Huntress

This song is going to top the German single chart next week... currently #3 on iTunes. Can't stop listening to it although I don't understand a single word <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/f-AbEQNHi2A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Obviously the writers had problems finding a new storyline for Marian, so they had to go back to him being of Turkish origin. For some reason he was supposed to be deported to Turkey because his residence permit had expired. Marian's only chance was to marry someone with a German passport, so he asked Lena to become his wife, breaking up Lena and Florian in the process.

Actually, I stopped watching GZSZ about six years ago because many of the characters I loved were gone at that point and the stories back then sucked. I had been watching regularly since 1995. A year later, AWZ was launched and I watched that show during its premiere year. The summer of 2007 was brilliant with the beginning of the Roman/Deniz storyline, Ingo/Annette, Marian/Nadja etc. However, it all went downhill when Maximilian arrived and became the center of attention. I still can't stand this character. These days, I watch all 4 soaps occasionally when time permits it, but due to my job I always know what's going on and who's who On GZSZ, I've always liked John and Leon. However, both characters have changed a lot during the years. John used to be a rebellious teenager (he was 15 when he first appeared in town in 2001) and he was the youngest member of the Bachmann/Lemke family clan. Ironically, he is also the only member of the family who has remained on the show, as his parents, his siblings, his aunt and his cousin have all been written out over the years. Emily and Philip are John's half siblings, and in 2005 John and Emily had sex before they knew they were related. For a long time, John was in love with his high school sweetheart Paula. They eventually got married after graduation, but then Paula fell in love with Philip's girlfriend Franzi. This quadrangle was very popular in 2008. Emily was also involved as she was doing cocaine during that time and introduced Franzi to the dangerous drug. The storyline ended with Franzi dying in the wreckage of the "Fasan" restaurant after causing an explosion in the kitchen. John and Paula separated, with Paula departing the show a few months later. John then fell in love with Caroline, the girlfriend of his best friend Tim. Caroline soon expected John's baby but she reunited with Tim and left town with him. John was devastated because he was looking forward to the birth of his son. He drew comfort from Pia and began an affair with her, which eventually developed to an honest relationship. Leon used to be a ladies' man and he has had various affairs and short-lived relationships since his arrival in 1996. For example, he was involved with Katrin Flemming. Leon eventually settled with Verena whom he married in 2009. Their son Oskar was born in late 2010, and the three formed a happy family until Verena was killed in a car crash in September 2011. The only characters I don't like are Philip and Ayla.

Yes, the audience is divided on Patrick: They either love or hate him. Here are some preview pictures for the three RTL soaps (January 2012): Unter uns 01. Tobias (Patrick Müller); 02. Nils (Martin Baden) & Bela (Bela Klentze); 03. Irene (Petra Blossey) & Ute (Isabell Hertel); 04. Britta (Tabea Heynig) & Till (Ben Ruedinger); 05. Rebecca (Imke Brügger) & Rufus (Kai Noll); 06. Eva (Claudelle Deckert) & Till; 07. Tobias & Nils; 08. Rufus & Rebecca; 09. Sina (Valea Scalabrino) & Irene; 10. Easy (Lars Steinhöfel) & Lili (Sarah Bogen) Alles was zählt 01. Lena (Juliette Menke) & Florian (Michael N. Kuehl); 02. Jenny (Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen) & Marco (Salvatore Greco); 03. Richard (Silvan-Pierre Leirich) & Maximilian (Francisco Medina); 04. Axel (Daniel Aichinger) & Jenny; 05. Isabelle (Ania Niedieck); 06. Richard & Simone (Tatjana Clasing); 07. Ingo (André Dietz) & Annette (Ulrike Röseberg); 08. Isabelle & Katja (Anna-Katharina Samsel); 09. Sarah (Christina Siemoneit), Jenny, Simone, Axel & Marco; 10. Sarah & Deniz (Igor Dolgatschew) Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten 01. Emily (Anne Menden), Jasmin (Janina Uhse) & Pia (Isabell Horn); 02. Katrin (Ulrike Frank) & Jo (Wolfgang Bahro); 03. Lilly (Iris Mareike Steen) & Vince (Vincent Krüger); 04. Dominik (Raul Richter), Jo & Patrick (Björn Harras); 05. Philip (Jörn Schlönvoigt) & Tayfun (Tayfun Baydar); 06. Lilly & Tanja (Senta-Sofia Delliponti); 07. Alexander (Clemens Löhr) & Maren (Eva Mona Rodekirchen); 08. Tayfun gets arrested in front of his father; 09. Jacky (new series regular Samia Dauenhauer) & Tuner (Thomas Drechsel); 10. Jasmin, Pia & Jacky – – – – – ARD has also released some stunning promotional pictures for VL's 4000th episode: Tanja (Miriam Lahnstein), Clarissa (Isa Jank) & Jessica (Jana Julie Kilka) Clockwise: Jessica (Jana Julie Kilka), Kim (Nicole Mieth), Julia (Nina Bott), Leonie (Stefanie Bock) & Tanja (Miriam Lahnstein) Clarissa (Isa Jank), Tanja (Miriam Lahnstein) & Ansgar (Wolfram Grandezka) Helena (Renee Weibel), Daniel (Dirk Moritz), Andi (Dominic Saleh-Zaki) & Jessica (Jana Julie Kilka) Helena (Renee Weibel), Daniel (Dirk Moritz), Jessica (Jana Julie Kilka) & Andi (Dominic Saleh-Zaki) Kim (Nicole Mieth), Ansgar (Wolfram Grandezka), Helena (Renee Weibel), Tristan (Jens Hartwig), Tanja (Miriam Lahnstein) & Sebastian (Sebastian Schlemmer) Andi (Dominic Saleh-Zaki), Daniel (Dirk Moritz), Jessica (Jana Julie Kilka), Kim (Nicole Mieth), Tanja (Miriam Lahnstein), Leonie (Stefanie Bock), Helena (Renee Weibel), Julia (Nina Bott), Timo (Remo Schulze) & Emilio (Florian Wünsche)

