Huntress

I'm digging this new version of "Sonnentanz". The instrumental version was a huge hit earlier this year, and the new version with vocals eventually even reached the Top 5 in the UK. http://youtu.be/79YDgv_zWA4 These are also current favorites of mine: http://youtu.be/69aCTCP1t9Q http://youtu.be/mq9w64tc118

Been listening to some classic Eurotrance from the turn of the millenium... http://youtu.be/P9_CeWDlrJI http://youtu.be/qj58nbn35bg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIMpPqF-pXk

It was executed very well and I liked that every character was somehow involved in the drama, whether they were trapped inside or had to wait for news outside the building. Constanze was a fun character but since she was recurring never had her own storyline. She had various flings and flirts with main characters, including a short-lived relationship with Oliver Sommer a few years ago, and was known for her gossiping. In the last few months her friendship with main characters Bea, Katja and Lena was intensified on-screen so it was quite strange that they got rid off her now. Maybe the actress found a gig that pays her more. I don't know about that. Constanze's co-worker Brigitte Schnell, also a recurring character since the beginning, is still on the show. She's the one with the curly red hair. All of the newcomers are still featured in frontburner storylines. I like all of them except Letizia. The character is actually quite interesting and she also has family ties to a lot of other people but the actress is incredibly weak. She was mostly hired for her dancing skills and it shows. She always pulls the same face, no matter what emotion she's supposed to convey. Yeah, apparently Deniz falls in love with Melanie. Joscha on the hand gets to know Raquel Santa, a woman from Colombia who's introduced on September 30th, 2013. The two become friends instantly because Joscha reminds Raquel of her gay brother. Joscha agrees to marry Raquel so she can stay in Germany. I wonder how that story plays out. Raquel is played by Yara Hassan, a Syrian-German actress. So far it's not clear if she's on contract or just a guest role. They actually started their career in Germany – like many boybands at that time did – and had twelve Top-10 singles (two #1 hits) between 1995 and 2000. But since 2000, their success has faded and their most recent single only reached #100.

Currently the first season of "Celebrity Big Brother" is airing in Germany. Among the contestants is also someone from the US - David Hasselhoff. Pictures of the contestants: http://www.sat1.de/tv/promi-big-brother/bewohner-2013 Marijke Amado (Dutch tv host) Percival Duke (singer) Natalia Osada (former reality show contestant) Martin Semmelrogge (actor who has been in prison more than once) Sarah Joelle Jahnel (former contestant on German Idol) Fancy (singer/producer who was successful in the 80s) Jenny Elvers-Elbertzhagen (actress and former It-Girl) Manuel Charr (boxer) Lucy Diakovska (singer, former member of the girlband "No Angels") Simon Desue (comedian) Jan Leyk (actor on the reality show "Berlin – Tag & Nacht")

No, it wasn't. The show debuted in April 2011 as "Herzflimmern – Die Klinik am See" weekdays at 4 p.m. on ZDF. The network advertised the show as a "medical drama" although it was structured like a traditional daily soap. Beginning with episode 132, the show received a major relaunch and was renamed "Herzflimmern – Liebe zum Leben". Eight contract roles – including the whole Lindner family, who were the main focus – were written off the canvas, while new characters were brought in. However, ratings still didn't increase and the show only had a market share of 2 %. In December 2011, ZDF pulled the plug and kicked the show off its afternoon schedule. The remaining episodes were shown at 5 a.m. All in all, 255 episodes were produced.

