Huntress

VL is on fire these days. After months of build-up, Sascha and Olli have finally had sex. First Sascha witnessed Olli and his one-night-stand Jens having sex. He was curious and kept watching with Olli noticing it. The next day Olli demanded answers but Sascha avoided giving an explanation. Later that day, Olli, Sascha and Jessi filmed a promotion spot for Jens's fitness studio. They ended up in the whirlpool. After Jessi had left, Olli pestered Sascha again and he admitted that seeing Olli and Jens together turned him on. Eventually, Olli and Sascha kissed passionately. http://youtu.be/l_8fK5b-Nes http://youtu.be/ddUm_HT5Tto The other storylines are great as well. Kim knows that Ansgar is alive, but the other von Lahnstein family members are still clueless and Tanja thinks that she has muredered Ansgar. Now Kim has moved to the castle where she kissed up to Elisabeth. Tanja and Sebastian plan to get rid of Kim. Then there's also the drama surrounding Thore, Caro and Giselle. I also enjoy the Dana-Hagen-Ricardo triangle.

Speaking of VL, yesterday it was announced that Sila Sahin will be joining the soap later this summer The actress left GZSZ this past spring after 4 1/2 years in a very abrupt way (I wrote about this on the previous page of this topic) and her character Ayla Özgül was quickly recast with Nadine Menz one month later. On VL, Sahin will portray Gina Schmitz, a scheming model. Her first tape date is July 7th, 2014. This move is quite ironic since Sahin stated she wanted to quit soaps when she left GZSZ. In GZSZ news: On July 1st, a revamped theme will debut on-screen. German synth-pop duo "Glasperlenspiel" have recorded a new version of the song "Mitten ins Herz" which has been GZSZ's trademark tune since the first episode in May 1992. This will be the fifth version of the GZSZ theme. The original schlager version sung by Danish singer Bo Anderson was used from 1992 to 1996. From 1996 to 2001 a shortened pop version sung by Viveca was used. Between 2001 and 2006 a pop-rock version was used. The current version debuted in September 2006. At this point, the theme was cut down to 20 seconds. "Glasperlenspiel" have already appeared on the soap once when the gave a concert at the "Mauerwerk" bar. They rose to fame in 2011 with their single "Echt" which reached the Top 10 on the singles chart. Another success was the single "Nie vergessen" which also stayed inside the Top 10 for a while. http://youtu.be/YOcCVXJQCy4 http://youtu.be/j1eXPBQYknM

#1, #3 and #4 in Germany. http://youtu.be/IcoqJCJlHbQ http://youtu.be/B8ny3VjwhP4 http://youtu.be/8WQMBv2deYQ

I liked Brooke as well, but apart from Amanda, Alison and Billy I couldn't have pictured her in any storyline with any other main character. The way she died was a bit illogical considering she fell into the pool from the right side, yet hit her head on the left side. Since Brooke wasn't that tall and the pool wasn't a tiny bassin (we saw that for example when Jane and Sydney fought over their grandma's wedding dress), it made no sense. It's not like Brooke could fly.

