Huntress

While it's not a soap per se ... I just started binge-watching "Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo" (We, the Children of Berlin Zoo Station), an Amazon Original. The series is based on the 1978 autobiographical book and 1981 movie of the same name (the English title is "Christiane F.") and follows the lives of teenagers Christiane, Stella, Babsi, Alex, Benno and Michi in West Berlin in the 1970s. They all come from broken homes and descend into a downward spiral with drugs, prostitution, rape, murder etc. The show is quite disturbing, but also very moving and it has some good acting.

 

 

I finished season 1 last night. While the show was definitely worth watching and the overall look is stunning, the story was a bit too thin and superficial for my taste.
We didn't even get to know half of the main characters and their backstories – which is no surprise because you can't write for 20 main and 10+ supporting characters in a span of 8 episodes.

 

I also find the casting quite off in some instances. With the exception of Anthony and Eloise, the Bridgerton children didn't hook my interest whatsoever because I just find them bland and soulless (yes, also Daphne). They were mostly only reacting to stuff that happened to other people. The Bridgerton mother is also quite expressionless. I know they are all supposed to be sweet, innocent and angel-like, but they could still have distinctive personalities. But maybe this will be fixed in the upcoming seasons.

 

My favorites were the aforementioned Anthony and Eloise, plus Penelope, Lady Featherington and Lady Danbury.

10 hours ago, Skylover said:

Sunny's annoying.

 

She'll be gone for another 3 months soon because the actress takes part in "Let's Dance" (German version of "Strictly Come Dancing") 

 

On 2/8/2021 at 5:36 PM, Forever8 said:

Sounds interesting!!! Are you glad to see them coming back? Was this character who I remember you putting up photos from back in the day coming back home to the apartment in the opening episode? 

 

I'm not sure yet because these two characters have been gone for so long ... they'll probably be two completely new people. However, a resurgence of the Weigel family is badly needed as they have always been the core family of the show.
And yes, Chris returned from the army in the show's opening episode.

 

These were the original portrayers Cecilia Kunz and Oliver Bootz ... they were pretty, flawless 90s people.

 

 

 

The new actors look more grounded and middle class. On the right is Chris's younger brother Till who received a recast as well last year.
BTW, the actor Constantin Lücke is openly gay and happily married.

However, Laura showed up on Beverly Hills, 90210 one year later, so I doubt that she and Spelling were on bad terms when she left Melrose Place. She was also reportedly one of the highest-paid television actors when she did her guest arc on 90210. I think she was just done with Melrose Place because they had stopped using Sydney efficiently. I remember one particular interview she did when season 4 premiered and she just looked so unhappy and tired.

Yes, the Sunny stuff happened in the spin-off "Sunny – Wer bist du wirklich?". They did a special flashback episode on GZSZ to summarize the events that happened on the spin-off.
Apparently, the spin-off was quite successful – I haven't watched it, though.

 

Meanwhile, UU is bringing back two characters from the distant past: Chris Weigel and his wife Corinna Weigel, née Bach. Both characters were part of the original cast back in November 1994. Played by Oliver Bootz and Cecilia Kunz, both Chris and Corinna were huge fan favorites.
Chris is the oldest son of Wolfgang and Irene Weigel (both deceased), the older brother of Till and Anna Weigel, the cousin of Paco Weigel, and half-brother to Rolf Jäger and Sina Uhland Hirschberger. At the beginning of the show, Chris was 19 years old and wanted to become a cop.
Corinna, a biology student, was one of the first residents in the attic apartment of Schillerallee 10 where she lived with her friends Jennifer Turner, Melanie Hoffmeister and Armin Franke. At the beginning of the show, Chris and Corinna were clearly interested in each other, but both turned to different partners. In the summer of 1997, however, they fell in love, and after some turmoil they left Cologne together to move to the Maledives where Corinna had found a research job.
At Christmas 1998, for the 1000th episode, Corinna returned for a brief guest appearance when the residents of Schillerallee 10 where held hostage by mobsters. In this difficult situation, Corinna gave birth to her and Chris's daughter Cäcilia. After that, Chris and Corinna hadn't been seen in over 22 years.

 

Now, the couple returns to Cologne to reunite with Chris's brother Till who's still living at Schillerallee 10.
Both characters have received a recast, though: Chris will now be played by Jan Ammann, and Corinna will be played by Nina Weisz. Joining them are their two children Cäcilia (played by Carina Koller) and Matteo (played by Jashan Gupta).

