Jo (Mickey Hardt) who soon shares an intimate moment with Olli 03. Tanja (Miriam Lahnstein, right) plays the victim to gain Elisabeth's (Martina Servatius) trust 04. Tim (Marc Barthel) finds a gun in his dead father's belongings 05. The Helmke brothers – Jo, Frank (Christoph Kottenkamp) and Tim – go on a fishing trip 06. Rebecca (Tatjana Kästel) and Kim (Nicole Mieth) have trouble at work 07. Elisabeth's nerves are strained and she starts taking sedative medication 08. When she surprises him looking through confidential files, Emilio (Florian Wünsche) seduces Tanja 09. Tim's ex-girlfriend Gina (Sila Sahin) arrives in town 10. Andi (Dominic Saleh-Zaki) apologizes to his girlfriend Bella and his flatmate Sascha (Sascha Pederiva) for being too jealous, not knowing that they have slept together behind his back

And his latest love interest doesn't have any luck either: Letizia von Altenburg will be brutally killed off in November. In the spring of 2013, Letizia Kaldenhoff arrived in Essen to become a dancer at the "Steinkamp Dance Academy". She was born in Argentina, but spent most of her life in New York where she studied dancing. At the "Dance Academy" she met her former lover Lukas Levin. The two continued their affair, but Letizia had competition in Julia Meyer, another dancer. Both fought over Lukas and over being the best dancer at the academy. Letizia also found out that Maximilian von Altenburg is her biological father. Thus, she is a member of the wealthy Steinkamp family – the family who owns the "Dance Academy". Letizia moved into the Steinkamp mansion. When Lukas chose Julia, Letizia was furious and set the academy on fire. Constanze, an employee, died in the fire. Letizia put the blame on Julia. She only told her grandma Simone, Maximilian's mother, the truth. A bit later, Maximilian's old nemesis Rafael Suarez returned to destroy Maximilian once and for all. After luring Maximilian into a trap, he buried Maximilian alive. However, when Rafael later checked Maximilian's graveside, the grave was empty. Maximilian had disappeared and hasn't been found since. Letizia was devastated about her father's apparent death. In 2014, she confessed that she was responsible for the fire and faced charges. Letizia became broke and almost homeless. When Deniz was nice to her and helped her, she became attracted to him even though he was in a steady relationship with Melanie. Behind Melanie's back, Letizia tried to win Deniz for herself. Next month, Melanie will find out the truth. She will break up with Deniz and hastily leave town (Melanie's portrayer Anna Katharina Fecher is also one of the 7 fired cast members). Meanwhile, Rafael returns again because he wants to know where Maximilian is. He feels that Simone knows something and takes Vanessa and Letizia hostage to blackmail the Steinkamp family. Eventually, Rafael brutally shoots Letizia in front of Vanessa. Her last airdate is November 17th, 2014.

The madness continues: Last week it was revealed that VL's transformation into a weekly series doesn't mean that the show has been renewed by its broadcaster ARD. Filming still ends on November 14th, 2014, and the daily broadcastings will stop in late February. The remaining 15 episodes that are part of the current broadcasting season will then be shown on a weekly basis until June. What the network execs said about VL's renewal was completely wrong. Furthermore,it was reported that VL's cast and crew members are not allowed to sign contracts with any other production until the network has decided if they want to continue the soap in the 2nd half of the year 2015. Later a spokesperson claimed that this is false information. AWZ also made big headlines: Two weeks ago the show announced that Naima Fehrenbacher and Michéle Fichtner will be joining the soap at the end of October as Larissa Schumann and Toni Fuchs to form the new main triangle with Igor Dolgatschew's Deniz Öztürk. Yesterday it was reported that four actresses were released from their contracts – among them Fehrenbacher and Fichtner who haven't even aired yet. The other two are Jenny Bach (Julia Meyer) and Yara Hassan (Raquel Santana). Apparently there was a major change behind the scenes and the show wants to get rid of the "Steinkamp Dance Academy" which has been the main focus since 2011. This means that all cast members who portray members of the "Dance Academy" will be out by February 2015. A new sport is supposed to become the show's main focus next year.