Some news: Verbotene Liebe returns from its hiatus next Monday. Since its replacement show Quizduell has been a failure, the soap seems to be safe for a while. ARD and the production company Grundy UFA have stated that there will be no breaks any time soon. Speaking of VL Jana Julie Kilka is reportedly on her way out. The actress joined the cast in January 2010 as Jessica Stiehl and has been on the frontburner for most of her run, even though Jessica has never been involved in any big "forbidden love" storyline. Usually portrayed as a ditzy blonde with a heart of gold, Jessica has had affairs and flings with various characters (Tristan, Andi, Christian, Daniel, Ansgar, Hagen, Sascha, Ricardo) and even married her best friend Dana Wolf (Diane Willems) to gain custody of her son Maximilian, whose father is Dana's husband Hagen. Kilka's last airdate is still unknown. Marcel Saibert has joined Alles was zählt in the recurring role of Luigi Sabatoni, an Italian fashion designer. He will first air on July 10th, 2014. Saibert, who is also a musician, is no stranger to soaps: In 2004, he appeared for a short summer arc on "Unter uns" as Martin "Mars" Sommer. The following year he was brought back – this time on contract. Saibert remained on "Unter uns" for five years. Lukas Sauer has joined Unter uns in the recurring role of Aaron Hinz, Ringo's (Timothy Boldt) new love interest. Sauer first airs on July 11th, 2014. Carsten Clemens has joined GZSZ in the recurring role of Dr. Lukas Kant, a ruthless surgeon at Jeremias Hospital. He is Philip's (Jörn Schlönvoigt) colleague and will have an affair with Philip's ex-wife Ayla (Nadine Menz). His first airdate is June 2nd, 2014. Preview pictures for July 2014: Unter uns 01. Ute (Isabell Hertel) is attracted to Henning (Benjamin Kiss) being dressed up as a drill sergeant 02. Easy (Lars Steinhöfel) tries to convince Joe (Sarah Hannemann) to apologize to Sina 03. With the help of her friends who stage a fake kidnapping, Lisa (Svenja Jung) learns for her exams at the police academy 04. Kira (Barbara Prakopenka) has to work her debts off by cleaning the apartment building 05. Eva (Claudelle Deckert) fights against her feelings for Sascha 06. Sascha (Alexander Sholti) is stricken by his bad conscience 07. Tobias (Patrick Müller, right), who is still mourning his dead father Paul, doesn't want to talk to Easy 08. Ute helps Micki (Joy Lee Juana Abiola-Müller) out 09. Moritz (Marvin Linke) is being blackmailed by Simon, Lisa's trick; Micki is worried 10. Lisa realizes that she cannot run away from Simon Alles was zählt 01. Letizia (Jennifer Dessin-Brasching) has slept in Deniz's (Igor Dolgatschew) bed 02. At a party, Letizia wants to eat as much as possible 03. A doctor informs Ben (Jörg Rohde), Bea (Caroline Frier) and Ingo (André Dietz) about Julia's condition 04. Isabelle (Ania Niedieck), Simone (Tatjana Clasing) and Jenny (Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen) have murdered Rainer Velten (Christian Blümel) 05. Bea is glad that Julia (Jenny Bach) is awake 06. Jenny, Simone and Isabelle try to hide Velten's corpse 07. Jenny and Isabelle 08. Felix (Hannes Sell) chooses to dance with Letizia 09. Raquel (Yara Hassan) and Felix 10. Ludmilla (Katy Karrenbauer) grows suspicious of the three Steinkamp ladies (in the back, with Richard) Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten 01. Sophie (Lea Marlen Woitack) sends Emily (Anne Menden) to a meeting David, not knowing that Emily wants to stay away from David 02. Ayla (Nadine Menz) tries to talk sense into Philip (Jörn Schlönvoigt) who is taking too much pain medication 03. Sophie comforts Emily 04. Tuner (Thomas Drechsel) and Dominik (Raul Richter) wait for the results of Dominik's HIV test 05. Jasmin (Janina Uhse, right) is jealous of Lucia (Yara Bib, center), Anni's (Linda Marlen Runge) holiday fling 06. David (Philipp Christopher) and Emily grow closer again 07. Leon (Daniel Fehlow) and Sophie film a cooking show 08. David is threatened by a mafia member (Tamer Trasoglu) 09. Sophie and Katrin (Ulrike Frank) host a charity event 10. Alexander (Clemens Löhr) and Maren (Eva Mona Rodekirchen) attend the charity event Verbotene Liebe 01. Sebastian (Sebastian Schlemmer) and Tanja (Miriam Lahnstein) celebrate their success 02. Thore (Philipp Oehme) has fallen out of his wheelchair 03. Tanja confronts Rebecca (Tatjana Kästel) about her choices for the upcoming LCL fashion show 04. After having spent the night together, Olli (Jo Weil, right) apologizes to Sascha (Sascha Pederiva) but Sascha is too confused 05. Ricardo (Daniel Sellier) thinks that he lost Dana to Hagen 06. Giselle (Kim Riedle) enters the catwalk during the fashion show as Thore and Caro (Katja Sieder) look on in the background 07. Rebecca, Tanja, Sebastian and press members watch the fashion show 08. Sebastian and Tanja plan a scheme against Hagen 09. Emilio (Florian Wünsche, right) has agreed to be a model for a gay calendar; Olli is glad 10. Dana (Diane Willems) agrees to move back to the castle to live with Hagen

The song charted at #3 in Germany... Conchita Wurst at #5. This is currently at #2: http://youtu.be/pg9k-lAM7M8 I also love this one (Norway meets Sweden): http://youtu.be/DCbDVSwr_E4

I don't know what you would consider "explicit" There are still a lot of sex scenes but you never see anything except a man's butt here and there, most notably on AWZ. The synopsis for VL's special "Die längste Nacht von Königsbrunn" has been published by the network. Not only will Verena Zimmermann returns as Nico, original cast member Konrad Krauss will also appear as a ghostly Arno Brandner. Arno was killed off in late 2012 due to Alzheimer. Here is my translation of the press release: In other news: Ulrike Frank (Katrin Flemming-Gerner, GZSZ) appears on the front cover of the June edition of the German version of "Playboy". The 45-year old actress is the sixth GZSZ star to grace the magazine's cover. The others were Sandra Keller (ex-Tina) in 1996, Alexandra Neldel (ex-Katja) in 1997, Saskia Valencia (ex-Saskia) in 2001, Nina Bott (ex-Cora) in 2002 and Sila Sahin (ex-Ayla) in 2012.