 

As the World Turns (known as Jung und leidenschaftlich), Search for Tomorrow (known as Henderson) and Texas also ran briefly in Germany in the late 80s/early 90s.

I think CTS, Heather, Laura Leighton and of course Marcia Cross were the best actors on the show and also had the most demanding scenes. Of the male actors, only Thomas Calabro was given enough material where he could shine. All the other male characters, perhaps except early Jake, were written as duds. 

 

I'd love to know which scenes resulted in Heather Locklear being nominated for a Golden Globe. I mean, she was nominated 4 times in a row between 94 and 97... Of course she was (and has always been) a talented actress, but I never thought she was great enough to be nominated for any award - especially for working on Melrose Place which wasn't critically acclaimed at all.

1 hour ago, carolineg said:

I thought they were all basically friends in the first season.

 

I'd say that Alison and Jake were the ones who held the "gang" together. Alison was friends with Jane and Jo; and Jake was friends with Matt, Billy, Alison, Jo, Sydney, Jane (with the women when they weren't dating). Matt and Michael had some sort of love-hate friendship, starting in season 2, but the show didn't really utilize it well enough IMO.
The others weren't really that close, for example Jane and Jo.

I never understood why Jane and Amanda were suddenly good friends in season 7, when they didn't really share much screentime in the earlier seasons – and when they did, Amanda usually treated Jane like an idiot.

 

It was similar on Beverly Hills, 90210. I never understood why Brenda and Kelly, Brenda and Andrea, Kelly and Andrea, or Steve and Dylan were considered close friends. Kelly and Brenda never were on an equal footing, there was jealously between them from the get-go. The ones who held the gang together were only Brandon and Donna.

In hindsight, I think the show's creative problems began when the producers started to put more and more focus on Amanda and began sidelining the other characters in the process. In season 1, Amanda was merely an obstacle in Alison and Billy's lives. In seasons 2 and 3, Amanda became entangled in many storylines, but the other characters were just as important (well, except Matt of course). By season 4, Amanda had become the show's figurehead and she and Peter were promoted as the show's supercouple.

 

In turn, at that point the producers seemed to have given up on several other main characters. By season 4, Sydney, Jake and Jo had become directionless, and Alison, who used to be the show's heart, was pushed to the backburner in season 5. Kimberly, while still entertaining to watch, had become some sort of cartoon character. The only original character that received a "boost" was Jane in season 4. Michael was still important, but around the middle of season 5, the writers turned him into a goofball – probably because the role of the "evil doctor" was now filled by Peter.

 

In addition, isolating characters in their own storyline bubbles was the show's downfall in season 5. It was like the writers decided to separate every character combination that had made the show so entertaining in the earlier seasons.

 

Characters that suddenly stopped interacting or only had little overlap included...
- Jane and Michael
- Sydney and Michael
- Sydney and Kimberly
- Amanda and Alison
- Amanda and Kimberly
- Alison and Billy
- Billy and Jake
- Matt and Michael

- Matt and Sydney

- Matt and Kimberly

 

Of course they couldn't repeat the same storylines and conflicts over and over again, but somehow it felt as if these characters didn't know each other anymore despite living in the same building.

On 1/23/2021 at 3:52 AM, yrfan1983 said:

Example: 2/2/87 – as I was scrolling through the scenes with Cricket and Nina, I wondered if Nina referenced what happened with Rose and her stolen baby. Watching through the scenes with the Youtube English subtitles gave me a better feel for what those scenes are about.
(though I still don’t get who that lady is at 2/2/87 37:00… Danny says something in the subtitles about “Berlin”… that’s not the singer Terri Nunn of Berlin, is it…?)

 

I've tried to translate the dialogue in that scene.

 

Cricket is annoyed by Nina's singing. Nina has been listening to the same song all day long. Nina complains that Cricket hasn't been considerate towards her.
Cricket: "It's been over a week since you had that arguement with Rose."
Nina: "I'm sorry, but maybe I need another week to get over it!"
Cricket: "And then what?"
Nina: "I don't know!"
Cricket: "I think you probably just make up excuses so you don't have to contemplate."
Nina: "Maybe I like how it is."
Cricket: "Oh really? Sitting around all day, reading magazines and listening to music?"
Nina: "If you had your way, I should be at school, right?"
Cricket: "It would be great if you did something productive."
Nina: "Please stop patronizing me! It's my life!"
Cricket: "I don't want to regulate you in any way, but you're living in my apartment. I study, I have to learn. How am I supposed to concentrate with all of your singing and dancing and jumping?"
Nina: "Okay, I will no longer get on your nerves, I promise. You just have to give me some more time to calm down. I'm almost there."
Cricket: "Almost where?"
Nina: "Well, I've decided what I want to do with my future. Strangely enough, I have to thank Rose for making that decision."
Cricket stares at Nina in disbelief.

