Huntress

 

 

 

 

 

 

17 hours ago, Skylover said:

 @Huntress have there been many LGBT characters before?

 

Not that many, actually. Usually the stories centered around a straight guy or woman developing feelings for a bisexual or gay character.

 

1996: Saskia Rother was about to marry Tom Lehmann but he had an affair with her best friend Milla Engel. Saskia learned about this on her wedding day. Shortly after, she ran into her old classmate Harumi Shimizu. Saskia let Harumi stay with her. Harumi had a one night stand with Tom, but then one day she kissed Saskia out of the blue. Saskia developed feelings for Harumi and they became a couple. Saskia's father tried to get them apart, but in the end, both women moved to San Francisco. The storyline lasted for 4 or 5 months.

1997: Fabian Moreno (Leon's older brother; Leon's still on the show) became friends with a DJ named Philip Krüger. They spent a lot of time together and worked on restoring some antique cars. When Philip told Fabian that he was gay, Fabian backed off, but eventually he developed feelings for Philip and they became a couple, much to Leon's dismay. The relationship didn't last long, though, because Philip cheated on Fabian with his ex-boyfriend. They also went through an HIV scare.
Originally, Philip was only a recurring character, but he became a regular in late 1997/early 1998 – just when his relationship with Fabian had ended. Afterwards, he didn't really have much to do other than being a good listener to other people's problems and working as a journalist. In 1999, he briefly dated (and even wanted to marry) a guy named Simon who turned out to be a psycho. In the summer of 2000, Philip left GZSZ and became a regular on GZSZ's short-lived primetime spin-off "Großstadtträume" which was cancelled after 7 episodes. He wasn't brought back to the main show and was quickly forgotten.
For Fabian, his relationship with Philip was his only foray into dating men, as he resumed dating women afterwards. He also left the show in 2000, and returned in a recurring capacity from 2003 to 2004. Eventually, he ended up in prison and Leon seems to have forgotten about his brother.

2000: Peter Becker and Barbara Graf were a couple. While Barbara was on a business trip, Peter had one night stand with a woman named Lara Kelm. Lara forced herself into Peter's life and met Barbara, whom she eventually also seduced. For a while, Barbara was torn between Peter and Lara. However, the story quickly fizzled out because the actress playing Lara was abruptly written off the show (just as she had become a contract player). A few weeks later, Barbara became a psycho, kidnapped a baby, and went to prison – thanks to her sister Sonja who turned her in to the police. In 2002, Barbara briefly returned because she wanted to kill Sonja, but she failed. Sonja was killed a few weeks later when the "Daniel's" pub exploded.

2003: Deniz Ergün's old friend Alia Öndar appeared in town because both his and her family expected them to get married (it was some kind of arranged marriage). Alia came out as a lesbian and one night kissed Deniz's girlfriend Sandra. Alia was only a recurring role and lasted for about 4 months before she returned to her native Turkey.

2008: Paula Rapf was married to John Bachmann (who's still on the show), and Franzi Reuter was involved with Philip Höfer (John's half-brother, who's also still on the show). Both girls were unhappy in their relationships and eventually developed romantic feelings for one another. However, Paula wasn't willing to give up her marriage. Together with John's and Philip's sister Emily (who's also still on the show), Franzi turned to drugs and they regularly snorted cocaine. One night, Franzi and Emily caused a fire in the kitchen of the "Fasan" restaurant. Franzi was killed in a sudden explosion and Paula was heart-broken. She finally broke up with John and started a new life as a police officer. She developed feelings for her good friend Verena Koch (Leon's late wife), who turned her down. In early 2009, Paula left town and moved to Canada.

2009: Lenny Cöster (the late Alexander's son) was deemed a "sissy" by his peers because he was shy and plain. When he had to join the army (back then, Germany still had a compulsory military service which was abolished a few years ago), Lenny had the worst time of his life. His instructor Carsten Reimann saved him from the attacks of his peers. Nethertheless, Lenny quit the army. He tried to become a "real man". When he met Carsten again, the latter introduced him to his circle of friends (Tuner was one of these friends), who were into martial arts and boxing. Lenny grew some self-confidence and even won Emily over so that they became a couple. However, he didn't suspect that Carsten was secretly gay. Carsten developed feelings for Lenny, but Lenny backed off and told him to stay away from him. When Carsten's father found about his son's sexuality, he threw him out. Lenny's sister Lucy was there for Carsten and even allowed him to stay with her family. Eventually, Lenny realized that he loved Carsten, too, but he couldn't cope with the fact. To release his inner tension, he robbed a store. A while later, Lenny and Carsten became a couple, but then Lenny was charged with robbery. He was sentenced to one year in prison. Carsten stayed in town, but didn't have much to do after Lenny's departure. Lucy was briefly interested in him, but he brushed her off. Later that year, Lenny returned earlier than planned and he and Carsten left town together.

2013: Anni Brehme arrived in Berlin. She moved in with Jasmin Flemming (Katrin's daughter) and whoever lived in that flat sharing community at that time. Anni was openly lesbian. She had a one night stand with Pia Koch who was bisexual (Pia had also tried to kiss Jasmin one day which ruined their friendship). Later, Anni fell in love with Jasmin. The two girls had a troubled relationship which ended a year later, but they rekindled briefly before Jasmin left town in 2017. Anni had a brief affair with Rosa Lehmann (Felix's mother; she's still on the show as a recurring character) in 2016. In 2018, Anni fell in love with Katrin, her ex's mother, and it was a huge shock that Katrin ended up sleeping with Anni. However, Katrin couldn't bring herself to a enter steady relationship with Anni. After a fun night out partying with her friends, Anni silently left town and only said goodbye to her best friend Tuner.