Preview pictures for May/June 2014: Unter uns 01. Seconds before the car crash: Sonja (Anne Apitzsch) and Paul (Eric Langner) 02. After the crash: Joe (Sarah Hannemann) and Easy (Lars Steinhöfel) 03. Ringo (Timothy Boldt) and Kira (Barbara Prakopenka) must cope with the death of their parents 04. Leonie (Maria Kempken) and Paco (Milos Vukovic) 05. Moritz (Marvin Linke) and Lisa (Svenja Jung) 06. Rufus (Kai Noll) and Tobias (Patrick Müller) 07. Leonie visits the graveside 08. Britta (Tabea Heynig) is jealous of Maren (Fiona Erdmann) 09. Till (Ben Ruedinger) and Bambi (Benjamin Heinrich) talk about being a father 10. Henning (Benjamin Kiss) and Ute (Isabell Hertel) Alles was zählt 01. Joscha (Carlo Degen) says goodbye to his father David (Andreas Hofer) 02. Ludmilla Petrova (Katy Karrenbauer) arrives in town 03. Jenny (Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen) grows closer to Erik (new series regular Alexander Wüst) 04. Joscha says goodbye to his best friend Can (Volkan Isbert) as Kai (Alexander Gier) looks on 05. Jenny meets Erik's daughter Emilia (Tabea Willemsen) 06. Letizia (Jennifer Dessin-Brasching) gets arrested for setting up the fire at the Dance Factory last fall 07. Can tells Simone (Tatjana Clasing), Jenny and Ludmilla that a water pipe has burst at the Dance Factory 08. Raquel (Yara Hassan) has to dance with Felix (new series regular Hannes Sell) 09. When Marian (Sam Eisenstein) collapses during a charity run, Katja (Anna Katharina Samsel), Melanie (Anna Katharina Fecher), Deniz (Igor Dolgatschew) and Lena (Juliette Greco) rush to his aid 10. Katja and Can have financial problems Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten 01. David (Philipp Christopher) has still the hots for Emily (Anne Menden) while Tayfun (Tayfun Baydar) remains unsuspicious 02. Sophie (Lea Marlen Woitack) thinks that Alexander (Clemens Löhr) and Gerner (Wolfgang Bahro) don't take her seriously 03. Nele (Ramona Dempsey) is shocked when she finds out that Mesut wants to participate in a porn shoot; Anni (Linda Marlen Runge) is amused 04. Ayla (now played by Nadine Menz) is back in town and meets Emily 05. Ayla is on trial for kidnapping Emily's baby while Emily, Tayfun and Philip (Jörn Schlönvoigt) look on 06. Bommel (Merlin Leonhardt) brings Katrin (Ulrike Frank) flowers 07. Tuner (Thomas Drechsel) has a heart attack 08. When Lilly (Iris Mareike Steen) has an allergic reaction, Philip tries to help her 09. Maren (Eva Mona Rodekirchen) and Katrin celebrate their new business venture 10. Maren comforts Lilly Verbotene Liebe 01. Back from the dead: Hagen (Christophy Mory) reappears on Königsbrunn 02. Caro (Katja Sieder) and Thore (Philipp Oehme) have to be reanimated after an accident as Rebecca (Tatjana Kästel) looks on 03. Tanja (Miriam Lahnstein) tries to comfort Sebastian (Sebastian Schlemmer) 04. Ricardo (Daniel Sellier, right) is mortified that Hagen is back just as he plans to marry Dana (Diane Willems) 05. Kim (Nicole Mieth) and Justus (Claus Thull-Emden) try to find information on the internet 06. Olli (Jo Weil, front) is being teased by Jessica (Jana Julie Kilka) and Sascha (Sascha Pederiva) 07. Hagen talks to Elisabeth (Martina Servatius) 08. Olli and Tristan (Jens Hartwig) make a deal 09. Ricardo seeks help from Jessica 10. Caro is worried about Thore