 

In the second scene, Cricket wants to know what Rose has to do with Nina's future plans.
Nina: "Actually, a lot. I could have also learned this from you, Danny or Philip. But for any strange reason, I first had to meet Rose to figure things out."
Cricket: "Figure out what?"
Nina: "If you want to reach something in life, you have to take a step forward, with everything you have to offer. I mean, it's like that, right?"
Cricket: "Yes. Yes, I think so."
Nina: "Of course you do. How did you become a model? You wanted it and nobody could have stopped you. Or think about Danny and his music ... or Rose. She's living proof for getting what you want. This woman is so nasty. She should pay a high price for how she has treated people. But does she have a guilty conscience? No! And why should she? She has $ 20.000 of Philip's money. And who knows how much she has taken from other people. She probably lives in a palace somewhere. But not because she deserves it. Because she wants it. Because she doesn't care if she hurts people. And she is rich. If this is the whole trick ..."
The phone rings. It's Danny. He invites Cricket and Nina to his rehearsal room. The girls agree to watch him playing with his band.

 

The third scene has Cricket and Nina watching Danny on stage.

 

In the fourth scene, Danny introduces Cricket and Nina to Terri.
Terri says: "Oh, you're also a friend of Danny's? Just like Cricket?"
Nina: "No, not exactly like Cricket."

Cricket: "I haven't seen you in a long time, Terri."
Terri tells Cricket that she was in L.A. trying to get Danny a record deal. It took her quite some time. Cricket asks how long she's going to stay.
TerrI: "I don't know yet. It depends on how things work out. We will see."
Nina doesn't look amused.

 

Episode Counts: January 2021

 

GZSZ

Total episodes: 20

 

01. Ulrike Frank (Katrin Flemming) : 17

02. Thaddäus Meilinger (Felix Lehmann) : 16

*** Maria Wedig (Nina Klee) : 16

04. Iris Mareike Steen (Lilly Seefeld) : 15

05. Chryssanthi Kavazi (Laura Lehmann) : 13

06. Jan Kittmann (Tobias Evers) : 12

07. Wolfgang Bahro (Dr. Jo Gerner) : 11

*** Vildan Cirpan (Dr. Nazan Akinci) : 11

*** Patrick Heinrich (Erik Fritsche) : 11

*** Olivia Marei (Toni Ahrens) : 11

*** Anne Menden (Emily Wiedmann) : 11

*** Valentina Pahde (Sunny Richter) : 11

*** Eva Mona Rodekirchen (Maren Seefeld) : 11

14. Jörn Schlönvoigt (Dr. Philip Höfer) : 10

*** Birgit Würz (Patrizia Araya) : 10

*** Gisa Zach (Yvonne Bode) : 10

17. Niklas Osterloh (Paul Wiedmann) : 9

18. Daniel Fehlow (Leon Moreno) : 8

*** Ronja Herberich (Merle Kramer) : 8

*** Felix van Deventer (Jonas Seefeld) : 8

*** Felix von Jascheroff (John Bachmann) : 8

*** Timur Ülker (Nihat Güney) : 8

23. Lennart Borchert (Moritz Bode) : 6

24. Thomas Drechsel (Max "Tuner" Krüger) : 3

25. Uta Kargel (Lena Bachmann) : 3

 

AWZ

Total episodes: 20

 