 

A recurring character named Gerd who was on the show for more than 10 years was also gay. He worked at the "American Store", at "Kais Korner" and eventually at the "Mocca" café. He was best friends with Deniz Ergün and even had some small storylines on his own. I think he debuted in 1997 and left in 2008.

 

There were also a few guest characters who were LGBT, for example Paul's father came out as gay last (?) year.

 

UU has only had Easy and Ringo (who are still on the show and happily married), and AWZ had Deniz, Roman, Kai and Joscha plus Iva and Pia (both bisexual). Currently AWZ has Ina (lesbian) and Chiara (exploring her bi side).

 

Regarding underwear, I think most guys on German soaps wear wide boxershorts. Maybe it's because they are not allowed to show bulges (or are afraid of the lack thereof in some cases? ) There hasn't been any rear nudity in quite some time, either. AWZ used to do it a lot in 2015/2016 but they have also become very tame. 

19 hours ago, Taoboi said:

At this point, it does beg the question...which countries are now the successful ones at containing the virus enough that people can still live somewhat? 

 

I'd say many Western, Central and Northern European countries have returned to a semi-normal state or haven't had a large outbreak at all: Germany, Switzerland, Austria, The Netherlands, Ireland, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Most restrictions have been lifted there, but in many countries you still need to wear a face mask in public spaces (such as in stores and on public transport).

 

The situation is still tense in the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Sweden and Belarus.

 

The Balkan countries are most likely to become a new hotspot. The Austrian government has issued a travel warning for Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo.

On 6/22/2020 at 3:48 PM, Skylover said:

 

Thanks, I need to go and see this hottie in action! 

 

Moritz is gay which will be revealed in today's episode.

 

This is the full cast list for GZSZ's spin-off "SUNNY":

• Valentina Pahde as Sunny Richter; title character
• Wilson Gonzalez Ochsenknecht as "Ove"; a wealthy young man
• Gerrit Klein as "Lennard"; comes from a wealthy background, self-confident, but full of secrets
• Ben Andrews Rumler as "Karl"; Lennard's best friend, emotional and talented
• Linda Rohrer as "Ruby"; Lennard's little sister
• Meryl Marty as "Frieda"; influencer
• Brix Schaumburg as "Nik"; transsexual
• Sarah Buchholzer as "Kim"; social outcast
• Felix Lampert as "Brian"; star photographer and teacher

 

Back row (from left to right): Linda Rohrer, Sarah Buchholzer, Ben Andrews Rumler
Front row (from left to right): Felix Lampert, Wilson Gonzalez Ochsenknecht, Valentina Pahde, Brix Schaumburg, Gerrit Klein, Meryl Marty

 

Due to coronavirus restrictions, the actor work in an enclosed setting, meaning they have little to no contact with the outside world, so they can have physical contact and film intimate scenes.

It definitely was – and they did the best they could filming it due to coronavirus restrictions.

 

However, I won't miss Alex that much because in recent years, he didn't contribute much to the show other than being Maren's partner and owning the local kiosk. In his early days on the show, he still had his own family (back then, he was played by a different actor), but he was relegated to supporting player around 2011/2012. Everything he did was somehow connected to Maren – even when he had an affair a few years ago, the story was mostly told from Maren's perspective (how she suffered etc.) I wonder what the show will do with Maren now.

 

That was Alex's last scene:

 

On 6/19/2020 at 2:19 PM, DRW50 said:

I wonder if they will bring Olli back.

 

According to latest reports, the producers want to bring back several former cast members, and Jo Weil (Olli) was indeed mentioned as being high on the priority list.

 

On 6/19/2020 at 2:19 PM, DRW50 said:

What do you think of Sunny?

 

Sunny was a bit overexposed for a while since GZSZ wanted her to be the show's poster girl, but she has been on the backburner for quite a while now. She's good in family scenes and as a best friend (for example for Emily and Lilly), but her own storylines have been hit and miss, especially that awful triangle with brothers Chris and Felix a few years ago. I guess the show doesn't really know what to do with Sunny anymore, but they don't want to lose the actress, so the spin-off might actually be a good idea to reform the character.

 

On 6/20/2020 at 8:01 PM, Skylover said:

Has he arrived yet?

 

Moritz debuted on June 17th.

OMG.

 

As we all remember, "Verbotene Liebe" was canceled by ARD in 2015 after running for 20 years, but now TVNOW wants to resurrect the soap on its streaming platform. TVNOW has been streaming VL from the beginning and they are reportedly very pleased with the numbers. Let's see how this will turn out.

 

ETA: RTL just confirmed it: https://www.rtl.de/cms/serien-hammer-verbotene-liebe-kommt-zurueck-4563439.html
Filming will begin later this year.

Regarding the 4 departures from GZSZ, Robert (Nils Schulz) last aired earlier this week.
Brenda (Annabella Zetsch) apparently last airs on July 4th. Both Robert and Brenda move to South Africa.

In today's episode, Alexander (Clemens Löhr) is killed off. He tries to interfere when Shirin has a heated argument with a stranger. By accident, Alex is pushed onto the street and is immediately hit by a truck.
Shirin (Gamze Senol), who is semi-responsible for Alexander's death, leaves town in the middle of July in the dead of night.

