Huntress

Anna's ratings could be better, but they're pretty much solid.

Today, "Marienhof" said goodbye after 18 years on the air.

In the final episode (#4053), it was revealed that Dino had survived his car crash. Constanze left Marienhof and wrote Dino a heartbreaking letter. Inge won 1 million euros in the lottery, while Thorsten proposed to Olga. The final half of the episode focused on the couples – Frank & Lisa, Carlos & Heidi, Raul & Yasemin, Nic & Toni – and several flashbacks were shown. Charly and Netty returned. Tarek looked back on his relationship with Ruth. Inge and Timmy sat on a bank and Inge told Timmy how it all began 18 years ago when Inge still had her market garden and how Marienhof looked like back then. Inge and Timmy then decided to open a new store together. Following this scene, fiction and reality blended when present and past members – even those who played deceased cast members – joined Inge and Timmy on the street. Everyone hugged, until they all looked into the camera and waved goodbye: "Danke für 18 Jahre Treue" – "Thanks for 18 years of loyalty". The final credits rolled on.

Jeanette? I mean, she is cute, but best actress? Not so sure LOL.

What happened to Lena? Bad ratings?

"Hanna – Folge deinem Herzen" starts in Croatia this summer, though the title is different, I think it's Alisa - Folge deinem Herzen. It got cancelled too?

ITA on Jeanette. She's a lovely person, but she simply can't act. Although I have to say that she's much better on AudL than she was on GZSZ back in the day.

"Lena" underperformed from the very beginning, so the show was cancelled. From September 2010 to April 2011, it ran weekdays at 4 p.m., the remaining episodes are now shown at 10.30 a.m. The final episode (#180) will air next week.

"Alisa" and "Hanna" are basically the same show, they just changed their names once the main heroine was replaced The same happened with the "Wege zum Glück" franchise. While the main couples were usually replaced after one year, most of the other characters remained on the shows.

Here's a list of all German telenovelas in order of broadcast date:

"Bianca – Wege zum Glück", later "Julia – Wege zum Glück", then only "Wege zum Glück" – ZDF – November 2004 to February 2009

"Verliebt in Berlin" – Sat.1 – February 2005 to October 2007

"Sturm der Liebe" – September 2005 to present

"Sophie – Braut wider Willen" – ARD – November 2005 to March 2006

"Tessa – Leben für die Liebe" – ZDF – January 2006 to August 2006

"Lotta in Love" – Pro7 – March 2006 to August 2007 (the show was cancelled in July 2006 and the remaining episodes were only shown sporadically as filler material)

"Schmetterlinge im Bauch" – Sat.1 – August 2006 to February 2007

"Das Geheimnis meines Vaters" – ARD – August 2006 to November 2006

"Rote Rosen" – ARD – November 2006 to present

"Anna und die Liebe" – Sat.1 – August 2008 to present

"Alisa – Folge deinem Herzen", later "Hanna – Folge deinem Herzen" – ZDF – March 2009 to September 2010

"Lena – Liebe meines Lebens" – ZDF – September 2010 to June 2011

"Hand aufs Herz" – Sat.1 – October 2010 to present

"Hand aufs Herz" was develoved as a soap opera, but changed its format due to its weak ratings. On the other hand, "Alles was zählt" was originally develoved as a telenovela, but drifted away from this formula after a few weeks on the air.

This edition of BB is just crazy. Tim left the house voluntarily after two weeks, and Hedia was voted out at the first eviction. Barry moved in as Tim's replacement, Valencia's boyfriend Florian moved in as well, this week Jordan left the house voluntarily and René was evicted because of politically incorrect behavior. I guess two new housemates will enter tomorrow. Fabienne, Timmy, David, Valencia, Steve, Lisa and Rayo are all up for eviction this week. There is not one likeable person in the house, everyone is either stupid, bitchy or aggressive.

Yesterday the first "German Soap Awards" took place in Hamburg. It's something like the "Daytime Emmys", but it has more casual categories and the results were determined by internet voting. All cast members from the following soaps and telenovelas entered the competition: "Alles was zählt", "Anna und die Liebe", "Dahoam is Dahoam", "Eine wie keine" (cancelled), "Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten", "Hand aufs Herz", "Hanna – Folge deinem Herzen" (cancelled), "Herzflimmern - Die Klinik am See", "Lena – Liebe meines Lebens" (cancelled), "Marienhof", "Rote Rosen", "Sturm der Liebe", "Unter uns" and "Verbotene Liebe".

