Huntress

I've always wondered if there's an accurate and reliable list of first and last airdates for all of B&B's contract cast members since its debut episode. There's a lot of contradicting information floating around on various websites.
Since complete closing credits are rare, it's also a challenge to find out when performer XYZ was dropped to recurring. In addition, actors might have been dropped to recurring weeks after their last on-screen appearance.

From what I compiled from the official Youtube uploads, these contract changes occured during B&B's first year.
Note: There are only full closing credits in every fifth or sixth episode.

Episode 1:

• Judith Baldwin – Beth Logan
• Susan Flannery – Stephanie Forrester
• Joanna Johnson – Caroline Spencer
• Lauren Koslow – Margo Lynley
• Katherine Kelly Lang – Brooke Logan
• John McCook – Eric Forrester
• Carrie Mitchum – Donna Logan
• Ronn Moss – Ridge Forrester
• Clayton Norcross – Thorne Forrester
• Nancy Sloan – Katie Logan
• Stephen Shortridge – Dave Reed
• Jim Storm – Bill Spencer
• Ethan Wayne – Storm Logan

Episode 7:

• Bryan Genesse – Rocco Carner (added)
• Teri Ann Linn – Kristen Forrester (added)

Episode 52:

• Judith Baldwin – Beth Logan (removed)
• Nancy Burnett – Beth Logan (added)

Episode 89:

• Michael Philip – Mark Mallory (added)

Episode 183:

• Daniel McVicar – Clarke Garrison (added)

Episode 204:

• Michael Philip – Mark Mallory (removed)
• Stephen Shortridge – Dave Reed (removed)

Episode 263:

• Robert Pine – Stephen Logan (added)

Episode 269:

• Allan Hayes – Nick Preston (added)

Episode 372:

• Nancy Burnett – Beth Logan (removed)
• Robert Pine – Stephen Logan (removed)

I think pairing up John and Laura was a good idea – they are both rebels, and since John's brother Philip used to date Laura, there's enough conflict to build on.

There's already a short promo for GZSZ's 30th anniversary. The slogan is "Unterschätze niemals einen Gerner" (= "Never underestimate [Jo] Gerner"]. Gerner's arch nemesis Linostrami is back in the picture, Miro has been revealed as Linostrami's daughter, and Kian is secretly working for Linostrami, so I guess a lot of characters will be involved in the big showdown. Hopefully there'll be some casualties.

Meanwhile, GZSZ's latest spin-off focusing "Leon – Glaub nicht alles, was du siehst" will be made available on RTL+ on February 15th, 2022. The streaming series consists of 8 episodes and stars veteran cast member Daniel Fehlow in the title role. In the spin-off's storyline, Leon leaves Berlin and moves to the Baltic Sea where he wants to start a new life with his son Oskar. Also returning is former GZSZ star Susan Sideropoulos who plays a double role: She appears as the late Verena, Leon's ex-wife, and her look-alike Sarah. A different cut of the series will air as a two-hour movie on the same day on RTL, right after GZSZ.

Bajan Linostrami Is Back

John & Laura: No Use for Emotions?

Last Week on GZSZ: Lovesickness

This Week on GZSZ: Will You Marry Me?

New Outtakes

Some new outtakes:

Last week on GZSZ: Confusing Emotions
Miriam actually gave her boyfriend Luis the permission to sleep with another guy  "If the thought turns you on, just try it!"

This week on GZSZ: The Last Resort

Here's the 3rd version of GZSZ's updated opening:

2022.1/C: "Jo"
Order: Wolfgang Bahro as Jo Gerner – Ulrike Frank as Katrin Flemming – Jan Kittmann as Tobias Evers – Berlin, Alexanderplatz – Charlott Reschke as Johanna Flemming – Thomas Drechsel as Max "Tuner" Krüger – Berlin, Brandenburg Gate – Timur Ülker as Nihat Güney – Iris Mareike Steen as Lilly Seefeld – Chryssanthi Kavazi as Laura Lehmann – Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten

Surprisingly, Johanna has been added which probably means that she has eventually become a contract role. In turn, Leon has been removed, and Miriam is missing.

–––

Meanwhile, Moritz and Luis had their first kiss.

–––

Episode Counts: 2021

GZSZ

Total episodes: 251

01. Gisa Zach (Yvonne Bode) : 174
02. Ulrike Frank (Katrin Flemming) : 165
03. Wolfgang Bahro (Dr. Jo Gerner) : 162
04. Iris Mareike Steen (Lilly Seefeld) : 159
05. Lennart Borchert (Moritz Bode) : 149
06. Maria Wedig (Nina Klee) : 142
07. Anne Menden (Emily Wiedmann) : 136
08. Vildan Cirpan (Dr. Nazan Akinci) : 135
09. Chryssanthi Kavazi (Laura Lehmann) : 135
10. Felix von Jascheroff (John Bachmann) : 129
11. Timur Ülker (Nihat Güney) : 127
12. Jan Kittmann (Tobias Evers) : 125
13. Eva Mona Rodekirchen (Maren Seefeld) : 120
14. Felix van Deventer (Jonas Seefeld) : 115
15. Thomas Drechsel (Max "Tuner" Krüger) : 112
16. Olivia Marei (Toni Ahrens) : 108
17. Valentina Pahde (Sunny Richter) : 107
18. Jörn Schlönvoigt (Dr. Philip Höfer) : 103
19. Patrick Heinrich (Erik Fritsche) : 100
20. Daniel Fehlow (Leon Moreno) : 94
21. Thaddäus Meilinger (Felix Lehmann) : 89
22. Niklas Osterloh (Paul Wiedmann) : 72
23. Charlott Reschke (Johanna Flemming) : 42
*** Diana Staehly (Melanie Evers) : 42
25. Sara Fuchs (Miriam Behnke) : 38
*** Marc Weinmann (Luis Ahrens) : 38
27. Lars Pape (Michael "Michi" Bode) : 31
28. Zoé Bailieu (Kate Wiedmann) : 28
29. Stella Denis-Winkler (Svenja Steiner) : 27
30. Ronja Herberich (Merle Kramer) : 25
31. Nassim Avat (Kian Dawalu) : 19
*** Lennart König (Fabio Beck) : 19
*** Birgit Würz (Patrizia Araya) : 19
34. Benjamin Trinks (Bastian Münzer) : 18
35. Joana Schümer (Rosa Lehmann) : 17