 

In a rather strange move, GZSZ receives a new spin-off series that focuses on the character of Sunny Richter (played by Valentina Pahde since 2015). The new series is called "SUNNY – Wer bist du wirklich?" ("SUNNY – Who Are You Really?") and will be produced for TVNOW as a web series, consisting of 20 episodes. Filming will begin next month. In the show's storyline, Sunny departs Berlin and moves to Munich, where she takes a masterclass in photography. There she will be involved in a murder mystery (or something like that).

 

Meanwhile, AWZ has added two new contract roles: Jasmin Minz plays Kim Bremer, a woman from Ben's past; and Matthias Brüggenolte plays Justus Albrecht, Finn's older brother.
Former UU and VL regular Verena Zimmermann currently plays a police officer who's investigating in the murder of Niclas Nadolny.

Here's an article from last month that gives an insight into how different countries worldwide (Australia, China, Denmark, Czech Republic, Germany, Iceland, South Korea, UK) had to change their ways of filming soaps and television series during the pandemic.

 

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/shooting-pandemic-producers-worldwide-find-ways-work-1292591

 

The three German soaps, which the article also mentions, had to suspend production for a short time, but eventually resumed filming in April. Since they film up to 7 weeks in advance, they didn't run out of new episodes. GZSZ added 4 special episodes which mainly consisted of flashbacks, but fit in nicely with the current episodes.

 

Quote

In Cologne, Reinhardt's team, with typical German thoroughness, came up with an 80-point plan covering everything from mandatory temperature checks and tightened security at the studio entrance to hand washing and social distancing on set. The soap's scribes reworked scenes to ensure no more than three castmembers were in front of the camera at any one time and that everyone was at least 1.5 meters [around 5 feet] apart, as required by the country's coronavirus regulations.

 

"We have a corona stick, a 1.5 meters pole we use to make sure everyone keeps their distance," says Reinhardt. "And we use visual tricks, shooting long focal lengths, or over the shoulder, to give the impression the actors are closer together than they actually are." The new episodes, which will air in the summer, continue the series' regular pre-COVID-19 storyline. "We don't know what the situation will be like outside when they go to air, so we decided not to address the crisis in the show but to keep to our own, fictional world," he says.

 

Unter Uns actors all do their own makeup, with the professional makeup artists, in a room nearby, guiding them via video chat. Every personal item on set, from makeup to props and catering, is individually wrapped and marked for a single actor's hands only. Reinhardt has cut the on-set crew size in half and even set up some physical barriers, including a 6.5-foot-square plexiglass shield between the camera operator and the sound technicians. It takes longer — six days, not the usual five — to shoot a week of six, 30-minute episodes, but Reinhardt has kept his entire crew employed and the show on track.

 

UFA Serial Drama, the company that produces Unter Uns, is using the same 80-point COVID-19 guidebook for two other German soaps — Alles Was Zählt (also shot at MMC Studios) and Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten, produced on the Studio Babelsberg lot outside Berlin.

The material which was filmed after the hiatus began airing last week and you can clearly see the difference: Characters are standing or sitting far away from each other (which looks really akward in most instances), there are hardly any extras, and storylines have been altered and also been slowed down to make room for longer dialogues. Before they film intimate scenes, actors need to be tested and stay in quarantine for 3 or 4 days.

 

Just some examples of how far apart the actors need to stay away from each other:

 

For Germany, you could also add "Sturm der Liebe" (Storm of Love, 2005-present) and "Rote Rosen" (Red Roses, 2006-present). They are officially labelled as telenovelas, but they air new episodes Monday to Friday and have been running continuously since their debut. Both shows change their main couple every "season" (= once a year), but most other characters stay on board and the setting has always remained the same.

Some more statistics...

 

GZSZ Episode Counts for 2019

Total episodes: 251

 

01. Timur Ülker (Nihat Güney): 156

02. Gamze Senol (Shirin Akinci): 153

03. Maria Wedig (Nina Ahrens): 152

04. Niklas Osterloh (Paul Wiedmann): 149

05. Anne Menden (Emily Höfer Badak Wiedmann): 142

06. Iris Mareike Steen (Lilly Seefeld): 139

07. Olivia Marei (Toni Ahrens): 138

*** Jörn Schlönvoigt (Dr. Philip Höfer): 138

09. Felix von Jascheroff (John Bachmann): 133

*** Gisa Zach (Yvonne Bode): 133

 

11. Thomas Drechsel (Max "Tuner" Krüger): 131

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

13. Clemens Löhr (Alexander Cöster): 121

14. Chryssanthi Kavazi (Laura Weber Lehmann): 119

*** Thaddäus Meilinger (Felix Lehmann): 118

16. Valentina Pahde (Sunny Richter): 116

17. Eva Mona Rodekirchen (Maren Seefeld): 112

18. Nils Schulz (Robert Klee): 105

19. Ulrike Frank (Katrin Flemming): 100

20. Felix van Deventer (Jonas Seefeld): 81

 

21. Patrick Heinrich (Erik Fritsche): 80

22. Maximilian Braun (Luis Ahrens): 53

23. Daniel Fehlow (Leon Moreno): 49

24. Annabella Zetsch (Brenda Schubert): 41

25. Eric Stehfest (Chris Lehmann): 33

26. Lea Marlen Woitack (Sophie Lindh Moreno): 23

 