http://youtu.be/2J3y314I6tk

The Backstreet Boys will appear on GZSZ later this fall. They will perform at a music festival that takes place in the show's storyline. --- Some casting news: AWZ: Claudia Hiersche joins the cast in the new contract role of Sylvia Kern. Her first airdate is September 2nd, 2013. Sylvia is a counselor and is supposed to be a new love interest for Maximilian (Francisco Medina). Hiersche is best known for her portrayal of the very popular Countess Carla von Lahnstein on "Verbotene Liebe", where she was on contract from 2003 to 2009. One Greco in, one Greco out: While Juliette Greco (Lena von Altenburg) returns from her maternity leave on September 19th, 2013, her husband Salvatore Greco (Jan Marco Schöler) exits the soap on September 4th. Salvatore played the role for two years. Juliette exited her role earlier this year after a six-year run because of her pregnancy. The character of Lena was temporarily recast with Maria Kempken who will exit once Greco returns. Recurring actress Sabine Fernandez, who has portrayed Constanze Hipp since the very first episode of the soap, will leave the show in September. Constanze is the victim of a fire inside the Steinkamp centre. GZSZ: Following the additions of new contract players Linda Marlen Runge (Anni Brehme) and Ramona Dempsey (Nele Lehmann) and recurring player Elena Garcia Gerlach (Elena Castillo), another new female will join the canvas this month: Franziska van der Heide portrays the contract role of Mieke Lutze, whose nickname is "Mieze" (German for "kitty"). Mieze is a streetkid and an old friend of Vince's. Her first airdate is August 19th, 2013. UU: Two male stars are out as Bela Klentze (Bela Hoffmann) and Maximilian Claus (Erik Hansen) have decided to leave the show. Klentze, who joined "Unter uns" in spring 2011, exits on October 2nd, 2013. Claus first appeared as teacher Erik Hansen in April 2011. Originally conceived as a guest role, he left later that year because of other commitments. However, because of the popularity of Erik's pairing with this student Sina (Valea Scalabrino), Claus was brought back in the fall of 2012, this time as a contract cast member. Claus's final airdate is September 10th, 2013. Eric Stehfest has joined the cast in the recurring role of Yannick Benhöfer, an old friend of Ringo's (Timothy Boldt). As soon as Yannick appears in town, it becomes clear that the two boys had had a fling shortly before Ringo and his family moved into the apartment building. So far, Ringo has been portrayed as a straight bully who blackmailed some of his peers. VL: ​Three new contract roles will appear on-screen soon: Henrike Fehrs will play Alexa Berg, while Franziska Kruse will portray Eva Baumann, an ironer at "LCL". Swiss actor Sascha Pederiva has been cast in the role of Sascha Vukovic, a janitor at "LCL", who will catch Martha's eye. Patricia Schäfer (Viktoria Wolf) has been let go from the show. Viktoria, who is in her late 40s and pregnant, will die in an accident. --- Preview pictures for August/September: GZSZ 01. Zac (Jascha Rust) and Bommel (Merlin Leonhardt) plan their new business: Planting marihuana 02. Pia (Isabell Horn, right) is worried that John (Felix von Jascheroff) has moved on with Elena (Elena Garcia Gerlach) 03. Lilly (Iris Mareike Steen) and Maren (Eva Mona Rodekirchen) 04. Jasmin (Janina Uhse, right) is morified when her erotic surprise for her husband Kurt (Tim Williams, second from right) backfires 05. Anni (Linda Marlen Runge) and Kurt grow closer 06. Maren cheats on Alexander with Leon (Daniel Fehlow) 07. Emily (Anne Menden, right) is annoyed by Nele (Ramona Dempsey) and Tayfun (Tayfun Baydar) 08. Vince (Vincent Krüger) meets his old friend Mieze (new series regular Franziska van der Heide) 09. Anni slaps Jasmin 10. Nele wants to catch Dominik's (Raul Richter) attention UU 01. Malte (Stefan Bockelmann) tries to outwit Britta (Tabea Heynig) 02. Eva (Claudelle Deckert) tells Till (Ben Ruedinger) that she fears not being a good mother 03. Rufus (Kai Noll), Anna (Marylu Saskia Poolman) and Lotta 04. Easy (Lars Steinhöfel), Moritz (Marvin Linke) and Bambi (Benjamin Heinrich) try to impress a girl 05. Till and Irene (Petra Blossey) 06. Henning (Benjamin Kiss) and Ute (Isabell Hertel) 07. Erik (Maximilian Claus) is torn between Sina and his old flame Melanie 08. SIna (Valea Scalabrino) and Erik try to rescue their relationship 09. Erik says goodbye to his best friend Henning 10. Ringo (Timothy Boldt) threatens Yannick (Eric Stehfest) AWZ 01. Jenny (Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen) is all alone 02. Richard (Silvan-Pierre Leirich) and Vanessa (Julia Augustin) 03. Julia (Jenny Bach) and Letizia (Jennifer Dessin-Brasching) continue fighting over Lukas 04. Joscha (Carlo Degen) and Can (Volkan Isbert) 05. Double Wedding: Ben (Jörg Rohde) and Bea (Caroline Frier) ... 06. ... and Marian (Sam Eisenstein) and Lena (Maria Kempken) tie the knot 07. The fire: Letizia fears being trampled to death 08. Lena is hit by a pillar 09. Joscha comforts Sylvia (new series regular Claudia Hiersche) 10. Jenny and Simone (Tatjana Clasing) in panic 11. Richard carries Isabelle (Ania Niedieck) 12. Joscha and Deniz (Igor Dolgatschew)

