Huntress

Germany - # 22 (after being available for 2 days -> Honestly, I expected a better position considering the song is on top of the charts in most European countries) GaGa's "Born This Way" is #1, followed by Bruno Mars, Hurts and Adele (who is also #1 on the official Top 100).

The new single from Hurts - I love it. <object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15uFb2wjxjg?fs=1&amp;hl=de_DE&amp;rel=0"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15uFb2wjxjg?fs=1&amp;hl=de_DE&amp;rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15uFb2wjxjg?fs=1&amp;hl=de_DE&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="390"></embed></object>

That's cool - although the beginning was very slow with all that Diana/Julian stuff. Once the show became a true soap opera (after six months or so), it became my favourite show. The Croatian title is "Sve što je bitno", isn't it? Speaking of "AWZ", it seems that Jenny isn't dead after all. Tomorrow, actress Sophie Lutz assumes the role that has previously been played by Christiane Klimt (2006-2008) and Silvia Maleen (2008-2010). At first, Lutz will only appear as Jenny in a video clip, reading out her will. Since there's already a promotional picture with Lutz dressed up as Jenny, one can assume that the character will return full-time later this year.

When BH90210 was shown on television, I first tuned in at the end of the 3rd season and then I watched until the beginning of the 7th season. Somehow I got more interested in Melrose Place and began watching that instead of BH90210. When the DVDs came out, I started re-watching the show from the beginning. Right now I'm stuck in the middle of season 7. Here are some of my thoughts about the show: The beginning ~~~ Season 1 and the first half of season 2 were terrible, and I couldn't stand those "social issue of the week" episodes. I felt the show was way more balanced starting with season 3. I found it remarkable how fast Brandon and Brenda made new friends at West Bev. Kelly said to Brenda "You're my best friend" in one of the first episodes. Donna is actually never referred to as being Kelly's best friend, she's usually just there. Kelly is always said to be the most popular girl at West Bev, yet she is never shown to have many friends or having many admirers. It was the same on the OC where Marissa was supposed to be the popular girl, yet she was more of a loner. Brandon and Dylan become friends in Dylan's first episode (Dylan says "You're my friend" to Brandon at the end) which is also strange because Dylan clearly isn't the type to make friends easily. Brandon ~~~ Brandon was my favourite male character throughout his whole run on the show, but I think that Jason Priestley began playing himself around season 4/5. Brandon changed a lot during that time. It often seems as if he improvised. He added that stupid grimace, made lots of hand gestures (pointing at people) and scratched his chin (in order to look sexy?). JP also became quite puffy once the college years kicked in and he suddenly looked much older, especially around his eyes. I also don't like the fact that Brandon became such a horndog in later years. He also became very arrogant. I understand that Brandon was supposed to be the moral center of the show and we were supposed to root for him, but the way he talks to people is so out of line most of the time. Dylan ~~~ I always found him to be the most unrealistic one of all the characters. While I tolerated him during the first two seasons and kind of liked him and Brenda together, he became shallow, selfish and downright unlikeable by season 3. All of his later storylines left me cold, even his father's death (btw, I loathed the actor who played Jack McKay). Dylan basically ruined season 5 for me and I was glad when he was finally gone. Kelly ~~~ She was my favourite female character through seasons 1-4. After that she became a bit too bland for my liking. The best Kelly storyline has to be the one with Tara in season 6 although the ending was absolutely dismal. IMO, the storyline should have been resolved in the season finale with a big cliffhanger à la "Will Kelly survive?" or "On whose head will Kelly's hair style turn up next?" Donna ~~~ Love her. Granted, her character was a big mess, especially during the later seasons, and her victim act got old quickly, but somehow I sympathized with her most of the time. Her look was atrocious, though. In season 7, her hair is golden and she wears yellow and orange tops with green eye-shadow. Valerie ~~~ Love her too. While she's completely out of her mind most of the time and is responsible for her own problems, you just want to root for her. In that regard she's very similar to Melrose Place's Sydney. I never liked Brenda that much. David/Steve/Andrea ~~~ While I tolerate all three of them, I never cared much about their storylines. Besides, David became such an ass during the college years. He treated Donna like crap. Ray ~~~ I hated what the writers/producers did to him. First he was presented as a good guy and then all of a sudden he becomes aggressive and violent. Then, at the beginning of the 6th season, Ray finally became part of the gang (Kelly said "You're a good guy, Ray Pruit" in 6.02 or 6.03), only to become a jerk once more a few episodes later. Why did they even make him a regular cast member in the first place? And then, when he filed a lawsuit against Joe, everyone was so judgemental, especially Kelly. After Ray and Dylan had left in season 6, the show cleary lacked a fourth male cast member. Colin would have been a good choice if they hadn't ruined him as well. Clare ~~~ Clare somehow changed 180° during the summer break between seasons 5 and 6. In seasons 4 and 5, she wasn't really a part of the gang. She was usually moody