AWZ

Total episodes: 253

01. Matthias Brüggenolte (Justus Albrecht) : 181
02. Julia Wiedemann (Lucie Ziegler) : 179
03. Christopher Kohn (Dr. Finn Albrecht) : 177
04. Alexandra Fonsatti (Chiara Nadolny) : 174
05. Tatjana Clasing (Simone Steinkamp) : 170
06. Igor Dolgatschew (Deniz Öztürk) : 166
07. Jasmin Minz (Kim Bremer) : 162
08. Dominik Flade (Yannick Ziegler) : 160
09. Jörg Rohde (Ben Steinkamp) : 159
10. Silvan-Pierre Leirich (Richard Steinkamp) : 155
11. Ania Niedieck (Isabelle Reichenbach) : 150
12. Sam Eisenstein (Marian Öztürk) : 147
13. Berrit Arnold (Daniela Bremer) : 145
14. Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen (Jenny Steinkamp) : 144
15. Lisandra Bardél (Malu Santos-Albrecht) : 142
16. Suri Abbassi (Leyla Öztürk) : 133
17. Franziska van der Heide (Ina Ziegler) : 130
18. Tijan Njie (Moritz Brunner) : 129
*** Cheyenne Pahde (Marie Schmidt) : 129
20. Lars Korten (Christoph Lukowski) : 88
21. Francisco Medina (Maximilian von Altenburg) : 66
22. Julia Augustin (Dr. Vanessa Steinkamp Lukowski) : 64
23. Amrei Haardt (Nathalie Reichenbach von Altenburg) : 61
24. Barbara Prakopenka (Greta Voss) : 47
25. Folke Paulsen (Georg Albrecht) : 27
26. Stefan Bockelmann (Henning Ziegler) : 24
27. Ingeborg Brings (Frau Renate Scholz) : 20
*** Hannes Schmid (Kai Löwenau) : 20
29. Felix Gibert (Henry Steinkamp) : 19
*** Sina-Valeska Jung (Caroline Albrecht) : 19
31. Julius Robin Weigel (Bastian Zwinger) : 17
32. Mia Ermel (Annabelle Steinkamp) : 2

UU

Total episodes: 253

01. Patrick Müller (Tobias Lassner) : 185
02. Isabell Hertel (Ute Kiefer) : 183
03. Valea Katharina Scalabrino (Sina Hirschberger) : 180
04. Jens Hajek (Benedikt Huber) : 178
05. Benjamin Heinrich (Benno "Bambi" Hirschberger) : 176
06. Isabelle Geiss (Nika Färber) : 173
07. Milos Vukovic (Paco Weigel) : 168
08. Yannik Meyer (Conor Weigel) : 167
09. Constantin Lücke (Till Weigel) : 164
10. Sharon Sophie Berlinghoff (Vivien Köhler) : 163
11. Timothy Boldt (Ringo Beckmann) : 153
12. Lars Steinhöfel (Ingo "Easy" Winter) : 145
13. Alexander Milo (Jakob Huber) : 144
14. Jan Ammann (Chris Weigel) : 134
15. Nina Weisz (Corinna Weigel) : 132
16. Tabea Heynig (Britta Schönfeld) : 129
17. Claudelle Deckert (Eva Wagner) : 128
18. Luca Maric (Robert Küpper) : 126
19. Isabel Vollmer (Monika Huber) : 125
20. Jakob Graf (Luke Färber) : 122
21. Carina Koller (Cecilia Weigel) : 110
22. Akeem van Flodrop (Theo Wolters) : 84
23. Paul Eilert (Julius Engel) : 63
24. Sophia Gül (Amelie Hirschberger) : 55
25. Jashan Gupta (Matteo Weigel) : 48
26. Ramon Ademes (Roger Schmitz) : 34
27. Lea Ermel (Maja Kiefer ) : 33
28. Mirja du Mont (Mareike Ott) : 30
*** Antonia Michalsky (Saskia Weigel) : 30
30. Andrea Brix (Roswitha Küpper-Pütz) : 26
31. Finn Luca Cramer (Noah Weigel) : 24
*** Lena Klöber (Sarah Fuchs) : 24
33. Josephine Becker (Leni Weigel) : 21
34. Jonathan Elias Weiske (Sebastian Hoffmann) : 18
35. Stefano Ligorio (Gianni Aurino) : 17
36. Lara Lena Picks (Zoe Ott) : 14

Albania 2022: Ronela Hajati / "Sekret"

1 hour ago, FrenchBug82 said:

Not in French, it doesn't. It is a very condescending word for homeless people. 
So weird.

Well, I know that the motive of the "clochard" was used in a romanticized meaning in a few old French films and novels.

This is a description I found (translated from German to English):

Quote

As a derogatory term for the homeless, the term "clochard" is used less and less in French these days. Yet at the same time it still exudes the odor of the romantic tramp who lives under the Seine bridges in Paris and in the city of love, another cliché that has turned its back on bourgeois existence. There are conflicting theories about the origin of the word: Either it is derived from the verb "clocher" (to limp) or from "cloche", the bell after which the beggars were allowed to pick up what fell on the market was. Popular culture sometimes glorifies the clochard as a life artist, he appears in films as in literature. The writer Georges Simenon once said that he felt "the state of the clochard is almost an ideal state", because the clochard is a "more perfect person". Not all of the estimated 3,600 homeless people in Paris share this feeling of grandeur. Some of them are visibly annoyed at how quickly the millions of euros they need can be raised to give a church (= Notre Dame) a roof that they have been missing for a long time.