The problem with season 7 was that most of the characters were watered down. Amanda had lost all of her steam from the early seasons. It all started in season 4 when she turned from bad girl to victim. In season 4 she ran away from her past as a Parezi, in season 5 her life and marriage was threatened by Taylor (and later her career was threatened by Craig & Sydney), in season 6 she was blackmailed by Eric and her marriage to Kyle was threatened by Taylor's scheming, and in season 7 it was once again her past that haunted her. Different from early Amanda, that Amanda never really fought back as she was portrayed as the troubled heroine. Same with Peter. When he was first introduced, he was a villain, then in seasons 4 to 6, he was portrayed as a rather shady and moody person, and in season 7 he became dull as hell when he married Eve. Michael turned from being a manipulative sleaze to a goofball somewhere in the middle of season 6. They botched Jane's return by reverting her character back to "season 1 plain Jane" (including an awful hair cut). Jane and Megan were basically the same character. I could have done without Kyle as well since I always thought that he and Amanda had zero chemistry. The only characters that worked in season 7 were Lexi and Eve. At least they were entertaining.

Officla Verbotene Liebe preview for the upcoming weeks: http://youtu.be/Wjc8BMQz5Bg

http://youtu.be/FNEt68DD14Y http://youtu.be/F90Cw4l-8NY

The only friend Kimberly had was Peter. Melrose had little true friendships. It was basically only the original characters who were somehow friends with each other (Jane/Alison, Michael/Matt, Jake/Billy), but the later additions barely developed any friendships.

I updated the current cast overview for GZSZ, UU and AWZ on the first page of this topic On GZSZ, we have two female newcomers: Ramona Dempsey plays Nele Lehmann, a hair stylist, and Linda Marlen Runge plays Anni Brehme, a lesbian tomboy. The latter is apparently a love interest for Pia, who's bisexual. Meanwhile, Elena Garcia Gerlach has joined the cast in the recurring role of Elena Castillo, a waitress who catches John's eye. On UU, Benjamin Heinrich as Benno "Bambi" Hirschberger was the latest addition to the contract cast. He's a car mechanic. Laura Maria Heid, who joined the cast as a recast Suji Wagner this past April, is reportedly out. Her last airdate is in mid-July. Also rumoured out are Bela Klentze and Maximilian Claus. On the other hand, a former male actor is supposed to return as his deceased character's twin. On AWZ, the overview features the additions of this year's newcomers Jenny Bach, Carlo Degen, Jennifer Dessin-Brasching, Andreas Hofer, Volkan Isbert, Maria Kempken and Marc Schöttner as well as the return of Anna Katharina Fecher.

I thought season 8 was when the show began to change its tone. Seasons 5 to 7 had a very Melrose-ish feel about them, but once season 8 kicked in, outrageous storylines no longer happened, the characters were dulled down, and all of them began working in rather low-class jobs. Suddenly, it didn't feel like Beverly Hills anymore. At that point, the show could've taken place in a city in the Midwest and nobody would've even noticed. Besides, they re-introduced those "issues of the week" storylines that dominated the high school years, though less glamorous, and most of them were boring and predictable. I also don't know why they bothered to introduce Carly. They had already ruined a main character – Andrea – by making her a mother and had run out of ideas for her two seasons prior. Why did they feel the need to create a similar character? I always thought that Andrea and Steve had wonderful chemistry. Instead of introducing Carly, they could have brought Andrea back and pair her up with Steve. The only good thing about season 8 was Valerie. Donna's pill addiction was laughable. They should have known by then that Tori can't pull off drama. For strange reasons, I've always liked Donna, but she was just too stupid. Why did she always run back to David? He treated her like an ass most of the time, yet it was always her fault. It's striking that in 90210 land, it's mostly the female characters that are portrayed as being in the wrong. For example, during the Brenda/Kelly/Dylan triangle, nobody thinks that Dylan made a mistake by flirting with Kelly. During Val's rape storyline, it's of course Val's fault that she got drugged. The fact that Noah slept with an unconcious woman is swept under the rug. Rather strange considering that the target demo for this show were women.