CONTRACT DEPARTURES

Daniel Fehlow (Leon Moreno) [02/01/2019]

Lea Marlen Woitack (Sophie Lindh Moreno) [02/27/2019]

Eric Stehfest (Chris Lehmann) [03/13/2019]

Maximilian Braun (Luis Ahrens) [06/07/2019]

Chryssanthi Kavazi (Laura Weber Lehmann) [10/08/2019] [maternity leave]

 

CONTRACT ARRIVALS
Gisa Zach (Yvonne Bode) [01/29/2019]
Nils Schulz (Robert Klee) [03/22/2019]
Patrick Heinrich (Erik Fritsche) [05/01/2019]

Annabella Zetsch (Brenda Schubert) [09/03/2019]

Daniel Fehlow (Leon Moreno) [10/17/2019]

Regarding dialects, everyone is able to speak and understand Standard German, but you can usually recognize where somebody comes from based on their accent and the vocabulary they use. Many people these days don't speak a true dialect, but rather a "regiolect", meaning they speak Standard German mixed with regional vocabulary and a slight accent.

 

A bread roll is a "das Brötchen" in Standard German and most western and northern dialects, but in Swabian it's called "das Weck", in Berlin it's called "die Schrippe" and in Bavarian it's called "die Semmel". In the last two cases, the word even has a different gender.

 

Instead of saying for example "Entschuldigung, ich habe das nicht gewusst" (Sorry, I did not know that), Erik on GZSZ would say "Tschuldjung, ick hab dit nich jewusst".

 

Most Germans can't understand Swiss German, and on tv it's often subtitled. They also have different dialects in Switzerland (and in Austria as well).

 

For Frankfurt/Hessian dialects, I'd say they sound like they're a bit lazy, slurring their consonants and dropping word endings (like the "n" at the end of a verb).

 

The guy in this video demonstrates 8 dialect groups: Northern, Saxon, Swabian, Bavarian, Kölsch, Austrian, Swiss, Franconian.
He reads a text in Standard German, but speaks with typical accents for these dialect groups, so the vocabulary is the same as in Standard German but the pronounciation and intonation differs vastly.

 

 

–––

 

Back on topic... GZSZ will introduce a new contract role in June: 21-year-old actor Lennart Borchert joins the cast as Moritz, who is Yvonne's son and Laura's brother. From 2018 to 2019, Borchert starred on the short-lived soap "Alles oder Nichts".

Erik speaks with a Berlin dialect (called "Berlinerisch"), that's why his pronounciation is different. German has a lot of different dialects (up to 250 according to linguists), but on television you usually only hear Standard German. The actress who plays Toni for example is Austrian, but you can't hear a single trace of an Austrian accent when she speaks.

 

When a character speaks with a certain dialect, it is normally used to emphasize that this character comes from a different background or social class as most dialects are tainted with stereotypes (Bavarian = conservative, Swabian = annoying, Northern = relaxed, Saxon = poor, Ruhr Valley = white trash etc.).  I think it's the same with English and its accents 

 

Tuner also speaks with a Berlin dialect, but his dialect has been toned down over the years. Katrin originally comes from the Ruhr Valley area and her mother Irene spoke with a strong Ruhr Valley dialect, highlighting that she was poor and vulgar. The Turkish characters usually speak Standard German, but there was also a character named Mesut – he left in 2017 – who spoke like a chav and was usually perceived as dim-witted (he was mostly used as a comic relief).

 

22 hours ago, Skylover said:

Have the post-pandemic episodes begun to air now? I saw an episode the other day which mostly focused on Jo and Maren's partner reminiscing about the past?

 

GZSZ only stopped filming for a week or two, so they filmed 4 extra episodes which are filled with flashbacks. The first one featured Jo and Alex, the second one is about Erik's past, the third one focuses on Emily and Lilly, and the fourth one airs at the end of June.

GZSZ Episode Counts from 2020

 

January 2020

Total Episodes: 22

 

01. Patrick Heinrich (Erik Fritsche): 16

*** Olivia Marei (Toni Ahrens): 16

03. Ulrike Frank (Katrin Flemming): 15

*** Gisa Zach (Yvonne Bode Gerner): 15

05. Daniel Fehlow (Leon Moreno): 14

*** Valentina Pahde (Sunny Richter): 14

*** Gamze Senol (Shirin Akinci): 14

08. Anne Menden (Emily Höfer Badak Wiedmann): 13

*** Niklas Osterloh (Paul Wiedmann): 13

10. Clemens Löhr (Alexander Cöster): 12

*** Eva Mona Rodekirchen (Maren Seefeld): 12

*** Iris Mareike Steen (Lilly Seefeld): 12

*** Annabella Zetsch (Brenda Schubert): 12

14. Felix von Jascheroff (John Bachmann): 11

*** Nils Schulz (Robert Klee): 11

16. Timur Ülker (Nihat Güney): 10

*** Maria Wedig (Nina Ahrens Klee): 10

18. Thaddäus Meilinger (Felix Lehmann): 9

*** Jörn Schlönvoigt (Dr. Philip Höfer): 9

20. Felix van Deventer (Jonas Seefeld): 8

21. Wolfgang Bahro (Dr. Jo Gerner): 7

*** Joey ??? (Oskar Moreno): 7

23. Charlott Reschke (Johanna Gerner): 4

24. Thomas Drechsel (Max "Tuner" Krüger): 2

*** Ronja Herberich (Merle Kramer): 2

*** Emilia Klauk (Kate Wiedmann): 2

 