9 hours ago, FrenchBug82 said:

OK This may not be new but I just got this recommended to me on YT and my question is:

Do the Greek folks who hired KKL to advertise their perfume know that the name they gave to it - "Clochard" - mean "Streetbum" in French?

"Clochard" was an internationally sold perfume brand, probably first sold in the 1980s and discontinued in the 1990s  It was apparently quite expensive.
There is also a Swiss jeans brand named "Clochard" and a Belgian men's grooming brand "Clochard Deluxe".

I don't think the word has a pure negative connotation – nowadays, it has more of a romanticized and mystical meaning.

After 3 years, GZSZ finally managed to update its openings.

So far, 2 new versions have been released. From 2017 to 2019, there were 3 different versions ("Sunny", "Chris" and "Emily"), but the 3rd version was taken out of rotation after several cast members had left.

2022.1/A: "Sunny"
Order: Valentina Pahde as Sunny Richter – Ulrike Frank as Katrin Flemming – Wolfgang Bahro as Jo Gerner – Gisa Zach as Yvonne Bode – Berlin, Alexanderplatz – Jörn Schlönvoigt as Philip Höfer & Felix von Jascheroff as John Bachmann – Marc Weinmann as Luis Ahrens – Berlin, Brandenburg Gate – Olivia Marei as Toni Ahrens – Maria Wedig as Nina Klee – Berlin Subway – Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten

2022.1/B: "Emily"
Order: Anne Menden as Emily Wiedmann – Patrick Heinrich as Erik Fritsche – Eva Mona Rodekirchen as Maren Seefeld – Berlin, Alexanderplatz – Felix van Deventer as Jonas Seefeld & Niklas Osterloh as Paul Wiedmann – Vildan Cirpan as Nazan Akinci – Berlin, Brandenburg Gate – Nassim Avat as Kian Dawalu – Lennart Borchert as Moritz Bode – Berlin Subway – Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten

There should be a 3rd version featuring Tuner, Leon, Miro, Laura, Tobias, Nihat and Lilly.

The year 2021 ends with Luis and Moritz lusting for each other, Emily and Paul's marriage on the rocks, and Yvonne coping with her blindness ... "Happy f*cking new year," as Paul says.

Meanwhile, Armenia won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2021 which took place in Paris, France. This was Armenia's second win.

Recap of all the songs:

The winning song:

On 12/14/2021 at 2:42 PM, AMCOLTLLover said:

The new storyline of Gerner and Yvonne on Gzsz is the most boring Gerner story in that shows history. 

The whole show is quite boring right now. New insta-couple Nazan and Kian have absolutely zero chemistry, I hate that Paul (of all people) cheated on Emily, and most characters are just floating around.

However, they are bringing back Gerner's nemesis Linostrami – the one who kidnapped his long deceased sons Dominick and Patrick back in 2011 (?) – and apparently Miro is Linostrami's daughter.

This Week on GZSZ: Jo says Goodbye to his loved ones

The GZSZ Christmas Song 
Quite surprising that they used some old footage in that video with characters like Shirin, Alex and even Elena (who left in 2017) appearing.

–––

Cast Changes in 2021

GZSZ

Contract arrivals:
Marc Weinmann as Luis Ahrens #2 (September 2021-present)
Sara Fuchs as Miriam "Miro" Behnke (September 2021-present)
Nassim Avat as Kian Dawalu (November 2021-present)

Contract departures:
Ronja Herberich as Merle Kramer (2020-April 2021)
Thaddäus Meilinger als Felix Lehmann (2016-September 2021)

AWZ

Contract arrivals:
Suri Abbassi as Leyla Öztürk (January 2021-present)
Amrei Haardt as Nathalie Reichenbach von Altenburg (2019-2020; June 2021-present)
Francisco Medina as Maximilian von Altenburg (2007-2013; 2014-2015; 2017; 2018; 2019; 2020; June 2021-present)
Berrit Arnold as Daniela Bremer (September 2021-present; recurring previously)
Stefan Bockelmann as Henning Ziegler (November 2021-present)
Sina-Valeska Jung as Caroline Albrecht (November 2021-present)

Contract departures:
Julia Augustin as Dr. Vanessa Steinkamp Lukowski (2006-2009; 2010-2012; 2013; 2014-September 2021)
Lars Korten as Christoph Lukowski (2015-September 2021)
Cheyenne Pahde as Marie Schmidt #2 (2016-October 2021 – sabbatical)
Franziska van der Heide as Ina Ziegler (2020-November 2021 – maternity leave)
Sam Eisenstein as Marian Öztürk (2006-November 2021)
Tijan Njie as Moritz Brunner (2019-December 2021; recurring previously)

UU

Contract arrivals:
Jan Ammann as Chris Weigel #2 (March 2021-present)
Nina Weisz as Corinna Bach Weigel #2 (March 2021-present)
Carina Koller as Cecilia Weigel (March 2021-present)

Contract departures:
Antonia Michalsky as Saskia Weigel Huber (2017-March 2021)
Andrea Brix as Roswitha Küpper-Pütz (2016-März 2021; recurring previously)
Josephine Becker as Leni Schäfer (2019-February 2021; guest appearances afterwards)
Jakob Graf as Luke Färber (2019-September 2021; guest appearances afterwards)
Jashan Gupta as Matteo Weigel (March 2021-October 2021; guest appearances afterwards)

–––

Meanwhile, the "Verbotene Liebe" reboot/continuation which was produced for TVNOW (now rebranded as RTL+) in 2020 will most probably not continue. The 1st and only season consisted of 10 episodes.

On 11/27/2021 at 11:29 PM, AMCOLTLLover said:

But like I said it‘s no big loss coz his character didn’t add much to the show anymore anyway

In that regard I totally agree with you  In the first year of the show, I kind of liked him and Nadja together, and the early Marian/Deniz family stuff was also quite good. I don't remember much about the Marian/Jenny pairing when that Austrian actress was in the role. But as you said, once they paired him with Lena, they became the "talk-to" couple for years.

