Huntress

A look back...

Unter uns | Episode 1 | Original Airdate: November 28th, 1994

Synopsis: The soap opera debuts with several shots of Cologne, Northrhine-Westphalia, Germany's fourth-largest city. At Cologne Central Station, we see a train arriving. A young man, Chris Weigel (Oliver Bootz), returns from his time at the army. In the next scene, he approaches Schillerallee 10, the apartment house he was raised in and where his family still resides. In the courtyard, Chris ist greeted by his younger sister Anna (Janis Rattenni).

A few moments later, two young women enter the courtyard: Corinna Bach (Cecilia Kunz), a blonde bombshell, and Jennifer Turner (Tatiani Katrantzi), her best friend. They want to take a look at the attic flat which had recently been modernized. Chris offers to take them to the house owner – and that is his grandmother Margot Weigel (Christiane Maybach). In the meantime, Anna informs Wolfgang (Holger Franke), Chris's father and Margot's son, and Till (Stephen Dürr), the middle Weigel son, that Chris has returned home. Wolfgang is the owner of a bakery which is located on the ground floor of the apartment house.

Chris introduces Corinna and Jennifer to Margot who is very suspicious of the two women. She is of the opinion that they cannot afford the attic flat. She offers them another spare apartment on the third floor which is much smaller. Nevertheless, Corinna and Jennifer can convince Margot to show them the attic flat.

A bit later, Chris is reunited with his mother Irene (Petra Blossey). She tells Chris that they will celebrate his homecoming with a family dinner later that evening. Irene is haunted by memories of her brother. Corinna and Jennifer take a look at the attic flat. While Corinna is enthusiastic and wants to move in immediately, Jennifer is very reluctant because she knows that they cannot afford renting the apartment.

At the Weigel family dinner, drama ensues when Margot's sister Sophie (Karin Schröder) arrives. Margot refuses to stay in the same room with her and leaves abruptly.

That night, a man suffers from nightmares. It is Irene's brother Olaf (Ludwig Hollburg), who lives in East Berlin with his teenage daughter Antonia (Milena Dreißig). He has no job and might lose his apartment. Antonia urges him to move to a different city and suggests going to Cologne to visit their relatives.

The next morning, Olaf and Antonia arrive in Cologne. Olaf meets Wolfgang, his brother-in-law, who reacts dismissingly because Olaf never wanted Irene to contact him. However, Irene is overjoyed to see her brother and to finally meet Antonia. In addition, Antonia gets to know her cousins Chris and Till.

Corinna and Jennifer approach Margot once again. Corinna butters Margot up and tells her that they will rent the attic flat, but they will have to find one or two more flatmates. Margot finally agrees. Jennifer is still unsure whether this plan will work out.

Irene wants Olaf and Antonia to move into the other spare apartment. Wolfgang asks Margot to reduce the rent so that Olaf can afford the apartment, but she declines. Irene convinces Wolfgang to support Olaf financially, but Olaf must be kept in the dark about it. Wolfgang agrees.

Till allows Antonia to ride a bike that belongs to his best friend Marc Albrecht (Bodo Frank). In front of Schillerallee 10, Marc and Antonia nearly collide. The two get into an argument and Antonia pushes Marc to the ground. She is shocked when she sees that he hit his head on the asphalt...

ORIGINAL CONTRACT CAST APPEARING IN THIS EPISODE

Petra Blossey – Irene Weigel (11/1994 to present)

Oliver Bootz – Chris Weigel (11/1994 to 09/1997)

Milena Dreißig – Antonia Schwarz** (11/1994 to 03/1995)

Stephen Dürr – Till Weigel** (11/1994 to 12/1996)

Bodo Frank – Marc Albrecht (11/1994 to 10/1998)

Holger Franke – Wolfgang Weigel † (11/1994 to 11/2009)

Ludwig Hollburg – Olaf Schwarz (11/1994 to 09/1995)

Tatiani Katrantzi – Jennifer Turner (11/1994 to 08/1998)

Cecilia Kunz – Corinna Bach (11/1994 to 09/1997)

Christiane Maybach † – Margot Weigel † (11/1994 to 12/2005)

Janis Rattenni – Anna Weigel** (11/1994 to 08/2004)

Karin Schröder – Sophie Himmel** (11/1994 to 09/1995)

ORIGINAL CONTRACT CAST INTRODUCED IN SUBSEQUENT EPISODES

Sebastian Feicht – Alexander Albrecht (11/1994 to 04/1996)

Katja Frenzel-Röhl – Melanie Hoffmeister (12/1994 to 11/1995)

Lale Karci – Aylin Eray (12/1994 to 02/1998)

Björn Kegel-Casapietra – Armin Franke † (11/1994 to 02/1996)

Sylvia Agnes Muc* – Laura Böhme (11/1994 to 04/2001)

Alexander Osteroth – Joachim Albrecht (11/1994 to 05/1997)

Beate Wanke – Regina Albrecht † (11/1994 to 08/1997)

† = character was killed off

* = was credited as recurring for the first few episodes before becoming a contract cast member around episode 15

** = original characters who were recast once or twice:

That's a great photo. I guess that was for a magazine? Or is that TNT version of Dallas airing on RTL?