I just love the Swedish language. I have studied it for several years, but I've forgotten so many words since I don't practize it regularly enough. Even though German and Swedish are quite close when it comes to vocabulary, the latter sounds so much more melodic, especially when sung. Just compare these versions of two Disney songs: Colors of the Wind (Färger i en vind / Farbenspiel des Winds): <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Wn0LRB5GmWc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tJMQB1n4Kjs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> We are One (Vi är en / Wir sind eins): <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xacVx7PC7yE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZdlMyK2RaY4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Sadly, VL's ratings have not increased over the past few months, but the producers are still optimistic. The Mallorca storyline will find its end in January 2012, when the 4000th episode is being shown. Jan and Julia are finally free to love each other and depart the show together. The other Mallorca characters (Clarissa, Timo, Leonie, Emilio and Ricardo) will remain on contract and will be brought to Düsseldorf. Following this transition and the restructuring of ARD's evening schedule, VL will be shown between 5.50 and 6.30 p.m. as of January 23rd, 2012 instead of between 6.00 and 6.50 p.m. Thus, the 17 year-old soap will be shortened to 40 minutes in the process. However, the producers told the press that the Mallorca setting will most likely return next summer.

LOL no, she's not a transsexual. But I admit she does look like one. Eva is played by Claudelle Deckert, and she's actually one of the most entertaining characters on the show. She was on contract from March 2001 to August 2006 and returned in the fall of 2008. She's a lawyer, often conniving and ruthless, but she also has her soft moments. She was married to Till, middle son of the Weigel family clan. It was this marriage which caused Weigel patriarch Wolfgang to have a heart attack of which he eventually died. Thus, the other Weigels, especially Irene, hold a grudge against Eva. A bit later, Eva even purchased the apartment house where all characters live in and which was formerly owned by the Weigels. Eva is now good friends with Ute, Till's first ex-wife. Till and Eva are still in love with each other and they're trying to make each other jealous by pretending to have affairs with Britta and Malte, respectively. Before I forget to post it, here's the current VL opening with the largest contract cast the show has ever had: Order: Clarissa - Jan | Julia - Julia & Ricardo | Jan - Timo | Leonie | Emilio - Charlie | Arno - Jessica & Tanja | Jessica - Viktoria | Viktoria & Thomas | Kim - Christian | Olli - Tanja - Sebastian | Tanja & Sebastian - Ansgar - Ludwig & Elisabeth | Ludwig - Helena | Helena & Andi - Tristan | Marlene - Dana - Marlene, Dana & Hagen | Nico - Ansgar