The winners are:

Best Soap Actor – Raul Richter as Dominik Gundlach (Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten)

Best Soap Actress – Anna-Katharina Samsel as Katja Bergmann (Alles was zählt)

Best Newcomer – Sebastian König as Maik Majewski (Anna und die Liebe)

Best Villain – Lee Rychter as David Darcy (Anna und die Liebe)

Best Telenovela Actor – Patrick Kalupa as Tom Lanford (Anna und die Liebe)

Best Telenovela Actress – Jeanette Biedermann as Anna Broda (Anna und die Liebe)

Best Couple – Jo Weil and Thore Schölermann as Oliver Sabel and Christian Mann (Verbotene Liebe)

Fan Favorite (Male) – Jo Weil as Oliver Sabel (Verbotene Liebe)

Fan Favorite (Female) – Lucy Scherer as Jenny Hartmann (Hand aufs Herz)

Sexiest Man – Jacob Weigert as Enrique Vegaz (Anna und die Liebe)

Sexiest Female – Jasmin Lord as Rebecca von Lahnstein (Verbotene Liebe)

I can't take these results seriously I guess a lot of teenagers voted for their favorites.

Tanja gave up murdering people a while ago LOL But she's still sneaky and evil. Clarissa is being played by her original portrayer Isa Jank.

The final episode (#4053) of "Marienhof" is going to be aired on June 15th, 2011.

This is the official synopsis:

"After Dino has been hit by a car, Stefano blames Constanze for the accident. Toni intervenes and tells them that Dino's condition has worsened. Everyone is worried for Dino's life...

Inge is shocked that she has indeed won a million euros in the lottery. Thorsten is angry that he overlooked the winning lottery ticket which was hidden in a flower bouquet. Olga find Thorsten's greed repelling and argues with him. In the meantime, Inge plans her future..."

Final contract cast:

Bye, bye "Marienhof"

I know it's not a soap, but yesterday Big Brother Germany 11 began. After various changes of concepts during the past seasons (seasons 1,2,3,7 and 9 more or less followed the classic formula, season 4 was BB: The Battle, season 5 was BB: One Year, season 6 was BB: The Village, season 8 was Rich vs. Poor, season 10 was BB: Two Houses), Big Brother 11 is BB: The Secret. Every contestant has a secret that the others must try to uncover. Unlike previous seasons, there are now several contestants in the house that have already participated in other reality shows or have been in the media before. The season will last 100 days.

The 15 contestants:

Joy Fleming certainly had a impressive set of pipes, didn't she?

Yes, she did – and still has. But she didn't even try to hide her awful Palatine dialect LOL. She should have sung in High German but the way she pronounces several words makes me cringe, especially the "s" sound.

My favorite German entry of all times is "Johnny Blue" from 1981.

Oh, and here's a mix of all 43 2011 entries, all meshed into one song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzBa_78Hjgc

Order: Lithuania - Slovakia - Belgium - Azerbaijan - Slovenia - Bosnia & Herzegovina - Iceland - United Kingdom - Ukraine - San Marino - Cyprus - Bulgaria - Albania - Netherlands - Spain - Portugal - Serbia - Malta - Poland - Romania - Germany - Ireland - Denmark - Greece - Finland - Moldova - Estonia - Russia - Turkey - Belarus - Switzerland - France - Hungary - Sweden - Austria - Macedonia - Italy - Norway - Israel - Georgia - Croatia - Latvia - Armenia

"Ein Lied kann eine Brücke sein" is still considered to be one of the best German entries to the Eurovision Song Contest On the big night, it only placed 17th though.

One of my favorite Icelandic entries which was kind of ground-breaking but also finished at a low place because the juries didn't like it:

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And the best Dutch entry ever:

Yes, Clarissa is a diva. She grew up in a poor family. At the age of ca. 20, she fell in love with Arno Brandner and gave birth to twins Jan and Julia. When she met Christoph Count von Anstetten, she saw her chance to finally get rich and married him. Clarissa abandoned Jan and left him with Arno, while she and Julia moved to the castle Friedenau. Julia grew up thinking she was Christoph's daughter.

