German soaps: GZSZ, UU & AWZ

[Huntress]

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

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

The winners are:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[CassieFan]

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

What happened to Lena? Bad ratings?

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

[Huntress]

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Sturm der Liebe" – September 2005 to present

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

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

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

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

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

"Rote Rosen" – ARD – November 2006 to present

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

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

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

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

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

[CassieFan]

How is Anna doing in the ratings?

[Huntress]

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

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

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

[DRW50]

Thanks for sharing this with us. What did you think of the ending?

Sad to see a long running show go.

[CassieFan]

Huntress, are there any youtube clips from the finale? I would love to see it.

[Huntress]

I don't know if you can watch it in your country, but the official ARD website has all recent episodes up for streaming.

This is the link for the final one: http://mediathek.daserste.de/sendungen_a-z/437236_marienhof/7438114_folge-4053--inge-plant-ihren-neuen-lebensabschnitt?type=null&buchstabe=M

The ending was ok, but too hasty, so a double episode would have been better. The writers knew months in advance that the show would end, so they shouldn't have spent the last weeks with the same old storylines that were basically responsible for the show's demise.

Edited June 16, 2011 by Huntress

[Huntress]

The next cancellation has just been announced: "Hand aufs Herz" will shut down production this week due to poor ratings.

[Huntress]

Preview Pictures: July/August 2011

Unter uns

Details: Ute (Isabell Hertel) develops feelings for her husband Henning's best friend Erik (Maximilian Claus); Rolf (Stefan Franz) and Britta (Tabea Heynig); Henning (Benjamin Kiss) and Erik; Micki (Joy Lee Juana Abiola) has learnt that she is HIV-positive and finds comfort in Bela's (Bela Klentze) arms; Till (Ben Ruedinger) and Eva (Claudelle Deckert) get back together; Eva and Irene (Petra Blossey) continue their fight; Erik and Ute; domestic violence between Nils (Martin Baden) and Bine (Ela Paul); Rebecca (Imke Brügger) and Ela; Britta

Alles was zählt

Details: Florian (Michael N. Kuehl) and Lena (Juliette Menke) continue their affair; Roman (Dennis Grabosch), Annette (Ulrike Röseberg) and Claudia (Heike Trinker); Maximilian and Isabelle take over Steinkamp, Richard (Silvan-Pierre Leirich) and Simone (Tatjana Clasing) are horrified; Isabelle (Ania Niedieck); Claudia leaves town and says Goodbye to Katja (Anna Katharina Samsel); Richard is sent to a prison on Cuba thanks to Maximilian; Tom (Christoph Humnig) and Vanessa (Julia Augustin) get together; Roman (Dennis Grabosch) learns that he has a brain tumor, Deniz (Igor Dolgatschew) is worried; Katja and Roman; Ben (Jörg Rohde) has a serious car accident as Katja and Deniz look on

Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten

Details: Maren (Eva Mona Rodekirchen) and Alexander (Clemens Löhr) have to travel home half-naked after their clothes got stolen at a lake, Katrin (Ulrike Frank) sees them on the subway; Dominik (Raul Richter) loses control over himself, Tuner (Thomas Drechsel) and Jasmin (Janina Uhse) try to help him; Leon (Daniel Fehlow) and Verena (Susan Sideropoulos) share a happy family moment with their son Oskar; Pia (Isabell Horn) and Verena celebrate Verena's new business venture; Emily (Anne Menden) visits Patrick (Björn Harras) in prison; Katrin supports Jasmin during her crisis with Dominik; Philip (Jörn Schlönvoigt) runs Verena over with his car; Leon and his dead wife Verena; Katrin and Jo (Wolfgang Bahro) show Tayfun (Tayfun Baydar) an important document; Leon is supported by his best friend John (Felix von Jascheroff)

After almost ten years with the show, Susan Sideropoulos departs "GZSZ" in August 2011 when her character Verena Koch is killed off. For Verena's funeral, former cast members Lisa Riecken (Elisabeth Meinhart, 1992-2010), Frank-Thomas Mende (Clemens Richter, 1992-2010) and Maike von Bremen (Sandra Lemke #2, 2002-2008) will return to the canvas briefly.