Yes, it was a magazine shoot.

But the new Dallas will also be airing on RTL later this year. The original Dallas aired on ARD back in the day.

Yeah, you're right.

In 6 weeks, Marian finds out that his ex-lover Jessica (the Jenny look-a-like) gave birth to a child that might be his. He and Lena (they are currently married) have to take care of the baby. But there's also the chance that Deniz is the father since both Marian and Deniz had sex with Jessica before she left town last spring. Another father-son drama on the horizon?

And another goodie:

AWZ goes Dallas

Jörg Rohde as Bobby, Igor Dolgatschew as Cliff, Sam Eisenstein as Ray, Ania Niedieck as Donna, Anna Katharina Samsel as Pam, Julia Engelmann as Lucy, Silvan-Pierre Leirich as J.R., Tatjana Clasing as Sue Ellen and Ingeborg Brinks as Miss Ellie.

Why isn't Lana del Rey more popular in the US? Seriously, "Video Games" only peaked at #91 on the Billboard Top 100? It was a huge hit in Europe, and her current single "Summertime Sadness" was another top 10 hit in several countries.

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At the moment I also love this song by British singer Santigold. While it only peaked at #96 in the UK, it reached #26 in Germany.

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Alles was zählt – Official Cast Photo 2012

Fourth row (from left to right): Sam Eisenstein as Marian Öztürk (2006-2007 recurring, 2007-present contract), Juliette Menke as Lena Bergmann von Altenburg (2007-present), Igor Dolgatschew as Deniz Öztürk (2007-present), Rosetta Pedone as Viktoria König (2012-present), Salvatore Greco as Jan Marco Schöler (2011-present)

Third row (from left to right): Ingeborg Brings as Renate Scholz (2006-present recurring), Jörg Rohde as Ben Steinkamp #2 (2009-present), Anna Katharina Samsel as Katja Bergmann (2009-present), Francisco Medina as Maximilian von Altenburg (2007-present), Katharina Woschek as Zoé Laffort #2 (2012-present), André Dietz as Ingo Zadek (2006-2007 recurring, 2007-present contract)

Second row (from left to right): Ania Niedieck as Isabelle Reichenbach Steinkamp (2010-present), Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen as Jenny Steinkamp #4 (2011-present), Silvan-Pierre Leirich as Richard Steinkamp (original cast member), Tatjana Clasing as Simone Steinkamp (original cast member), Ulrich Drewes as Rüdiger Steinkamp #2 (2012-present), Caroline Maria Frier as Beatrice Meyer (2012-present)

Front row (from left to right): Michael N. Kuehl as Florian Wild (2010-present), Julia Engelmann as Franziska Steinkamp (2010-present)

Missing: Christina Siemoneit as Sarah Wendt (2011-present)

You're right, that should have said "Scarpatetti portrayed Arno's oldest daughter"

Regarding Gabriele Metzger (Charlie): Yes, she's been with the show since day one, but she wasn't on contract back then and only played a minor part as Clarissa's sidekick. The character wasn't fleshed out until 1997. That's when she was finally included in the opening sequence.

More casting news:

• Konrad Krauss, the last original cast member, is out at "Verbotene Liebe": His character Arno Brandner dies on September 11th, 2012. Arno is currently suffering from Alzheimer's disease and eventually dies of pneumonia.
  
• Claudia Scarpatetti (Susanne Brandner) and Verena Zimmermann-Bonato (Nico von Lahnstein) return to "Verbotene Liebe" to take part in Arno's funeral. Scarpatetti portrayed Arno's only daughter Susanne from 1995 to 1997 and from 2005 to 2008. Zimmermann-Bonato was on contract from 2002 to 2012 with several longer breaks.
  
• Samia Dauenhauer (Jacky Krüger) is reportedly out at "GZSZ". The only current black cast member on any German soap joined the show in January 2012, but has hardly ever been featured on-screen. She has also never had a real frontburner storyline. Dauenhauer will most likely exit the show in October.
  