01. Tatjana Clasing (Simone Steinkamp) : 16

*** Igor Dolgatschew (Deniz Öztürk) : 16

*** Christopher Kohn (Dr. Finn Albrecht) : 16

04. Silvan-Pierre Leirich (Richard Steinkamp) : 15

*** Tijan Nije (Moritz Brunner) : 15

06. Lisandra Bardél (Malu Santos) : 14

07. Matthias Brüggenolte (Justus Albrecht) : 13

*** Lars Korten (Christoph Lukowski) : 13

09. Berrit Arnold (Daniela Bremer) : 12

*** Sam Eisenstein (Marian Öztürk): 12

*** Dominik Flade (Yannick Ziegler) : 12

*** Ania Niedieck (Isabelle Reichenbach) : 12

*** Julia Wiedemann (Lucie Ziegler) : 12

14. Julia Augustin (Dr. Vanessa Steinkamp) : 11

*** Alexandra Fonsatti (Chiara Nadolny) : 11

*** Jasmin Minz (Kim Bremer) : 11

*** Cheyenne Pahde (Marie Schmidt) : 11

*** Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen (Jenny Steinkamp) : 11

19. Franziska van der Heide (Ina Ziegler) : 10

20. Jörg Rohde (Ben Steinkamp) : 9

21. Folke Paulsen (Georg Albrecht) : 8

22. Felix Gibert (Henry Steinkamp) : 3

23. Ingeborg Brings (Frau Renate Scholz) : 2

 

UU

Total episodes: 20

 

01. Jens Hajek (Benedikt Huber) : 17

*** Alexander Milo (Jakob Huber) : 17

03. Isabelle Julie Geiss (Nika Färber) : 16

*** Valea Katharina Scalabrino (Sina Hirschberger) : 16

05. Patrick Müller (Tobias Lassner) : 15

06. Jakob Graf (Luke Färber) : 14

*** Yannik Meyer (Conor Weigel) : 14

*** Antonia Michalsky (Saskia Weigel) : 14

*** Lars Steinhöfel (Easy Winter) : 14

10. Benjamin Heinrich (Benno "Bambi" Hirschberger) : 13

*** Isabell Hertel (Ute Kiefer) : 13

*** Tabea Heynig (Britta Schönfeld) : 13

*** Luca Maric (Robert Küpper) : 13

*** Milos Vukovic (Paco Weigel) : 13

15. Timothy Boldt (Ringo Beckmann) : 12

*** Constantin Lücke (Till Weigel) : 12

17. Sharon Berlinghoff (Vivien Köhler) : 11

18. Josephine Becker (Leni Weigel) : 10

*** Isabel Vollmer (Monika Huber) : 10

20. Andrea Brix (Roswitha Küpper-Pütz) : 9

*** Claudelle Deckert (Eva Wagner) : 9

22. Jonathan Elias Weiske (Sebastian Hoffmann) : 8

23. Clara Olbertz (Amelie Hirschberger) : 7

24. Akeem van Flodrop (Theo Wolters) : 6

*** Matthias Paul (Anton Hoffmann) : 6

26. Paul Eilert (Julius Engel) : 5

27. Lena Klöber (Sarah Fuchs) : 2

28. Finn Luca Cramer (Noah Weigel) : 1

*** Lea Ermel (Maja Kiefer) : 1 

The lockdown in Germany has been extended to at least February 14th.
FFP2 masks (or surgical masks) are now mandatory in stores and on public transport. Community masks and the likes are no longer allowed.
Schools and nurseries stay closed nationwide.
Stay-at-home orders remain in 3 states (Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Saxony) and in other hot spots.

 

The daily numbers of new infections have been decreasing, but the death count has remained high.

 

In Austria, the FFP2 rule will also come into force next week.

1 hour ago, Soaplovers said:

I couldn't see Carrie Mitchum's Donna doing any of the stuff Donna did in 2006 and beyond.  She wouldn't have done the honey bear stuff with Eric, etc.  though I would have been interested in her playing Donna when Marcus came on the show.

 

I also can't imagine Jennifer Finnigan's Bridget being paired up with Nick, Dante or Owen.

 

In turn, I could have imagined Colleen Dion still playing Felicia during the "cancer/being revealed to be alive" storyline.

Beginning Monday, people in Bavaria have to wear FFP2 masks in stores and on public transport. The other German federal states could adopt this rule soon.

 

On paper, this sounds like a good idea, but how are poorer people supposed to pay for these masks on a regular basis ... a pack of 10 FFP2 masks currently costs at least 15 € (~ 18 $), and prices will only go up once demand increases. 

 

https://www.thelocal.de/20210112/bavaria-orders-compulsory-ffp2-masks-on-public-transport-and-in-shops

Germany's lockdown has been extended to January 31st ... with even stricter contact rules.
In some federal states, schools and nurseries stay closed until the end of January.
In areas with a 7-day incidence higher than 200, people are only allowed to travel as far as 15 km (~ 9 miles) away from their place of residence. However, the police has already stated that they cannot control this rule – and if they won't control it, nobody will.