It's the other way around. Norway and Denmark have a higher standard of living than Sweden. Copenhagen is Europe's most expensive city to live in and Norway is the second-richest country in Europe. Sweden has also had a much higher rate of immigrants coming to the country, especially from the Balkan countries. 20% of the Swedish population are "immigrants", whereas in Denmark it's only 10% and in Norway about the same. In Germany, we had elections in two federal states (Thuringia and Brandenburg) last weekend, and a rather new party, the AfD (Alternative für Deutschland, Alternative for Germany) won seats in both parliaments. This party is very conservative and is against the Euro. In both states they had about 13 % of the vote. But the federal states that were part of the GDR before the fall of the Berlin Wall have always had different political views than the more liberal states in the West. Germany has been reunited for almost 25 years, but the discrepancy between East and West hasn't changed that much. In the public eye and in the media, people from the East are still seen as backward and cranky. Furthermore, these people still feel neglected by the government even though their cities are now in a good economical shape (thanks to all the money from the West), while the big cities in the West are mostly broke. It's a mad world.

Probably because that pairing wasn't really popular back in the day. Deniz and Roman were only together for three months when Deniz began lusting after Vanessa and that angered a lot of fans. Roman was Deniz's only popular pairing. They never even bothered giving him another male love interest even though all his romances with women were short-lived. Last year, when Joscha appeared, he and Deniz flirted a lot and everyone thought that they might become an item, but then Joscha was given a new love interest, Kai. (Both Joscha and Kai exited the show last June.) In my opinion, Deniz never had any chemistry with any of his female co-stars. All in all, couples on German soaps rarely reunite once they have split up. It's basically only those couples that are considered to be soulmates that stay together for a long time and get back together after they have spent some time apart. On AWZ, Simone and Richard are the best example. They were married when the show started, but Richard always had affairs with other women. Simone also bedded a few guys, including Richard's brother. Richard is currently married to Isabelle – who was previously married to Richard's son Ben and Simone's son Maximilian. (She also had an affair with Richard's other son Marco.) Anyway, Simone and Richard have always remained close and they get back together in regular intervals. Everyone else on this show switches partners like their underwear. In that regard, AWZ is similar to B&B. The Steinkamp family is also similar to the Forrester clan, and Isabelle has clearly taken a lesson or two from Brooke Logan how to bed several men of the same family. An example on UU would be Till and Eva who had a short affair in 2001. When Eva returned in 2008, she and Till were paired up again and have remained together ever since.

AWZ has announced another major cast overhaul as three new female regulars have been cast. In addition, a familiar face returns to the canvas. At the end of October, Julia Augustin is back as Vanessa Steinkamp – and this time, she'll be on contract again. An original cast member, Augustin originally played the youngest Steinkamp daughter from September 2006 to May 2009. Vanessa is the slighty overweight, loud-mouthed daughter of Simone and Richard and the younger sister of villain Jenny. Usually neglected by her mother, she has a good rapport with her dad. Her half-brothers include Ben, Marco and Maximilian. Augustin then took a break from acting to focus on her studies. From August 2010 to February 2012, Augustin was again part of the main cast before Vanessa took off to Boston to study medicine. When her mother Simone was presumed dead, Vanessa visited her family for a few weeks in the summer of 2013. Now ready to become a doctor, Vanessa is back in town and is supposed to become involved in a hostage drama. The new faces are singer-turned-actress Christina Klein, Michèle Fichtner and Naima Fehrenbacher. Under her stage name "LaFee", Klein has released four albums (three of which charted in the Top 10 of the German Album chart) and has had a string of successful singles. On AWZ, she will play Iva Lubowski, who works as a DJane. Fichtner and Fehrenbacher will play Toni Fuchs and Larissa Schuhmann. Both girls apply for a scholarship at the "Steinkamp Dance Factory" and they will soon fight for the affection of the same man – long-established character Deniz Öztürk (Igor Dolgatschew). Toni is described as a "plain Jane" while Larissa, who is also Isabelle's (Ania Niedick) younger sister, is supposed to be a schemer. AWZ again follows the same formula with a good girl and a bad girl fighting for the same man and the same job as the main story. The last main triangle was Julia (Jenny Bach) and Letizia (Jennifer Dessin-Brasching) fighting for a place at the Dance Academy and fighting for Lukas (Marc Schöttner). All three characters were introduced in the spring of 2013. The storyline fizzled out rather quickly. Letizia turned out to be Simone's granddaughter which put her more in the Steinkamp family orbit. Besides, she didn't have a viable love interest. Currently she is about to fall in love with Deniz, but with Deniz soon being the leading man in the new triangle, Letizia's days on the show are obviously numbered. Meanwhile, Julia fell in love with Ben Steinkamp, the husband of her older sister Bea (Caroline Frier). This also led to Lukas leaving town earlier this year. Julia has now turned into a bitch and the roles between her and Letizia have been reversed. Could Julia also be leaving soon? Another character waiting to be axed is Raquel (Yara Hassan), who never quite caught on with the audience. She was introduced last fall as a new love interest for Ingo (André Dietz) and got married to gay soccer player Joscha, Lukas's brother. When Ingo chose Bea, Raquel was supposed to be paired with Felix (Hannes Sell), Lukas's replacement at the Dance Factory. Felix however slept with Isabelle and now Isabelle is pregnant. But who is the daddy? Felix or Isabelle's husband Richard? With all this drama going on, Raquel somehow got pushed to the backburner.