• In turn, a new actress has been cast: Adriana Möbius, the daughter of a German and an Ecuadorean, will play Julie Moreau, a French drama student, who comes to Berlin in order to fulfill her dream of becoming an actress. Möbius first airs September 6th, 2012.
  

"Alles was zählt" celebrated its 1500. episode with a small press event last Saturday. The whole cast (except Christina Siemoneit) was present.

More pictures can be found here: http://www.soapsworld.de/alles-was-zaehlt-awz/bilder/pressetermin-1500-folgen

A tour of the set can be found here: http://www.soapsworld.de/alles-was-zaehlt-awz/bilder/setbesuch-2012

I guess Brügger's contract was not renewed because she has become way too expensive.

"Unter uns" was on the brink of cancellation back in the summer of 2009. In order to save money, the producers decided to fire one of the most expensive cast members. They had to choose between Holger Frank (Wolfgang Weigel), Petra Blossey (Irene Weigel), Ben Ruedinger (Till Weigel) and Isabell Hertel (Ute Kiefer Weigel Fink). Eventually Franke was fired and his character was killed off. Another high-paid actress, Yvonne de Bark (Dr. Pia Lassner), was fired after being with the show for three years. In addition, two members of the teen scene, Andreas Büngen (Jan Gräser) and Sarah Ulrich (Romy Sturm), were written off after 7 and 4 years, respectively.

The production model was also changed: Now the show has annual summer and winter breaks so they only film 6 months a year – but they produce 6 or 7 episodes a week so that the show can still air during the whole year.

Yes, because she was a very unique character and Imke Brügger has always played her convincingly, no matter how horrible the storyline was.

Today it has been announced that Sarah Bogen, who has played Rebecca's on-screen adoptive daughter Lili since November 2001, will depart the show as well after Rebecca's death. Bogen will last air in November 2012. When she first joined the show, she was only 11 years old. The character will not be recast. Lili came to town when her father Fabian Rose pursued Rebecca. Fabian's ex-wife Belle used Lili to get Fabian back, but she failed. Both Fabian and Belle were killed off in May 2002, but Lili stayed on the show and was eventually adopted by Rebecca and her first husband Malte. Over the years, Lili evolved into a typical teenager and is now a grown woman.

Kai Noll, who has played Rebecca's current husband Rufus Sturm since March 2003, will probably be the next cast member to announce his departure.

No, not really. Nils and Bine's domestic violence storyline had potential – Nils was regularly beaten up by his father as a child and never overcame this trauma, so he started to hit Bine whenever he was disappointed in her – until Bine started to fall in love with her only friend Rebecca. Pairing up Bine and Rebecca was cringeworthy and received a huge backlash from the audience. Bela's major storyline is a triangle with HIV-positive Micki and her ex-boyfriend Tobias.

Meanwhile, the next exit has been confirmed: Imke Brügger has decided to leave "Unter uns" after more than 15 years. Brügger joined the soap in May 1997 as Rebecca Mattern. Originally portrayed as a no-nonsense cop and a maneater, Rebecca evolved into a caring friend and into a loving mother for her adoptive daughter Lili.

Brügger's last episode airs August 31st, 2012. Rebecca is killed by Rolf (Stefan Franz).

Unter uns has cast four new contract roles:

• Timothy Boldt as Ringo Beckmann
  
• Anne Apitzsch as Sonja Beckmann
  
• Barbara Prakopenka as Kira Beckmann
  
• Eric Langner as Paul Beckmann
  

​

The new family will arrive on screen in August. In turn, three cast members have been let go: Martin Baden (Nils Hoffmann), Ela Paul (Bine Kern) and Bela Klentze (Bela Hoffmann) will depart the show this fall. However, Klentze is supposed to be back next year.

According to set sources, more cast members are on their way out.

When she first appeared in season 1 as a recurring character, Locklear was credited as a Special Guest Star. Since she quickly became the show's star and allegedley saved it from being cancelled – I personally contribute that circumstance to the additions of Marcia Cross and Laura Leighton and not only to Heather –, Aaron Spelling decided to keep her a "Special Guest Star" to demonstrate her superior status.

Thus, Locklear was the highest-paid actress on the show and this is what caused the show's downfall because in later seasons the other actresses (i.e.. Leighton and Cross) demanded more money. However, they didn't get a raise and subsequently left.

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ZDF didn't promote the show at all and thought that the audience of the previous "Wege zum Glück" installments would tune in again, but they didn't.

The cancellation announcement came after just 25 episodes had aired. However, production will continue until the end of June to bring the story to a closure and the remaining episodes will be shown on ZDF_NEO, a smaller channel. ZDF also did that with other daily dramas, for example "Herzflimmern" which occupied "Wege zum Glück's" current timeslot at 4.15 p.m. last year. The final episode of "Wege zum Glück" will probably air in September 2012.