I've always liked Nico because she has always been a breath of fresh air and because she has ties to so many characters. Sadly enough, most of her romantic pairings didn't quite work. She first came to town in the fall of 2002 with her alleged twin sister Jana and her older brother Robin Brandner. Nico and Jana were complete opposites: While Jana was a shy bookworm, Nico liked to dress as a punk. The three siblings moved in with their uncle Arno Brandner and quickly made friends in Düsseldorf. Later Nico found out that she isn't Jana's twin sister and that her biological father is Count Johannes von Lahnstein. She left her old life behind and moved to Castle Königsbrunn where she had a hard time adapting to the artistocratic lifestyle. In the meantime, Jana had fallen in love with Andi Fritzsche. However, Nico also grew feelings for Andi and they began dating behind Jana's back. When Jana found out, she was heartbroken, but later made peace with Andi and Nico. While Andi and Nico became a happy couple, Jana secretly began working as a prostitute. Andi tried to help Jana and Nico was so jealous that she cheated on him with Luca, an Italian exchange student. Eventually both Nico and Jana kissed Andi goodbye. Later on, Nico was mainly involved in the von Lahnstein family storylines. She had a short fling with Christian before she decided to become a photographer in 2007. In 2008, Jana died after a car crash and Nico attended her funeral. In 2010, Nico was reintroduced and was paired up with Prince Philipp zu Hohenfelden (played by Stephan Käfer). They were the main couple and were featured first in the soap's opening credits. However, the storyline was very unpopular with the audience and was dropped in the summer of 2011 before VL's was extended to 45 minutes and before the Mallorca storyline with Jan, Julia and Clarissa began. Philipp was eventually killed off – he was run over by Nico's cousin Helena von Lahnstein. Nico mourned her husband for quite a while. She began dating Ricardo, but before they could develop something serious, Nico left the canvas once again. A collection of Nico's shots on the opening credits: 2003-2004: Double shot with Jana; Andi appearing from the right 2004-2005: New shot; Andi appearing from the right 2005-2006: Double with half-brother Constantin 2006: Reverted back to old single shot 2006-2007: Not featured on the credits 2007: Appearing on the left side behind her father Johannes 2008-2010: Not featured on the credits 2010-2011: Double shot with Philipp 2011-2012: Thoughtful Nico holding her wedding ring / placed next to a shot of Marlene, Dana & Hagen They were both boring and deserve to be written off the show. The only major storylines they had were the revelation that Paul is Tobias' biological father and Sonja's affair with Paco (her sister Leonie's boyfriend).

As I've mentioned before, Verbotene Liebe will be on hiatus between May 12th and June 1st, 2014. During this timeframe, the soap's time slot at 6 pm will be taken by the new quiz show "Quizduell" (which is based on the popular mobile app). However, in an unsual move, the soap will "continue" on the internet. A special called "Die längste Nacht von Königsbrunn" (The longest night of Castle Königsbrunn) will be shown on the soap's official website. Every day, a new 3-minute clip will be presented. In this special, 8 characters will gather on the castle and will play spin the bottle the whole night long. According to a press release, old family secrets will emerge and even some familiar faces will show up. As stated by her agency, actress Verena Zimmermann Bonato appears in the special. Zimmermann Bonato first joined VL in the fall of 2002 as Nicola "Nico" Brandner who later turned out to be Johannes Count von Lahnstein's youngest daughter. She remained on contract until 2007, returned for a brief guest stint in 2008, and was placed on contract again in April 2010. In February 2012 the actress went on maternity leave and last aired in one single episode in September 2012. One can say that Nico has been one of the most popular characters on the show. In other news: Anne Apitzsch (Sonja Beckmann) and Eric Langner (Paul Beckmann) are the victims of the big car accident on Unter uns. Both actors joined the cast in the fall of 2012. Their last airdate is May 15th, 2014. With both Sonja and Paul dead, teenage twins Kira and Ringo will become orphans.

Kimberly brought out of the sass in many people, Jo and Jane for example The only people she didn't interact much with were Alison, Billy and Jake – although there was that akward episode in season 1 where Michael wanted Kimberly to become Billy's roommate after Alison had moved to Seattle. I don't know why they tried to keep Doug Savant on the show but didn't try to keep the more popular actors and characters who were leaving at the same time. But I also will never understand why they kept Andrew Shue and Billy that long.

Dave was a co-worker of Matt's at Wilshire Memorial. They met while Matt was in a relationship with Alan Ross, the closeted actor. Dave instantly had a crush on Matt, and when Alan agreed to marry his co-star Val (played by Jeri Ryan), Matt slept with Dave. Afterwards he had a guilty conscience and told Dave that their one-night-stand was a mistake. Dave was heartbroken and called Alan to tell him that Matt had cheated on him. Alan and Matt eventually broke up. Matt then wanted to get closer to Dave, but during their date Matt only talked about Alan which annoyed Dave to no ends so he disappeared from Matt's life. That all happened in the latter half of season 4.