 

The eastern part of the country has been hit the hardest ... many counties and cities in the states of Saxony, Thuringia and parts of Bavaria have the highest 7-day incidence as can be seen in the map below ... and this is mainly due to the fact that a) the average age of the population in the eastern states (former GDR minus Bavaria) is older than in the rest of the country and b) that a lot of people in these rural areas still deny the existence of coronavirus. Back in the day of the former GDR, Saxony was called "Das Tal der Ahnungslosen" (The Valley of the Clueless), and apparently, this still applies today.

 

As mentioned before, I live in the fourth-largest city of the country, but so far we've only had 350 deaths from coronavirus in 10 months – with a population of 1.1 million. These high incidence counties have like a quarter of our population each and have had way more deaths.

 

So far, only 0.4% of our population has received the Biontech/Pfizer vaccine.
At least, the EU has now given green light for using the Moderna vaccine so maybe things will speed up a bit in the next weeks ... meanwhile, our dear neighbors in the Netherlands haven't even started vaccinating at all.

 

After not having been able to celebrate their 6500th episode properly due to coronavirus, UU will have an Event Week in March 2021.
The title is "Im Visier der Vergangenheit" (roughly translated as "Targeted by the Past").

According to a press release, Sina (Valea Scalabrino), Ute (Isabell Hertel) and Eva (Claudelle Deckert) will occupy center stage as the most important aspect of their lives – their children – will be targeted. Apparently, a person who everybody thought was dead will return to stalk the residents of Schillerallee 10 once more.
Fans are already speculating that this mysterious person can only be Rolf Jäger, the show's resident psycho, who committed suicide in 2016 by driving his motorcycle into a canyon – or his daughter Fiona, who faked her own death by spreading blood in the courtyard a few months after her father's demise.

 

This is the official print campaign, featuring Tabea Heynig as Britta, Isabell Hertel as Ute, Valea Scalabrino as Sina, Constantin Lücke as Till, Jens Hajek as Benedikt, and Alexander Milo as Jakob. Claudelle Deckert as Eva can be seen in the background. Everyone pictured (except Jakob who wasn't on the show back then) was terrorized by Rolf and/or Fiona in the past.

 

On 12/23/2020 at 3:48 PM, gyroscope said:

I wish the GZSZ team were better at keeping the openings more up to date with the current characters!

 

That's wishful thinking  The show only updates its openings once in a blue moon ... usually they film a complete new opening every 3 years, and then they subsequently butcher it by removing characters, but hardly ever adding new ones. And this goes way back to the show's early days ... sometimes people were simply forgotten to be added, some were removed months before they actually left the show, or a new opening featuring the whole cast premiered two or three weeks before several characters left the show so the opening became outdated quickly.

 

Yvonne's been on the show for 2 years and she hasn't been added to the opening. Erik (joined in spring 2019), Merle, Nazan, Moritz and Tobias (all joined this year) are missing as well.

 

GZSZ Episode Counts: January to December 2020

Total episodes: 246

 

01. Maria Wedig (Nina Klee): 158

02. Gisa Zach (Yvonne Bode) : 150

03. Anne Menden (Emily Wiedmann) : 148

04. Wolfgang Bahro (Dr. Jo Gerner) : 138

05. Olivia Marei (Toni Ahrens) : 135

06. Thaddäus Meilinger (Felix Lehmann) : 131

07. Felix van Deventer (Jonas Seefeld) : 130

*** Timur Ülker (Nihat Güney) : 130

09. Daniel Fehlow (Leon Moreno) : 126

10. Patrick Heinrich (Erik Fritsche) : 125

*** Felix von Jascheroff (John Bachmann) : 125

 

12. Niklas Osterloh (Paul Wiedmann) : 123

13. Eva Mona Rodekirchen (Maren Seefeld) : 122

14. Ulrike Frank (Katrin Flemming) : 121

15. Jörn Schlönvoigt (Dr. Philip Höfer) : 120

16. Iris Mareike Steen (Lilly Seefeld) : 115

17. Ronja Herberich (Merle Kramer) : 108

18. Valentina Pahde (Sunny Richter) : 103

19. Thomas Drechsel (Max "Tuner" Krüger) : 99

20. Gamze Senol (Shirin Akinci) : 83

 