The telenovela "Wege zum Glück – Spuren im Sand" has already been cancelled due to weak ratings. After 99 episodes (instead of 240), ZDF will pull the plug next month.

Axel was a fun character because he was the typical loser who always tried to succeed but failed miserably and who nobody really liked. His exit will leave a big void on the canvas, just like Annette's death since she was the heart and soul of the show.

To be honest, Diana was awful as well during her first year on the show. After Julian's death, Diana was put on the backburner and became more tolerable, but the problem is that the writers tried to recreate the Diana/Julian/Jenny several times, only with different characters. There's always the good girl, the "handsome" clueless guy, the bitch, and most of the times a second guy who wanted the good girl and allied with the bitch.

There was...

• Diana, Julian, Jenny and Mike
  
• Annette, Ingo, Lena and Mike
  
• Diana, Lars, Jenny
  
• Stella, Lars, Jenny and Deniz
  
• Katja, Ben, Isabelle and Tom
  
• Katja, Ben, Isabelle and Maximilian
  
• Sarah, Marco, Jenny and Deniz
  

Axel is the nemesis of the Steinkamp family, especially Simone, Richard and Maximilian. From the beginning on, he tried to gain control over the Steinkamp enterprise. His life is full of schemes and blackmail, with various degrees of success. Even though he was initially in love with Jenny, he had an affair with her mother Simone. In 2009, Axel embarked on a serious relationship with the much younger Nina Sommer but they broke up and Nina left town. He also had a short fling with Roman that year, but nothing happened except a kiss. Axel married Jenny in 2010 after she had been thrown out by her parents. Due to this union, Axel gained major shares in the Steinkamp enterprise. Shortly after that, Jenny presumably died in a plane crash and when Jenny's will was read, she gave all her shares to Vanessa, leaving Axel with nothing. In 2011, Axel tried to become a politician, but failed miserably. Now the police is after him because he's suspected of having embezzled money. Ironically, it's Jenny and Simone who help him flee town.

Yes, they showed black-and-white footage of Roman at the beach, implying that he reached out to Annette. They also had her seeing the most important people in her life.

The main problem is that people are fed up with Katja as the main heroine. Her storylines are awful, she is not credible as a figure skater, she is always presented as the victim, and her acting abilities are mediocre at best.

The final frame of Annette's death:

It was such a sad episode. Even Roman made a surprise appearance.

On a side note, original cast member Daniel Aichinger (Axel Schwarz) is out as well. He last airs next week. Anna Katharina Fecher who joined the show last year as teenage brat Melanie Wendt, Ingo and Annette's adoptive daughter, will also depart later this summer.

Yes, Jenny is a recast. Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen is the fourth actress to play her. The first Jenny (Christiane Klimt) was simply awesome, the second one (Silvia Maleen) took some time to make the role her own, and the third one (Sophie Lutz) only appeared in a video message. Schmidt-Tychsen is the least popular actress on AWZ right now.

Regarding Deniz, I have no idea. I hope they don't put him with Lena which would mean him and his father Marian going after the same woman – again. The show desperately needs some new blood.

The anniversary episodes are still up if you click on the individual links I posted. They're no longer available on the episode overview, though.

By comparing #1000 and #4000, you will notice that the show has undergone a complete transformation. Back in the 90s and the early 00s, German soaps still had that distinct "soap look" with sets that looked like stages and rather wooden actors. The production quality gradually increased but the big change eventually came around 2006/2007 with the construction of more realistic sets and a new filming technique.

The next soap to celebrate its anniversary is Alles was zählt. The 1500th episode will be broadcasted on August 17th, 2012. It has been announced that three new contract cast members will arrive on the scene. Among them are two recasts:

• Katharina Woschek, who played Marie Töppers on "Marienhof" from 2007 to 2009, has been cast as a now grown-up Zoé Laffort, Ingo and Celine's daughter. The character had previously been played by Carolin von der Groeben on a recurring basis from 2008 to 2010.
  
• Ulrich Drewes, a telenovela veteran – he has played parts on "Wege zum Glück", "Anna und die Liebe", "Alisa – Folge deinem Herzen" and "Hanna – Folge deinem Herzen" – has been cast as Rüdiger Steinkamp, Richard's younger brother and Franziska's father. The character had previously been played by Christian Kerepeszki on a recurring basis in 2010 before Rüdiger went to prison.
  