and against anything mainstream. Beginning with season 6, Clare was suddenly dolled up, having blonde highlights and wearing "sexy" tops. She also became a lot more shallow, giggling with Kelly and Donna all the time. Besides, I found Clare to be very unique when she first showed up and I didn't mind her with David, but as soon as she got together with Steve she became unbearable. I also loathe those one-episode-arcs with Steve and Clare (Clare buys a new car, Steve doesn't like it; Steve buys a motorcycle, Clare doesn't like it; etc.). Their relationships basically just consists of fights and competitions. And why does she have a different hair color in every other episode (none of which seem to suit her, btw)? Colin ~~~ Loved him. Colin could have easily been a good replacement for Dylan but the writers had completely screwed him up by midseason. I don't know what they were thinking by sending him to prison and subsequently making him a fugitive. Every other main character that experimented with drugs got away with little to no punishment, but "bad people" like Colin or Emily Valentine ended up in prison or in a psychiatric ward. It's funny how many people Brandon, Kelly and their pals kicked to the curb just to make themselves feel better. If Colin had stayed on the show, I'm sure Noah would have never showed up. Susan ~~~ Why is it so obvious that Susan is just a cheap Andrea rip-off? Maybe I should just pretend that she is Andrea. If this was Melrose Place, she sure would have taken off her mask somewhere down the line to reveal her true identity I also noticed that both Jason Wiles (Colin) and Emma Caulfield (Susan) received "Also Starring" billing in the middle of season 6. Maybe they were both supposed to stay on the show for another season, with the option of becoming series regulars by season 7. When Emma left, they created that Tracy chick to replace her in season 7. Favourite parent ~~~ Felice Martin! God, that bitch just rocks everytime she's on screen. Melrose Place's influence on Beverly Hills, 90210 ~~~ It's pretty obvious that Melrose Place was responsible for the change in 90210's tone beginning with season 5 – that was when Melrose entered its 3rd season and their plots became outrageous –, but 90210 still remained tame compared to Melrose Place. On Melrose you had people cheating on each other almost every episode, you had baby-stealing, catfights, bitch slaps, explosions, a lot of deaths, business schemes etc. The relationships between the characters were never deep, because characters switched partners a lot and they never seemed to love each other, it was just lust or calculation to hurt somebody else. In addition, most of the original cast members were gone by season 6. When season 6 started, more than half of the characters had joined the cast in season 5 or later. That killed the show and it was cancelled soon after. I guess the only couples you could root for were probably Jane & Michael or Amanda & Peter. All other couples were pretty much short-lived or were completely destroyed by the writers. Melrose also had a similar story to 90210's BDK-triangle with Billy, Alison and Jake in season 4/5. In the end, Alison left town alone which upset a lot of fans because Billy & Alison were supposed to be the couple from the very beginning. While 90210 added some "spicy" storylines, it still stayed true to its original formula of having a close group of friends as protagonists. On Melrose, they were all friends in the beginning, but that soon changed, and during the later seasons, some characters who had been lovers in previous seasons didn't even speak to each other during the whole season. Now that I think of it, both shows had quite a lot in common regarding their characters. In the beginning, Brenda and Alison were the "alpha females" and Dylan and Billy were their love interests. Both Kelly and Amanda were introduced as Brenda and Alison's friend respectively, but soon they went after Dylan/Billy. By season 3 of each show, Kelly and Amanda had become the "alpha female" because they dominated their show's storylines and were heavily involved in everyone else's lives. Strangely enough, both Kelly and Amanda were first presented as tough women, yet by season 4 of each show, they had turned into the victim and stayed that way until the end. Brenda left at the end of season 4, and while Alison remained on Melrose for another season, she was basically non-existant. By season 5, both shows introduced a new villain in the forms of Valerie Malone and Taylor McBride, respectively. These two clashed with Kelly/Amanda and fought for the same men all the time. Then, after both Valerie and Taylor had left, two new enemies entered the scene: Gina Kincaid and Lexi Sterling. I also see similiarities in 90210's Donna and Melrose's Jane Mancini. Both were constantly hurt by the men in their lives, both loved fashion and became designers, and both had one true love (David/Michael). Like Donna, Jane was referred to as being dumb and naive (for example: "What can I say, when God was passing out business sense, Jane was in the back of the line getting her nails done."). Andrea was similar to Melrose's Jo Reynolds. Both were smarter than the others (though Jo was of course not a nerd, but she was still an outsider) and sticked to their morals. At least until both became pregnant. That move alienated both women from the rest of the cast and they were written off their shows one season later. When it comes to male characters, I don't see many similarities though. Besides Michael and maybe Jake, all men were usually portrayed as being stupid and/or violent. I think Jake was supposed to be some Dylan-clone at the beginning. Then he sort of became a male whore and slept with every women in the apartment building.