It was the same when Brooke, Kimberly and Sydney died. In all three cases, there was only one person who truly cared (Billy, Michael and Craig, respectively). Sydney and Peter didn't even know that Kimberly died, Amanda only dropped one line about to Kyle about it ("A good friend of mine passed away"). Instead of mourning, Samantha made Sydney's death all about herself.

Alexander and Jo are being blackmailed and they try to expose their blackmailers at a lakeside. It's not a usual story these days, but it's a nice way to bring all the residents of the apartment house together, Sonja Beckmann is a veterinarian and it's her fault that the viper escapes. In the end, the whole building has to be evacuated and the Beckmann family has to pay for the whole operation. In order to help them, the other residents organize a block party to raise money. That block party is actually filmed today and the show has invited fans to be a part of it. Among the guests is the winner of the latest season of "German Idol". Apart from VL's Dominic Saleh-Zaki (Andi), there is no true blonde man on any soap. Some of them are dark blonde or a reddish color, but the majority is brunette or even black-haired which actually reflects the majority of German men. We don't have that many light blonde men here. Many German children are born with light blonde hair, but their hair usually darkens once they become teenagers. Happened to me as well LOL All in all, VL has the most handsome men on its cast, followed by AWZ. On UU, I only find Ben Ruedinger (Till) and Maximilian Claus (Erik) attractive. GZSZ has never had a real stunner. The one I find most appealing is Tayfun Baydar (Tayfun), even though he's a bit short. My current crush is VL's Daniel Sellier (Ricardo). He's not only hot, he's also a good actor.

In some cases they seem to be attached to certain characters (who have long welcomed their stay on their respective soaps), but in general, there has hardly ever been a group of three or four characters that dominated the screen for ages – unlike American soaps which tend to have large casts and still only use the same characters in frontburner stories while the other characters appear in 3 or 4 episodes a month. German soaps always feature three storylines each episode, and all the characters get enough screentime. Even if they are not the main focus, they still appear frequently. I think on average every main character appears in 12-13 episodes a month, unless the actors are on vacation. Preview pictures for July 2013: Unter uns 01. Till (Ben Ruedinger) and Eva (Claudelle Deckert) 02. Irene (Petra Blossey) and Paul (Eric Langner) find a snake in the laundry room 03. Sonja (Anne Apitzsch) and the snake 04. Ringo (Timothy Boldt), Easy (Lars Steinhöfel) and the snake 05. Leonie (Sarah Stork) 06. Ringo and Suji (Laura Maria Heid) 07. Ute (Isabell Hertel) 08. The residents hold a meeting 09. Erik (Maximilian Claus) and Sina (Valea Scalabrino) 10. Leonie and Paco (Milos Vukovic) Alles was zählt 01. Joscha (Carlo Degen) and Deniz (Igor Dolgatschew) 02. Joscha and Lukas (Marc Schöttner) 03. Marco (Salvatore Greco) and Isabelle (Ania Niedieck) 04. Deniz, Joscha and Can (Volkan Isbert) 05. Richard (Silvan-Pierre Leirich) 06. Jenny (Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen) 07. Melanie (Anna-Katharina Fecher) and Ingo (André Dietz) 08. Julia (Jenny Bach) and Bea (Caroline Frier) spy on Lukas and Letizia (Jennifer Dessin-Brasching) 09. Deniz, Joscha and Can 10. Richard, Marco, Deniz, Katja (Anna-Katharina Samsel) and Melanie Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten 01. Emily (Anne Menden) and Tayfun (Tayfun Baydar) 02. Jasmin (Janina Uhse) and Katrin (Ulrike Frank) 03. Lilly (Iris Mareike Steen) 04. Maren (Eva Mona Rodekirchen) and Lilly 05. Ayla (Sila Sahin) and Philip (Jörn Schlönvoigt) 06. Emily, Tayfun and Mesut (Mustafa Alin) 07. Tuner (Thomas Drechsel) and Tayfun 08. John (Felix von Jascheroff) and Pia (Isabell Horn) 09. Alexander (Clemens Löhr) and Jo (Wolfgang Bahro) 10. Maren and Katrin