• Rosetta Pedone has been cast as Viktoria König, a professional dancer. Pedone is best-known for her work on "Marienhof" where she played devious doctor's receptionist Laura Conti from 2008 to 2009. Laura was responsible for a big explosion which resulted in the collapse of the Marienhof mall.
  

In addition, now that Annette is dead, it seems that Ingo will find himself attracted to Jenny – the woman who killed his wife!

Yes, Marion Shaw returned in early season 6 when Coop (Linden Ashby) was introduced. She shot at Michael and attacked Megan in the operating room. I think she ended up in the loony bin or something similar.

I don't know if you watch these episodes from every country, but RTL put up old anniversary episodes of GZSZ for free:

http://rtl-now.rtl.de/gzsz.php (where it says " FREE | Anlässlich der 5.000. Folge "GZSZ" bieten wir diese Jubiläumsfolgen 7 Tage lang kostenlos an")

There's a short ad at the beginning of each episode.

Episode 1000 (1996): A rallye through Berlin unites all cast members

http://rtl-now.rtl.d...ayer=1&season=0

(Contract cast: Barbara #2, Charlie, Clemens, Daniel, Elisabeth, Fabian, Flo, Gerner, Kim, Leon, Nataly, Nico, Robert K., Tina #1, Vanessa, Vera)

(Opening sequence: 1996.1 Heiko - Elke - Clemens - Vera - Charlie - Elisabeth - Daniel - Saskia - Tina - Gerner - Rebecca - Andy - Kim - Tom)

Episode 2000 (2000): In the midth of a big charity event, Cora goes into labor and gives birth to her daughter Antonia

http://rtl-now.rtl.d...ayer=1&season=0

(Contract cast: Barbara #3, Charlotte, Chris, Clemens, Cora, Daniel, Flo, Franziska, Gerner, Jan, Kai, Lara, Marie, Moritz, Nataly, Nico, Peter #3, Sandra #1, Sonja #2)

(Opening sequence: 2000.1/A Jan - Nataly - Clemens - Marie - Kai - Elisabeth - Daniel - Flo - Nico - Gerner - Barbara - Philip - Cora - Peter)

Episode 3000 (2004): Most of the cast is on board of a plane that might crash

http://rtl-now.rtl.d...ayer=1&season=0

(Contract cast: Clemens, Cora, Daniel, Deniz, Elisabeth, Gerner, Hannes, Isabel, John, Julia, Katrin, Lena, Leon, Nico, Paula, Sandra #2, Senta, Tim #2, Verena, Vincent)

(Opening sequence: 2003.1/B Verena - Elisabeth - Daniel - Sandra - Hannes - Ben - Paula - Deniz - Cora - John)

Episode 4000 (2008): A big explosion at the "Fasan" restaurant kills Franzi

http://rtl-now.rtl.d...ayer=1&season=0

(Contract cast: Dominik, Emily, Franzi, Gerner, Jasmin, John, Katrin, Paula, Philip)

(Opening sequence: 2007.1/A Alexander, Lucy, Iris & Lenny - Elisabeth, Tim & Clemens - Caroline / Henrik - Leon - Emily - Daniel, Paula & John - Marc - Franzi & Philip - Sandra - Katrin & Gerner - Jasmin / Dominik - Verena)

I highly doubt the idiots running that show ever watched the original. They also didn't know how to write Sydney or Amanda.

There were also inaccuracies in the Sydney-Jane-Michael history. I watched the 4th episode of the reboot yesterday (the show is currently on repeats in my country) where Jane first appeared.

In that episode, Violet tells Jane that she is Sydney's daughter and that Jane is now the only relative she has left. Obviously the new writers missed the fact that Sydney and Jane were only adoptive sisters. Furthermore, David blackmails Jane and tells her that she should have changed her internet passwords after her divorce from Michael. Hello, Jane and Michael divorced in 1998/1999 (and of course for the first time in 1993). I don't think Jane was ever seen using a computer on the original show. Except Amanda, nobody even had a cell phone back then.

Jane and Michael met during a party at the apartment complex in episode 16 of the reboot. They obviously still seemed attracted to one another, but did not have much dialogue. Amanda and Jo were also at the scene.

"Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten" celebrates 5000 episodes and its 20th anniversary on May 23rd, 2012. New cast pictures have been released.

From left to right: John, Pia, Dominik, Jasmin, Ayla, Philip, Emily, Vince, Zac, Lilly and Tanja

The twentysomethings: Philip, Ayla, Dominik, Emily, Jasmin, John and Pia

The teens: Zac, Tanja, Lilly and Vince

It is however striking that Patrick, Jacky and Tuner were ommitted on the group pictures even though they also belong to the younger crowd. They were probably not sexy enough.