ARD has now confirmed that VL will continue as a weekly soap with the transformation beginning in late February/early March 2015. The broadcaster has ordered 15 episodes á 48 minutes which will air until the summer break. The official press release says that the following characters* stay part of the ensemble: The aristocratic von Lahnstein family with Elisabeth; villain Ansgar; siblings Tristan, Rebecca and Sebastian; and Sebastian's evil wife Tanja original character Charlie Schneider, her husband Frank, and his brothers Jo and Tim (who will be introduced this fall) Olli Sabel and his group of friends (this most likely includes Sascha, Bella and Andi) * Only the characters' names are listed, so it's unclear if all characters will be played by their current performers. A new character, Mila von Dragow, is currently in the process of being cast. Of the current cast, only the characters of Kim Wolf, Emilio Sanchez and Alexa Berg are not mentioned. Everyone else not mentioned has already been confirmed to depart the show this fall.

Yesterday several media outlets reported that Verbotene Liebe will continue in 2015 – however, the 20-year old soap will be indeed transformed into a weekly format. Since ratings have gone up slightly during the past few weeks, broadcaster ARD has apparently agreed to keep the program on the air. VL's new timeslot is most likely to be fridays at 7 p.m. An official statement by the broadcaster is expected to be released in the next few days.

http://youtu.be/FGQT1X8cYO4 Strangely enough, this is the second song by Marlon that went to #1 in Germany (his 3rd top 10 single since 2011), yet in his native UK his songs don't chart at all. http://youtu.be/BgNppGWWBto And this old gem found its way back into my itunes: http://youtu.be/F6pnzyfFi9w

I finally managed to update the cast overviews for GZSZ, UU and AWZ on the first page of this topic. I won't even start doing the same for VL, though, since half of the cast will be gone within the next few weeks. Ironically, even though it has been cancelled, VL will have its first primetime crossover on September 30th: In episode #660 of the successful medical drama "In aller Freundschaft" (In All Friendship), Sebastian Schlemmer and Miriam Lahnstein will appear as their VL characters Sebastian and Tanja von Lahnstein. After a riding accident, Sebastian has to undergo surgery at the fictional Sachsenklinik. "In aller Freundschaft" is a weekly series and has been on the air since October 1998. It runs during the whole year with occasional breaks of 1 or 2 months between each season. These days it is the most-watched series on German television. Currently the show is in its 17th season. "In aller Freundschaft" already had cross-overs with fellow dramas "Tierärztin Dr. Mertens" (Veterinarian Dr. Mertens) and "Heiter bis tödlich: Akte Ex" (Fair to Fatal: Ex-Files). More on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_aller_Freundschaft

