Huntress

Yes, you're right, I mixed that up.

From a 1998 interview:

Jane suffered a nervous breakdown midway through the 1996-97 season and was written off the show. "She comes back stronger, very hip on what people are doing," says Josie, who herself is feeling stronger, after suffering a miscarriage right before leaving Melrose.

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The original single version is an auto-tuned dance song, but Mandy can also pull it off without any electronic help.

I'm wondering if the season 5 story where Jane goes crazy and stalks Allison/Billy intended for Jo? I heard somewhere that Daphne Zuniga wanted a stronger Jo.. and the producers basically said that for that to happen, Jo would have to go crazy so she quit.

No, I don't think so. I remember that Josie Bissett also asked for a change in Jane's character, which is why she became more assertive and manipulative starting with season 4. However, they redeemed Jane a few episodes into season 5 with her becoming "normal" again and finding out that she was adopted. This was probably done because Bissett became pregnant and it was clear that this pregnancy couldn't be written into the show's storylines. They had to usher her out and leave the door open for a return.

I think Bissett, Lisa Rinna and Alyssa Milano were the only cast members that left the show on good terms and actually wanted to return (Rinna also left because of her pregnancy and Milano because of "Charmed"). Everyone else wanted out of their contracts (for example Show, Thorne-Smith, Zuniga, Charvet), demanded too much money so they were fired (Leighton, Cross) or were simply written off because they weren't needed anymore (Williams, Davis, Langton, Shue, Ashby).

I think they played that story out well with Sydney unwillingly having to take care of Jane; Michael trying to have sex with Jane while Jane was living at the beach house (she smashed a vase on his head); Jake rescueing Jane from drowning which eventually led to their relationship; and Jane wondering who drugged her with Sydney trying to put the blame on Jo and Richard. Later on, Jane found out the truth and blackmailed Sydney into helping her with Richard's murder.

And I always thought I was the only one who really liked Jane Of course Josie Bissett was one of the weakest actresses on the show, but she was good at playing rude and bitchy. She also had great chemistry with Thomas Calabro and Laura Leighton. It's too bad they turned Jane into such a whimp again once she had returned in late season 6. Megan already fulfilled that role sufficiently.

Alison didn't actually come between them. It was Jane who pushed Jake away after she got raped by Richard. Both Jake and Alison tried to be there for Jane, but she didn't care and secretly plotted Richard's murder. That's when Jake and Alison grew closer and eventually kissed in the season 4 finale.

Official promotion trailer for the "WzG" reboot: "Wege zum Glück – Spuren im Sand"*:

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* Literal translation: "Paths to Happiness – Traces in the Sand".

I thought that Sandy had potential which was completely wasted. Amy Locane's acting wasn't that bad (if we forget about her disappearing and returning southern accent), and she and Grant Show had great chemistry – something that most of Jake's other pairings clearly lacked. This may be an unpopular opinion, but I never thought that Jo/Jake or Amanda/Jake were great couples. I actually prefered him with Sydney, Jane and Alison

If we just take a look at the first half of season 1, I would have written Jane and/or Michael off the show instead of Sandy because they were just boring and were just there. Thank God that changed later on and they became two of my favorite characters (next to Sydney and Kimberly of course).

I also found it weird that Alison basically drove the whole first season. She was the heart and soul of the show, and Courtney Thorne-Smith was the only female regular to appear in all 32 episodes. Bissett and Williams missed a lot of episodes, especially in the second half of the season, and sometimes they only appeared in one or two scenes. Beginning with season 2, Alison was thrown under the bus – or rather thrown under Amanda. I wonder what CTS thought about her character changing from moral center to being the doormat.

Even though they were pushed to the backburner in their last two years on the show, Jake and Alison should have stayed until the very end. Billy and Matt should have been written out after season 4 at the latest.

While reading that article from the show's beginning, I thought: "Did I watch a different show back then?" Because the first 15 episodes were clearly not trendy, sexy or racy at all. And when exactly did Rhonda's kiss with a not black man happen? I can't remember her kissing anyone but her future husband Terrence.