"Take That" (original line-up with Robbie Williams) singing their latest hit single "The Flood" on X Factor.

Tom Chroust was also once a member of GZSZ's writing staff (around 2001/2002) but back then the show did not have a gay couple. He also wrote for VL in 2001 during the fabulous Clarissa/Tanja feud which resulted in their plane crashing (their final scene was Clarissa pointing her gun at Tanja, saying "Game over, Tanja!"). "AWZ" unveiled its new opening today. Both versions can be watched here: http://www.rtl.de/cms/unterhaltung/awz/awz-storys/neuer-vorspann-awz.html Version 1: Tatjana Clasing as Simone Steinkamp & Francisco Medina as Maximilian von Altenburg – Juliette Menke as Lena Bergmann, Ulrike Röseberg as Annette Bergmann & Anna-Katharina Samsel as Katja Bergmann – André Dietz as Ingo Zadek / Igor Dolgatschew as Deniz Öztürk – Julia Augustin as Vanessa Steinkamp / Silvan-Pierre Leirich as Richard Steinkamp & Jörg Rohde as Ben Steinkamp – Julia Engelmann as Franziska Steinkamp / Michael N. Kuehl as Florian Wild – Heike Trinker as Claudia Bergmann & Katja Bergmann / Ania Niedieck as Isabelle Reichenbach – Alles was zählt Version 2: Silvan-Pierre Leirich as Richard Steinkamp & Tatjana Clasing as Simone Steinkamp – Ulrike Röseberg as Annette Bergmann – André Dietz as Ingo Zadek / Christoph Humnig as Tom Reichenbach – Daniel Aichinger as Axel Schwarz, Francisco Medina as Maximilian von Altenburg & Juliette Menke as Lena Bergmann – Dennis Grabosch as Roman Wild / Igor Dolgatschew as Deniz Öztürk & Sam Eisenstein as Marian Öztürk – Ania Niedieck as Isabelle Reichenbach & Anna-Katharina Samsel as Katja Bergmann / Heike Trinker as Claudia Bergmann – Alles was zählt

"Anna und die Liebe" is a telenovela that airs weekdays at 6 p.m. on Sat.1. It was launched in August 2008 and airs against "Verbotene Liebe" in its timeslot. The first 300 episodes featured Anna (played by Jeanette Biedermann who appeared as the very popular Marie Balzer on GZSZ from 1999-2004 and who is also a very successful singer), a shy girl who falls in love with Jonas, the son of a wealthy family. He, of course, was first involved with Anna's evil step-sister Katja. Once Anna and Jonas finally got married, a new main character was introduced: Anna's cousin Mia (played by Josephine Schmidt who had previously played Paula Rapf on GZSZ from 2002-2009). Her love interest was Alexander Zeiss (played by Thorsten Grasshoff who had portrayed Julian Herzog, Diana's husband, during the first year of AWZ). After one year Mia and Alexander got married and left town. Anna and Jonas were then brought back, but a few weeks ago Jonas was killed off. He's still on the canvas, but now as a ghost, helping Anna to overcome his death and to find a new love. Current cast of "Anna und die Liebe": http://www.deutsche-dailys.de/anna-und-die-liebe/rollen