Preview Pictures for September/October 2014: Unter uns 01. Irene (Petra Blossey) and Kira (Barbara Prakopenka) plan Paco and Leonie's wedding 02. Lisa (Svenja Jung) is nervous before starting her new job at the police station 03. Maik (Paul Wollin) threatens Ute (Isabell Hertel) 04. Kira catches Kimberly (Maja Lehrer) stealing a purse 05. Malte (Stefan Bockelmann) and Caro (new series regular Ines Kurenbach) grew closer 06. Rolf (Stefan Franz), Schillerallee's resident psycho villain, has been released from prison and is back to his old games when he breaks into an apartment 07. Britta (Tabea Heynig) is scared when she learns about Rolf's return since she stills owes him 75.000 euros 08. Britta tries to keep her cool in front of Kira 09. Rolf fakes a sickness to gain Sina's (Valea Scalabrino) sympathy 10. Eva (Claudelle Deckert) is torn between her feelings for her husband Till and her lover Sascha. Alles was zählt 01. After Richard has left her, Isabelle (Ania Niedieck) is pestered by the press 02. Erik (Alexander Wüst) tries to comfort his daughter Emilia (Tabea Willemsen) 03. Lena (Juliette Greco, middle) is happy that Simone (Tatjana Clasing) has agreed to declare Maximilian dead so that Marian can legally adopt Maximilian (Ralf-Maximilian Prack) 04. Erik meets his ex-wife Tina (Tina Bordihn) 05. Julia (Jenny Bach) has decided to abort her and Ben's unborn child 06. Can (Volkan Isbert, left) pitches a new business idea to Richard (Silvan-Pierre Leirich) 07. Isabelle swears revenge on the Steinkamp family 08. Deniz (Igor Dolgatschew) realizes he feels attracted to Letizia (Jennifer Dessin-Brasching) 09. Old rivalries break out again between Jenny and Letizia as Felix (Hannes Sell) looks on 10. Katja (Anna Katharina Samsel) suffers a nervous breakdown when she has to witness Can and Susi having sex in the pool Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten 01. Tayfun (Tayfun Baydar, middle) and Leon (Daniel Fehlow, right) try to pressure David (Philipp Christopher) into testifying against the mafia 02. Ayla (Nadine Menz, left) and Anni (Linda Marlen Runge, right) try to comfort a lovesick Nele (Ramona Dempsey) 03. Alexander (Clemens Löhr, left) and Jo (Wolfgang Bahro) pull an all-nighter 04. The tensions at "Metropolitan Trends" continue as Katrin (Ulrike Frank), Sophie (Lea Marlen Woitack), Jasmin (Janina Uhse) and Maren (Eva Mona Rodekirchen) clash once again 05. Jonas (Felix van Deventer) teaches Mieze (Franziska van der Heide) how to swim 06. Anni helps Jasmin to fight her nervousness before her first photo shooting 07. Nele has a catfight with Mesut's (Mustafa Alin) date 08. Lilly (Iris Mareike Steen) senses that Jonas has fallen in love with Mieze 09. David overpowers "The Dane" (David Owe) 10. David holds Vince (Vincent Krüger) and Leon at gunpoint 11. "The Dane" has gunned Tayfun down 12. After the hostage drama, Leon is reunited with Vince and Mieze Verbotene Liebe 01. Jessica (Jana Julie Kilka) and Ricardo (Daniel Sellier) are unsure if they want to be a real couple 02. Elisabeth (Martina Servatius, left) and Charlie (Gabriele Metzger) team up against Ansgar (Wolfram Grandezka) 03. Ben (Patrick Gräser) plans to put Elisabeth at odds with her butler Justus 04. Caroline (Katja Sieder) seeks Sascha's (Sascha Pederiva) company 05. Caroline blames herself for Giselle's (Kim Riedle) suicide attempt 06. Justus (Claus Thull-Emden) looks on in horror as Ben mutilates himself 07.Alexa (Henrike Fehrs) has fallen in love with Ansgar, her father's murderer 08. Justus confronts Ben about his deeds while Elisabeth calls the police 09. Caro and Thore (Philipp Oehme) are back together as a jealous Giselle watches from behind 10. Olli (Jo Weil) is treated at the hospital by a new doctor, Jo Helmke (new series regular Mickey Hardt) 11. Caro and Thore present their new fashion line 12. Caro and Thore pose for the press