Meanwhile, both ARD telenovelas "Sturm der Liebe" and "Rote Rosen" have been renewed for another year, meaning they'll run until 2023. Both shows were rumoured to get cancelled.

On UU, former contract stars Jakob Graf (Luke Färber), Josephine Becker (Leni Weigel) and Aaron Koszuta (Valentin Huber) will make guest appearances this month. In early 2022, there's going to be another "event week": The promo says "They booked a family vacation – and they received a nightmare." Former "Germany's Next Top Model" contestant and actress Larissa Marolt will appear during the event week. There are rumours that she could be a Fiona recast. Fiona is Rolf's daughter who faked her own death in 2016.

–––

Last week on GZSZ: "Under Observation"

This Week on GZSZ: "The Consequences of Cheating"

New Outtakes:

–––

Episode Counts November 2021

GZSZ
Total episodes: 22

01. Wolfgang Bahro (Dr. Jo Gerner): 18
02. Valentina Pahde (Sunny Richter): 17
03. Ulrike Frank (Katrin Flemming): 14
*** Patrick Heinrich (Erik Fritsche): 14
*** Marc Weinmann (Luis Ahrens): 14
06. Sara Fuchs (Miriam Behnke): 13
*** Jan Kittmann (Tobias Evers): 13
*** Gisa Zach (Yvonne Bode): 13
09. Timur Ülker (Nihat Güney): 12
*** Maria Wedig (Nina Klee): 12
11. Felix van Deventer (Jonas Seefeld): 11
*** Anne Menden (Emily Wiedmann): 11
*** Eva Mona Rodekirchen (Maren Seefeld): 11
14. Olivia Marei (Toni Ahrens): 10
15. Thomas Drechsel (Max "Tuner" Krüger): 9
*** Vildan Cirpan (Dr. Nazan Akinci): 9
*** Iris Mareike Steen (Lilly Seefeld): 9
18. Nassim Avat (Kian Dawalu): 7
*** Lennart Borchert (Moritz Bode): 7
*** Charlott Reschke (Johanna Flemming): 7
21. Zoé Bailieu (Kate Wiedmann): 6
22. Felix von Jascheroff (John Bachmann): 5
23. Niklas Osterloh (Paul Wiedmann): 4
24. Tamer Arslan (Murat Cetin): 3
25. Chryssanthi Kavazi (Laura Lehmann): 2
*** Joana Schümer (Rosa Lehmann): 2

Yearly Top 5 so far:

01. Gisa Zach (Yvonne Bode): 154
02. Ulrike Frank (Katrin Flemming): 148
03. Wolfgang Bahro (Dr. Jo Gerner): 147
*** Iris Mareike Steen (Lilly Seefeld): 147
05. Lennart Borchert (Moritz Bode): 131
*** Maria Wedig (Nina Klee): 131

AWZ
Total episodes: 22

01. Christopher Kohn (Dr. Finn Albrecht): 19
02. Matthias Brüggenolte (Justus Albrecht): 18
*** Silvan-Pierre Leirich (Richard Steinkamp): 18
04. Jasmin Minz (Kim Bremer): 17
*** Ania Niedieck (Isabelle Reichenbach): 17
06. Berrit Arnold (Daniela Bremer): 16
*** Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen (Jenny Steinkamp): 16
08. Tatjana Clasing (Simone Steinkamp): 15
*** Francisco Medina (Maximilian von Altenburg): 15
10. Stefan Bockelmann (Henning Ziegler): 14
*** Sam Eisenstein (Marian Öztürk): 14
*** Dominik Flade (Yannick Ziegler): 14
13. Suri Abbassi (Leyla Öztürk): 12
*** Lisandra Bardél (Malu Santos): 12
*** Julia Wiedemann (Lucie Ziegler): 12
16. Alexandra Fonsatti (Chiara Nadolny): 11
*** Jörg Rohde (Ben Steinkamp): 11
18. Sina-Valeska Jung (Caroline Albrecht): 5
19. Igor Dolgatschew (Deniz Öztürk): 3
*** Amrei Haardt (Nathalie Reichenbach): 3
*** Tijan Njie (Moritz Brunner): 3
22. Franziska van der Heide (Ina Ziegler): 2
23. Cheyenne Pahde (Marie Schmidt): 0

Yearly Top 5 so far:

01. Matthias Brüggenolte (Justus Albrecht): 168
02. Julia Wiedemann (Lucie Ziegler): 164
03. Tatjana Clasing (Simone Steinkamp): 157
04. Christopher Kohn (Dr. Finn Albrecht): 155
05. Alexandra Fonsatti (Chiara Nadolny): 152

UU
Total episodes: 22

01. Valea Katharina Scalabrino (Sina Hirschberger): 19
02. Isabell Hertel (Ute Kiefer): 18
03. Nina Weisz (Corinna Weigel): 17
04. Benjamin Heinrich (Benno "Bambi" Hirschberger): 16
05. Jens Hajek (Benedikt Huber): 15
*** Milos Vukovic (Paco Weigel): 15
07. Sharon Berlinghoff (Vivien Köhler): 14
*** Claudelle Deckert (Eva Wagner): 14
*** Patrick Müller (Tobias Lassner): 14
10. Tabea Heynig (Britta Schönfeld): 13
*** Lars Steinhöfel (Ingo "Easy" Winter): 13
*** Isabel Vollmer (Monika Huber): 13
13. Jan Ammann (Chris Weigel): 12
*** Alexander Milo (Jakob Huber): 12
15. Mirja du Mont (Mareike Ott): 11
*** Carina Koller (Cecilia Weigel): 11
*** Luca Maric (Robert Küpper): 11
*** Yannik Meyer (Conor Weigel): 11
19. Constantin Lücke (Till Weigel): 10
*** Akeem van Flodrop (Theo Wolters): 10
21. Inka Lioba Bretschneider (Steffi Heindi/Sandra Heindi): 9
*** Isabelle Geiss (Nika Färber): 9
23. Timothy Boldt (Ringo Beckmann): 8
24. Lara Lena Picks (Zoe Ott): 7
25. Ramon Ademes (Roger Schmitz): 4
*** Paul Eilert (Julius Engel): 4
*** Nicolas Puschmann (Dr. Schilling): 4
28. Finn Luca Cramer (Noah Weigel): 3
29. Ilse deLange (as herself): 2
*** Sophia Gül (Amelie Hirschberger): 2
*** Jakob Graf (Luke Färber): 2
32. Lea Ermel (Maja Kiefer): 1
*** Jashan Gupta (Matteo Weigel): 1
*** Stefano Ligorio (Gianni Aurino): 1