Current AWZ opening (December 2011-present): Version A Order: Simone & Maximilian - Lena, Annette & Katja - Ingo / Deniz - Richard & Vanessa - Franziska / Florian - Ben & Katja - Isabelle Changes from the previous version: Ben was removed from his scene with Richard; Vanessa's shot was altered; Claudia was replaced by Ben (picture coming soon) Version B Order: Richard & Simone - Annette - Jan Marco & Sarah - Axel / Maximilian - Lena & Maximilian - Deniz & Marian / Melanie - Isabelle & Katja / Ben Changes from the previous version: Ingo & Tom were replaced by Jan Marco & Sarah; Roman was replaced by Melanie; Deniz and Marian's scene was slightly changed and moved to the left side of the screen; Claudia was replaced by Ben Current UU opening (June 2011-present): Version A Order: Anna & Paco - Sina, Easy, Moritz & Lili - Ute & Eva - Malte - Till, Irene, Sina & Rolf Changes from the previous version: Anna's shot was replaced since her hair color had changed from red to blonde Version B Order: Bine, Nils & Bela - Eva - Bela, Tobias & Micki - Rebecca & Rufus - Paco - Ute, Malte, Britta & Henning Changes from the previous version: Till & Heidi were replaced by Bine, Nils & Bela; Bela was added to Tobias & Micki's shot

This song is amazing... the singer, Lana del Rey, is from the States, but I think she's completely unknown there. "Video Games" peaked at #9 in the UK and at #10 in Germany. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO1OV5B_JDw

All three RTL soaps (GZSZ, AWZ and UU) have used two different openings since last year. GZSZ has had two different versions since 1998, only for six months in 2002 and for a longer period between 2008 and 2010 they used only version because too many cast members had left and they didn't bother to do an update. These are the two current GZSZ openings (last update was in October 2011): Version A Order: Katrin & Jo – Philip – Dominik – Tayfun – Ayla / Dascha – Maren, Lilly & Tanja – Alexander – Jasmin In the previous version, Verena was seen instead of Jasmin Version B Order: John & Leon – Tuner – Patrick – Vince & Zac – Elisabeth & Clemens – Emily – Pia In the previous version, a different scene of Jasmin was seen between Emily and Pia, Emily's shot was further away

Vince arrived in Berlin earlier this year. He was revealed to be Leon's son, a result of a one-night-stand when Leon was in his late teens. Leon was married to Verena and the two of them have a little son named Oskar. While Leon didn't want to accept Vince at first, Verena immediately took a liking to him and tried to reconcile father and son. However, Verena died this past summer in a car accident. She was run over by Philip (the young doctor). So now Leon has to take care of two children on his own which is quite tough for him, considering he used to be a ladies' man before getting married to Verena. Leon's been on the show since 1996 (with a break between 1999 and 2001) and is the longest-running character next to Jo Gerner, who joined the show in 1993. The current contract cast consists of: Wolfgang Bahro – Dr. Jo Gerner (February 1993-) Daniel Fehlow – Leon Moreno (April 1996-June 1999; April 2001-) Felix von Jascheroff – John Bachmann (July 2001-) Ulrike Frank – Katrin Flemming-Gerner (December 2002-April 2003; April 2004-) Anne Menden – Emily Höfer (December 2004-) Jörn Schlönvoigt – Philip Höfer (December 2004-) Raul Richter – Dominik Gundlach (December 2007-) Janina Uhse – Jasmin Nowak (January 2008-) Tayfun Baydar – Tayfun Badak (December 2008-) Isabell Horn – Pia Koch (March 2009-) Thomas Drechsel – Max "Tuner" Krüger (April 2009-) Clemens Löhr – Alexander Cöster #2 (June 2009-) Sila Sahin – Ayla Özgül (September 2009-) Björn Harras – Patrick Graf, Jr. (November 2009-) Lena Ehlers – Dascha Badak, née Petrova (January 2010-) Eva Mona Rodekirchen – Maren Seefeld (November 2010-) Senta-Sofia Delliponti – Tanja Seefeld (December 2010-) Iris Mareike Steen – Lilly Seefeld (December 2010-) Vincent Krüger – Vince Köpke (February 2011-) Jascha Rust – Zacharias Klingenthal (March 2011-) Original cast members Frank-Thomas Mende (Clemens Richter) and Lisa Riecken (Elisabeth Meinhart) are still featured on the opening credits, but they have only appeared in 2 or 3 episodes this year, at Verena's funeral.

