German soaps: GZSZ, UU & AWZ

[Sylph]

Has it exploded?

[Huntress]

No, the explosion takes place on June 23rd. (We usually get preview pictures and episode descriptions 6-8 weeks in advance.)

While no character dies during or after the explosion, at least four cast members have been let go due to the show's complete overhaul. Katrin Ritt (Yasemin Özgentürk Garcia, 2005-2009) departs on June 9th, Rosetta Pedone (Laura Conti, 2007-2009) on July 8th, and Fabian Baier (Steve Busch, 2004-2009) and Katharina Woschek (Marie Töppers, 2007-2009) say goodbye on July 15th. The future of newcomers Gloria Nefzger (Jule Busch) and Tom Viehöfer (Roman Sander) is unclear.

In turn, "GZSZ"-alumni Hendrik Borgmann joins the cast as Dr. Nicolas Stein on June 24th, while newcomers Maria Hönig and Simone Gorholt join the cast as homeless twin sisters Lena and Ruth Horvath on July 29th, 2009.

[Sylph]

Thanks, Huntress!

A question: how do the German writing staff credits go? Could you give a few examples?

[nicknack]

You should go to RTL now and skip forward to the end of the episode where the credits run: http://rtl-now.rtl.de/alles-was-zaehlt.php

At first I didn't like Silvia Maleen because she wasn't as beautiful as Christiane Klimt. But she is an excellect actress and she has really grown on me. I have to agree about Stella though. She is ok, but she is just not memorable enough for a main heroine. Silvia Maleen wipes the floor with her when it comes to screen presence.

I never really liked Juli as a character, but it seems to me that she was much more popular and successfull especially with younger viewers as a main heroine. So why didn't they just make her/keep her as the main girl? Not that I particularly liked Juli and Oliver, but what the show did to them and how they rewrote Juli's character was really awful.

Speaking of AWZ, Ulrike Röseberg who plays Annette of Ingo&Annette fame came out as a lesbian a while ago. You can watch the subtitled interview here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMp-wh9gKMQ

[DRW50]

I'm not surprised about Stella not being popular. What I saw of her early story, the circus, was ridiculous. I also don't think putting Deniz in the story did her any favors, the writing for him is so confusing and he often comes across negatively. The only time I enjoy him is if he's in a story with Deniz. Too bad they ruined his friendship with Vanessa. Why did they pair them up?

Is Roman a popular character? I think he's great, very complex, and a good actor, handsome as well. I'm glad they seem to be writing for him again.

[nicknack]

I think she has simmered down since the beginning and became a more likable character for it. But she is still (or even more now that she is "average nice person" rather than "mind splitting perky Mary Sue") just not main heroine material.

Roman, I think he is popular with the fan of gay storylines naturally. With the more average fans, it seems they like him well enough, especially as a sidekick to Ingo and Annette, but they don't seem to be that passionate about him when he has no storyline. So I guess vague but not necessarily passionate benevolence seems to be the general feeling towards him? Which is still good since there are plenty of characters who aren't necessarily evil but quite disliked such a Celine or Mike.

[Huntress]

Actually, I don't mind Celine. Nina Bott may not be the best actress on AWZ, but I loved her during her run as Cora Hinze Moreno on GZSZ (1997-2005).

Stella and Lars's story is just a lame remake of Diana and Julian's story, with Jenny in the middle again.

The ones I can't stand are Mike, Maximilian, Oliver, and Lena. My favourites are Simone, Richard, Annette, Ingo, and Nina.

Roman is okay. Seems like he'll be involved with Axel soon. At least they will share some racy scenes which involves nudity performed by Dennis Grabosch. Poor Nina, once again Roman gets between her and her lover

[nicknack]

That might be but you gotta admit her character on AWZ is a huge bore. On one hand she is constantly moralizing and telling her husband what to do and chiding him for lying to her. On the other hand she is the one who always runs around accidentally being kissed by other men (remember her kissing Marian and nothing ever came out of it? And now Richard?). Admittedly a large fraction of her haters appear to be the Richard and Simone fans, but most other people seem to be bored by her too.