Yearly Top 5 so far:

01. Patrick Müller (Tobias Lassner): 168
02. Isabell Hertel (Ute Kiefer): 167
03. Jens Hajek (Benedikt Huber): 165
04. Sharon Sophie Berlinghoff (Vivien Köhler): 163
05. Valea Katharina Scalabrino (Sina Hirschberger): 162

9 hours ago, AMCOLTLLover said:

Original Cast Member is a stretch.. He joined a few months later

No, Marian appeared in the show's first episode. He was Diana's boss at the courier service and was actually one of the first characters to be seen. A few weeks later, he was placed on contract. So I'd say he qualifies as an original cast member.

Of the original performers, only Simone and Richard are left.

So there's been some drama on AWZ: Sam Eisenstein (Marian Öztürk), one of the show's last original cast members, has been abruptly fired. His last airdate was this past Tuesday. In the show's storyline, Marian disappeared and only left a farewell letter behind. A press release commenting Sam's exit was not published until Tuesday: The original version included a quote by Sam which subtly criticized the production company. This version was withdrawn quickly. In the final version, his quote was removed entirely.

The drama apparently started with an instagram post by the actor, which was followed by a reaction by the production company. There are rumors that the AWZ set has become a toxic environment in recent months and that there's been some ugly incidents behind the scenes. Sam's co-stars are reportedly too frightened to speak about the matter.

Sam tagged his latest instagram post with #mobbing and similiar words.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CWqCrk2svd-/?hl=de

Austria is the first country worldwide to make vaccinations mandatory for the whole population.

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/19/europe/austria-national-lockdown-intl/index.html

Re: Austria: In some parts of the country, they have run out of intensive care beds – there's going to be a triage situation soon

The same could happen in some parts of Germany.

Germany will most likely introduce the "2G" rule next week. 2G means "Geimpft oder Genesen" = "Vaccinated or Recovered". If you're not vaccinated, you cannot enter restaurants, cinemas, theaters etc. anymore. In super crowded places like nightclubs, there's going to be the "2G+" rule, which means you have to have a fresh negative test in addition to being vaccinated.

The "3G" rule, which allowed unvaccinated people to take part in freetime activities with a negative test, will become obsolete in most places.

We have never had as many cases as we are having right now. Most people think that we all have to go into lockdown mode once again – even though politicians promised that this would never happen again. In the summer, they were all busy with their election campaigns and apparently forgot about Covid.

And of course society is getting more and more divided. Many anti-vaxxers compare the 2G rule to the Holocaust because their rights have been whittled away.

https://www.dw.com/en/germany-hits-new-infection-high-as-fourth-covid-wave-rages/a-59841856

https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-tightens-covid-19-rules-for-unvaccinated/a-59837846

Yes, that's her. Of course the hair color didn't match KKL's, but her facial features are similar, especially compared to late 80s KKL. Jennifer Finnigan had a thinner face and was quite pale, whereas Ashley Jones always looked like a doe with her big eyes. 

Adrienne Frantz (Amber) and Andrea Evans (Tawny) were believable as daughter/mother on B&B.

On the opposite, Jack Wagner and Lesley-Anne Down as son/mother were ridiculous. Nick also didn't look like Jackie and Massimo's son.

The short-term faux-Bridget who was in the role for a couple of months in 2004 looked more like a young Brooke than Jennifer Finnigan or Ashley Jones ever did.

KKL, Heather Tom and Jennifer Gareis don't look like sisters.

On Melrose Place, Josie Bissett and Laura Leighton were believable as sisters Jane and Sydney (even though Jane later turned out to be adopted).

In many European countries, the situation is getting out of control once again. Denmark had to introduce restrictions again after their freedom day, and some regions of the Netherlands have trouble coping with all the hospital admissions.

In Germany, not even 70 % of the population have been vaccinated. This means there are still more than 25 million people without protection. There are a lot of anti-vaxxers, especially in the eastern states and in Bavaria. The latter declared a state of emergency today because the hospitals have run out of intensive care beds. In one region, the 7-day incidence has risen to over 1100.

Politicians are of course helpless and they didn't see this fourth wave coming ...

Worst off is Saxony where the virus already ravaged the most last year.

https://www.dw.com/en/germany-in-saxony-the-long-covid-winter-has-already-begun/a-59767646

The media happily reports every breakthrough infection of "celebrities" so these anti-vaxxers feel vindicated in their decision to "swim against the stream", as they call it.

Not much going on at the moment except that GZSZ is introducing a new contract role: German-Israeli actor Nassim Avat debuts on November 12th, 2021, as Kian Dawalu, a charming and self-confident businessman. He is best-known for his main role on the primetime soap "Nachtschwestern" (Night Nurses) which ran for two seasons on RTL.

Last week on GZSZ: "A Race Against the Clock!"

Next week on GZSZ: "You Are a Great Kisser!"