Tanja also grew up in a poor family and first showed up during the show's premiere year. She took care of the horses of the von Anstetten family. Tanja had an affair with Jan, but also slept with Henning von Anstetten, Christoph's son, who she blackmailed with a fake pregnancy. That was the first time that Clarissa and Tanja clashed. When her lies were exposed, she left town.

A few months later, Christoph's brother Ben von Anstetten arrived on the castle, together with his new wife – Tanja. When Ben was murdered, Tanja was the main suspect, but she was innocent. Tanja then had an affair with Rajan, Ben's illegitimate son, who had inherited all of Ben's money. During a trip to India, Tanja murdered Rajan and then got all of the money for herself.

Tanja then kidnapped Clarissa because she wanted to take over Clarissa's business. She also had a short affair with Julia's ex-husband Tim Sander. However, Tim didn't really like Tanja and fell in love with Cleo Winter, a former prostitute. Cleo suspected that Tanja had something to do with Clarissa's kidnapping and investigated. She was duped by Tanja who forced her to commit suicide by slashing her wrists. Finally Clarissa was able to fight Tanja so that she had to flee town. Clarissa asked Tim to find and arrest Tanja. He tracked her down in Portugal, where she outsmarted him once again. Tim was later found dead with slashed wrists and Tanja had vanished without a trace.

In 2001, Tanja returned to town and pursued Henning once again, who at that time was supposed to get married to Marie von Beyenbach. Tanja faked a certificate to make Henning and Marie believe that they are siblings. Henning fell for Tanja and asked her to marry him, not knowning that she planned to kill him after the wedding in order to get the von Anstetten family fortune. Clarissa discovered her plan and hatched a plot to bring Tanja down. Tanja dressed up as Clarissa and shot Henning in front of a group of people. However, thanks to Clarissa's warning Henning wore a bulletproof jacket. Tanja was then arrested by the police but was able to escape. She dressed up as a stewardess and boarded Clarissa's plane to the Bahamas. She held Clarissa at gunpoint but then the plane crashed (see link above) and both women were declared dead.

In 2004, Tanja returned once again and never told anyone what happened to Clarissa. She found herself a place in the von Lahnstein family and married Ansgar von Lahnstein with whom she now has a son, Hannes. She was also confronted with her past as her mother Annegret arrived in town.

One can say that, apart from Jan and Julia, Tanja and Clarissa are the characters that shaped (and carried) the show the most.

This was Clarissa and Tanja's final scene in 2001 before they crashed with their plane:

Tanja: "The jungle is right below us. Nice view."

Clarissa: "Next time you fly across it, you'll hopefully be in police custody."

Tanja: "I wouldn't talk big if I were you."

Clarissa: "Then shoot me."

Tanja: "You can't hardly wait, can you? I'm sorry, but you have to wait just a little longer. (To the pilot) What do you want?"

Pilot: "There's a storm front lying ahead of us. That could become a problem."

Tanja: "So?"

Pilot: "You should fasten your seatbelt."

Tanja: "All right. Go back to the cockpit. (To Clarissa) Come on, buckle up."

Clarissa: "Do you really think you'll get through with this?"

Tanja: "You can do an awful lot with ten million."

Pilot: "Excuse me?"

Clarissa (has grabbed the gun): "The game's over, my dear! It's over for good!"

http://mediathek.daserste.de/sendungen_a-z/3280910_verbotene-liebe-extra/6884400_r-ckblick--clarissa-von-anstettens-letzte-szene

I think Olli had an affair with a woman (former recurring character Kitty) after his return in 2007. That must have been before he and Christian got together for the first time. I read that Kim takes a liking for Christian, but Rebecca is also still interested in him. However, Jasmin Lord (Rebecca) has already taped her final scenes and will leave the show this summer.

Jessica has always been a very unpopular character – mostly because she's some sort of replacement for Olivia Schneider (Kristina Dörfer), Olli's cousin, who was on the show from 2006 to 2009.