February 2020

Total Episodes: 20

 

01. Maria Wedig (Nina Ahrens Klee): 19

02. Daniel Fehlow (Leon Moreno): 17

03. Clemens Löhr (Alexander Cöster): 13

04. Valentina Pahde (Sunny Richter): 12

*** Eva Mona Rodekirchen (Maren Seefeld): 12

*** Gisa Zach (Yvonne Bode Gerner): 12

07. Patrick Heinrich (Erik Fritsche): 11

*** Olivia Marei (Toni Ahrens): 11

*** Thaddäus Meilinger (Felix Lehmann): 11

*** Nils Schulz (Robert Klee): 11

*** Gamze Senol (Shirin Akinci): 11

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

13. Wolfgang Bahro (Dr. Jo Gerner): 9

*** Thomas Drechsel (Max "Tuner" Krüger): 9

*** Ulrike Frank (Katrin Flemming): 9

*** Anne Menden (Emily Höfer Badak Wiedmann): 9

*** Iris Mareike Steen (Lilly Seefeld): 9

*** Annabella Zetsch (Brenda Schubert): 9

19. Ronja Herberich (Merle Kramer): 8

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

21. Timur Ülker (Nihat Güney): 7

22. Felix van Deventer (Jonas Seefeld): 6

23. Aaron Thiel (Frederik Funke): 4

24. Niklas Osterloh (Paul Wiedmann): 3

25. Charlott Reschke (Johanna Gerner): 2

*** Joey ??? (Oskar Moreno): 1

*** Joana Schümer (Rosa Lehmann): 1

 

March 2020

Total Episodes: 22

 

01. Felix van Deventer (Jonas Seefeld): 17

02. Maria Wedig (Nina Ahrens Klee): 16

03. Anne Menden (Emily Höfer Badak Wiedmann): 15

04. Patrick Heinrich (Erik Fritsche): 14

*** Eva Mona Rodekirchen (Maren Seefeld): 14

06. Ulrike Frank (Katrin Flemming): 13

*** Ronja Herberich (Merle Kramer): 13

*** Olivia Marei (Toni Ahrens): 13

*** Niklas Osterloh (Paul Wiedmann): 13

10. Felix von Jascheroff (John Bachmann): 12

*** Clemens Löhr (Alexander Cöster): 12

*** Gamze Senol (Shirin Akinci): 12

13. Jörn Schlönvoigt (Dr. Philip Höfer): 11

*** Gisa Zach (Yvonne Bode Gerner): 11

15. Emilia Klauk (Kate Wiedmann): 10

*** Iris Mareike Steen (Lilly Seefeld): 10

*** Timur Ülker (Nihat Güney): 10

18. Wolfgang Bahro (Dr. Jo Gerner): 9

*** Thomas Drechsel (Tuner Krüger): 9

20. Valentina Pahde (Sunny Richter): 8

*** Aaron Thiel (Frederik Funke): 8

22. Nils Schulz (Robert Klee): 7

*** Annabella Zetsch (Brenda Schubert): 6

24. Thaddäus Meilinger (Felix Lehmann): 5

*** Joana Schümer (Rosa Lehmann): 5

26. Daniel Fehlow (Leon Moreno): 4

27. Vildan Cirpan (Dr. Nazan Akinci): 3

28. Charlott Reschke (Johanna Gerner): 2

*** Joey ??? (Oskar Moreno): 2

30. Thaddäus Meilinger (Felix Lehmann): 0

 

April 2020

Total Episodes: 22

 

01. Maria Wedig (Nina Ahrens Klee): 20

02. Clemens Löhr (Alexander Cöster): 17

03. Ulrike Frank (Katrin Flemming): 14

*** Patrick Heinrich (Erik Fritsche): 14

*** Eva Mona Rodekirchen (Maren Seefeld): 14

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

*** Anne Menden (Emily Höfer Badak Wiedmann): 13

*** Timur Ülker (Nihat Güney): 13

09. Daniel Fehlow (Leon Moreno): 12

*** Olivia Marei (Toni Ahrens): 12

*** Niklas Osterloh (Paul Wiedmann): 12

*** Nils Schulz (Robert Klee): 12

13. Gamze Senol (Shirin Akinci): 11

*** Gisa Zach (Yvonne Bode Gerner): 11

15. Ronja Herberich (Merle Kramer): 10

16. Felix van Deventer (Jonas Seefeld): 9

*** Felix von Jascheroff (John Bachmann): 9

*** Thomas Drechsel (Max "Tuner" Krüger): 9

*** Annabella Zetsch (Brenda Schubert): 9

20. Vildan Cirpan (Dr. Nazan Akinci): 8

*** Valentina Pahde (Sunny Richter): 8

*** Jörn Schlönvoigt (Dr. Philip Höfer): 8

*** Aaron Thiel (Frederik Funke): 8

24. Joey ??? (Oskar Moreno): 4

*** Livia Gaiser (Leyla Akinci) 4

26. Emilia Klauk (Kate Wiedmann): 3

*** Joana Schümer (Rosa Lehmann): 3

28. Charlott Reschke (Johanna Gerner): 2

29. Thaddäus Meilinger (Felix Lehmann): 0

*** Iris Mareike Steen (Lilly Seefeld): 0

 

May 2020

Total Episodes: 17 regular episodes + 2 special episodes (self-contained episodes due to coronavirus)

