German soaps: GZSZ, UU & AWZ

[Huntress]

I think it was a mixture of bad timeslots and the shows not being interested enough for the average German audience.

Too a large extent, "One Tree Hill" resolves around basketball which is not that popular over here as it in the US. Besides, the first season is rather dull and I gave up on the show after half a season. Strangely enough, the show's still being released on DVD over here with a German audio track (the 5th season was released in April). On television, only a handful of episodes were broadcasted.

"Brothers & Sisters" on the other hand presents us a typical American family. Moreover, it features a lot of political topics which may not be that easy to comprehend for foreigners. This is also the reason why "The West Wing" never went on the air here.

[Huntress]

There's going to be a new homosexual couple on "Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten": Carsten Reimann (Felix Isenbügel) falls in love with his best buddy Lenny Cöster (Alexander Becht). Both guys met during their time in the Army last year. Lenny's struggle with homosexuality has been featured since his arrival in December 2007. Lenny's father Alexander even thought his son was gay, but Lenny always claimed that this wasn't true. Currently he's involved with Emily Höfer who has a rocky past herself (she slept with her half-brother and was a druggie among other things).

Carsten (dark hair) and Lenny (blond hair)

The last homosexual couple were Paula Rapf (Josephine Schmidt) and Franzi Reuter (Jasmin Weber) from 2007-2008. Franzi died in the 4000th episode during an explosion at the "Fasan" restaurant. She and Emily were stoned at the time and accidentally caused the explosion. Paula left town six months later after she was rejected by her best friend Verena (Susan Sideropoulos).

Edited July 17, 2009 by Huntress

[Huntress]

I can add two more shows to that list: "90210" and "Gossip Girl" have been cancelled due to extremely low ratings. Since April, both shows have run back to back on Saturday afternoons on ProSieben. When "Gossip Girl" ends its first season on August 15th, 2009, "90210" will also be gone for good. Originally, the second season of "Gossip Girl" was due to start on August 22nd. The remaining six episodes of "90210" will probably remain unaired. I just wish another network, e.g. the RTL group, had aquired the rights to these shows *sigh*.

By the way, I updated the cast lists on the first page of this topic.

[MarkH]

I am loving the German soap clips that I see on youtube, elsewhere. I wish [ a ] Germany would stop importing this US crap and make more shows (although I understand why this is economically not feasible] and [ b ] I really wish these shows would be legally available internationally with subtitles. I wish it would be economically viable to have a "Germany's Greatest Hits" channel (kind of like a commercial version of Deutsche Welle) that airs everywhere. I wish the same for each country. I wish these walls would come down.

[DRW50]

I'm so glad Roman and Deniz are moving back towards each other. They were a fascinating, complex, well-acted, super hot couple and I never knew why they broke up.

[Ann_SS]

I have been catching up on AWZ. I love Marian and Jenny's tenative love affair. I hope they become a viable long term couple. I don't trust Deniz so I find it hard to get vested in Roman and Deniz. I had hoped that they would find Roman another love interest. Could Lars and Stella be more annoying? Gah.

[Huntress]

I don't really know why they dropped that short flirtation between Roman and Axel so quickly. I thought they had a lot of chemistry, especially since Axel is so uptight and Roman is the complete opposite. Deniz may be pretty, but he is shallow and so one-dimensional.

Meanwhile, Frank-Thomas Mende, who has played Clemens Richter on "Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten" since the show's first episode in May 1992, has stated that he wants to leave the soap "because the magic is gone". This comes only two months after the departure of fellow original cast member Hans Christiani (A.R. Daniel) whose last episode aired this past July. Mende's impending exit would leave Lisa Riecken (Elisabeth Meinhart) as the last remaining original cast member. However, since Riecken's role has been dramatically cut during the past few years, it can be expected that she will probably leave as well in the near future.

[Huntress]

Some casting updates:

Alles was zählt

• Jörg Rohde takes over the role of Ben Roschinski on November 10th, 2009. The character was previously played by Jan Niklas Berg from 2006 to 2007 (contract) and for a short time in 2008 (recurring).
  
• Meanwhile, original cast members Nathalie Thiede (Nina Sommer) and Stephen Dürr (Mike Hartwig) have announced their exits from the soap. Thiede will last air on October 28th, while Dürr will last air on November 24th. Nina leaves for the United States and Mike dies a tragic death.
  
  Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten
  
  • Due to his popularity, former recurring star Felix Isenbügel has been offered a contract with the soap. He has portrayed Carsten Reimann since October 2008. Carsten has now become Lenny Cöster's (played by Alexander Becht) love interest.
    
  • Sila Sahin has joined the cast in the new contract role Ayla Özgül, Tayfun's cousin.
    
  • Björn Harras joins the cast as Patrick Graf, Jr. on November 11th, 2009. The character was born in 1996 after his father Patrick Graf, Sr. had died of cancer. One year later Patrick's mother Elke fled to South America, taking her child with her. Now a grown-up Patrick returns to Berlin, trying to get in contact with his uncle Jo Gerner (Wolfgang Bahro).
    
    Unter uns
    
    • Sarah Ulrich exits the soap on November 2nd, 2009 after having portrayed the character of Romy Sturm for 4 years. Before Ulrich took over, Romy was played by Nike Martens from 2003 to 2005.
      