There are rumours that Verbotene Liebe might continue as a weekly soap come 2015. Even though the show has been cancelled, there are still new cast members joining: Ex-GZSZ actress Sila Sahin and ex-Unter uns actor Maximilian Claus are set to debut this fall. The show is also bringing back a character from the distant past: Clara Gerst will portray Lara Cornelius, the granddaughter of Countess Elisabeth Brander Ryan von Lahnstein (played by Martina Servatius). Her first airdate is October 2nd, 2014. In 2000, Lara was introduced as a member of the teen scene. Back then, she was played by Karoline Schuch. Lara grew up believing that Irene Cornelius, Elisabeth's sister, was her mother. After Irene's death, she found out that Elisabeth's daughter Nina Ryan is her biological mother. Lara also had a problematic relationship with Christian Toppe who wanted to become a pop star. After a while she felt neglected by Christian. In May 2002, Lara moved to Greece to live with Nina. In turn, five contract cast members are leaving the show during the next few weeks: Jana Julie Kilka (Jessica Stiehl), Daniel Sellier (Ricardo Mendes), Diane Willems (Dana Wolf von Lahnstein) and Christoph Mory (Hagen von Lahnstein) will last air on September 10, 2014. While Ricardo moves back to his native Spain, Dana, Hagen and Jessica leave for the North Sea where they want to begin a new life together with Jessica and Hagen's son Maximilian. Two weeks later, on September 24th, Melanie Kogler (Marlene Wolf von Lahnstein) makes her last appearance. Marlene moves to New York after her relationship with Rebecca von Lahnstein (Tatjana Kästel) has failed. Kilka joined the soap in January 2010. Kogler and Willems were introduced as sisters Marlene and Dana along with the rest of the Wolf family in January 2011. Initially, the two sisters were involded in a triangle with Hagen, who was then played by Tom Viehöfer. He was replaced by Christoph Mory in May 2011. While Hagen and Dana ended up together, Marlene found happiness with Hagen's sister Rebecca. Daniel Sellier was introduced as Ricardo Mendes during VL's 2011 Mallorca storyline. He was the new husband of original character Julia von Anstetten (who was brought back after a 14-year absence along with her twin brother Jan and her mother Clarissa). After the Mallorca storyline had ended in early 2012, Ricardo was transferred to VL's main setting and he became involved with several women, most notably Jessica and Dana. Edited to add: Till Demtrøder (Thomas Wolf) and Susanne Szell (Biggi Schumann) are also out. Thomas, Marlene and Dana's father, and Biggi will go on a long journey together with little Tommy, the infant son of Thomas and his late wife Patricia. They will last air in early October. Demtrøder joined in April 2011 and Szell in November 2013. Katja Sieder (Caro Schulze), Kim Riedle (Giselle Schulze) and Philipp Oehme (Thore Hellström) are also rumoured out as they are no longer listed among the cast for the fall season. Sieder and Oehme joined in December 2013 and Riedle followed in February 2014. Caro and Thore are the show's current main couple.

On August 11th, GZSZ celebrates 5555 episodes. From left to right: Eva Mona Rodekirchen (Maren Seefeld), Iris Mareike Steen (Lilly Seefeld), Clemens Löhr (Alexander Cöster), Wolfgang Bahro (Dr. Jo Gerner), Ulrike Frank (Katrin Flemming-Gerner), Lea Marlen Woitack (Sophie Lindh), Daniel Fehlow (Leon Moreno), Vincent Krüger (Vince Köpke), Franziska van der Heide (Mieke "Mieze" Lutze) From left to right: Jörn Schlönvoigt (Dr. Philip Höfer), Philipp Christopher (David Brenner), Anne Menden (Emily Höfer-Badak), Tayfun Baydar (Tayfun Badak) From left to right: Iris Mareike Steen (Lilly Seefeld), Eva Mona Rodekirchen (Maren Seefeld), Clemens Löhr (Alexander Cöster), Franziska van der Heide (Mieke "Mieze" Lutze), Vincent Krüger (Vince Köpke) From left to right: Anne Menden (Emily Höfer-Badak), Philipp Christopher (David Brenner), Thomas Drechsel (Max "Tuner" Krüger), Raul Richter (Dominik Gundlach-Gerner), Janina Uhse (Jasmin Nowak Flemming LeRoy), Linda Marlen Runge (Anni Brehme), Nadine Menz (Ayla Özgül Höfer), Jörn Schlönvoigt (Dr. Philip Höfer), Ramona Dempsey (Nele Lehmann), Tayfun Baydar (Tayfun Badak), Mustafa Alin (Mesut Yildiz)