Thanks for your concern Fortunately, I live in the western part of Germany, not far from the border to the Netherlands and Belgium. We also have floods every now and then here, but it's never as worse as in the east and the southeast. The states of Bavaria, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony are affected the most. Regarding the Prozeski era: After the first incarnations of Jan and Julia – the twins who fell in love with each other – had left VL in 1997, VL needed a new main couple. Most of the original cast was gone at that point as well, only some of the older characters (Arno Brander, Clarissa von Anstetten. Charlie Schneider, Christoph von Anstetten, Barbara von Sterneck) and teenage brat Kati Sterneck were still there. Two new families were introduced: On the one hand, there was the the Sander family with Erika and her teenage daughters Steffi and Milli. They were tied to the Brandner family because Erika was the sister of Arno's first wife Iris. Erika's and Iris's brother Tim was married to Julia. Tim was later murdered by Tanja as was his girlfriend Cleo. Erika married Arno, but she later fell in love with Nina Ryan (VL's first lesbian character). On the other hand, there was the poor Prozeski family who turned out to be relatives of Clarissa's. Clarissa, whose real name is Klara Prozeski, was ashamed of her proletarian past and had never told anyone about her family. The Prozeskis consisted of Erna, Clarissa's mother; Walter, Clarissa's brother; and Walter's children Jessica, Nick and Ulli. Jessica was supposed to be the "new" Julia. She was to be paired up with Prince Alexander von Deinburg-Thalbach, the new "Jan". This time, the story was reversed with a poor girl falling for an aristocratic man instead of a poor guy falling for an aristocratic woman. However, Jessica and Alexander were very unpopular with the audience so their story was resolved within less than a year. Erna and Walter, who were also unpopular, were killed off in a car crash. Only Ulli and Nick were kept since they were involved in a love quadrangle with the Sander sisters. Nick was supposed to marry Steffi, but slept with Milli, while Ulli was in love with Milli. Later, Nick and Milli received their happy ending, while Ulli became gay and Steffi left to New Zealand with Dennis, Nick's biggest rival. After the failed Jessica/Alexander pairing, the von Anstetten family and castle Friedenau became the main focus once again. Christoph's son Henning was brought back and he fell in love with a con artist named Carolin Mohr. Later Carolin slept with Christoph and became pregnant with his child. The storyline culminated with Christoph being pushed into suicide by Clarissa in December 2000. VL even had an opening with both Jan & Julia and Jessica & Alexander to make the transition between both couples more smoothly: http://youtu.be/JDa3DRVH4pY Some good vintage clips: Clarissa vs. Tanja http://youtu.be/wmxytnNkSFw Clarissa vs. Barbara http://youtu.be/M-ufWQw27js Tanja wants to kill Clarissa, takes Lukas and Beatrice hostage and tries to kill them with carbon monoxide http://youtu.be/bJ1-Mt75o_o

For the first time in the show's history, AWZ was pre-empted today due to coverage of the massive floods currently happening in Germany and its neighboring countries Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic and Poland. We all love good natural disasters on soaps once in a while, but when it's happening in real life, it's not that entertaining anymore.