    Marienhof

    [*] Former recurring star Verena Mörtel (Heidi Torg) has been offered a contract with the soap.

    [*] The soap has updated its opening, now featuring Hendrik Borgmann (Nic), Julia Dahmen (Constanze), Simone Gorholt (Ruth), Maria Hönig (Lea) and Verena Mörtel (Heidi).

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    Verbotene Liebe

    [*] Kristina Dörfer exited "VL" on September 23rd, 2009, when her character Olivia Schneider fell into a building pit.

    [*] Claudia Hiersche (Carla von Lahnstein) and Anne Wis (Stella Mann) will be exiting the soap in November 2009. The lesbian couple will go on a world trip. Hiersche joined the cast in 2003, while Wis debuted in 2008.

    [*] Dominic Saleh-Zaki returns to the canvas in November 2009 after a two-year long absence. Previously, Zaleh-Zaki portrayed Andi Fritzsche from 2001 to 2007.

    [*] Furthermore, "VL" welcomes 3 new contract cast members: Renee Weibel and Jens Hartwig as twins Helena and Tristan von Lahnstein and Sebastian Schlemmer as Sebastian von Lahnstein. Schlemmer replaces Joscha Kiefer who played Sebastian from 2007 to 2009.

    

    Renee Weibel, Jens Hartwig, Sebastian Schlemmer

    Plus:

    A new soap opera called "Eine wie keine" will debut on Sat.1 in November 2009, airing weekdays at 6 p.m.

    The German soap line-up from November onwards:

    2:10 Rote Rosen (ARD)

    3:15 Sturm der Liebe (ARD)

    4:15 Alisa – Folge deinem Herzen (ZDF)

    5:30 Unter uns (RTL)

    6:00 Eine wie keine (Sat.1) / Verbotene Liebe (ARD)

    6:30 Anna und die Liebe (Sat.1) / Marienhof (ARD)

    7:00 Alles was zählt (RTL)

    7:40 Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten (RTL)

[DRW50]

Who is Mike? I don't know that character.

I do wish we'd seen more Roman/Axel.

[YRBB]

I've been checking up on Deniz and Roman's latest adventures.... and also falling in love with Marian/Jenny and their sex scenes!

[Huntress]

That's Mike. He's the coach of the ice skating squad and a close friend of Annette's and Ingo's. He hasn't had a lot of major storylines, though, just affairs with many women including Annette, Nadja and Diana. Overall, Mike's a very dull character so I'm glad he'll be gone by the end of the year. He's currently in a relationship with Annette's sister Lena and plays daddy for her little son Alexander.

Edited October 3, 2009 by Huntress

[DRW50]

Thanks. I thought I knew most of the characters, but obviously not!

So are Ollian ever going to get a story on VL?

Edited October 3, 2009 by CarlD2

[Huntress]

Two more veterans are leaving this fall:

On "Verbotene Liebe", original cast member Konrad Krauss (Arno Brandner) will exit the soap on November 25th, 2009. Arno goes on a journey to fulfill his dream of travelling to India. The 71-year old actor has played Arno since the show's first episode in January 1995.

On "Unter uns", original cast member Holger Franke (Wolfgang Weigel) will exit the soap on November 26th, 2009. The patriarch of the Weigel family dies during the wedding of his son Till and Eva Wagner. The decision to kill off Wolfgang goes hand in hand with the show's 15th anniversary. Wolfgang's death will surely stir up things in the apartment building. What will become of Wolfgang's widow Irene (sole original cast member Petra Blossey)? How will Wolfgang's children react? Can the Weigel family finally regain control over the apartment building?

[Huntress]

"Verbotene Liebe" celebrates 3500 episodes on November 6th, 2009

Gregor (Andreas Jancke) & Luise (Mascha Müller)

Cast picture | Front row from left to right: Matthias (Thomas Ohrner), Nathalie (Jenny Winkler), Arno (Konrad Krauss), Sebastian (Sebastian Schlemmer), Lydia (Theresa Underberg), Charlie (Gabriele Metzger), Gregor (Andreas Jancke), Luise (Mascha Müller), Eduard (Hubertus Regout), Maria (Simone Ritscher), Ansgar (Wolfram Grandezka), Tanja (Miriam Lahnstein), Tristan (Jens Hartwig), Elisabeth (Martina Servatius), Helena (Renee Weibel), Rebecca (Jasmin Lord), Andi (Dominic Saleh-Zaki) | Back row from left to right: Christian (Thore Schölermann), Stella (Anne Wis), Oliver (Jo Weil), David (Sven Koller)

Elisabeth (Martina Servatius), Charlie (Gabriele Metzger) & Maria (Simone Ritscher)

Tanja (Miriam Lahnstein), Gregor (Andreas Jancke), Luise (Mascha Müller), Ansgar (Wolfram Grandezka), Rebecca (Jasmin Lord), Matthias (Thomas Ohrner) & Lydia (Theresa Underberg)

Helena (Renee Weibel), Rebecca (Jasmin Lord), Tristan (Jens Hartwig), Oliver (Jo Weil), Christian (Thore Schölermann), Lydia (Theresa Underberg) & Sebastian (Sebastian Schlemmer)

[Sylph]

Huntress, how did that primetime mini-soap do? Geld, Macht, Liebe or what was its name?