Statements of two actresses: Gabrlele Metzger (54, has portrayed Charlotte "Charlie" Schneider since episode 1): She also told the press that she cried when she received the cancellation note via e-mail. Metzger fears that most of her younger cast mates will not find other acting gigs. Martina Servatius (59, has portrayed Elisabeth Ryan Brander von Lahnstein since 1999):

This is a statement by the CEO of UFA Serial Drama, the production company of VL (and GZSZ, AWZ and UU): Original: Translation:

Today several media oulets have reported that VL has indeed been cancelled after almost 20 years on the air. The show will probably finish its network run in early 2015. According to some sources, the production company plans to continue the show – maybe on a different channel or as a web series.

Well, a weekly series could be a success... there are quite a few long-running weekly drama series on German television. However, I think it will be hard to continue a show that's been off the air for more than 3 years – especially a show that was cancelled due to low ratings. I also don't know which channel would be interested in buying the rights. While AWZ, UU and GZSZ have officially been renewed for another year by RTL, ARD has not renewed Verbotene Liebe yet. Today former actress Jasmin Lord (ex-Rebecca von Lahnstein) tweeted that the show has been cancelled, but an official statement hasn't been released by the network. The tweet has been deleted. RTL has released spoilers for the fall season including cast lists for all three soaps. According to these lists, there will be slight changes on every show: For UU, Barbara Prakopenka (Kira Beckmann) is not listed. The actress, who was born in Belarus, joined the cast in August 2012. Her on-screen parents Anne Apitzsch (Sonja Beckmann) and Paul Langner (Eric Langner) were killed off this past May. Her on-screen brother TImothy Boldt (Ringo Beckmann) remains part of the contract cast. In turn, Maja Lehrer who first appeared as Kimberly Pötter in June 2014 has been placed on contract. For AWZ, Anna Katharina Fecher (Melanie Wendt) and Hannes Sell (Felix Landeck) are not listed. 25-year old Fecher joined the cast in August 2011 and departed the show in July 2012 before returning to the canvas in June 2013. Her character Melanie is currently in a relationship with Deniz (Igor Dolgatschew). However, Deniz will soon fall for Letizia (Jennifer Dessin-Brasching) which would explain Melanie's exit. Sell only joined the cast in May 2014. His character Felix was a replacement for Marc Schöttner's Lukas Levin, but his romance with Raquel (Yara Hassan) has been rather dull. For GZSZ, Merlin Leonhardt (Till "Bommel" Kuhn) is not listed. Bommel, a care-free philosophy student, first aired in August 2012 and was originally conceived as a short-term role. The writers loved the character and kept him around as a sidekick to the teenage crowd. In January 2014, Leonhardt was placed on contract as Bommel fell in love with Katrin Flemming-Gerner (Ulrike Frank), a ruthless business woman almost twice his age. The romance was well-received by the audience and was among the top storylines this year, so Bommel's exit is rather disappointing. His last airdate is August 5th, 2014. Meanwhile, 18-year old actor Felix van Deventer has been cast in the contract role of Jonas Seefeld. He is the only son of Maren (Eva Mona Rodekirchen) and the younger brother of Lilly (Iris Mareike Steen). Van Deventer's first airdate is July 25th, 2014.