Original cast member Ulrike Röseberg is out on Alles was zählt. After almost six years with the show, the actress has decided to leave her role and move to Berlin to live with her girlfriend. Her character Annette Bergmann-Zadek, who has been the heart and soul of the show since the very beginning, will be killed off. Röseberg's final episode will be shown in June 2012.

Thus, Tatjana Clasing and Silvan-Pierre Leirich (Simone and Richard Steinkamp) remain as the last original cast members. Sam Eisenstein (Marian Öztürk) and André Dietz (Ingo Zadek) have also been with the show since the beginning, but started out as recurring.

The last main character to be killed off was Roman Wild, played by Dennis Grabosch, last November. Ironically, Roman was Annette's best friend. Annette will be survived by her husband Ingo, her sister Lena Bergmann (Juliette Menke), her half-sister Katja Bergmann (Anna Katharina Samsel) and her newphew Alexander von Altenburg (Lena and Maximilian's son).

Preview pictures for April 2012:

Unter uns

01. Irene (Petra Blossey), nuConnor (Finn Ariens) and one of Connor's kiddy friends 02. Sina (Valea Scalabrino) and Rebecca (Imke Brügger) 03. Micki (Joy Lee Juana Abiola-Müller) and Bela (Bela Klentze) 04. Till (Ben Ruedinger) and Eva (Claudelle Deckert) 05. Britta (Tabea Heynig) and Eva (Claudelle Deckert) 06. Nils (Martin Baden) and Paco (Milos Vukovic) 07. Paco (Milos Vukovic) and Anna (Marylu Saskia Poolman) 08. Britta (Tabea Heynig) 09. Easy (Lars Steinhöfel) and Lili (Sarah Bogen) 10. Moritz (Marvin Linke) and Sina (Valea Scalabrino)

Alles was zählt

01. Lena (Juliette Menke) and Florian (Michael N. Kuehl) 02. Maximilian (Francisco Medina) and Katja (Anna-Katharina Samsel) 03. Lena (Juliette Menke) and Marian (Sam Eisenstein) 04. Jenny (Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen) 05. Simone (Tatjana Clasing) and Jenny (Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen) 06. Axel (Daniel Aichinger), Ben (Jörg Rohde), Richard (Silvan-Pierre Leirich) and Maximilian (Francisco Medina) 07. Constanze (Sabine Fernandez), Marian (Sam Eisenstein) and Lena (Juliette Menke) 08. Maximilian (Francisco Medina) 09. nuEtienne (Mehdi Moinzadeh) and Annette (Ulrike Röseberg) 10. Melanie (Anna Katharina Fecher), Franziska (Julia Engelmann) and Sebastian (Frederik Götz)

Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten

01. Maren (Eva Mona Rodekirchen) and Alexander (Clemens Löhr) 02. Katrin (Ulrike Frank), Gerner (Wolfgang Bahro) and David (Kai Holzapfel) 03. Tanja (Senta-Sofia Delliponti) and Zac (Jascha Rust) 04. Tuner (Thomas Drechsel) and Jacky (Samia Dauenhauer) 05. John (Felix von Jascheroff) and Pia (Isabell Horn) 06. Patrick (Björn Harras) and Tayfun (Tayfun Baydar) 07. Lilly (Iris Mareike Steen) 08. Pia (Isabell Horn) and Jasmin (Janina Uhse) 09. Vince (Vincent Krüger) and John (Felix von Jascheroff) 10. Tayfun (Tayfun Baydar) and Ayla (Sila Sahin)

"Give Me All Your Luvin'" entered the German Single charts at #8 this week. This is Madonna's 25th Top 10 single on that chart.