Until 2003 or so, Marienhof had a very large cast for a half-hour soap with 28-30 contract actors. They rotated storylines back then so that some of the characters had frontburner storylines while others were on the backburner during that time and were barely seen. On the other soaps, the cast has always consisted of 18-22 contract actors and every main character is usually involved in a major storyline because in the German soap industry there are no such things as recurring characters or being placed on recurring status once your contract ends/isn't renewed. Anyway, at some point Marienhof also opted for a smaller cast and many long-time characters were written off the canvas. Today, there are still several actors who have been with the show for 10+ years, but they are barely used. Giovanni Arvaneh (Sülo, 1995-1998; 2003-present), Christian Buse (Thorsten, 1999-present), and Alfonso Losa (Carlos, 2000-present) were even removed from the opening. Right now Sülo has a big storyline, but only because he's dying of cancer (he dies in the Christmas episode next week). Another veteran actress, Nicole Belstler-Boettcher, was fired in 2009 after being with the show since 1995. She was brought back earlier this year – at first for a guest appearance – and was then placed back on contract only to be fired again after two months because the writers couldn't come up with any stories for her character. No, that must be "Lindenstraße", Germany's adaption of "Coronation Street". That show celebrated its 25th anniversary last week and still airs every Sunday on ARD. Current cast of "Lindenstraße": http://www.lindenstrasse.de/Leute/Rollen/liste.jsp?rstatus=aktiv I think TPTB are obsessed with Jasmin Lord (Rebecca) because she was voted "Sexiest Soap Star" two years in a row I think the problem with having only two gay characters on a show is that you can't really do much with them once they are together. Of course you can always throw a third person in the mix – which AWZ did with Roman and Deniz this year when Roman's first love appeared in town –, but I don't think you can repeat those kind of storylines more than once per couple before it gets boring. However, it's good to see at least one stable couple on a soap because usually couples don't last longer than a year – and why not presenting the gay couple as the stable one? On AWZ, there are of course also Ingo and Annette who are happily married

Apparently "Verbotene Liebe" will be extended to 45 minutes in May 2011, meaning it'll take over "Marienhof's" time slot. IMO, this is a really bad move because VL's ratings have been tanking as well (HHs 18-49 7.9 percent in 2010 compared to 10.3 in 2007). It seems that they're trying their best to get VL canceled too in the near future. I don't think the soap genre is dying in Germany though because new soaps and telenovelas are still being developed. Actually, we have too many of these shows right now, so it was just a matter of time before one of the older ones gets canceled. Until 2004, we only had four daily soaps: GZSZ and UU (both on RTL) plus VL and MH (both on ARD). Sat.1, RTL2 and Pro7 tried to establish other soaps in the late 90s, but failed miserably, so all of them were canceled after one year. Then in 2004, the first telenovela "Bianca – Wege zum Glück" was launched on ZDF. A few months later, "Verliebt in Berlin" (the German version of "Betty La Fea"/"Ugly Betty") on Sat.1 followed, becoming the most successful telenovela to date. All of a sudden, every network produced their own telenovelas – some were short-lived, some have been running for some years now (the most successful ones being "Sturm der Liebe" and "Rote Rosen" on ARD). AWZ was originally created as a telenovela called "Diana's Dream", but was then transformed into a traditional daily soap. On the other hand, the telenovelas influenced the storytelling of the established daily soaps. In the 90s, the daily soaps were full of outrageous storylines. In recent years, they have tried to become more realistic and have primarily focused on romantic triangles. I think this brought about Marienhof's downfall, because they introduced a telenovela-like story-arc that centered around Toni, David and Nic, and fired a lot of well-liked cast members in the process. I won't miss "Marienhof" that much as I've rarely watched the show (maybe 2, 3 times a year), but seeing a long-established show going off the air is of course always sad.