 

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

*** Timur Ülker (Nihat Güney): 13

03. Felix van Deventer (Jonas Seefeld): 12

*** Daniel Fehlow (Leon Moreno): 12

*** Olivia Marei (Toni Ahrens): 12

*** Valentina Pahde (Sunny Richter): 12

*** Maria Wedig (Nina Ahrens Klee): 12

08. Patrick Heinrich (Erik Fritsche): 11

*** Anne Menden (Emily Höfer Badak Wiedmann): 11

10. Ronja Herberich (Merle Kramer): 10

*** Niklas Osterloh (Paul Wiedmann): 10

12. Vildan Cirpan (Dr. Nazan Akinci): 9

*** Felix von Jascheroff (John Bachmann): 9

*** Clemens Löhr (Alexander Cöster): 9

*** Jörn Schlönvoigt (Dr. Philip Höfer): 9

*** Gisa Zach (Yvonne Bode Gerner): 9

17. Eva Mona Rodekirchen (Maren Seefeld): 8

*** Nils Schulz (Robert Klee): 8

*** Gamze Senol (Shirin Akinci): 8

20. Ulrike Frank (Katrin Flemming): 7

*** Iris Mareike Steen (Lilly Seefeld): 7

*** Aaron Thiel (Frederik Funke): 7

*** Annabella Zetsch (Brenda Schubert): 7

24. Livia Gaiser (Leyla Akinci): 5

*** Emilia Klauk (Kate Wiedmann): 5

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

27. Joana Schümer (Rosa Lehmann): 2

28. Thaddäus Meilinger (Felix Lehmann): 1

*** Charlott Reschke (Johanna Gerner): 1

 

Episode Totals of the Contract Cast

 

01. Maria Wedig (Nina Ahrens Klee): 77

02. Patrick Heinrich (Erik Fritsche): 66

03. Olivia Marei (Toni Ahrens): 64

04. Clemens Löhr (Alexander Cöster): 63

05. Anne Menden (Emily Höfer Badak Wiedmann): 61 

06. Eva Mona Rodekirchen (Maren Seefeld): 60

07. Daniel Fehlow (Leon Moreno): 59

08. Ulrike Frank (Katrin Flemming): 58

09. Gisa Zach (Yvonne Bode Gerner): 57

10. Gamze Senol (Shirin Akinci): 56

11. Valentina Pahde (Sunny Richter): 54

12. Timur Ülker (Nihat Güney): 53

13. Felix van Deventer (Jonas Seefeld): 52

14. Wolfgang Bahro (Dr. Jo Gerner): 51

*** Niklas Osterloh (Paul Wiedmann): 51

16. Felix von Jascheroff (John Bachmann): 49

*** Nils Schulz (Robert Klee): 49

18. Jörn Schlönvoigt (Dr. Philip Höfer): 47

19. Ronja Herberich (Merle Kramer): 43

*** Annabella Zetsch (Brenda Schubert): 43

21. Iris Mareike Steen (Lilly Seefeld): 38

22. Thomas Drechsel (Max "Tuner" Krüger): 32

23. Thaddäus Meilinger (Felix Lehmann): 26

24. Vildan Cirpan (Dr. Nazan Akinci): 20

 

CONTRACT DEPARTURES:
– none –

 

CONTRACT ARRIVALS:

Ronja Herberich (Merle Kramer) [01/30/2020]

Vildan Cirpan (Dr. Nazan Akinci) [03/26/2020]

On 5/3/2020 at 7:53 PM, Skylover said:

Thanks @Huntress, what's the story between Katrin/Jo/Yvonne at the moment?

 

When drunk, Katrin ran over a homeless person and Jo tried to cover it up. Yvonne took care of the homeless person and became suspicious.

 

This morning, the show announced that 4 cast members will leave the show this summer:

 

 

– Clemens Löhr (Alexander Cöster) after 11 years

– Gamze Senol (Shirin Akinci) after 2.5 years
– Nils Schulz (Robert Klee) after 1.5 years

– Annabella Zetsch (Brenda Schubert) after 1 year

 

According to a press release, all 4 depart on their own request.

 

Alex will most likely die since Maren already dreamt that something bad might happen to her family soon. His death could also be the reason for Tanja's return.
Robert and Brenda will probably leave town together. As for Shirin, I have no idea. They just introduced her 2 cousins Nazan and Leyla to the canvas.

12 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Those Germany photos surprise me as generally I think of them of having a populace much less prone to mob mentality (in recent years). I guess money wins out, and eventually lockdowns lead to breakdowns...and I imagine as in the US, it's mainly white conservative voices speaking up.

 

No, there are also a lot of young and esoteric people involved in these rallies. In my city, it's mostly younger immigrants who don't care about wearing face masks on public transport or inside stores, and they get angry when being called to order. People are just not used to being forced to do something, so they are naturally against it, even if it's for a good cause. They only see "Me, me, me".

 

The new rule here is that as soon as an administrative district has more than 50 new infections per 100.000 citizens in a week, this district must go into a strict lockdown again. Right now there are 4 of such hotspots in 3 different states. In total, there are 294 districts and 107 independent cities.

Mass demonstrations against coronavirus measures have now also started in many German cities – despite the country gradually re-opening.
Conspiracy theorists obviously enjoy a large clientele these days 

People are chanting "We are the masses" and "Wake up, wake up".

 

 

 

I have a couple of episodes from 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2008 dubbed in German that I can upload to the vault.