Her most successful songs over here were:

• #10 - Justify My Love (1990)
  
• #10 - American Life (2003)
  
• #9 - Holiday (1983)
  
• #8 - Give It 2 Me (2008)
  
• #8 - GIve Me All Your Luvin' (2012)
  
• #6 - True Blue (1986)
  
• #6 - This Used to Be My Playground (1992)
  
• #5 - Me Against the Music (2003)
  
• #5 - Sorry (2006)
  
• #5 - Celebration (2009)
  
• #4 - Like A Virgin (1984)
  
• #4 - Vogue (1990)
  
• #4 - The Power of Goodbye (1998)
  
• #4 - Die Another Day (2002)
  
• #3 - Into the Groove (1985)
  
• #3 - Express Yourself (1989)
  
• #3 - Don't Cry For Me, Argentina (1996)
  
• #2 - Papa Don't Preach (1986)
  
• #2 - Who's That Girl (1987)
  
• #2 - Like a Prayer (1989)
  
• #2 - Frozen (1998)
  
• #2 - Music (2000)
  
• #1 - La Isla Bonita (1987)
  
• #1 - American Pie (2000)
  
• #1 - Hung Up (2005)
  
• #1 - 4 Minutes (2008)
  
  Her least successful era over here was the mid-90s.
  
  So far, 59 of Madonna's songs have charted. Her lowest peak position was #78 for "You Must Love Me". All other songs at least reached the Top50.
  
  With 4 #1 singles, Madonna is placed at a tied #8 in the "Who had the most #1 singles?" list.

  • #1 The Beatles (11)
    
  • #2 Freddy Quinn (10)
    
  • #3 ABBA (9)
    
  • #4 The Sweet / Boney M. (8)
    
  • #5 Peter Alexander (7)
    
  • #6 Caterina Valente / The Rolling Stones (6)
    
  • #7 Modern Talking / Sarah Connor (5)
    
  • #8 The Bee Gees / The Pet Shop Boys / Falco / Madonna / Tokio Hotel / No Angels / Shakira / The Black Eyed Peas / Lady GaGa / Rihanna (4)
    
  • #9 Whitney Houston / Cliff Richard / Xavier Naidoo / Robbie Williams / DJ Ötzi / Rednex / Smokie / Frankie Goes to Hollywood / Eminem / Timbaland / Herbert Grönemeyer / Mark Medlock (3)
    
  • #10 Kylie Minogue / Michael Jackson / Britney Spears / Depeche Mode / Aura Dione (2)
    

Ivy Quinaoo, finalist on "The Voice of Germany"... she's absolutely brilliant.

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So far I like Brigitte and Rocco best.

Brigitte Nielsen won the 6th season of "Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!" last night.

Complete ranking:

11. Martin Kesici (left voluntarily)

10. Daniel Lopes

09. Ramona Leiß

08. Jazzy

07. Radost Bokel

06. Ailton

05. Vincent Raven

04. Micaela Schäfer

03. Rocco Stark

02. Kim Gloss

01. Brigitte Nielsen

The only German telenovela that is currently on air is "Alisa". [...] I think the only major sucess was Forsthaus Falkenau, although I don't think that's a soap, more like family drama?

Omg, "Forsthaus Falkenau" Yeah, it's some sort of family drama and one of the longest-running shows on German television, currently in its 23rd season.

It wasn't that bad actually. The best thing about it was Isa Jank who played the main antagonist Annabelle von Gravenberg for most of the show's run. Annabelle was very similar to VL's Clarissa von Anstetten, also played by Jank. However, while Clarissa sometimes displays a softer side, Annabelle was a real witch.

The new edition will probably not feature any of the former characters.

It happened faster than everyone thought: Sat.1 has taken "Anna und die Liebe" off its schedule as of next week. The remaining episodes will be shown on sixx – a channel that only a small number of households can receive. The same happened last fall with "Hand aufs Herz" which was also only shown on sixx towards the end of its run.

However, ZDF has reactivated its telenovela "Wege zum Glück" which ran from 2004 to 2009. A new season will debut this spring.

Why do you think Schmetterlinge im Bauch was so unpopular?

I think it was due to the fact that it was basically a clone of "Verliebt in Berlin". Besides, both lead actors clearly lacked screen presence.

Honestly, I've never watched the show. Just caught a glimpse here and there.

The show's official website: http://www.sat1.de/t...iebe/charaktere

The show's main star was Jeanette Biedermann as Anna Broda, née Polauke. Biedermann used to be GZSZ's poster child after the turn of the millenium and I could never stand her. Due to her popularity as an actress, she also became a successful singer, scoring ten top 10 hits on the German Singles Chart between 2000 and 2009. After "Anna" had completed its first year, Biedermann left the show and was replaced by Josephine Schmidt who starred on GZSZ from 2002 to 2009. Schmidt's character was named Mia, but the show was still called "Anna und die Liebe".