Edited July 9, 2011 by Huntress

[Huntress]

Original cast member Dennis Grabosch departs "Alles was zählt" on September 16th, 2011 when his character Roman Wild dies in the arms of his former lover Deniz Öztürk. This will be the end for the popular gay couple that has had an on-and-off romance for the past 4 years.

[Huntress]

Preview Pictures: September 2011

Unter uns

Details: Britta (Tabea Heynig) and Rolf (Stefan Franz); Henning (Benjamin Kiss) and Erik (Maximilian Claus); Eva (Claudelle Deckert), Till (Ben Ruedinger) and Paco (Milos Vukovic); Moritz (Marvin Linke), Micki (Joy Lee Juana Abiola) and Henning; Rufus (Kai Noll) and a gangster; Micki and Bela (Bela Klentze); Rebecca (Imke Brügger) and Bine (Ela Paul); Lilli (Sarah Bogen), Easy (Lars Steinhöfel) and a day player; Easy; Paco, Till & Anna (Marylu Saskia Poolman)

Alles was zählt

Details: Jan Marco Schröder (new contract player Salvatore Greco) and Simone (Tatjana Clasing); Roman (Dennis Grabosch) and Deniz (Igor Dolgatschew); Ingo (André Dietz), Annette (Ulrike Röseberg), Deniz and Marian (Sam Eisenstein) look on as Roman's corpse is carried off; Florian (Michael N. Kuehl) and Lena (Juliette Menke); the friends say goodbye to Roman; Maximilian (Francisco Medina); Maximilian & Isabelle (Ania Niedieck); Marco and Natalie Dupont (guest Star Sarah Latton); Vanessa (Julia Augustin) and Tom (Christoph Humnig); Melanie and Sarah Wendt (new contract players Anna Katharina Fecher and Christina Siemoneit) are confronted by Annette and Ingo

Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten

Details: Jo Gerner (Wolfgang Bahro), Jasmin (Janina Uhse) and Katrin (Ulrike Frank) visit Dominik (Raul Richter) in hospital; Tanja (Senta Sofia Delliponti) meets her father Kurt (Tim Williams) for the first time; Gerner and Katrin; John (Felix von Jascheroff) comforts Leon (Daniel Fehlow); Gerner visits Patrick (Björn Harras) in prison; Maren (Eva Mona Rodekirchen) and Alexander (Clemens Löhr); Tanja, Lilly (Iris Mareike Steen) and Maren; Murat (Cem Erzincan), Gerner and Patrick; Ayla (Sila Sahin) and Emily (Anne Menden); Kaan (Sinan al Kuri) and Ayla

[DRW50]

Apparently no one on Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten has access to a shower.

So what's going on with Vanessa on AWZ?

[Huntress]

Vanessa is currently in a relationship with Tom, but Tom's evil sister Isabelle is trying to get them apart and uses Melanie for her scheme.

Meanwhile, Verbotene Liebe is bringing back another character from the distant past: Daniel Fritzsche, Andi's (Dominic Saleh-Zaki) older brother, returns to town on November 2nd, 2011. However, Daniel will no longer be played by his original portrayer Markus Prinz, who was on contract from 1999 to 2002 and appeared as a guest in early 2005, but by Dirk Moritz, who previously starred on the telenovela "Rote Rosen". According to first spoilers, Daniel will share a storyline with Christian (Thore Schölermann). This is the fifth recast for Verbotene Liebe this year as the characters of Hagen von Lahnstein (Thomas Viehöfer to Christoph Mory), Kim Wolf (Lisa Tomaschewsky to Nicole Mieth), Jan Brandner (Andreas Brucker to Hubertus Grimm) and Julia von Anstetten Sander Mendes (Valerie Niehaus to Nina Bott) all received a recast earlier this year.

There's also another wedding coming up: Tanja (Miriam Lahnstein) and Sebastian (Sebastian Schlemmer) get married on Mallorca. However, Tanja doesn't know that her nemesis Clarissa (Isa Jank) is blind with anger and wants to destroy Tanja's life once and for all.

From left to right: Charlie, Clarissa, Tanja, Sebastian, Jan and Julia

Edited September 8, 2011 by Huntress

[DRW50]

Do you think they should have recast Andi's brother or stayed with the first actor?