Some old VL anniversary pictures: Episode 500 (1997) Most of the original cast had already left at that point. Third row (left to right): Joachim Kretzer as Paul Schöner, Roland Pfaus as Tim Sander, ???, Mirco Wallraf as Ramon Santos, Andreas Brucker as Jan Brandner #1, Konrad Krauss as Arno Brandner Second row (left to right): Meike Gottschalk as Sophie Levinsky, Dinah Alice Schillfarth as Cleo Winter, Isa Jank as Clarissa von Anstetten, Kerstin Landsmann as Kati von Sterneck #2, Claudia Scarpatetti as Susanne Brandner, Broder B. Hendrix as Gero von Sterneck, Michaela Conrad as Ela Anders, Christian Wunderlich as Frank Levinsky Front row (left to right): Xenia Seeberg as Barbie Marx, Sascha Zaglauer as Rajan Rai * There are several contract actors missing, for instance Jürgen Zartmann as Christoph. In turn, recurring actors Joachim Kretzer and Xenia Seeberg were pictured. Episode 750 (1998) The awful Prozeski era. Back row (left to right): Daniel Wiemer as Dennis Krüger, Luca Zamperoni as Nick Prozeski, Nadine Brandt as Steffi Sander, Andreas Stenschke as Ulli Prozeski, Christian Wunderlich as Frank Levinsky, Nils Julius as Patrick Brockmann, Roland Pfaus as Tim Sander, Dinah Alice Schillfarth as Cleo Winter, Kerstin Landsmann as Kati von Sterneck #2, Aline Hochscheid as Jackie Lamers Front row (left to right): Miriam Lahnstein as Tanja von Anstetten, Michael Meziani as Alexander von Deinburg-Thalbach, Andrea Suwa as Jessica Prozeski, Ruth Brück as Erna Prozeski, Peter Zintner as Walter Prozeski, Peter Kotthaus as Nils Petersen * There are several contract actors missing, for instance Isa Jank as Clarissa, Manuela Alphons as Barbara, Raphaela Dell as Erika and Konrad Krauss as Arno. Episode 1000 (1999) The glamour returns. Back row (left to right): Andreas Stenschke as Ulli Prozeski, Raphaela Dell as Erika Sander, Nils Julius as Patrick Brockmann, Isa Jank as Clarissa von Anstetten, Freya Trampert as Nina Ryan, Konrad Krauss as Arno Brandner, Kerstin Radt as Gabriella Santos, Stefan Wilhelmi as Tilmann Fritzsche, Hendrik Martz as Henning von Anstetten #2, Jürgen Zartmann as Christoph von Anstetten, Peter Kotthaus as Nils Petersen, Daniel Wiemer as Dennis Krüger, Andi Slawinski as Heino Toppe, Gabriele Metzger as Charlie Schneider, Aline Hochscheid as Jackie Lamers Front row (left to right): Jutta Fastian as Carolin von Anstetten, Kerstin Landsmann as Kati von Sterneck, Nadine Brandt as Steffi Sander, Luca Zamperoni as Nick Prozeski, Marina Mehlinger as Milli Sander, Manuela Alphons as Barbara von Sterneck Episode 1500 (2001) The von Beyenbach era and a very large contract cast. Back row (left to right): Patrik Fichte as Henning von Anstetten #3, Solveig Duda as Marie von Beyenbach, Tanja Wenzel as Isabell Mohr, Carsten Spengemann as Mark Roloff, Martina Servatius as Elisabeth Ryan Brandner, Kerstin Radt as Gabriella Santos, Andreas Potulski as Felix von Beyenbach #1, Karoline Schuch as Lara Cornelius, Luke J. Wilkins as Christian Toppe, Kerstin Kramer as Alexa Seifert, Gabriele Metzger as Charlie Schneider, Jeannine Burch as Beatrice von Beyenbach, Isa Jank as Clarissa von Anstetten, Günter Clemens as Martin von Beyenbach #1, Lina Tiedtke as Franziska von Beyenbach, Markus Prinz as Daniel Fritzsche #1 Front row (left to right): Christoph Dostal as Lukas Roloff, Tanja Lanäus as Jule Roth, Clemens Löhr as Simon Roloff, Freya Trampert as Nina Ryan, Kay Böger as Tom Seifert, Jo Weil as Oliver Sabel, Miriam Lahnstein as Tanja von Lahnstein, Matthias Beier as Jonas Schilling

