There's going to be another death on VL at the end of the year: Katja Brandner (played by Diana Frank) dies on December 30th.

Meanwhile, two actresses - Simone Ritscher and Mascha Müller - will join the show in early January and it looks as if there's going to be a new aristocratic family next year. Another new cast member is Anne Wis as Stella Mann, Gregor and Christian's cousin, who will become a new love interest for Carla.

Milan Marcus (Constantin von Lahnstein) departs the show on November 26th, Ursula Heyer's (Annegret Wittkamp, Tanja's mother) last airdate is November 17th.

Here are some very gorgeous pictures from the 3333th episode. Featuring Lars Korten (Leonard), Sina Valezka Jung (Sarah), newbie Anne Wis (Stella), newbie Mascha Müller (Luise) and Andreas Jancke (Gregor)

I'm so glad that Gregor cut his hair.

Some more impresions of the show:

It appears the show has exchanged their writing team. Bernadette Feiler is taking over headwriter duties while Peter Schlesselmann will pull back to the head producer position only instead of doing double duty. I think it's a wise decision because recently it feels like the pace of the show has picked up significantly, thank god.

Upcoming storylines include (spoilers):

- After losing her job because of Lydia and finding it hard to come into money Olivia enters a relationship with Lydia's brother David to use him for her own means. She can convince him of her innocence and he defends her against his family.

- Christian attracts that same heart illness that Jana had previously and finds it hard to give up his dream to study physical education. He deceives his boyfriend about the true status of his health, has a major run in with Rebecca and in a drunk state kisses Miriam. Boyfriend Olli finds out and is ready to forgive him but can't abide that Christian keeps endangering his health by working out ferociously.

- Leo finally confides in his siblings that he suspects that Maria is really their mother Francesca. Ansgar and Tanja realize that it could be to their advantage if Maria is indeed Francesca. Carla orders a DNA test which Tanja overhears. The test comes back positive and Carla is crushed.

- Stella is still reeling from her break up with Charlotte "Charlie" Schneider. She is moved when she realizes Carla's sacrifice in taking care of her despite Carla's own problems and wants to return the favor.

- Matthias and Nathalie take their relationship to the next level, but have to hide it in front of his family. Nathalie is unhappy when Matthias makes her several gifts that seem more suited for his dead wife than for her.

- Luise wants to save her country by talking her father into selling a famous painting that they own. Luise and Gregor get into a fight when the painting turns out to be a forgery and Gregor accuses Luise's father of being behind it all. Luise allows Ede to give her a respite by letting him pay off part of her debts, giving him new hope. But then she tells him that there is no hope for them at all and Gregor is the only one she wants. Gregor and Luise reunite. When Luise makes it clear to her father that she is staying with Gregor despite his objections her father's heart gives out.

Olivia gets fired for her outburst in front of Lydia. Eduard has renewed hopes for a relationship with Luise. Luise and Gregor get caught by photographers. Matthias and Nathalie take their relationship to the next level. The Brandner family celebrates the engagement of Lydia and Sebastian. Olli finds a passed out Christian. Carla can't believe the DNA test came back positive.

I hope Christian and Olli won't break up. To be honest I wasn't overly enamored of them in some of the early clips I saw last year, but the long stretches of time the actors have had together seem to have built such a strong connection between them. The recent scenes where they argued over Olli being too dismissive of Christian, followed up by the romantic and passionate makeup between them, were some of the best soap moments I've seen all year.

Yes that was a very well done scene (though I wasn't a fan of what either of them was wearing, but the scene was good enough to make it forgettable). I look forward for them to get some drama and hopefully breaking out more of their treaded out paths soon.

I have to say I'm happy to hear that previous infamous hot stud Andi Fritsche will join the show again.

Let's just hope that he hasn't aged too badly in the years since he was last on the show and can still bring the pretty. I look forward to him mixing up the younger female set. He is the kind of guy who has dated pretty much every type of girl on the show, from the prissy princesses like Vanessa and Lisa, to the sweet, weak and wounded girls like Jana or Lara, to the good sport best friend types like Nico and Coco, to the sexy vixen types like Olivia or Kitty. Which means that he can shack up with pretty much any of the current girls (Olivia, Lydia, Rebecca, Judith) and it would still be realistic and suit him.