Today news broke out that Marienhof is in the process of being brought back to television. The show debuted on ARD on October 1st, 1992. It was produced by Bavaria Film and filmed in Cologne. Initially, the series was shown twice a week and the first 52 episodes had a length of 50 minutes. After a summer break between April and September 1993, the show returned in a new timeslot at 6.25 pm and episodes were cut down to 22 minutes. In the meantime, RTL had successfully launched GZSZ and Unter Uns as daily soaps. Another soap opera, Verbotene Liebe, was developed by Grundy UFA in 1994, but RTL declined buying the rights, so the show was given to ARD. Because the network also wanted to have two soap operas, Marienhof was completely restructured and transformed into a daily format. Both Verbotene Liebe and the new Marienhof went on the air on January 2nd, 1995. Both shows had stable ratings until the 2007/2008 season. However, horrible storylines, questionable casting decisions and too much competition from other channels saw Marienhof's audience dwindle. The show was given another chance with a major overhaul in the summer of 2009, but it was too late. On December 15th, 2010, ARD officially cancelled the soap. The last episode (#4053) was shown on June 11th, 2011. According to a press article, the production company has already made plans to bring the show back to the screens. They are currently looking for a new broadcaster since ARD is not willing to take it back. The new Marienhof is also not supposed to be a daily soap, but a weekly series. 69-year old Actress Viktoria Brams, who portrayed Inge Busch and was the only cast member to be on contract from beginning to end, has stated that she would love to be part of the project.

Next month there is a double anniversary as GZSZ celebrates its 5555. episode on August 11th and AWZ its 2000. episode on August 21st. AWZ's main set – the Steinkamp center – was completely overhauled and first aired in yesterday's episode. In the 2000th episode, Simone Steinkamp (Tatjana Clasing) and Isabelle Steinkamp (Ania Niedieck) will be involved in a car crash while Julia Meyer (Jenny Bach), who is in the process of signing a contract for a prestigious dance company, finds out that she is pregnant – by Ben Steinkamp (Jörg Rohde), the ex-husband of her sister Bea Meyer (Caroline Frier). There are only two original cast members left on AWZ: Tatjana Clasing and Silvan-Pierre Leirich have portrayed Simone and Richard Steinkamp since day one. André Dietz (Ingo Zadek) and Sam Eisenstein (Marian Öztürk) started out as recurring characters and were placed on contract in the spring of 2007. Ben Steinkamp, an original character, has been portrayed as a recast by Jörg Rohde since 2009. The fifth-longest running cast member is Juliette Greco who has portrayed Lena von Altenburg since May 2007. In 2013, she was temporarily replaced for seven months during her pregnancy. In the 5555th episode of GZSZ, David's (Philipp Christopher) life is threatened by the mafia. Meanwhile, Bommel (Merlin Leonhardt) finds out about Katrin's (Ulrike Frank) scheme against Sophie (Lea Marlen Woitack) and Alexander (Clemens Löhr) to regain control over "Metropolitan Trends". Leon (Daniel Fehlow) tries to comfort Sophie and the two of them grow closer. GZSZ's longest running cast member is Wolfgang Bahro (Jo Gerner) who joined the cast in February 1993, ten months after the series' debut. He is followed by Daniel Fehlow (Leon Moreno), who first appeared in 1996. Ulrike Frank (Katrin Flemming-Gerner) first appeared in December 2002 and has been on contract since April 2004. Anne Menden and Jörn Schlönvoigt have portrayed twins Emily and Philip Höfer since December 2004. The ladies of GZSZ and AWZ pose at AWZ's remodeled set: From left to right: Janina Uhse (Jasmin Flemming, GZSZ), Ania Niedieck (Isabelle Steinkamp, AWZ), Tatjana Clasing (Simone Steinkamp, AWZ), Ulrike Frank (Katrin Flemming-Gerner, GZSZ), Anna-Katharina Samsel (Katja Bergmann, AWZ) The two shows, which have been airing back to back on RTL since AWZ's first episode in September 2006, are filmed 400 km (~250 miles) away from each other.