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Episode Counts October 2021

GZSZ
Total Episodes: 21

01. Iris Mareike Steen (Lilly Seefeld) : 17
*** Timur Ülker (Nihat Güney) : 17
03. Wolfgang Bahro (Dr. Jo Gerner) : 15
*** Lennart Borchert (Moritz Bode) : 15
*** Ulrike Frank (Katrin Flemming) : 15
06. Valentina Pahde (Sunny Richter) : 14
07. Vildan Cirpan (Dr. Nazan Akinci) : 13
08. Sara Fuchs (Miriam Behnke) : 12
*** Maria Wedig (Nina Klee) : 12
10. Norbert Ghafouri (Prof. Dr. Lothar Degenhardt) : 11
*** Olivia Marei (Toni Ahrens) : 11
*** Marc Weinmann (Luis Ahrens) : 11
13. Anne Menden (Emily Wiedmann) : 10
14. Patrick Heinrich (Erik Fritsche) : 9
*** Felix von Jascheroff (John Bachmann) : 9
*** Gisa Zach (Yvonne Bode) : 9
17. Thomas Drechsel (Max "Tuner" Krüger) : 8
18. Chryssanthi Kavazi (Laura Lehmann) : 7
*** Charlott Reschke (Johanna Flemming) : 7
20. Felix van Deventer (Jonas Seefeld) : 6
*** Stella Denis-Winkler (Svenja Steiner) : 6
*** Jan Kittmann (Tobias Evers) : 6
*** Eva Mona Rodekirchen (Maren Seefeld) : 6
*** Jörn Schlönvoigt (Dr. Philip Höfer) : 6
25. Zoé Bailieu (Kate Wiedmann) : 4
26. Niklas Osterloh (Paul Wiedmann) : 0

Yearly Top 5 so far:

01. Gisa Zach (Yvonne Bode): 141
02. Iris Mareike Steen (Lilly Seefeld): 138
03. Ulrike Frank (Katrin Flemming): 134
04. Wolfgang Bahro (Dr. Jo Gerner): 129
05. Lennart Borchert (Moritz Bode): 124

AWZ
Total Episodes: 21

01. Suri Abbassi (Leyla Öztürk) : 19
02. Jasmin Minz (Kim Bremer) : 18
03. Jörg Rohde (Ben Steinkamp) : 17
04. Igor Dolgatschew (Deniz Öztürk) : 16
*** Amrei Haardt (Nathalie von Altenburg) : 16
06. Berrit Arnold (Daniela Bremer) : 15
*** Dominik Flade (Yannick Ziegler) : 15
*** Alexandra Fonsatti (Chiara Nadolny) : 15
*** Julia Wiedemann (Lucie Ziegler) : 15
10. Lisandra Bardél (Malu Santos) : 14
*** Francisco Medina (Maximilian von Altenburg) : 14
12. Sam Eisenstein (Marian Öztürk) : 13
13. Cheyenne Pahde (Marie Schmidt) : 12
14. Matthias Brüggenolte (Justus Albrecht) : 11
*** Tatjana Clasing (Simone Steinkamp) : 11
16. Christopher Kohn (Dr. Finn Albrecht) : 10
*** Ania Niedieck (Isabelle Reichenbach) : 10
18. Franziska van der Heide (Ina Ziegler) : 8
19. Tijan Njie (Moritz Brunner) : 5
*** Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen (Jenny Steinkamp) : 5
21. Ingeborg Brings (Frau Renate Scholz) : 2
*** Ivan Gallardo (Ninan Diaz) : 2
*** Jasmin Wagner aka "Blümchen" (Dr. Ines Bandura) : 2
24. Silvan-Pierre Leirich (Richard Steinkamp) : 1

Yearly Top 5 so far:

01. Julia Wiedemann (Lucie Ziegler): 152
02. Matthias Brüggenolte (Justus Albrecht): 150
03. Igor Dolgatschew (Deniz Öztürk): 145
04. Tatjana Clasing (Simone Steinkamp): 142
05. Alexandra Fonsatti (Chiara Nadolny): 141

UU
Total Episodes: 21

01. Sharon Berlinghoff (Vivien Köhler) : 17
*** Isabell Hertel (Ute Kiefer) : 17
*** Yannik Meyer (Conor Weigel) : 17
*** Patrick Müller (Tobias Lassner) : 17
*** Milos Vukovic (Paco Weigel) : 17
06. Jens Hajek (Benedikt Huber) : 16
07. Benjamin Heinrich (Benno "Bambi" Hirschberger) : 15
*** Carina Koller (Cecilia Weigel) : 15
09. Isabelle Geiss (Nika Färber) : 14
*** Constantin Lücke (Till Weigel) : 14
*** Lars Steinhöfel (Ingo "Easy" Winter) : 14
12. Timothy Boldt (Ringo Beckmann) : 13
13. Akeem van Flodrop (Theo Wolters) : 12
14. Jan Ammann (Chris Weigel) : 11
*** Valea Katharina Scalabrino (Sina Hirschberger) : 11
*** Nina Weisz (Corinna Weigel) : 11
17. Paul Eilert (Julius Engel) : 10
*** Luca Maric (Robert Küpper) : 10
19. Mirja du Mont (Mareike Ott) : 8
20. Isabel Vollmer (Monika Huber) : 6
21. Jashan Gupta (Matteo Weigel) : 5
*** Alexander Milo (Jakob Huber) : 5
23. Lea Ermel (Maja Kiefer ) : 4
*** Sophia Gül (Amelie Hirschberger) : 4
*** Tabea Heynig (Britta Schönfeld) : 4
*** Stefano Ligorio (Gianni Aurino) : 4
27. Ramon Ademes (Roger Schmitz) : 3
*** Claudelle Deckert (Eva Wagner) : 3
29. Finn Luca Cramer (Noah Weigel) : 1

Yearly Top 5 so far:

01. Patrick Müller (Tobias Lassner): 154
02. Isabelle Geiss (Nika Färber): 151
03. Jens Hajek (Benedikt Huber): 150
04. Sharon Berlinghoff (Vivien Köhler): 149
*** Isabell Hertel (Ute Kiefer): 149

41 countries will take part in the 2022 contest. All the countries that participated in 2021 will return – in addition, Armenia and Montenegro are back in the game. Both countries last participated in 2019, with both failing to qualify for the Grand Final.

1 hour ago, AMCOLTLLover said:

What??? GZSZ 1999 to 2001 was the worst? I love different opinions but that is some weird opinion. It was quiet the most popular time.