Stella and Charlie kiss:

I have to say I'm happy to hear that previous infamous hot stud Andi Fritsche will join the show again.

Yes, Dominic Saleh-Zaki (Andi Fritzsche) has signed a new contract with VL and will return in September/October 2009. He previously played the role from 2001 to 2007. After his stint on VL, he played a main character on the drama series "112" which was cancelled last year.

In addition, Milan Marcus reprises his role as Constantin von Lahnstein in July. However, his return will only last 3 weeks. Marcus was on contract from 2004 to 2008.

There are persistent rumours that Claudia Hiersche (Carla von Lahnstein, 2003-present), Miriam Lahnstein (Tanja von Anstetten, 1995-1998; 2001; 2004-present) and Andreas Jancke (Gregor Mann, 2005-present) will depart VL this fall.

I'm curious whether they will really dare to write out Gregor considering the strong emphasis on the Gregor/Luise story. It would certainly make for an errrrrr interesting canvas. Wonder who Luise would go to in that case. Would she get stuck with Andi? Or be the Cecile to Eduards Johannes?

A sadistic part of me rather likes the idea of Gregor dying in the next anniversary episode, continuing VL's history of over the top tragic deaths that end super couples (Henning falls off the castle tower on his wedding day and dies, Heino dies in a plane crash right after proposing on the birthday of his fiance Kathi, newly pregnant Cecile gets run over by a car like a week after the wedding). I know these kinds of gratuitous tearjerker deaths are considered frivolous now, but I can't help getting a kick out of it (I felt the same way of Julian's death by brain aneurysm on his wedding day to Diana on AWZ).

However, I think it is more likely that they will just make Andreas Jancke an offer he can't refuse. Maybe I'm just jaded, but I wouldn't be surprised if the agency leaked rumors in the hopes of getting fans to rebel and scoring a higher price from VL for his renewal.

While it's still unclear whether Claudia Hiersche, Andreas Jancke and Miriam Lahnstein are indeed leaving the show, another exit has been confirmed: Joscha Kiefer (Sebastian von Lahnstein) has not renewed his contract with "Verbotene Liebe" and will last air in October 2009, after being with the show for merely 2 years. Actor Sebastian Schlemmer will assume the role of Sebastian later this year.

Sebastian von Lahnstein (Joscha Kiefer), his fiancée Lydia Brandner (Theresa Underberg) and Lydia's father Matthias Brandner (Thomas Ohrner)

Is this coming to HBO in America?..

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/world/news/e3i3bf2d3f4053dfeb2d5091ef192ff809e

Apparently it is. But like it is said in the article, only the Olli & Christian storyline will be incorporated into this new show.

Since ratings for both "Verbotene Liebe" and "Marienhof" have been on the decline for the past few months, broadcaster ARD is reported to be toying with the idea of axing one or even both of their soaps.

Latest ratings for soaps and telenovelas (March 1st, 2010):

Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten (RTL) – 4.16 million – HH: 14.0% – HH 18-49: 23.2%

Alles was zählt (RTL) – 3.07 million – HH: 11.5% – HH 18-49: 16.5%

Sturm der Liebe (ARD) – 2.95 million – HH: 25.3% – HH 18-49: 10.1%

Unter uns (RTL) – 2.07 million – HH: 13.1% – HH 18-49: 20.1%

Verbotene Liebe (ARD) – 1.95 million – HH: 10.7% – HH 18-49: 9.3%

Marienhof (ARD) – 1.86 million – HH: 8.7% – HH 18-49: 8.9%

Hanna - Folge deinem Herzen (ZDF) – 1.71 million – HH: 13.8% – HH 18-49: 4.0%

Eine wie keine (Sat.1) – 1.54 million – HH: 8.5% – HH 18-49: 8.4%

Anna und die Liebe (Sat.1) – N/A

Joan Collins made her debut the other day, 51 seconds of fabulousness:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nk_l0KcPqqw