Yes, GZSZ is still the most-watched soap, UU has had stable ratings for the past few years, only AWZ has lost some viewers since the focus change in September 2011. Ratings for the last week (total viewers/total households/viewers 18-49/households 18-49): Monday: GZSZ: 4.20 m / 14.2% / 2.53 m / 22.7% AWZ: 2.92 m / 11.3% / 1.36 m / 14.8% UU: 2.00 m / 13.9% / 1.01 m / 20.3% AudL: 1.67 m / 8.2% / 0.60 m / 8.5% VL: 1.44 m / 7.9% / ??? / ??? Tuesday: GZSZ: 3.93 m / 13.5% / 2.37 m / 22.1% AWZ: 2.83 m / 11.0% / 1.37 m / 14.9% UU: 2.10 m / 14.0% / 1.15 m / 21.2% AudL: 1.68 m / 8.2% / 0.58 m / 8.1% VL: 1.50 m / 8.3% / 0.64 m / 7.4% Wednesday: GZSZ: 3.88 m / 13.7% / 2.34 m / 22.5% AWZ: 2.76 m / 10.8% / 1.35 m / 14.8% UU: 2.13 m / 14.4% / 1.05 m / 19.8% AudL: 1.87 m / 9.2% / 0.64 m / 8.8% VL: pre-empted due to soccer Thursday: GZSZ: 3.99 m / 13.9% / 2.39 m / 22.9% AWZ: 2.86 m / 11.3% / 1.44 m / 16.0% UU: 1.79 m / 12.5% / 0.90 m / 19.0% AudL: 1.78 m / 8.9% / 0.61 m / 9.2% VL: 1.51 m / 8.4% / 0.60 m / 7.1% Friday: GZSZ: 3.25 m / 12.3% / 1.68 m / 18.8% AWZ: 2.52 m / 10.8% / 1.01 m / 13.2% UU: 1.82 m / 13.5% / 0.91 m / 19.5% AudL: 1.55 m / 8.4% / 0.49 m / 8.3% VL: 1.47 m / 8.8% / 0.58 m / 7.5% In other news, Alles was zählt is bringing back the iconic character of Jenny Steinkamp. Christiane Klimt, episodes 1 to 450 Originally played by Christiane Klimt when the show debuted in September 2006, Jenny was a key character during the show's first year, disturbing the blossoming romance between Diana (Tanja Szewczenko) and Julian (Paul T. Grasshoff). Jenny was best friends with Roman (Dennis Grabosch) and the princess of the Steinkamp family. When Julian broke off his engagement to Jenny and eventually planned to marry Diana, Jenny was furious. In addition, both Jenny and Diana were ice skaters, competing for the same team but always quarreling with each other. Jenny was jealous of Diana's success and tried to stop her. For example, she manipulated Diana's skates so that Diana was severely hurt. Jenny even hired a hitman to murder Diana. Instead, Julian attacked the hitman and hurt his head during the fight. During his wedding to Diana, Julian broke down at the altar and died. When Diana find out about Jenny's involvement, she pushed Jenny into a serving trolley. Jenny was blind for some time, until she finally recovered. She then fell in love with Maximilian Santiago de Castillo (Francisco Medina), who turned out to be her half-brother. During the summer of 2008, Christiane Klimt vacated the role after she had suffered a nervous breakdown due to work overload. Christiane Klimt, episodes 501 to 1023 Two months later, Silvia Maleen was hired to replace Klimt. She was at first loathed by fans, especially due to her heavy Austrian accent which did not fit the character at all. Again, Jenny and Diana were at odds, fighting for the same guy: Lars Berger (Tobias Licht). In order to win Lars for herself, Jenny made Diana believe that Julian was still alive. Diana became crazy and was arrested by the police. She was written off the show a few months later because Szewczenko wanted to pursue new projects. Diana's "replacement" was Stella Coretti (Nadine Rennack) who became Jenny's new archenemy. The Diana-Julian-Jenny triangle was rehashed, now with Stella-Lars-Jenny as the protagonists. As both Stella and Lars proved to be very unpopular with the audience, both characters were eventually written out in early 2010. In order to blackmail her parents Simone (Tatjana Clasing) and Richard (Silvan-Pierre Leirich), Jenny pretended to have been kidnapped. Marian (Sam Eisenstein) saw through Jenny's game and forced her to come clean. Jenny was thrown out by her parents and found shelter at Marian's which resulted in the two becoming a couple. Both were happy for a while until Jenny returned to her scheming ways. In order to take revenge on her parents, Jenny married Axel Schwarz (Daniel Aichinger), her parents' archenemy. In September 2010, Jenny went on a business trip to Russia where her plane crashed. She had been presumed dead ever since. Sophie Lutz, episodes 1112 to 1113 In February 2011, a video testament of Jenny's appeared in which she assigned all of her shares in the company to her sister Vanessa (Julia Augustin). For two episodes, Sophie Lutz portrayed Jenny. Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen, episodes 1326 to present Now, Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen has been cast as the fourth Jenny. She returns well and alive on December 8th, 2011 after Vanessa has been involved in a car accident and needs a new kidney in order to survive.