Yeah, you named the only stories of that time that could be considered good 

Leon's mob story and Gerner and Barbara driving Katja crazy with a zombie happened in early 1999, so I give you that.
Also, Anna's schizophrenia was a good storyline, with her three personalities and then killing her therapist. That also happened in the first half of 1999.
After that, it went downhill quickly.

The Barbara recast destroyed the character and pairing her with the equally bad Peter recast didn't help. To make things worse, they had this awful triangle going on with that Lara chick which lasted forever. IIRC, the actress playing Lara became a contract role before she was quietly dropped from one day to the next.
Xenia was a shrew, and the Bohlstädt family (Chris, Charlotte & Franziska) were duds, hence they were written off in 2000/2001. The actor playing Jan was godawful, and he and Charlotte didn't have the slightest chemistry.
Flo and Martin were simply boring. The only saving grace was Sonja constantly interfering in their love life.
The less I say about Kai, Marie, Moritz and Sandra, the better. I couldn't stand any of them.
Losing Nataly and Fabian was a mistake as I felt both still had enough ties to the canvas. AFAIK, the actress playing Nataly was fired because "her character's story had been told".
I don't remember Clemens, Elisabeth, Daniel or Jo having an important storyline during this time, either.

The only good addition during this period was Senta but it took some time until she had a good story.
Oh, and I forgot about Inka. Too bad she went psycho that quickly. Well, at least she shot Chris.

And re: the Teens – in the late 90s/early 00s, the show was targeted at a (mainly female) teenage audience, hence the monthly "Official GZSZ Magazine" with posters and beauty stuff, the official GZSZ CDs, singing soap actors, the official GZSZ perfume etc. I was a teenager back then as well, and a lot of people in my class watched GZSZ and the other soaps.
These days, GZSZ is mainly targeted at women in their 30s. That's why characters like Katrin, Nina, Yvonne and Maren and their love lifes have become the main focus. 4 women in their 40s/early 50s as lead characters wouldn't have been possible in the 90s since most characters were supposed to be younger than 30 back then (that many actors looked older is a different thing).

On 10/5/2021 at 9:14 PM, AMCOLTLLover said:

I am not really into those Spin-Off Shows but the Leon Moreno one that is coming is something i am interested in coz Susan Siederopolous as Verena Koch returns. She was one of the longest Cast Members back in the day and one of my favorites.

Apparently Susan will not be returning as the late Verena, but as a different character. She's probably a lookalike – or maybe Leon just wants to believe that she looks like Verena.

On 10/2/2021 at 9:44 PM, Skylover said:

@Huntress has Moritz done much this year? I don't know whether to tune in again.

Moritz did have a storyline and even a short-term boyfriend (Fabio, image below). After being gay-bashed, he wanted to fight back and started working out to gain physical strength. However, he got into some legal trouble (again).

Right now, they're slowly developing a triangle between Moritz, the Luis recast and Luis's girlfriend Miro (played by Sara Fuchs, another new contract role).

On 10/7/2021 at 2:28 PM, Aback said:

Hi!

I would love to start watching GZSZ but I desperately need German subtitles to watch it.

Can you confirm that the TvNow.De website is the only website where I can find the subtitled episodes? If you have any other tips, I'd love to hear that.

TVNOW (soon rebranded as RTL+) is the only website where you can legally watch GZSZ and the other soaps. RTL is very strict when it comes to their copyrighted material so they take everything else down quickly.
At least the subtitles on TVNOW are accurate – the auto-generated subtitles on youtube or other platforms are just horrible gibberish. None of the grammar makes sense.

Btw, TVNOW has almost finished uploading all episodes from 1998. So only the years 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 are still missing – everything else is complete. Out of these missing years, only the period between 2002 and 2003 was worth watching. 1999 to 2001 were probably the show's worst era because there was too much focus on the teenagers.

This week on GZSZ:

Last week on GZSZ:

Next week on GZSZ:

Episode Counts September 2021

GZSZ
Total episodes: 20

01. Valentina Pahde (Sunny Richter) : 18
02. Iris Mareike Steen (Lilly Seefeld) : 17
03. Wolfgang Bahro (Dr. Jo Gerner) : 16
04. Timur Ülker (Nihat Güney) : 15
05. Anne Menden (Emily Wiedmann) : 14
06. Felix von Jascheroff (John Bachmann) : 13
*** Gisa Zach (Yvonne Bode) : 13
08. Lennart Borchert (Moritz Bode) : 12
*** Patrick Heinrich (Erik Fritsche) : 12
10. Chryssanthi Kavazi (Laura Lehmann) : 11
*** Lennart König (Fabio Beck) : 11
*** Olivia Marei (Toni Ahrens) : 11
*** Jörn Schlönvoigt (Dr. Philip Höfer) : 11
14. Vildan Cirpan (Dr. Nazan Akinci) : 10
15. Thomas Drechsel (Max "Tuner" Krüger) : 9
*** Daniel Fehlow (Leon Moreno) : 9
17. Stella Denis-Winkler (Svenja Steiner) : 7
*** Ulrike Frank (Katrin Flemming) : 7
*** Jan Kittmann (Tobias Evers) : 7
20. Felix van Deventer (Jonas Seefeld) : 6
*** Charlott Reschke (Johanna Flemming) : 6
*** Maria Wedig (Nina Klee) : 6
23. Norbert Ghafouri (Prof. Dr. Lothar Degenhardt) : 5
*** Eva Mona Rodekirchen (Maren Seefeld) : 5
25. Marc Weinmann (Luis Ahrens) : 4
26. Christoph Moreno ("Jay" Lukas Ritter) : 2
*** Joana Schümer (Rosa Lehmann) : 2
28. Zoé Bailieu (Kate Wiedermann) : 1
*** Sara Fuchs (Miriam Behnke) : 1
*** Thaddäus Meilinger (Felix Lehmann) : 1

Yearly Top 5 so far:

01. Gisa Zach (Yvonne Bode) : 132
02. Iris Mareike Steen (Lilly Seefeld) : 121
03. Ulrike Frank (Katrin Flemming) : 119
04. Wolfgang Bahro (Dr. Jo Gerner) : 114
05. Lennart Borchert (Moritz Bode) : 109
*** Chryssanthi Kavazi (Laura Lehmann) : 109