21. Clemens Löhr (Alexander Cöster) : 77

22. Lennart Borchert (Moritz Bode) : 76

*** Vildan Cirpan (Dr. Nazan Akinci) : 76

24. Chryssanthi Kavazi (Laura Lehmann) : 72

25. Nils Schulz (Robert Klee) : 60

26. Annabella Zetsch (Brenda Schubert) : 50

27. Livia Gaiser (Leyla Akinci) : 37

28. Joana Schümer (Rosa Lehmann) : 32

29. Birgit Würz (Patrizia Araya) : 29

30. Frederik Funke (Aaron Thiel) : 27

 

31. Jan Kittmann (Tobias Evers) : 24

32. Emilia Klauk (Kate Wiedmann) : 22

33. Senta-Sofia Delliponti (Tanja Seefeld) : 17

34. Charlott Reschke (Johanna Gerner) : 12

35. Uta Kargel (Lena Bachmann) : 2

 

Germany will go into a strict nationwide lockdown from December 16th to at least January 10th.

 

Quote

What do the new restrictions consist of?

• All non-essential shops and services will close until January 10, including hairdressers which remained open under the current lockdown "lite."
• Schools are urged to send students home and continue lessons online as well as extending the Christmas holidays until January 10.
• Daycare centers will also close, but parents will be able to take paid holidays in order to look after their children.
• Employers are encouraged to allow employees to work from home.
• People will not be allowed to drink alcohol in public.
• Religious events in churches, synagogues, and mosques may take place if they follow hygiene rules, but communal singing is not allowed.
• States still plan to ease stricter contact restrictions for December 24 to 26 so that close family members can spend Christmas together — a household may, during this time, invite up to four adults from other households but only from the immediate family, plus any number of children under fifteen.
• People may not purchase fireworks for New Year's Eve.

 

https://www.dw.com/en/german-lockdown-merkel-orders-tough-new-covid-curbs/a-55921912

 

In some states and cities, there are even stricter rules. For example, Bavaria has introduced a ban on leaving your home between 9 pm and 5 am.

Since the soap year 2020 is almost over and previews are available until December 31st, it's time for a little retrospective.

 

Current soap schedule:

2.10 pm Rote Rosen (ARD)

3.10 pm Sturm der Liebe (ARD)

5.30 pm Unter uns (RTL)

7.05 pm Alles was zählt (RTL)

7.40 pm Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten (RTL)

Streaming only: Verbotene Liebe: Next Generation (TVNOW)

 

Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten (1992-present, RTL)
Total episodes in 2020: 246 (#6919 to #7165 [#7000, #7001 and #7002 were shown as a 90 minute episode on the same day]) + 5 coronavirus specials
Current cast: https://www.rtl.de/cms/sendungen/gzsz/stars.html

 

Contract arrivals:
Ronja Herberich as Merle Kramer (January 2020-present)

Vildan Cirpan as Dr. Nazan Akinci (March 2020-present)
Lennart Borchert as Moritz Bode (June 2020-present)

Jan Kittmann as Tobias Evers (October 2020-present)

 

Contract departures:

Nils Schulz as Robert Klee (March 2019-June 2020)
Annabella Zetsch as Brenda Schubert (September 2019-June 2020)

Clemens Löhr as Alexander Cöster (June 2009-July 2020)

Gamze Senol as Shirin Akinci (March 2018-July 2020; recurring previously)

 

Unter uns (1994-present, RTL)
Total episodes in 2020: 252 (#6266 to #6518)
Current cast: https://www.rtl.de/cms/sendungen/unter-uns/unter-uns-stars.html

 

Contract arrivals:
Constantin Lücke as Till Weigel #3 (Recast; September 2020-present)

Isabel Vollmer as Monika Huber (November 2020-present)

 

Contract departures:

Alica Hubiak as Jana Schäfer (January 2020-August 2020)

Ben Ruedinger as Till Weigel #2 (October 2000-September 2020)
Kai Noll as Rufus Sturm (March 2003-September 2020)

 

Alles was zählt (2006-present, RTL)
Total episodes in 2020: 250 (#3344 to #3594) + 1 extra episode (billed as #3495.1)
Current cast: https://www.rtl.de/cms/sendungen/alles-was-zaehlt/awz-stars.html

 

Contract arrivals:

Julia Wiedemann as Lucie Ziegler (January 2020-present)
Franziska van der Heide as Ina Ziegler (January 2020-present)

Jasmin Minz as Kim Bremer (May 2020-present; recurring previously)