On 5/1/2020 at 5:24 PM, Skylover said:

@Huntress did Zac leave with her and if so is he coming back?

 

Zac departed the show in December 2014. He left for California where he was supposed to work as an app developer or something like that. I didn't really like Zac because he was usually used as a comic relief.

 

This site has character profiles of all the main characters the show has ever had: https://www.soapsworld.de/gute-zeiten-schlechte-zeiten-gzsz/rollenprofile (although the profiles of most current characters are empty or haven't been updated since 2014/2015). You can use Google translator to translate the texts to English. Sometimes the grammar is a bit awkward and some translations sound odd, but it's tolerable.

 

Here's the translation of Zac's profile: https://translate.google.de/translate?hl=de&tab=wT&sl=auto&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.soapsworld.de%2Fgute-zeiten-schlechte-zeiten-gzsz%2Frollenprofile%2Fzacharias-klingenthal

I'm glad to hear that people are enjoying my posts ;)

 

By the way, due to the Corona pandemic and the filming hiatus, GZSZ will air 4 special episodes in the coming weeks. They will mostly consist of flashbacks. The first episode will focus on Jo and Alexander's complicated friendship, and the second one will feature Erik's troubled past. These episodes are running out of order and do not count as regular episodes.

 

GZSZ also announced today that Senta-Sofia Delliponti will return for a multi-week guest arc this summer. The actress played Tanja Seefeld, Maren's oldest daughter, on contract from 2010 to 2013. Tanja was a wild child and the complete opposite of her shy half-sister Lilly. She was involved with Vince and Zac and wanted to bond with her father, American rock star Kurt LeRoy. In 2013, she left for Australia and has rarely been mentioned since. After her exit from GZSZ, Senta-Sofia Delliponti started a successful music career. Under the moniker "Oonagh", she has released 4 studio albums – all of them reached the Top 10 on the German charts.

 

Here are the current contract casts of all 3 soaps in chronological order:

 

GZSZ

Wolfgang Bahro – Dr. Hans-Joachim "Jo" Gerner (1993-present)
Daniel Fehlow – Leon Moreno (1996-1999; 2001-present)
Felix von Jascheroff – John Bachmann (2001-2014; 2015-present)
Ulrike Frank – Katrin Flemming (recurring: 2002-2003; contract: 2004-present)
Anne Menden – Emily Höfer Badak Wiedmann (2004-present)
Jörn Schlönvoigt – Dr. Philip Höfer (2004-present)
Thomas Drechsel – Max "Tuner" Krüger (recurring: 2009-2010; contract: 2010-present)
Clemens Löhr – Alexander Cöster #2 (2009-present)
Eva Mona Rodekirchen – Maren Seefeld (2010-present)

Iris Mareike Steen – Lilly Seefeld (2010-present)
Felix van Deventer – Jonas Seefeld (2014-present)
Valentina Pahde – Sunny Richter (2015-present)
Thaddäus Meilinger – Felix Lehmann (2016-present)
Niklas Osterloh – Paul Wiedmann (2016-present)
Chryssanthi Kavazi – Laura Weber Lehmann (2017-present; currently on maternity leave, but will return this summer)

Maria Wedig – Nina Ahrens Klee (2017-present)
Gamze Senol – Shirin Akinci (recurring: 2017-2018; contract: 2018-present)
Patrick Heinrich – Erik Fritsche (recurring: 2018; contract: 2019-present)
Annabella Zetsch – Brenda Schubert (recurring: 2018; contract: 2019-present)
Olivia Marei – Toni Ahrens (2018-present)

Timur Ülker – Nihat Güney (2018-present)
Gisa Zach – Yvonne Bode Gerner (2019-present)
Nils Schulz – Robert Klee (2019-present)
Ronja Herberich – Merle Kramer (2020-present)
Vildan Cirpan – Nazan Akinci (2020-present)

 

UU

Isabell Hertel – Ute Kiefer Kern Weigel Fink (1995-present)
Milos Vukovic – Paco Weigel (2000-present)
Ben Ruedinger – Till Weigel #2 (2000-present)
Claudelle Deckert – Eva Wagner Weigel (contract: 2001-2006; 2008-present; guest: 2007)
Kai Noll – Rufus Sturm (2003-present)
Lars Steinhöfel – Ingo "Easy" Winter (2005-present)
Patrick Müller – Tobias Lassner (2006-present)
Valea Scalabrino – Sina Uhland Hirschberger (2010-present)
Tabea Heynig – Britta Schönfeld Sturm (2010-present)

Timothy Boldt – Ringo Beckmann (2012-present)

Benjamin Heinrich – Benno "Bambi" Hirschberger (2013-present)
Luca Maric – Robert Küpper (2015-present)
Andrea Brix – Roswitha Küpper-Pütz (recurring: 2015-2016; contract: 2016-present)
Jens Hajek – Benedikt Huber (2016-present)
Antonia Michalsky – Saskia Weigel Huber (2017-present)
Alexander Milo – Jakob Huber (2017-present)

Sharon Berlinghoff – Vivien Köhler (2018-present)
Yannik Meyer – Conor Weigel (2018-present)

Josephine Becker – Leni Schäfer (2019-present)
Jakob Graf – Luke Färber (2019-present)
Isabelle Julie Geiss – Nika Färber (2019-present)

 