Max and Celine were a kind of hot couple in the beginning but they have become one of the most obnoxous and toothless one. I can't wait for them to break up.

And God I hope Celine hooks up with either Oliver or Mike. Maybe their annoyingness will cancel each other out.

[Huntress]

GZSZ loses one of its original cast members as Hans Christiani has been released from this contract. Christiani has played A.R. Daniel since the show's 9th episode in May 1992. In recent years, Daniel has rarely had his own storyline, but as the owner of the "Mocca" lounge, he usually gave advice to the younger crowd. Christiani's last episode is scheduled for July 31st, 2009 (episode 4293). Daniel and his significant other Rose (played by Christiani's wife Christiane Reiff) emigrate to the United States. Following Christiani's exit, Frank-Thomas Mende (Clemens Richter) and Lisa Riecken (Elisabeth Meinhart) are the only remaining original cast members.

In May, an insider source revealed that more exits are to be expected during the next months.

[Huntress]

Marienhof explodes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQx2dOLsmUo

[sheilaforever]

Looks better than many of General Hospital's hyped sweeps stunts productionwise...

[Huntress]

Looks like "Marienhof" will resume airing 2 episodes a day come October since "Eine für alle", which was launched in April 2009, was cancelled and will only run for 100 episodes instead of 200. For years, the 6.50 pm timeslot has been a big problem for the ARD, with many shows failing to reach sufficient ratings. As a temporary solution, "Marienhof" might air between 6.20 and 7.20 pm once again. Before "Eine für alle" debuted, "Marienhof" aired 2 episodes a day for approximately 2 months. This is a rather strange move, considering that a few months ago "Marienhof" was threatened by cancellation as well. While all 3 RTL soaps (GZSZ, UU & AWZ) are still perfoming well, both ARD soaps (MH & VL) have been struggling with declining ratings since 2008.

[Sylph]

Although it's not really in line with the title, but how about telling us something about the most popular/best primetime soap operas in the last 20 years in Germany?

[Huntress]

Do you mean the most popular primetime soaps that were produced in Germany or the most popular US dramas in Germany?

Regarding the first category, I don't think that there have been that many extremely popular ones. "Das Erbe der Guldenburgs" (The Legacy of the Guldenburgs) was the German answer to "Dynasty" or "Dallas" and ran from 1987 to 1990 (39 episodes). But since "Dynasty", "Dallas", "Falcon Crest" and other US primetime soaps were very popular in Germany during that time, the market was supersaturated with shows of that kind and there was no need to produce similar shows. In 2000, RTL launched a primetime spin-off of "GZSZ" called "Großstadtträume" (City Dreams), which was supposed to be more mature than "GZSZ" and featured former characters of "GZSZ". "GST" was cancelled after 7 episodes because of low ratings. In 2005, "Bis in die Spitzen" debuted on Sat1. It was a remake of the British soap "Cutting It". Even though it was a brilliant show and had good ratings, Sat1 pulled the plug on it after its first season.

The most popular US primetime soaps in Germany were "Dynasty", "Dallas" and "Falcon Crest" which were also broadcasted during primetime in Germany. In the 90s and early 2000s, most US shows were only being broadcasted during daytime. "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "Melrose Place" ran back to back on Saturday afternoons and attracted a rather large audience during their first seasons. During the last few years, more and more US shows have found their way back into the networks' primetime schedules. These days, major hits are "CSI", "CSI: Miami" and "CSI: New York" (with Miami having more viewers than the original CSI), "House", "Grey's Anatomy", "Private Practice", "Desperate Housewives" and "Monk". "Gilmore Girls" and "Sex and the City" were also very popular during their original runs. Some shows have also failed miserably, for example "One Tree Hill", which has already been cancelled twice after only a handful of episodes, or "Brothers & Sisters".

[MarkH]

Why do you think these latter programs failed?