Like on most Spelling shows, the male cast on Melrose Place lacked acting chops. I only found Thomas Calabro to be convincing in his role. Grant Show was ok, too, but he was too shouty in many scenes. As for the women, I never thought that Heather Locklear was that talented. She never delivered any emotions, although that was probably in character during the first three seasons. But once Amanda became the victim, her limited acting range showed. Laura Leighton and Marcia Cross would top my list with Courtney Thorne-Smith as my #3. Kristin Davis portrayed Brooke like a cartoon character. Her facial expressions were exaggerated most of the time. All in all, I basically liked all female characters on Melrose. They were given way better material than the male characters.

That was so far-fetched. Matt had little to no contact with Amanda throughout the whole run of the show. I only remember one scene in the season 2 opener when Matt was sad that Rhonda had moved away and Amanda said one of her bitchy one-liners to him. I did like Matt's friendships with Michael, Jake and Jo, though. Although especially the latter came out of nowhere during season 3 or so.

In Germany, "Kiss Me Once" has peaked at #9 so far which is higher than "Body Language" and "X" ever did. "Aphrodite" peaked at #3, though. "Into The Blue" peaked at #31 on the singles chart which is a moderate success. Kylie performed live at the Echo Awards (the German Grammys) last week. http://youtu.be/EjQ9AJmqD3o

http://youtu.be/WSjtqBPd63U http://youtu.be/bg1sT4ILG0w http://youtu.be/fL6FaI-wJxs

Katja was tolerable when she first joined the show back in 2009. She was the new ice-skating princess and was involved in a triangle with Ben and her nemesis Isabelle. When Ben chose Isabelle, Katja fell in love with Isabelle's brother Tom (who later ended up with Vanessa Steinkamp). Katja was then raped by her trainer and kidnapped by Isabelle. She was held hostage in a container for a while. When she was released, she and Ben got back together, but after a while they broke up again. After that, Katja became dead weight but she was still forced into the most ridiculous pairings and storylines. She had an affair with Maximilian, had the hots for Ingo, spend a night with Deniz and is now involved with Can. While being drunk, she also had sex on the toilet with Ben and hurt her spine in the process. When AWZ replaced its main sport ice-skating with dancing and soccer, Katja suddenly became the soccer team's coach. Somehow Anna-Katharina Samsel seems to be the writers' pet. As for Deniz: Roman was his only popular pairing and everyone wanted him and Joscha to become an item. I don't understand why they didn't go there and introduced Kai as Joscha's love interest since Joscha was clearly attracted to Deniz at the beginning. Deniz has been involved with Melanie for half a year now. Like I said, I feel that Deniz has long run his course, but he still has a lot of ties to the current canvas so he'll probably stick around for a while. Same goes for Katja.

Compared to the other soaps, VL's numbers are indeed bad. Their market share is horrendously low. While the production quality is wonderful and the show looks great overall, the storylines are poorly plotted. For example, the Olli-Sascha flirtation had a nice build-up with the two guys developing a real friendship. Then Olli kissed Sascha, Sascha was shocked and didn't know how to react, and Olli stated that he did it because he misses Christian so much. Eventually, the storyline was resolved within two episodes. Olli left town to visit Christian, and Sascha wished him a good flight. In the upcoming previews until the first week of May, Sascha will be involved in another storyline and Olli doesn't appear at all. The two guys had so much chemistry *sigh* Nevertheless, ARD has started promoting the show's 4500th episode which will air on May 5th, 2014. There will also be three events during the summer months: A "fan day" on the castle set, the annual beachvolleyball tournament with the show's cast and fans, and VL's participation in the Cologne Gay Pride Parade (the biggest Gay Pride Parade in Germany). In the 4500th episode, Christoph Mory will return as Hagen von Lahnstein. Hagen was presumed dead after a boat crash last year. The older brother of Sebastian, Rebecca and Tristan von Lahnstein and cousin of Ansgar von Lahnstein initially was torn between sisters Marlene and Dana Wolff. He married Marlene, but later chose Dana. Marlene then fell in love with Tristan and later with Rebecca (the von Lahnsteins love keeping it in the family). While in a relationship with Dana, Hagen slept with Jessica Stiehl who became pregnant with his child. Jessica gave birth to their son Maximilian in 2013. After Hagen's disappearance, Dana couldn't adopt the baby, so she tried to fake a lesbian relationship with Jessica in front of the authorities. However, both Dana and Jessica fell in love with Ricardo Mendes at the same time. Ricardo and Dana eventually became a couple and want to get married, but now Hagen returns from the dead... Left to right: Tanja (Miriam Lahnstein), Jessica (Jana Julie Kilka), Kim (Nicole Mieth), Bella (Janina Isabell Batoly) and Rebecca (Tatjana Kästel) Left to right: Jessica (Jana Julie Kilka), Rebecca (Tatjana Kästel), Caro (Katja Sieder), Giselle (Kim Riedle), Bella (Janina Isabell Batoly), Tanja (Miriam Lahnstein) and Kim (Nicole Mieth) Left to right: Kim (Nicole Mieth), Jessica (Jana Julie Kilka), Bella (Janina Isabell Batoly), Tanja (Miriam Lahnstein) and Rebecca (Tatjana Kästel) Clockwise: Jessica (Jana Julie Kilka), Kim (Nicole Mieth), Giselle (Kim Riedle), Tanja (Miriam Lahnstein), Bella (Janina Isabell Batoly), Caro (Katja Sieder) and Rebecca (Tatjana Kästel) I don't understand why AWZ keeps all the characters that have long run their course (Ingo, Marian, Lena, Ben, Bea, Katja, Deniz) and keeps on firing the newcomers. The only newcomer they should have fired (Letizia) stays even though there is no potential love interest for her. In other news: GZSZ has found a new Ayla. Actress Nadine Menz will step into the role as of May 2014. Instead of choosing another actress with a Turkish background, Ayla will now be portrayed by a German actress. Menz is also five years younger than her predecessor Sila Sahin.