After 18 years on the air, "Marienhof" has been canceled by the ARD. The show began in November 1992 as a serial that was broadcasted twice a week. The first 52 episodes ran 50 minutes. Following the success of RTL's daily soaps "GZSZ" and "Unter uns", the ARD also wanted to launch daily soaps in the mid 90s, and created "Verbotene Liebe". "Marienhof" was then also transformed into a daily soap with five half-hour episodes per week. Both ARD soaps had solid ratings until 2007/2008. Earlier this year, rumors began to circle that the ARD wants to cancel one or even both of their soaps to restructure their evening program. "Marienhof's" last tape day is February 11th, 2011 with the final episode airing at the end of March. A new crime show will then most likely debut in "Marienhof's" time slot at 6:30 pm. Current (and most likely final) contract cast of "Marienhof": http://www.daserste.de/marienhof/darsteller.asp "Verbotene Liebe" might be the next soap to go since its ratings are only slightly better than "Marienhof's".

More than two years after its initial release in Australia, "We are the People" by Empire of the Sun has reached the top spot on the German singles chart http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uPL5twyQOw

I didn't know where else to post this, but these have been the 25 most watched US shows on German television during the last 12 months:

I updated the cast pictures on the first page. For GZSZ, I did not include both original cast members Frank-Thomas Mende (Clemens Richter) and Lisa Riecken (Elisabeth Meinhart) since they are currently off the canvas. The network stated that it's just an extended break but they did that before with other cast members who never returned. So it seems that there's now no original cast member left on GZSZ. I also left out Kristin Meyer (Iris Cöster) who departs the show in December.

This is currently #1 on the German iTunes charts and will most likely go to #1 on the Top100 soon: <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXXzuQw5OIs?fs=1&amp;hl=de_DE"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXXzuQw5OIs?fs=1&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=BXXzuQw5OIs?fs=1&amp;hl=de_DE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object> The comeback single of Alphaville who were pretty succesful in Europe during the 80s: <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rsrKNHNwqE?fs=1&amp;hl=de_DE"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rsrKNHNwqE?fs=1&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=5rsrKNHNwqE?fs=1&amp;hl=de_DE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>

That retcon of Amanda's past went hand in hand with Amanda's transformation from bad girl to victim. While I liked the beginning with Jack appearing in town, I didn't like how the story played out with Bobby arriving - simply because I always thought that Bobby was disgusting. I also didn't like how Amanda and Peter became the show's main couple. Why would a woman like Amanda fall in love with a guy who tried to kill her? Especially since she had already escaped that unpleasant marriage with Jack who beat her up. I guess I'm in the minority here, but I really liked Jane. Granted, she was a hypocrite most of the time and was a bitch to her so-called friends - but who on that show wasn't? The storyline involving Jane, Sydney, Michael and Kimberly was the only thing that made season 2 interesting. The one thing I didn't like about Jane was her hair. Josie Bissett has such a beautiful face, yet her haircut was never that flattering. But that's a problem a lot of characters on Melrose had (Alison and Jo had awful hair too). The problem with the later seasons (5-7) was that the characters that used to be friends or interacted a lot in earlier seasons weren't that close anymore. For example, Sydney had no scenes with Michael or Kimberly, and there was too little interaction between Amanda and Alison. Another unpopular opinion: I loved Jake and Alison as a couple.

Today the new soap opera "Hand aufs Herz" went on the air. I wasn't impressed with the first episode, but it definitely has potential. Vanessa Jung and Andreas Jancke are a reason to tune in, but the rest of the ensemble looked and acted rather dull. For those who are interested, the first episode can be watched here. "Marienhof" currently celebrates 18 years on the air. ARD has published several classic episodes on their website which can be found here. Complete list of episodes: - #1 How it all began - #672 Marco dies - #750 Annalena and Frank's wedding - #835 Nadine and Sven's motorcycle accident - #1046 Olli's bungee jump - #1252 Charly is bitten by a poisonous snake - #1493 Natalie dies in a fire - #1518 The mail bomb explodes - #1546-#1549 Bogdan terrorizes Billi - #1677 Doro is gunned down - #1678 Doro dies - #1745 Inge sets her market garden on fire - #2000 Men strip at "Foxy's" - #2885-2886 Yasemin and Raul's wedding - #3000 Christmas at Marienhof - #3617 Marienhof explodes