Stephan Käfer (Prince Philipp zu Hohenfelden) won't be a part of "Verbotene Liebe XL" and will depart the show on May 25th, when Philipp and his wife Nico (Verena Bonato) go on a world tour. Since Verena Bonato remains on contract, it can be assumed that Nico will return to the canvas alone later this year. Nico and Philipp were the major couple from 2010 to 2011, appearing first in the opening credits. However, their storyline did not appeal to the majority of fans.

The outline for Jan and Julia's return has also been made public: Julia (Nina Bott) lives on Mallorca with her husband Ricardo (Daniel Sellier) and their son Timo (Remo Schulze). Jan (Hubertus Grimm) is now a priest and has lived in Rome for many years. He then gets transferred to Mallorca where he meets Julia again. Clarissa (Isa Jank) spent the last 10 years in a South American prison. After her release, she wants to cope with her criminal past and begins to look for her two children, Jan and Julia. Arno (Konrad Krauss) goes to Mallorca to visit Julia who he hasn't seen in years. On the island he reunites with his early love Clarissa. When Clarissa learns that her archenemy Tanja (Miriam Lahnstein) is still alive and runs Clarissa's former business, she is furious and swears revenge...

You seriously like Billy? Whoa I thought he was one of the worst characters, together with Matt and Coop. The only time I found him tolerable was when he was with Brooke – but only because I loved Brooke.

Now that I think of it, the whole storyline with Billy, Brooke, Alison and Amanda in late season 3/early season 4 was very similar to Michael, Sydney, Jane and Kimberly in season 2. Billy (Michael) was in love with the mentally unstable Alison (Kimberly), but fell for the scheming Brooke (Sydney) who just wanted appreciation. Amanda (Jane) was the unfeeling bitch in that scenario who held a grudge against both Alison and Brooke.

Not only Kimberly overstayed her use. Matt should have been written out at the end of season 1 because there was just no use for him. The only thing I liked about him was his friendship with Michael. All his love interests were fugly – with the exception of that army guy in season 2 – and of course all his relationships ended badly. Billy and Alison should have left together at the end of season 4. Even though I loved Jake and Alison together, they were too isolated from everyone else in season 5.

Jake should have stayed until the very end. He was a very solid, down-to-earth character who had chemistry with everyone. Getting rid of "Shooters" and replacing it with a jazz club wasn't a great idea either. It was like they suddenly aged all the characters from their late 20s to mid 40s – ok, Amanda, Peter and Michael clearly looked like that at the end of the show. Megan also looked way older than she actually was. Jane was 22 when the show began and should have been 29 in the series finale, but she also looked at least 10 years older.

The contract cast of

Verbotene Liebe XL

Notes:

* Nina Bott's character Julia Mendes was previously played by Valerie Niehaus from 1995 to 1997.

* Hubertus Grimm's character Jan Brandner was previously played by Andreas Brucker from 1995 to 1997.

* Nicole Mieth's character Kim Wolf was previously played by Lisa Tomaschewsky from April to May 2011.

* Christoph Mory's character Hagen von Lahnstein was previously played by Tom Viehöfer from January to May 2011.

* Sebastian Schlemmer's character Sebastian von Lahnstein was previously played by Joscha Kiefer from 2007 to 2009.

Thanks for that list! In Croatia, Jan and Charlie had an affair? LOL Although Charlie in Germany also had a younger lover, David McNeal (played by Sam Eisenstein who's now Marian on AWZ).

VL's pendant to Igor Carevic would be Oliver Kopp but he wasn't a contract role and left the show pretty quickly. I don't think the Ljubo character existed on the German version although Florian and Anna had a mutual friend named Aki who was a punk.

Why are they bringing back characters from the incest story? Is that going to be resumed? I wonder why they didn't ask the original actors back.

As I mentioned, Jan and Julia were the first "forbidden love" and are still the most popular couple to have ever graced the show. Their original portrayers have since moved on and have found work in primetime and movies – something that most German soap actors can only dream of. However, Valerie Niehaus is proud that her former VL character is still popular with the audience. She doesn't have a problem with the role now being played by different actress because she won't ever return to daytime. She hopes that the writers can come up with a great storyline for Jan and Julia.

There are only a few soap actors who managed to become really famous. Most soap actors claim that they want to work outside of daytime after having vacated a role, but a few months later they appear on another soap or telenovela. The latest example is the new ZDF daytime drama "Herzflimmern – Die Klinik am See" (the first episode aired today at 4 pm). The cast consists of 18 key players – half of them have starred on a soap or telenovela before.