The rumours were true: Four contract actors are out on AWZ! The departing actors are Andreas Hofer (David M. Degen), his on-screen sons Marc Schöttner (Lukas Levin) and Carlo Degen (Joscha Degen), and Alexander Gier who plays Joscha's lover Kai Seebach. Alexander Gier, Marc Schöttner, Carlo Degen and Andreas Hofer Hofer joined the cast in February 2013, Schöttner in April 2013, Degen in June 2013 and Gier in November 2013. Their last airdates are May 5th (Schöttner), May 12th (Hofer) and May 20th (Degen and Gier). With their exit, four big storylines cease to exist: The Julia-Lukas-Letizia triangle, the David-Simone-Jenny triangle, the gay soccer player storyline, and the whole storyline about the soccer club. In turn, two new actors will join the cast: Alexander Wüst plays Erik Schulter, a cop, and Hannes Sell plays Felix Landeck, a new student at the Dance Factory. In other news: Following Sila Sahin's sudden departure from GZSZ last month, the role of Ayla Höfer will receive a recast in the near future. VL will be pre-empted for three weeks this summer as ARD tries a new game show in VL's time slot. If this new show attracts more viewers than VL, VL's days may finally be numbered.

It was a short arc involving Mesut and Ayla (now Mieze) going to a boxing studio. It didn't make much sense replacing Ayla with Mieze because Mieze and Mesut don't really know each other. I think Mesut (who was finally placed on contract this past January) and Ayla were also supposed to become a couple in the long run, but because of Ayla's abrupt exit they re-wrote the story and Mesut now sets his sights on Nele (who is currently hopelessly in love with Dominik). In other news: Sarah Stork is out as Leonie on "Unter uns" and will be replaced by Maria Kempken as of April 2014. Stork left the show last fall because of her pregnancy and Leonie went to prison during Stork's maternity leave. Originally it was planned that Stork would return this spring, but now UU has announced that Leonie has received a recast. They chose Maria Kempken who already replaced Juliette Greco as Lena von Altenburg on AWZ during Greco's maternity leave last year. Kempken was part of AWZ's contract cast for seven months before Greco returned to the set. This time, however, Kempken seems to be a permanent recast. For AWZ, there are rumours that several cast members are on their way out. In an interview with a local newspaper it was leaked that Marc Schöttner (Lukas Levin) is one of the departing actors. Schöttner joined the cast in spring 2013. In turn, Katy Karrenbauer joins the cast as Russian ballet teacher Ludmilla Petrova in May. Her role is supposed to be short-term, but could be extended. Karrenbauer is best-known for her work on the prison soap "Hinter Gittern – Der Frauenknast" (the German version of "Prisoner: Cell Block H") which ran from 1997 to 2007 on RTL. Two other recurring roles have also been cast: Jacob Weigert plays Sascha Frey, a marketing expert, and Claudia Neidig currently appears as Isabelle's bitchy mother Helena Reichenbach. Weigert rose to fame during his stint on the cancelled telenovela "Anna und die Liebe", while Neidig was a contract cast member on "Unter uns" from 1997 to 2001. She also appeared as a guest on GZSZ, VL and Sturm der Liebe and as a regular on the short-lived soap "Ahornallee".