AWZ

Tatjana Clasing – Simone Steinkamp (2006-present)
Silvan-Pierre Leirich – Richard Steinkamp (2006-present)
Julia Augustin – Dr. Vanessa Steinkamp Lukowski (2006-2009; 2010-2012; 2013; 2014-present)
André Dietz – Ingo Zadek (recurring: 2006-2007; contract: 2007-present)
Sam Eisenstein – Marian Öztürk (recurring: 2006-2007; contract: 2007-present)
Igor Dolgatschew – Deniz Öztürk (2007-present)
Jörg Rohde – Ben Steinkamp #2 (2009-present)
Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen – Jennifer "Jenny" Steinkamp Herzog Schwarz Schulte Hartmann Öztürk #4 (2011-present)
Lars Korten – Christoph Lukowski (2015-present)
Cheyenne Pahde – Marie Schmidt #2 (2016-present)
Bela Klentze – Ronny Bergmann (recurring: 2016-2017; contract: 2017-2020 -> departs next week)
Christopher Kohn – Dr. Finn Albrecht (recurring: 2018; contract: 2019-present)
Tijan Njie – Moritz Brunner (recurring: 2018; contract: 2019-present)
Birte Glang – Lena Bergmann Öztürk #4 (2019-present)
Amrei Haardt – Nathalie Reichenbach (2019-present)
Ron Holzschuh – Niclas Nadolny (recurring: 2019; contract: 2020; actor passed away a few days ago
Alexandra Fonsatti – Chiara Nadolny (recurring: 2019; contract: 2019-present)
Julia Wiedmann – Lucie Ziegler (2020-present)
Franziska van der Heide – Ina Ziegler (2020-present)

How random: 21 episodes from 1979 are now available for streaming on the German version of Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B087QQWWDH

 

I guess these are the same episodes that were released on DVD a few years ago.

AWZ actor Ron Holzschuh has suddenly passed away from a short, but severe illness at the age of 50. On AWZ, he had played the role of Niclas Nadolny since March 2019. Introduced as a recurring star, he eventually became part of the contract cast earlier this year. Prior to his stint on AWZ, he had played Bernd von Beyenbach on "Verbotene Liebe" from 2003 to 2007 and Simon Franck on "Unter uns" in 2014. In addition, he appeared on two telenovelas and was a very busy theater and musical actor. RIP.

 

Ron last filmed for AWZ in early March. At this time, he posted this video on Instagram where he already appeared to be fragile:

 

His former VL co-star and good friend Claudia Hiersche is one of many actors who posted images in his honor:

 

 

On 4/25/2020 at 3:44 AM, wingwalker said:

This is from the German Soap Verbotene Liebe (which sadly was cancelled a few years ago). I always thought it was interesting that the lyrics in the opening was sung in English and not German. 

 

IMO, that particular VL opening looked cheap compared to the prior openings the show had had.

 

That set of opening of was the best... it was used from 2003 to 2011 in many different variations:

 

 

The 2014 opening (the final opening before the show became a weekly) was even worse than the 2011-2013 one:

 

 

Other favorites of mine include:

 

Sturm der Liebe – this telenovela changes its opening everytime a new "season" begins, i.e. when a new main couple becomes the focus. The opening is quite cheesy, but the visuals are nicely done and the opening always reflects major characterists of the storyline.

 

 

Unter uns – the current opening is very modern and positive (as opposed to the prior, icy "Ghosts" opening).

 

 

I also like the current GZSZ opening with its Berlin / big city atmosphere.

 

 

On 4/26/2020 at 5:18 AM, Faulkner said:

Even though I didn’t like the chirpy second version of the Sunset Beach, I did like that they gave Jason George and Sherri Saum the closing shots at the time. Those SuBe openings were freakin’ long.

 

I posted this in the other thread but the first CPW theme/opening is so tribal, urban, and sexy. The more generic second one is such a letdown, even if the theme isn’t as bad as I remember it.

 

Love both the first SuBe and the first CPW opening. For its time, the Models Inc. opening was also great, even though the tune screams mid 90s:

 

 

Big changes in Germany: As from tomorrow, everyone (except small children) must wear a face mask when using public transport and inside every store. This rule becomes effective in all 16 German states.
In some states, you will be fined between 10 and 150 Euros if you get caught without a mask.

 

The government wants to introduce a Corona Tracing App soon but since data protection has always been a big issue here, many people are opposed to the app.

 

Even though the number of cases has decreased steadily, there's still fear of a second wave hitting the country – especially after most shops were allowed to re-open last week. I guess we'll know in 14 days.

Update from Germany: As the number of cases has decreased drastically over the last 2 weeks, the country is slowly re-opening.

 

In 12 of the 16 German states, shops with a sales area less than 800 qm² were allowed to re-open today. Book stores, car dealers and bike shops are excluded from the size rule and can open anyhow. Some zoos and furniture stores will also re-open.

 

In the other 4 states, shops will re-open later this week. There will be access control and people are advised to stay 1.5 meters apart from each other (as it has been the case for weeks).

 

In the states of Saxony, Bavaria and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, people must wear a face mask in stores and when using public transport.
In the other states, wearing a face mask is still optional. I'd say, 1 out of 4 people is wearing a mask.

 

Schools will re-open this week, with graduating classes returning at first. Younger students are not expected to return to school until the beginning of May.

 

However, all mass events have been banned until at least August 31st, 2020. This includes concerts, street fairs, sports events, gay pride parades, etc.

Bars, restaurant, hotels, gyms, museums etc. remain closed for now.