Yes, that's because GZSZ is among the 5 highest-rated programs every day and of course RTL wants to make as much money from the show as possible. UU and AWZ can be viewed for free, but only the 5 latest episodes. For older episodes you have to pay as well. RTL is a commercial broadcaster, while ARD is one of our two national broadcasters. They are financed by the state and thus don't have strict rules about copyright etc. That's why people can post full episodes of VL on youtube. Yesterday's ratings (Top 20): As you can see, programs of only 3 broadcasters (there are more than 50) reached the top spots. 01. "Ziemlich beste Freunde" (romantic movie) | 8.15 pm | 8.24m | 27.9% | ARD 02. "Tagesschau" (news) | 8.00 pm | 4.84m | 19.0% | ARD 03. "Der Tote im Watt" (crime movie) | 8.15 pm | 3.72m | 12.6% | ZDF 04. "heute-journal" (news) | 9.45 pm | 3.47m | 12.2% | ZDF 05. "heute" (news) | 7 pm | 3.30m | 17.0% | ZDF 06. "Exclusiv im Ersten" (documentary) | 10 pm | 3.25m | 12.8% | ARD 07. "RTL aktuell" (news) | 6.45 pm | 3.18m | 17.8% | RTL 08. "SoKo 5113" (crime series) | 6 pm | 2.84m | 18.2% | ZDF 09. "Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten" (daily soap) | 7.40 pm | 2.67 m | 11.2% | RTL 10. "Tagesthemen" (news) | 10.30 pm | 2.44 m | 12.1% | ARD 11. "Extra" (boulevard magazine) | 10.15 pm | 2.35 m | 11.8% | RTL 12. "WiSo" (economy magazine) | 7.30 pm | 2.33 m | 10.0% | ZDF 13. "Exclusiv" (boulevard magazine) | 6.30 pm | 2.28m | 14.1% | RTL 14. "Sturm der Liebe" (telenovela) | 3.10 pm | 2.20m | 23.3% | ARD 15. "Rach – Der Restauranttester" (reality show) | 8.15 pm | 2.07m | 7.2% | RTL 16. "Rach – Der Restauranttester" (reality show) | 9.15 pm | 2.05m | 6.9% | RTL 17. "Sherlock" (BBC series) | 10.15 pm | 1.99m | 12.3% | ZDF 18. "Alles was zählt" (daily soap) | 7.05 pm | 1.96m | 12.3% | RTL 19. "Brisant" (boulevard magazine) | 5.15 pm | 1.79m | 15.2% | ARD 20. "Großstadtrevier" (crime series) | 6.50 pm | 1.78m | 8.9% | ARD We surely love our news, soaps, gossip magazines and crime shows.

Yeah, Thomas and Biggi are really boring together. Biggi was brought in as a new love interest for Thomas after his first wife Viktoria had died in a car crash last fall. They could have written out Thomas as well but he's sort of needed in his function as Dana and Marlene's father. I think Thomas would be a better fit with either Elisabeth or Charlie. The latter is however married to Frank (who is rarely seen these days). Sascha is an ass, but a cute one. Too bad ... I love the chemistry between most of the characters, they all play so well against each other. Compared to the RTL soaps, VL is so grounded and funny without trying too hard. Granted, there are a lot of sex scenes too, but it's done way more tastefully than on AWZ and GZSZ. Also, the vocabulary the characters use is not too colloquial and cheap. Especially on GZSZ you hear a lot swear words and it's very distracting. By the way, these automatic subtitles on youtube don't make any sense at all. It's like random words put together and the grammar is awful as well. For example, Sascha asks Olli "Wie geht's deiner Hand?" ("How is your hand doing?"). The subtitles say "Wie seine Hand" = "How his hand". Another dialogue: Dana: "Vielleicht habe ich mich auch geirrt und da nur ganz kurz drauf geguckt" (Maybe I was wrong and only looked at it for a second) Subtitle says: "Ich habe es versucht aber fast aufgebraucht" (I tried but almost spent it) Marlene: [says a long sentence] Subtitle only says: "Hoffentlich warum" (Hopefully why) Hagen: "Was ist denn mit der los?" (What's up with her?) Subtitle says: "Was es mit der Industrieversicherung" (What it with the industry insurance)