They should have written out Matt at the end of season 1. He could have moved in with Rhonda and her husband and be their housekeeper or whatever. The only thing I liked about Matt was his friendship with Michael, although it was pretty much one-sided. It would have been funny if Matt had developed a secret crush on Michael and had stalked one of his wives – instead of Matt getting being called a stalker by the wife of that plastic surgeon he dated in season 3.

"Verbotene Liebe" has stopped filming on Mallorca. In addition, the show will be shortened to 35 minutes starting in January. It also appears that Jan, Julia, Ricardo and Clarissa will all depart the show once the Mallorca episodes are over. Some of the characters that were introduced during the Mallorca storyline will cross over to the regular setting in Düsseldorf/Cologne. One of the producers said that they might return to the island next year (if the show is still on the air then, ratings are still bad). On "Anna und die Liebe", a new main couple has arrived: Nina (Maria Wedig, who played Juli on "Alles was zählt" from 2008-2009) and Luca (Manuel Cortez). Anna has just married Tom and the happy couple will depart the show in a few weeks. "Hand aufs Herz", which was cancelled a few weeks ago, is said to be continued on the internet. I doubt that this will be a success, considering most of the original actors are already booked for new projects.

I don't think that there are a lot of academic articles on German soaps because the genre has always had a bad reputation in the public eye. Although this has clearly gotten better over the years and they are among the most-watched shows every day, soaps are still regarded as being inferior. I think "Unter uns" would be the one to watch for social issues this year. First of all, there's a domestic violence storyline with Nils and Bine, which has going on since their introduction in February. This storyline is also linked to Bine developing romantic feelings for her best and only friend Rebecca, who is married to Rufus. However, Rebecca and Rufus's marriage is on the rocks because Rufus was responsible for Rebecca's adoptive daughter Lili getting kidnapped. In addition, there's also Micki's HIV story. Micki, a 16-year old teenager, moved to the apartment house in January 2009 with her father Henning. A year later, her mother Britta and her brother Moritz also arrived in town. Britta was a drug addict and relapsed shortly after her arrival. Micki also got hooked on drugs and had a one night stand with another addict, becoming infected with HIV in the process. When it all came out, Micki went through hell, for example at school where she was labelled "HIV slut" among other things. Britta on the other hand is now in an abusive relationship with Rolf Jäger who keeps her locked in his apartment. Last year, the character of Anna Weigel received a recast for the second time. To make it more plausible, Anna had an accident where her face was badly burnt by boiling oil. After that, her face had to be reconstructed and she had huge trouble finding back into her former life. She even disguised herself as another woman and wanted to leave town with a man she met after the accident. At last, she found her happy end and married her cousin Paco. The other soaps don't feature that many social storylines. I read that an upcoming storyline on "Alles was zählt" will deal with Marian getting deported to Turkey or something like that. I wouldn't miss him – he has been pointless since Jenny "died" last summer.

Sturm der Liebe: The "Fürstenhof" hotel explodes <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HOkFU5YaTSE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

That video almost made me cry: <iframe frameborder="0" width="480" height="210" src="http://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/xkqom7"></iframe>