Somehow that storyline ended when Axel's love interest Nina (Nathalie Thiede) left town and Deniz and Roman got back together last fall. Since both GZSZ and its Dutch pendant GTST used the scripts of the Australian soap The Restless Years during their first year on the air, I tried to compile a list of the characters that were part of all three soaps. The Restless Years – Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden – Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten Original cast: Peter Beckett – Peter Kelder (1990–1993; 1995) – Peter Becker (1992-1996; 1999-2002; played by three different actors) Penny Russell – Linda Dekker (1990-1998; 2005–2006) – Tina Ullrich-Zimmermann (1992-1996; 2000; played by two different actresses) Clive Archer – Robert Alberts (1990–2008) – Clemens Richter (1992-2010) Louise Archer - Laura Alberts (1990-present) – Vera Richter (1992-1997) Alan Archer – Arnie Alberts (1990–1996) – Heiko Richter (1992-1996) Barry King – Rien Hogendoorn (1990-1992) – Patrick Graf (1992-1996, killed off) Alison Clarke – Annette van Thijn (1990–1992) – Elke Opitz-Graf (1992-1997; 1999) Olivia Baxter – Suzanne Balk (1990–2000) – Julia Backhoff (1992-1993) Raelene Geddes – Myriam van der Pol (1990–1993; 1994) – Marina Geppert (1992-1993) Bruce Russell – Simon Dekker (1990–1994; 1997–1998; 2002–2003) – Frank Ullrich (1992-1993) Heather Russell – Jeanne Dekker (1991) – Helga Ullrich (1992-1993, killed off) Elizabeth McKenzie – Helen Helmink (1990-1997; played by two different actresses) – Elisabeth Meinhart (1992-2010) A.R. Jordan – Daniel Daniel (1990–1999) – A.R. Daniel (1992-2009) Richard Dawson – Marc de Waal (1990) – Michael Döring (1992, killed off) Rita Merrick – Martine Hafkamp (1990–1994M 2003–2005) – Lilo Gottschick (1992-1993) Jean Hutton Stafford – Stephanie Kreeft-Stenders (1990–1992; 1993–1994) – Claudia Wedemaier-Löpelmann (1992; 1993-1994; played by two different actresses) Unknown Stafford – Nico Stenders (1990–1991) – Oswald Löpelmann (1992) Unknown – Jan van Ede (1990–1991) – Bertram Köhler (1992) Unkown – Petra van Ede (1990–1991) – Denise Köhler (1992) Later additions: Maurice Brown – Maurice de Bruin (1991) – Armin Braun (1992, killed off) Jeff Archer – Jef Alberts (1991-) – Wilfried Richter* (1993) Carol Archer – Karin Alberts (1991–1992) – Carola Richter* (1993) Shane Archer – John Alberts (1991–1992) – Karsten Richter* (1992-1993) David Harker – David Harkema (1991) – André Holm (1992-1995) Unknown – Frits van Houten (1991–1995; 2006) – Jo Gerner (1993-present) Diane Archer – Dian Alberts (1991-1999; played by two different actresses) – Diana Richter* (1993, killed off) Tim Watson – Tim Waterman (1991–1992) – Tommy Walter (1993, killed off) * After reading the character profiles on the official Dutch website for GTST, I came to the conclusion that the family structure of the Archer family was altered on the German version. Karsten was not Clemens's nephew but his younger brother, whereas Diana was Clemens's niece. Like Shane/John, Karsten married the Marina character. Wilfried and Carola Richter were only recurring characters that disappeared after Diana's death (she and and her bf Tommy were murdered by the pantyhose serial killer).