AWZ
Total episodes: 22

01. Alexandra Fonsatti (Chiara Nadolny) : 21
02. Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen (Jenny Steinkamp) : 19
03. Jörg Rohde (Ben Steinkamp) : 18
04. Suri Abbassi (Leyla Öztürk) : 17
*** Igor Dolgatschew (Deniz Öztürk) : 17
06. Berrit Arnold (Daniela Bremer) : 15
*** Amrei Haardt (Nathalie Reichenbach) : 15
*** Jasmin Minz (Kim Bremer) : 15
*** Julia Wiedemann (Lucie Ziegler) : 15
10. Lisandra Bardél (Malu Santos) : 14
*** Matthias Brüggenolte (Justus Albrecht) : 14
*** Ania Niedieck (Isabelle Reichenbach) : 14
*** Tijan Njie (Moritz Brunner) : 14
*** Cheyenne Pahde (Marie Schmidt) : 14
*** Franziska van der Heide (Ina Ziegler) : 14
16. Tatjana Clasing (Simone Steinkamp) : 13
*** Dominik Flade (Yannick Ziegler) : 13
*** Silvan-Pierre Leirich (Richard Steinkamp) : 13
19. Sam Eisenstein (Marian Öztürk) : 11
20. Christopher Kohn (Dr. Finn Albrecht) : 10
21. Francisco Medina (Maximilian von Altenburg) : 9
22. Erol Sander (Frank Giese) : 6
*** Verena Zimmermann (Manuela Geroll) : 6
24. Ingeborg Brings (Frau Renate Scholz) : 5
*** Maurice Pawlewski (Marc Giese) : 5
26. Julia Augustin (Dr. Vanessa Steinkamp) : 3
27. Felix Gibert (Henry Steinkamp) : 2
*** Lars Korten (Christoph Lukowski) : 2

Yearly Top 5 so far:

01. Matthias Brüggenolte (Justus Albrecht) : 139
02. Julia Wiedemann (Lucie Ziegler) : 137
03. Tatjana Clasing (Simone Steinkamp) : 131
04. Igor Dolgatschew (Deniz Öztürk) : 129
05. Alexandra Fonsatti (Chiara Nadolny) : 126
*** Christopher Kohn (Dr. Finn Albrecht) : 126

UU
Total episodes: 22

01. Constantin Lücke (Till Weigel) : 19
02. Sharon Berlinghoff (Vivien Köhler) : 18
*** Yannik Meyer (Conor Weigel) : 18
*** Valea Katharina Scalabrino (Sina Hirschberger) : 18
05. Benjamin Heinrich (Benno "Bambi" Hirschberger) : 17
06. Claudelle Deckert (Eva Wagner) : 16
*** Patrick Müller (Tobias Lassner) : 16
08. Jan Ammann (Chris Weigel) : 15
*** Timothy Boldt (Ringo Beckmann) : 15
*** Isabelle Julie Geiss (Nika Färber) : 15
*** Jens Hajek (Benedikt Huber) : 15
*** Milos Vukovic (Paco Weigel) : 15
13. Isabell Hertel (Ute Kiefer) : 14
14. Tabea Heynig (Britta Schönfeld) : 11
*** Alexander Milo (Jakob Huber) : 11
16. Paul Eilert (Julius Engel) : 10
*** Carina Koller (Cecilia Weigel) : 10
*** Luca Maric (Robert Küpper) : 10
*** Nina Weisz (Corinna Weigel) : 10
20. Jakob Graf (Luke Färber) : 9
21. Isabel Vollmer (Monika Huber) : 7
22. Akeem van Flodrop (Theo Wolters) : 6
23. Ramon Ademes (Roger Schmitz) : 5
24. Lea Ermel (Maja Kiefer ) : 4
*** Sophia Gül (Amelie Hirschberger) : 4
*** Torsten Knippertz (Marius Popovic) : 4
*** Angelika Milster-Bauer (Hilde Müller) : 4
28. Jashan Gupta (Matteo Weigel) : 2
*** Lena Klöber (Sarah Fuchs) : 2
*** Lisa Küppers (Angelina Köhler) : 2
31. Stefano Ligorio (Gianni Aurino) : 1
*** Lars Steinhöfel (Ingo “Easy” Winter) : 1

Yearly Top 5 so far:

01. Patrick Müller (Tobias Lassner) : 142
02. Isabelle Julie Geiss (Nika Färber) : 137
03. Jens Hajek (Benedikt Huber) : 134
04. Sharon Sophie Berlinghoff (Vivien Köhler) : 132
*** Isabell Hertel (Ute Kiefer) : 132
*** Valea Katharina Scalabrino (Sina Hirschberger) : 132

Well, they are not forgotten – I just don't consider them typical "daily soaps".

ARD labels "Sturm der Liebe" and "Rote Rosen" as telenovelas. Even though they have been running continously since 2005 and 2006, respectively, they are produced in "cycles", i. e. the main couple is replaced after ~ 200 episodes. In addition, both shows clearly attract an older audience (there was a running gag that everytime "Sturm der Liebe" is pre-empted, there are riots in every nursing home across the country). Both shows are rumored to be cancelled after the next season because ARD wants to restructure their afternoon line-up and both shows are quite expensive to produce.

"Dahoam is Dahoam" only runs on ARD's Bavarian station BR and is very popular in the Southern states – but it does indeed have a strong local color and represents many clichés that people in other regions expect of Bavaria. (I'm from the Northwest and don't like the Bavarian dialect at all  ) I think they have a market share of 2 or 3 percent.

Yeah, this is going to be a tough race ... I don't want Laschet to become the next chancellor – simply because he is a clown and I can't take him seriously.

Well, at least right-wing AfD only managed to receive 10% of the vote.
In my city, they had their best results in the poorer suburbs where a lot of immigrants live – which doesn't really make sense.
The Greens won the city vote by a close shave.