Have any fantasy stories ever been successful on German soaps? How did they wrap up the one you mentioned?

The answer would be no – and there were only a few of them. In 1996, GZSZ had a storyline that featured a magician who invented some kind of game that several key characters (Flo, Andy, Chrissie, Nico, Nataly etc.) took part in. It was called the "Octagon" storyline and was really bizarre. It all ended with Flo magically disappearing. Of course it was all a scheme by the magician because he wanted to steal Flo's medallion. Two years later the magician returned and blackmailed Vanessa Moreno with a porn tape LOL. In 1999, Unter uns had a storyline where the characters became aliens and constantly chewed green chewing-gum. It lasted one week and was then revealed as one character's dream.

In recent years, all soaps have dropped outrageous storylines and began focussing on romantic stories. This went hand and hand with the popularity of the first German telenovelas. I can't stand telenovelas and blame them for ruining the concept of daytime soaps. I enjoyed soaps when they were soaps and not some wishy-washy romance movie.

I've never been an avid viewer of VL, but I can try

The original cast of VL:

Arno Brandner (1995-present) - Jan, Susanne and Florian's father. Patriarch of the Brandner family. Was married to Iris, then romantically involved with Erika Sander who became a lesbian. Was married to Elisabeth Ryan Brandner von Lahnstein for several years. Currently single.

Iris Brandner (1995-1996) - Susanne and Florian's mother. Was married to Arno. After discovering that Arno had slept with Clarissa, she left the family. Had a new lover and became pregnant, then died of an infection.

Jan Brandner (1st actor: 1995-1997; 2nd actor: 2011-present) - Julia's twin brother and lover.

Susanne Brandner (1995-1997; 2005-2008) - Arno and Susanne's daughter. Left for Argentina in 1997. Returned in 2005, became a lesbian and married Carla von Lahnstein. The two of them wanted to have a baby so Susanne got pregnant by Lars Schneider. I don't know what exactly happened but Carla and Susanne eventually broke up and Susanne left town again in 2008.

Florian Brandner (1st actor: 1995-1996; 1997; 1998; 2nd actor: 2002-2004) - Youngest child of the Brandner family. Anna's boyfriend at the beginning of the show. Flees from the army. To escape a prison sentence, he leaves for Africa to do charity work. Returned in 2002, now a photographer. Married Isabell Mohr Brandner. Left for Italy in 2004.

Clarissa von Anstetten (1995-2001; 2011-present) - The villain and diva. Mother of Jan and Julia. Was married to Christoph von Anstetten. In later years, her proletarian past was exposed. Allegedly died in a plane crash.

Christoph von Anstetten (1995-2000) - Henning's father and Clarissa's husband. Later married Barbara von Sterneck. Had an affair with his son's wife Carolin who became pregnant. Was driven into suicide by Clarissa.

Julia von Anstetten, later Julia Sander (1st actress: 1995-1997; 2nd actress: 2011-present) - Jan's twin sister and lover.

Henning von Anstetten (1st actor: 1995-1996; 2nd actor: 1998-1999; 3rd actor: 1999-2002) - Christoph's son. Was involved with Sophie, then disappeared. Returned and married Carolin Mohr who then had an affair with his father. From 2000-2002 Henning was the key player along with his "forbidden love" Marie von Beyenbach. Tanja von Anstetten wanted to marry Henning and fooled him and Marie into believing that they were siblings. Eventually Tanja's lies were exposed and Marie and Henning planned their wedding. On their wedding day, Henning argued with Marie's ex-boyfriend Mark. During the struggle, Henning fell off a tower and died.

Barbara von Sterneck, later Barbara von Anstetten (1st actress: 1995; 2nd actress: 1995-1999) - Gero and Kati's mother. Clarissa's nemesis. Married Christoph. Was taken hostage by a psychopath. Moved to Singapore.

Gero von Sterneck (1st actor: 1995; 2nd actor: 1995-1997; 1999*) - Barbara's son and Kati's brother. Was engaged to Julia, then became gay. Left for New York. Returned and became a pill-addict. Left town again.