In November 2010, Schmidt left and Biedermann returned. Anna's husband Jonas, whom Anna had finally married at the end of her first run, was killed off and there was some surreal storyline with Jonas being a ghost, which the audience did not approve of. Subsequently, ratings began to fall. The ghost story was scrapped and a new triangle featuring Anna, Tom and Enrique became the main storyline. Anna and Tom eventually got married and Biedermann announced her second departure from the show. Her final airdate is January 25th, 2012. A few weeks ago, the new main character Nina was introduced, who is played by former AWZ actress Maria Wedig. However, Nina is very unpopular with the audience and ratings have fallen once again.

For the most part of its run, "Anna und die Liebe" aired against "Marienhof", which was cancelled in early 2011.

In Germany, the ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG is the main opponent of the RTL group. While RTL operates RTL, RTL II, VOX, SuperRTL and n-tv plus several pay-tv stations, ProSiebenSat.1 owns ProSieben, Sat.1, kabeleins, sixx and N24 plus several pay-tv stations.

While RTL has three successful soaps, Sat.1 has a poor record of keeping soaps and telenovelas on the air. Their first attempt at establishing a daily soap was "So ist das Leben! Die Wagenfelds" which ran from October 1995 to February 1996 at 6 p.m. and was cancelled after only 127 episodes. In 1997, "Geliebte Schwestern" failed at 7 p.m. Until February 2005, they did not launch another daily serial until "Verliebt in Berlin", the German adaption of "Ugly Betty", was produced. ViB became a huge success during its premiere year and even threatened GZSZ in the ratings department. However, during the second season ViB became unwatchable and ratings declined, leading to the show's cancellation in October 2007. Around the time the second season of ViB premiered, Sat.1 also launched a second telenovela called "Schmetterlinge im Bauch" which was cancelled only a few months later. "Anna und die Liebe" then debuted in August 2008. From 2009 to 2010, "Eine wie keine" was paired with "Anna und die Liebe". After the former show's cancellation, "Hand aufs Herz" was launched. HaH also only survived one year. I don't think Sat.1 will produce another soap or telenovela in the near future.

The next show has been cancelled: According to media reports, Sat.1 has pulled the plug on "Anna und die Liebe". The telenovela debuted in the fall of 2008 and has suffered from weak ratings for the past few months.

So far I like Brigitte and Rocco best.

Here are the final two minutes of VL's 4000th episode: During Tanja's fashion show of "Ligne Clarisse" her arch nemesis Clarissa reveals herself to alive – on the catwalk, wearing the showstopper!

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It's of course not a real soap (but rather close to it ): Last night the 6th season of the German edition of "I'm a Celebrity – Get Me out of Here!" ("Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!") kicked off. The premiere episode was very successful, attracting almost 8 million viewers.

Here are the contestants:

1. Kim Gloss – singer, former contestant on "German Idol"

2. Marlene "Jazzy" Tackenberg – rapper, former member of the girl group "Tic Tac Toe" which was very successful in the 90s and had a small comeback in 2005

3. Radost Bokel – former child star

4. Micaela "La Mica" Schäfer – model, nude DJane, former contestant on "Germany's Next Top Model" and "Big Brother"

5. Daniel Lopes – former contestant on "German Idol" and "Germany's Got Talent"

6. Martin Kesici – winner of the first and only edition of "Star Search" in 2003, one hit wonder

7. Ramona Leiß – tv presenter for 3 decades

8. Rocco Stark – actor, played a contract role on the now defunct soap "Hand aufs Herz"

9. Vincent Raven – magician

10. Ailton – Brazilian soccer player, won the German Footballer of the Year award in 2004

11. Brigitte Nielsen –Danish actress ("Red Sonja", "Rocky IV", "Beverly Hills Cop II"), singer and former model

Print campaign for VL's Clarissa:

Das Erste Biest ist zurück is a pun. Literally it means "the prime bitch is back", but Das Erste is also the tv station that broadcasts VL.

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

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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)