Matthias Brüggenolte as Justus Albrecht (June 2020-present)
Lisandra Bardél as Malu Santos (August 2020-present)

Dominik Flade as Yannick Ziegler (September 2020-present)

 

Contract departures:

Bela Klentze as Ronny Bergmann (January 2017-May 2020; recurring previously)

Birte Glang as Lena Bergmann von Altenburg Öztürk #4 (January 2019-August 2020)

Amrei Haardt as Nathalie Reichenbach (May 2019-September 2020)

Francisco Medina as Maximilian von Altenburg (...-September 2020 [he has come and gone so often I lost track of his contract status – this was his 6th or 7th stint)]

André Dietz as Ingo Zadek (December 2006-November 2020; recurring previously)

 

Herz über Kopf (2019-2020, RTL)

Total episodes in 2020: 26 (#87 to #113)

The final episode (#113) aired on 

 

Rote Rosen (2006-present, ARD)
Total episodes in 2020: 210 (#3042 to #3252)
Current cast: http://www.daserste.de/unterhaltung/soaps-telenovelas/rote-rosen/darsteller/index.html

 

Sturm der Liebe (2005-present, ARD)
Total episodes in 2020: 220 (#3299 to #3519)
Current cast: http://www.daserste.de/unterhaltung/soaps-telenovelas/sturm-der-liebe/darsteller/index.html

 

Lindenstraße (1985-2020, ARD)
Total episodes in 2020: 12 (#1746 to #1758)

The final episode (#1758) aired on March 29th, 2020.

Yeah, it's a bit tricky to stream TVNOW on a TV – glad to hear that you found a way 

 

Not only did the show bring back John's mother Patrizia Araya, née Bachmann, after 17 years (the character is now being played by Birgit Würz), we were also treated with a guest appearance by John's sister Lena via video chat. Lena was again played by Uta Kargel who was on contract between 2004 and 2006, but hadn't been seen since.

 

GZSZ Episode Counts: November 2020
Total episodes: 21

 

01. Chryssanthi Kavazi (Laura Lehmann) : 19

02. Thaddäus Meilinger (Felix Lehmann) : 17

03. Anne Menden (Emily Wiedmann) : 15

*** Maria Wedig (Nina Klee) : 15

*** Gisa Zach (Yvonne Bode) : 15

06. Lennart Borchert (Moritz Bode) : 14

*** Ulrike Frank (Katrin Flemming) : 14

08. Wolfgang Bahro (Dr. Jo Gerner) : 13

*** Jörn Schlönvoigt (Dr. Philip Höfer) : 13

10. Vildan Cirpan (Dr. Nazan Akinci) : 12

*** Birgit Würz (Patrizia Araya) : 12

12. Daniel Fehlow (Leon Moreno) : 11

13. Patrick Heinrich (Erik Fritsche) : 10

*** Ronja Herberich (Merle Kramer) : 10

*** Felix von Jascheroff (John Bachmann) : 10

*** Olivia Marei (Toni Ahrens) : 10

*** Timur Ülker (Nihat Güney) : 10

18. Tobias Evers (Jan Kittmann) : 9

*** Felix van Deventer (Jonas Seefeld) : 9

20. Thomas Drechsel (Max "Tuner" Krüger) : 8

*** Joana Schümer (Rosa Lehmann) : 8

22. Eva Mona Rodekirchen (Maren Seefeld) : 6 

23. Niklas Osterloh (Paul Wiedmann) : 4 
24. Uta Kargel (Lena Bachmann) : 2

*** Iris Mareike Steen (Lilly Seefeld) : 2

26. Valentina Pahde (Sunny Richter) : 0

 

GZSZ Episode Counts: 2020

 