In a weird (and rather shocking) move, Sila Sahin exited her role as Ayla Özgül Höfer on "Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten" last Thursday – and her exit was announced on the day that her final scene aired. Sahin had been on contract since September 2009. According to RTL's press release, Sahin's exit was originally planned for later this year. The actress went on vacation for a short period, but has now decided to not come back to the set. In the daily previews, Ayla still appeared in the synopsis for last Friday's and tomorrow's episodes. All of Sahin's scenes have been removed and have been replaced, including a short storyline between Ayla and Mesut which now features Mieze and Mesut. In her final scene, Ayla just walked out of the door, not implying that she might not be coming back. The character has never been popular with the audience and was labelled "Heul-Aische" (Cry-Aisha) because she was whiny, self-centered and unfeeling. She was also featured in many unpopular storylines, for example her non-wedding to her cousin Tayfun and her obsession with becoming pregnant which led to her stealing Emily's baby last winter. For most of her run, Ayla was paired with Philip (Jörn Schlönvoigt). Both actors were a couple in real-life as well before breaking up last year. Now Sahin is in a much-publicised relationship with soccer player Ilkan Gündogan. In May 2011, Sahin was featured in the German edition of "Playboy" where she posed completely nude. She was the first German celebrity of Turkish origin to do so.

That woman is Michelle "Micki" Fink, played by Joy Lee Juana Abiola-Müller since January 2009. Micki is the daughter of Henning Fink and Britta Schönfeld, and older sister of Moritz Schönfeld. When she first arrived on-screen, she was 15 years old and a typical tomboy. She wore dreadlocks and was interested in skating. She later fell in love with Tobias Lassner, who is her true love – and who she does get married to now. The problem is: Micki has been HIV-positive for almost 3 years! Her mother Britta once was a junkie. When Britta suffered a relapse, Micki also tried cocaine and had unprotected sex with another junkie, thus infecting herself with the deadly disease. When it became public, she was mobbed at school and her relationship with Tobias fell apart. Now Micki has gotten back on track and is trying to build herself a future. Next to Sina and Eva, Micki is the most popular female character on UU right now while her mother Britta is the most unpopular one – basically because Britta is a cartoon-type villain. She's currently operating a callgirl agency.

I don't think Olli/Sascha have a big fanbase yet considering the storyline is only developing very slowly. Sascha was originally introduced as a foil to the failed Martha/Juri pairing last year. Since neither Olli or Sascha belong to the von Lahnstein family, the writers treat them like C-material. The same happened to the Dana/Ricardo/Jessica triangle. The S&M stuff turns into a big humiliation for Ute and Henning because Ute's teenage son Conor returns from boarding school and catches them in the act. In turn, Ute thinks that Conor is already having sex with his girlfriend. I wouldn't mind if they finally killed Paco off. He has long welcomed his stay (14 years!) on the show. Last year, he and his cousin Anna ended their marriage. Then Paco fell in love with new Schillerallee resident Leonie Weidenfeld (played by Sarah Stork). Three months after her on-screen arrival, Stork revealed that she was pregnant. Because another baby didn't fit into the storylines – Eva & Till welcomed their first child last fall –, the writers decided to send Leonie to prison during Stork's maternity leave. Now Paco has started an affair with Leonie's older sister Sonja, who is married (to Paul) and has two teenage children (Ringo and Kira). When Paco first appeared, he was 15 years old. He still comes across as a 20-year old boy. Well, maybe that's why he celebrated his 18th birthday twice. Easy also never seems to get older. He was a member of the teen scene when he joined in 2005 and he is still being paired up with the teens these days.