New single from Melanie C (ex-Spice Girls) – I prefer the 7th Heaven Remix to the original version. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8sv2-B9B1LM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZbsqG_R3ySE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Current #1 on the German single chart: <iframe frameborder="0" width="480" height="270" src="http://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/xkk3sd"></iframe> This was also a huge hit over here... still love it. I think the singer is from New Zealand. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uspv4o5sF_A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Vanessa is currently in a relationship with Tom, but Tom's evil sister Isabelle is trying to get them apart and uses Melanie for her scheme. Meanwhile, Verbotene Liebe is bringing back another character from the distant past: Daniel Fritzsche, Andi's (Dominic Saleh-Zaki) older brother, returns to town on November 2nd, 2011. However, Daniel will no longer be played by his original portrayer Markus Prinz, who was on contract from 1999 to 2002 and appeared as a guest in early 2005, but by Dirk Moritz, who previously starred on the telenovela "Rote Rosen". According to first spoilers, Daniel will share a storyline with Christian (Thore Schölermann). This is the fifth recast for Verbotene Liebe this year as the characters of Hagen von Lahnstein (Thomas Viehöfer to Christoph Mory), Kim Wolf (Lisa Tomaschewsky to Nicole Mieth), Jan Brandner (Andreas Brucker to Hubertus Grimm) and Julia von Anstetten Sander Mendes (Valerie Niehaus to Nina Bott) all received a recast earlier this year. There's also another wedding coming up: Tanja (Miriam Lahnstein) and Sebastian (Sebastian Schlemmer) get married on Mallorca. However, Tanja doesn't know that her nemesis Clarissa (Isa Jank) is blind with anger and wants to destroy Tanja's life once and for all. From left to right: Charlie, Clarissa, Tanja, Sebastian, Jan and Julia

Preview Pictures: September 2011 Unter uns Details: Britta (Tabea Heynig) and Rolf (Stefan Franz); Henning (Benjamin Kiss) and Erik (Maximilian Claus); Eva (Claudelle Deckert), Till (Ben Ruedinger) and Paco (Milos Vukovic); Moritz (Marvin Linke), Micki (Joy Lee Juana Abiola) and Henning; Rufus (Kai Noll) and a gangster; Micki and Bela (Bela Klentze); Rebecca (Imke Brügger) and Bine (Ela Paul); Lilli (Sarah Bogen), Easy (Lars Steinhöfel) and a day player; Easy; Paco, Till & Anna (Marylu Saskia Poolman) Alles was zählt Details: Jan Marco Schröder (new contract player Salvatore Greco) and Simone (Tatjana Clasing); Roman (Dennis Grabosch) and Deniz (Igor Dolgatschew); Ingo (André Dietz), Annette (Ulrike Röseberg), Deniz and Marian (Sam Eisenstein) look on as Roman's corpse is carried off; Florian (Michael N. Kuehl) and Lena (Juliette Menke); the friends say goodbye to Roman; Maximilian (Francisco Medina); Maximilian & Isabelle (Ania Niedieck); Marco and Natalie Dupont (guest Star Sarah Latton); Vanessa (Julia Augustin) and Tom (Christoph Humnig); Melanie and Sarah Wendt (new contract players Anna Katharina Fecher and Christina Siemoneit) are confronted by Annette and Ingo Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten Details: Jo Gerner (Wolfgang Bahro), Jasmin (Janina Uhse) and Katrin (Ulrike Frank) visit Dominik (Raul Richter) in hospital; Tanja (Senta Sofia Delliponti) meets her father Kurt (Tim Williams) for the first time; Gerner and Katrin; John (Felix von Jascheroff) comforts Leon (Daniel Fehlow); Gerner visits Patrick (Björn Harras) in prison; Maren (Eva Mona Rodekirchen) and Alexander (Clemens Löhr); Tanja, Lilly (Iris Mareike Steen) and Maren; Murat (Cem Erzincan), Gerner and Patrick; Ayla (Sila Sahin) and Emily (Anne Menden); Kaan (Sinan al Kuri) and Ayla

Original cast member Dennis Grabosch departs "Alles was zählt" on September 16th, 2011 when his character Roman Wild dies in the arms of his former lover Deniz Öztürk. This will be the end for the popular gay couple that has had an on-and-off romance for the past 4 years.