Verbotene Liebe celebrates 18 years on the air. New cast members and new main couple Juri Adam (Kristian Kiehling) and Martha Wolf (Julia Sontag) The villains: Ansgar von Lahnstein (Wolfram Grandezka) and Tanja von Anstetten (Miriam Lahnstein) Clockwise: Bella (Janina Isabell Batoly), Andi (Dominic Saleh-Zaki), Oliver (Jo Weil), Jessica (Jana Julie Kilka), Kim (Nicole Mieth) and Emilio (Florian Wünsche)

Joscha will apparently become best friends with Can – which is a bit strange because Can has expressed several times that he despises homosexuality. In one scene he almost threw up at the thought of two men kissing. It doesn't even make sense because he lives with his cousin Deniz who – as we all know – is bisexual. Simone will be dearly missed. Tatjana Clasing is a wonderful, versatile actress and clearly the best among the AWZ cast. She can pull off any scene and she's great at playing a bitch. However, she has also given Simone a softer side and she's good at comedy too. I think her exit will hurt AWZ a lot because there's nobody who could fill the void she leaves behind. Especially not Jenny. I also wonder what they'll do with both Richard and David since there are no potential love interests for them other than Simone.

Too many They got rid of all original cast members between 2009 and 2010, rewrote the show's history, pushed couples that had no chemistry (Ayla/Philip, Leon/Pia, Kurt/Jasmin) while other popular couples apparently never get together (Emily/Tayfun, Lilly/Vince), boring stories were dragged out for months etc. While Senta-Sofia Delliponti (Tanja Seefeld) is leaving the show in June after being on contract for almost 3 years, it has been announced that four new female characters will be joining GZSZ later this year. At the moment, I can't imagine how the show will make use of so many new characters. Maybe they'll bring back at least one former regular, but as this is GZSZ, I doubt it. --- Meanwhile, the shake-up at AWZ continues: Original cast member Tatjana Clasing (Simone Steinkamp) has reportedly left the show for personal reasons. Her final episode is set to air on June 13th, 2013. During a vacation at the North Sea with her boyfriend David (Andreas Hofer), Simone will take a walk in the tidal flats. When the tide suddenly sets in, Simone is pulled into the ocean and disappears. It's unclear if Clasing will reprise her role at a later point. A recast seems out of the question considering that Simone – together with her on-and-off husband Richard (Silvan-Pierre Leirich) – has always been the pillar of the series. David and Simone Due to Simone's exit, her youngest on-screen daughter Vanessa (Julia Augustin) is supposed to make a guest appearance. Vanessa will probably stick around for two months. Augustin previously played the part on contract from September 2006 to April 2009 and from August 2010 to February 2012. At the same time, another former main character is also returning: Anna-Katharina Fecher is back as Melanie Wendt and she is once again on contract. Fecher had previously played the part from August 2011 to July 2012. Melanie is Sarah's younger sister (Sarah departed the show this past February) and Ingo and Annette's adoptive daughter. Anna-Katharina Fecher as Melanie There's also a new man arriving: Carlo Degen will play Joscha Degen, David's second son and Lukas's brother. Joscha is a professional soccer player, but he also has a secret: According to the latest spoilers, he had a relationship with another player. When this other player came out of the closet, he was bullied and committed suicide. Joscha is haunted by the memories of his ex-boyfriend. Carlo Degen as Joscha

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That's a general problem long-running shows face. I also noticed this pattern on Beverly Hills 90210, 7th Heaven, Desperate Housewives, Charmed etc. Outdoor scenes became too expensive, so the later seasons mostly took place in-doors and therefore the shows felt slightly claustrophobic and restricted. Furthermore, the number of guest stars per episode decreased. In return, the main stars earned more and more each season so the budget was tight. In fact, Melrose was cancelled after season 7 because the show became too expensive to produce. Especially Heather Locklear's salary per episode was incredibly high. I guess Jack Wagner, Thomas Calabro, Jamie Luner and Rob Estes weren't cheap either. It's not a coincidence that the cast was downsized for season 7. The show still had solid ratings in its last year on the air. It brought about the same numbers as BH 90210 did during its 9th season – both shows had between 7 and 8 million viewers each week –, but BH 90210 was given another season while Melrose bit the dust.