The whole cast will be influenced by Jenny's tragic death. She boards a plane to Russia which goes missing. Simone and Richard travel to Russia but cannot find their daughter anywhere. Axel makes Simone believe that Jenny has died by presenting her a fake corpse. Vanessa returns to comfort her parents and to keep the family together. Marian hits rock bottom and Deniz tries to help him. Ben and Maximilian clash violently. Roman coaches Katja who wants to become a professional figure skater. Ben is torn between Katja and his wife Isabelle. Isabelle's brother Tom is still interested in Katja. Annette and Ingo overcome their marital and financial problems. Richard's niece Franziska arrives in town. In order to become a member of the ice hockey squad, she pretends to be a boy. She secretly falls in love with Roman's brother Florian.

Well, there are of course times where these shows are almost unbearable to watch, but in general they are good entertainment. AWZ somehow revived the soap genre in Germany because of its unique filming technique and its witty dialogue. Even though they are much longer on the air, GZSZ and UU have been heavily influenced by AWZ in recent years. In addition, the acting on all shows has improved a lot. During their early years, GZSZ and UU had maybe like five or six cast members that had decent acting abilities. Those days are definitely over. Some preview pictures for October/November: UU AWZ GZSZ

Die Schwarzwaldklinik was a huge hit in the 80s and holds the record for the most watched series on German television ever: Up to 28 million viewers tuned in every week (60 percent of all households at that time). It basically was a primetime soap set in a rural hospital. There were around 70 episodes and 2 movies. The last movie was shot in 2004 in order to celebrate the show's 20th anniversary. As far as I know the show's concept was heavily influenced by a hospital soap from the Czech Republic and by "General Hospital". The whole show has been released on DVD. Reruns are currently being shown on "Romance TV", a pay-tv channel.

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And here are the other two versions: GZSZ – Opening 2010.1.B Cast: Elisabeth & Clemens - Tuner - Patrick - John & Leon - Emily / Carsten - Jasmin - Pia Unter uns – Opening 2010.1.B Cast: Till & Heidi - Eva - Tobias & Micki - Rebecca & Rufus - Paco - Malte, Ute, Britta & Henning Videos of the "Unter uns" openings can be found HERE

GZSZ – Opening 2010.1.A Cast: Katrin & Jo - Philip - Dominik - Tayfun - Ayla / Dascha - Iris & Lucy - Alexander - Verena Unter uns – Opening 2010.1.A Cast: Anna & Paco - Sina, Easy, Moritz & Lili - Ute & Eva - Malte - Till, Irene, Sina & Rolf

Does anyone remember Ace of Base ("The Sign" etc.)? They're back! With new singers, though.

I don't know if you can watch it from a foreign country, but the new opening of "Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten" has been presented today. The theme is still the same, but the visuals are a mixture of the 1996-2000 and the 2006-2010 opening. Again, there are two different versions. It's been 4 years since a new opening was filmed. RTL promises that everytime a new actor joins the show, they will appear in the opening immediately. They also want to remove actors as soon as they have left the canvas. If they want to keep that promise they need to change the opening in two weeks when Carsten and Lucy depart the show. Video: Version 1 Cast: Lisa Riecken as Elisabeth Meinhart & Frank-Thomas Mende as Clemens Richter – Thomas Drechsel as Max "Tuner" Krüger – Björn Harras as Patrick Graf, Jr. – Felix von Jascheroff as John Bachmann & Daniel Fehlow as Leon Moreno – Anne Menden as Emily Höfer – Felix Isenbügel as Carsten Reimann – Janina Uhse as Jasmin Nowak – Isabell Horn as Pia Koch Video: Version 2 Cast: Ulrike Frank as Katrin Flemming & Wolfgang Bahro as Jo Gerner – Jörn Schlönvoigt as Philip Höfer – Raul Richter as Dominik Gundlach – Tayfun Baydar as Tayfun Badak – Sila Sahin as Ayla Özgül – Lena Ehlers as Dascha Petrova – Kristin Meyer as Iris Cöster & Sarah Tkotsch as Lucy Cöster – Clemens Löhr as Alexander Cöster – Susan Sideropoulos as Verena Koch This is the first time that Drechsel, Harras, Isenbügel, Horn, Baydar, Sahin, Ehlers and Löhr are included in the opening, even though most of the them have appeared on the show for over a year. On Monday, the new opening of Unter uns will be unveiled. They will also have two versions for the first time. Meanwhile, the new opening for Alles was zählt has been postponed because RTL did not approve of the first version.