01. Maria Wedig (Nina Klee) : 151

02. Anne Menden (Emily Wiedmann) : 140

03. Gisa Zach (Yvonne Bode) : 134

04. Olivia Marei (Toni Ahrens) : 133

05. Wolfgang Bahro (Dr. Jo Gerner) : 126

06. Daniel Fehlow (Leon Moreno) : 124

07. Felix van Deventer (Jonas Seefeld) : 120

08. Patrick Heinrich (Erik Fritsche) : 119

09. Timur Ülker (Nihat Güney) : 117

10. Felix von Jascheroff (John Bachmann) : 116

11. Thaddäus Meilinger (Felix Lehmann) : 115

12. Eva Mona Rodekirchen (Maren Seefeld) : 114

13. Niklas Osterloh (Paul Wiedmann) : 113

14. Ulrike Frank (Katrin Flemming) : 111

15. Jörn Schlönvoigt (Dr. Philip Höfer) : 108

16. Iris Mareike Steen (Lilly Seefeld) : 103

17. Ronja Herberich (Merle Kramer) : 98

18. Valentina Pahde (Sunny Richter) : 96

19. Thomas Drechsel (Max "Tuner" Krüger) : 91

29. Gamze Senol (Shirin Akinci) : 83

21. Clemens Löhr (Alexander Cöster) : 77

22. Vildan Cirpan (Dr. Nazan Akinci) : 66

23. Lennart Borchert (Moritz Bode) : 63

24. Nils Schulz (Robert Klee) : 60

25. Chryssanthi Kavazi (Laura Lehmann) : 57

26. Annabella Zetsch (Brenda Schubert) : 50

27. Livia Geyser (Leyla Akinci) : 37

28. Joana Schümer (Rosa Lehmann) : 28

29. Frederik Funke (Aaron Thiel) : 27

30. Birgit Würz (Patrizia Araya) : 19

31. Senta-Sofia Delliponti (Tanja Seefeld) : 17

32. Jan Kittmann (Tobias Evers) : 15

In Germany, our "lockdown light" which started on November 2nd has been extended until early January 2021. That means everything remains closed except grocery stores, retail and schools. Christmas holidays will begin a few days earlier than originally planned. Only people from two different households are allowed to meet, with a maximum number of 5 people in total. You now also have to wear masks on parking lots and inside buildings where you could meet other people.

The number of daily new infections hasn't dwindled since the beginning of the lockdown, but luckily it hasn't increased either. We currently have between 20.000 and 25.000 new cases each day. The north is a bit better off, but overall, the situation is very tense.

 

 

In my city (1.1 million citizens), they published a map that shows how many coronavirus infections have been registered for every district / post code since March. The map clearly showed that most infections happened in poorer suburbs where a lot of immigrants live.

 

Ironically, restrictions will be relaxed between Christmas Eve and New Years Eve, so that people from different households can spend the holidays together. A maximum number of 10 people will be tolerated. Children under the age of 14 are excluded from this rule, so technically you could celebrate Christmas with your grandmother and 200 children  I'm sure this will all backfire in mid-January ..

Haha, this is so cool... just in time for the reboot, Olli (Jo Weil), Charlie (Gabriele Metzger) and Ansgar (Wolfram Grandezka) talk about what happened to themselves and other former VL characters during the past 5 years. We learn that Charlie has been through a divorce, that her best friend Elisabeth von Lahnstein died (just like her portrayer), that all the other members of the von Lahnstein family are scattered to the four winds, and that Olli hasn't had a boyfriend in years. Poor him.

 

Olli also mentions Andi, Lara, Emilio, Kim, and Jessi. Tanja and Sebastian are reportedly divorced as well.
"Clarissa... Düsseldorf was rocked liked an earthquake when she became entangled with the now mighty Verhoven clan."
"Tanja? No one knows where she is... she's probably watching us all right now. If you find her, I'd love to talk to her..."

 

 

9 minutes ago, Manny said:

Oh cool! Thanks @will81 ! I had no idea it aired in Germany.

 

Ca. 500 episodes from the late 80s were shown from 1993-1994 on Sat.1. Then some now defunct pay tv station showed another 500 episodes from 1996/1997 between 2000 and 2002.
In spring 2008, ZDF started airing episodes from 2005/2006 right after B&B, but almost nobody wanted to watch Y&R, so the remaining episodes were burned off during the night.
As far as I know, there was a different set of voice actors each time.

 Here are the opening credits of "Verbotene Liebe: Next Generation":

 

 

The current AWZ openings:

 

 

GZSZ updated its openings 2 months ago, but they only removed some characters and abandoned one of the three version altogether.

 

 

And these are all the intros the telenovela "Sturm der Liebe" has had so far in its 16 season run:

 

 

You can now read very detailed summaries of the first 1000 episodes (1992 to 1996, also called the "classic era") of GZSZ here (translated via Google Translate):

 

Episodes 1 to 100
Episodes 101 to 200
Episodes 201 to 300
Episodes 301 to 400
Episodes 401 to 500
Episodes 501 to 600

Episodes 601 to 700

Episodes 701 to 800
Episodes 801 to 900

Episodes 901 to 1000