Prendre L'air by French singer Shy'm: <object width="560" height="349"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DssCseHU0rA?version=3&amp;hl=de_DE"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DssCseHU0rA?version=3&amp;hl=de_DE"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DssCseHU0rA?version=3&amp;hl=de_DE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="349" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object> This one's a few years old, but it fits to the current and sad situation in East Africa. <object width="425" height="349"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmILq5-XCa8?version=3&amp;hl=de_DE"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmILq5-XCa8?version=3&amp;hl=de_DE"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmILq5-XCa8?version=3&amp;hl=de_DE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="349" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

Preview Pictures: July/August 2011 Unter uns Details: Ute (Isabell Hertel) develops feelings for her husband Henning's best friend Erik (Maximilian Claus); Rolf (Stefan Franz) and Britta (Tabea Heynig); Henning (Benjamin Kiss) and Erik; Micki (Joy Lee Juana Abiola) has learnt that she is HIV-positive and finds comfort in Bela's (Bela Klentze) arms; Till (Ben Ruedinger) and Eva (Claudelle Deckert) get back together; Eva and Irene (Petra Blossey) continue their fight; Erik and Ute; domestic violence between Nils (Martin Baden) and Bine (Ela Paul); Rebecca (Imke Brügger) and Ela; Britta Alles was zählt Details: Florian (Michael N. Kuehl) and Lena (Juliette Menke) continue their affair; Roman (Dennis Grabosch), Annette (Ulrike Röseberg) and Claudia (Heike Trinker); Maximilian and Isabelle take over Steinkamp, Richard (Silvan-Pierre Leirich) and Simone (Tatjana Clasing) are horrified; Isabelle (Ania Niedieck); Claudia leaves town and says Goodbye to Katja (Anna Katharina Samsel); Richard is sent to a prison on Cuba thanks to Maximilian; Tom (Christoph Humnig) and Vanessa (Julia Augustin) get together; Roman (Dennis Grabosch) learns that he has a brain tumor, Deniz (Igor Dolgatschew) is worried; Katja and Roman; Ben (Jörg Rohde) has a serious car accident as Katja and Deniz look on Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten Details: Maren (Eva Mona Rodekirchen) and Alexander (Clemens Löhr) have to travel home half-naked after their clothes got stolen at a lake, Katrin (Ulrike Frank) sees them on the subway; Dominik (Raul Richter) loses control over himself, Tuner (Thomas Drechsel) and Jasmin (Janina Uhse) try to help him; Leon (Daniel Fehlow) and Verena (Susan Sideropoulos) share a happy family moment with their son Oskar; Pia (Isabell Horn) and Verena celebrate Verena's new business venture; Emily (Anne Menden) visits Patrick (Björn Harras) in prison; Katrin supports Jasmin during her crisis with Dominik; Philip (Jörn Schlönvoigt) runs Verena over with his car; Leon and his dead wife Verena; Katrin and Jo (Wolfgang Bahro) show Tayfun (Tayfun Baydar) an important document; Leon is supported by his best friend John (Felix von Jascheroff) After almost ten years with the show, Susan Sideropoulos departs "GZSZ" in August 2011 when her character Verena Koch is killed off. For Verena's funeral, former cast members Lisa Riecken (Elisabeth Meinhart, 1992-2010), Frank-Thomas Mende (Clemens Richter, 1992-2010) and Maike von Bremen (Sandra Lemke #2, 2002-2008) will return to the canvas briefly.

First Storm went out with Ridge's old flame Alex Simpson a couple of times, later he dated Kristen but she chose Clarke over him. If I remember correctly, Storm even posed as the father of Margo's baby for a short while to help Margo break up Clarke and Kristen. I think Storm also dated Felicia briefly before he was put with Taylor. But that was of course after he was recast. I only liked Storm during his last run when he was played by William DeVry. Too bad they never gave him a real story and killed him off. DeVry was a good actor (and good-looking too!). Getting rid off the Spectra clan was one of the biggest mistakes – if not even the biggest – Brad Bell could make. I understand that Sally had to be phased out since Darlene Conley had been in poor health for quite some time before her death, but they could have easily built a new Spectra generation with C.J. as the central character. Besides, they still had Clarke and Darla and could have brought back Kimberly (I might be in the minority here, but I liked Kimberly, especially once she became evil and stalked Thorne). Another missed opportunity was the SORASing of C.J.s half-brother Mark. Not only was Michael Dietz a terrible actor, I also don't understand why they chose to make Mark a doctor. For example, they could have written a story where C.J. and Mark fought for control over Spectra. Some more group photos: Amber, Rick & Kimberly The Forrester clan in 2000 Ivana, Dylan & Jessica Clarke, Margo & Bill Sally, Adam & Macy The Forrester clan in 1987 Maggie, James & Lauren Kristen, Antonio & Zende Jessica, Sly & Jasmine