Kati von Sterneck (1st actress: 1995; 2nd actress: 1995-2001*) - Teenage daughter of Barbara. Spoiled brat. Accused Christoph of sexual harrassment. Later became down-to-earth and became the center of the younger crowd. Lost her lover in a plane crash. Eventually followed her mother to Singapore.

Sophie Levinsky (1995-1997*) - Former prostitute. Waitress at the "No Limits". Was involved with Henning and in a triangle with Gero and his bisexual boyfriend. Left for New York.

Fiona Beckmann (1995-1996) - Owner of the "No Limits" café. Knows the truth about Jan and Julia. Left town. Died off-screen.

Anna Konrad (1995-1997) - Florian's girl friend at the beginning of the show. She later fell in love with her teacher and left town with him.

Charlie Schneider (1995-present) - Clarissa's best friend and a socialite. Later, she became Clarissa's enemy. Owns her own restaurant.

* Kati, Gero and Sophie appeared as guest stars during the 10th anniversary episodes in January 2005 along with other former cast members.

You're right – they could be sisters (or at least distant cousins ). Although Caroline looks a bit too nice. Clarissa always wore outrageous clothes and hats and was clearly inspired by Joan Collins.

Is the Croatian version still on the air?

The "Jonas is now a ghost and finds a new lover for Anna" storyline was scrapped because the audience felt that it was plain stupid. Surrealism has never worked on our soap operas.

On VL, Nina Bott and Hubertus Grimm will play Julia von Anstetten and Jan Brandner – recasts of the very first "forbidden love". The twins who fell in love with each other were played by Valerie Niehaus and Andreas Brucker during the first two years of the daily soap. In 1997, Julia disappeared during a vacation with Jan and allegedly drowned in the Mediterranean Sea. A few months later Jan received a letter from Julia, asking him to live with her in Spain. However, Jan left town with his new girlfriend in October 1997.

Returning to the canvas is Isa Jank as Clarissa von Anstetten, Jan and Julia's birth mother. Clarissa was last seen in 2001 when she boarded a plane to go on vacation. Her nemesis Tanja von Anstetten disguised as a stewardess and held Clarissa at gunpoint. Then the plane crashed. While Tanja returned in 2004 and has remained a key player ever since, Clarissa's fate had never been resolved – until now. From 2005 to 2008, Jank starred as Annabelle van Weyden Gravenberg in the telenovela "Wege zum Glück" where she acted opposite Hubertus Grimm.

Valerie Niehaus, Andreas Brucker and Isa Jank

Nina Bott, best known for her work as Cora Hinze-Moreno on GZSZ from 1997-2005 and Celine Laffort on AWZ from 2008-2010, has joined VL in a yet unnamed contract role. Apparently, she will play a huge part in the upcoming Mallorca storyline. Her male counterpart will be portrayed by Hubertus Grimm who previously starred in the telenovela "Wege zum Glück".

Both "Anna und die Liebe" and "Hand aufs Herz" are also suffering from low ratings these days so cancelation may come sooner than expected. The latest ZDF telenovela "Lena – Liebe meines Lebens" has already stopped production.

Btw, I edited the first page of this topic again LOL. I included a list of all contract actors for GZSZ, UU and AWZ from the very beginning.

I updated the cast pictures on the first page and included "notable previous performers" for all three soaps.

Yes, I was surprised. But I also never imagined that "Marienhof" would get cancelled so soon. So the expansion of VL was basically the only choice the ARD could make because they don't have anything else to replace "Marienhof".

All of the soaps are struggling these days, ratings are going downhill, and "Unter uns" has even closed down production for several weeks twice a year since 2009 to cut costs – one long break during the summer months, and one long break during the winter months. In return, they tightened their schedule and now film a lot of episodes in advance so that the show can still run during the whole year. For example, episodes that were shot in December 2010 before the winter break will air in April 2011.

I guess all soaps cover similar storylines every once in a while

Apparently VL will soon split their storylines once the show gets extended to 40 minutes. One part of the show will still be filmed and take place in Cologne, while the other half will be filmed and take place on the Spanish island of Mallorca (in the Mediterranean Sea). Several new cast members have been cast, and two newcomers have already have been replaced by new actors.

its selling well... current itunes charts for download songs-

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.

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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.