Preview pictures for March 2014: Unter uns 01. Sonja (Anne Apitzsch) and Paco (Milos Vukovic) continue their affair 02. Irene (Petra Blossey) has developed a drinking problem 03. Irene confides in Bambi (Benjamin Heinrich) 04. Till (Ben Ruedinger) and Anna (Marylu Saskia Poolman) are worried about their mother Irene 05. Teen prostitute Lisa (Svenja Jung) 06. Eva (Claudelle Deckert) and Tobias (Patrick Müller) have a fight 07.Micki (Joy Lee Juana Abiola-Müller) and Tobias get married 08. Ute (Isabell Hertel) and Henning (Benjamin Kiss) try to refresh their sex life 09. Britta (Tabea Heynig) pays Lisa 10. Paco has a weightlifting accident Alles was zählt 01. Lukas (Marc Schöttner) apologizes to Julia (Jenny Bach) 02. Kai (Alexander Gier) and Joscha (Carlo Degen) kiss in public for the first time 03. Simone (Tatjana Clasing) receives bad news as Brigitte (Madlen Kaniuth) watches 04. Deniz (Igor Dolgatschew) doesn't trust Melanie (Anna Katharina Fecher) 05. David (Andreas Hofer), Jenny (Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen) and Baby Annabelle 06. Jenny and David's engagement party ends abruptly; Richard (Silvan-Pierre Leirich), Letizia (Jennifer Dessin-Brasching) and Simone are worried 07. Raquel (Yara Hassan) slaps Joscha after his public outing 08. David and Jenny tie the knot 09. Jenny leaves David in front of the altar 10. Jenny and the new marketing director Sascha Frey (Jacob Weigert) Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten 01. Anni (Linda Marlen Runge), Nele (Ramona Dempsey) and Jasmin (Janina Uhse) have fun on the skating rink 02. Katrin (Ulrike Frank, center) tells Maren (Eva Mona Rodekirchen), Alexander (Clemens Löhr) and the other employees that "Metropolitan Trends" is bankrupt 03. Elena (Elena Garcia Gerlach) and Dominik (Raul Richter) take part in a porn shoot 04. Vince (Vincent Krüger) tries to support his best friend Zac (Jascha Rust) 05. Tuner (Thomas Drechsel) and his father Eddie (Ingo Naujoks) exercise for a sumo fight 06. Katrin finds comfort in Bommel's (Merlin Leonhardt) arms 07. Katrin takes part in a medical study with Philip (Jörn Schlönvoigt) and Lilly (Iris Mareike Steen) 08. Tayfun (Tayfun Baydar), Emily (Anne Menden) and Kate 09. Jasmin and Anni have sex 10. Tayfun introduces David (new series regular Philipp Christopher) to the "Mauerwerk" staff Verbotene Liebe 01. Tristan (Jens Hartwig) and Sebastian (Sebastian Schlemmer) 02. Sebastian and Tanja (Miriam Lahnstein) 03. Rebecca (Tatjana Kästel), Charlie (Gabriele Metzger) and Elisabeth (Martina Servatius) celebrate the success of their lingerie fashion line 04. Jessica (Jana Julie Kilka) is shocked that Ricardo (Daniel Sellier) and Dana (Diane Willems) plan on moving out 05. Ricardo tells Frank (Christoph Kottenkamp) about his woman trouble 06. Sascha (Sascha Pederiva) and Olli (Jo Weil) kiss 07. Ricardo, Olli, Sascha and Andi (Dominic Saleh-Zaki) perform their strip routine 08. Alexa (Henrike Fehrs) and Tristan 09. Problems arise during a von Lahnstein family dinner 10. Rebecca and Marlene (Melanie Kogler)

Some news: GZSZ celebrates a double wedding on February 17th and 18th, 2014, when John & Pia and Tayfun & Emily get married at the same time and place. Following this, John and Pia go on a world cruise and thus leave the series. Emily (Anne Menden), Tayfun (Tayfun Baydar), Pia (Isabell Horn) and John (Felix von Jascheroff) In turn, two new contract roles will appear on-screen in March: Lea Marlen Woitack plays Sophie Lindh, an ambitious law student who catches Jo Gerner's (Wolfgang Bahro) eye, bringing trouble to his lifeless marriage to Katrin Flemming-Gerner (Ulrike Frank) just as Katrin is recovering from a stroke and burnout syndrome. Woitack's first airdate is March 28th, 2014. Philipp Christopher plays David Brenner, an event manager. He is described as a womanizer with a dark secret. Upon his arrival, David sets his sights on newly-wed Emily and will bring trouble to her marriage to Tayfun. Christopher's first airdate is March 21st, 2014. Lea Marlen Woitack and Philipp Christopher Furthermore, former recurring actors Mustafa Alin (Mesut Yildiz) and Merlin Leonhardt (Till "Bommel" Kuhn) have been placed on contract as of January 2014. Alin joined the show in May 2011 and Leonhardt in August 2012. Despite declining ratings, RTL has renewed all three soaps for another season. GZSZ will celebrate its 5555th episode in August, while UU will celebrate its 5000th episode in December and its 20th anniversary in November. The press release reads the following: Actor Lars Steinhöfel, who has portrayed Easy Winter on UU since 2005, has come out as gay at the end of January. Lars Steinhöfel