German soaps: GZSZ, UU & AWZ

[Huntress]

And here are the other two versions:

GZSZ – Opening 2010.1.B

Cast: Elisabeth & Clemens - Tuner - Patrick - John & Leon - Emily / Carsten - Jasmin - Pia

Unter uns – Opening 2010.1.B

Cast: Till & Heidi - Eva - Tobias & Micki - Rebecca & Rufus - Paco - Malte, Ute, Britta & Henning

Videos of the "Unter uns" openings can be found HERE

Edited August 31, 2010 by Huntress

[Sylph]

Has any TV station/network in Germany in recent years shown Die Schwarzwaldklinik? Was it like a primetime soap or...?

Edited September 14, 2010 by Sylph

[Huntress]

Die Schwarzwaldklinik was a huge hit in the 80s and holds the record for the most watched series on German television ever: Up to 28 million viewers tuned in every week (60 percent of all households at that time). It basically was a primetime soap set in a rural hospital. There were around 70 episodes and 2 movies. The last movie was shot in 2004 in order to celebrate the show's 20th anniversary. As far as I know the show's concept was heavily influenced by a hospital soap from the Czech Republic and by "General Hospital".

The whole show has been released on DVD. Reruns are currently being shown on "Romance TV", a pay-tv channel.

[sheilaforever]

A true primetime soap in the wake of DALLAS and DYNASTY was "Das Erbe der Guldenburgs" (The Guldenburg Legacy) which aired on the same network as "Die Schwarzlwaldklinik":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oFYm8cRIRw

The show had great writing and a fabulous cast which in two cases shot to mega-stardom not soon after (Iris Berben &Christiane Hoerbiger) although they alongside most of the rest of the cast were already quite famous when the series started.

A scene with the most prominent characters and the family holding a council as to who is to run the family enterprise:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBawM-n2oYQ&feature=related

[Sylph]

Wow, thank you both! I love reading about these shows.

Did you two like Die Schwarzwaldklinik? Was it any good? Did it deserve the fame and the following it got?

[sheilaforever]

Never actually watched it. Was too young during it's original run to remember anything. And the show has the feel of a limetime movie-of-the-week. It really aimed for a female audience was effective at that, but the writing did not stretch for complexity. It was mostly a series about a hospital with lots of backdrop of the Black Forrest mostly dealing with romance and medical cases of the week.

It was no great show by any means, just mass compatible and sth. fresh and new when it premiered: the lush geographic setting, the more upper class feel (They are chief doctors at a hospital and hence have to be well off, you know ;-)) and of course it was one of the first medical series. A genre which alongside sloooow crime serials is well-liked by the audience.

[Sylph]

That's nice to know.

So why do you think German soaps are... Well, not atrocious, but just kind of — dull? Even though they look "expensive" and it seems a stunt isn't really a problem? Something is missing?

[Huntress]

Well, there are of course times where these shows are almost unbearable to watch, but in general they are good entertainment. AWZ somehow revived the soap genre in Germany because of its unique filming technique and its witty dialogue. Even though they are much longer on the air, GZSZ and UU have been heavily influenced by AWZ in recent years. In addition, the acting on all shows has improved a lot. During their early years, GZSZ and UU had maybe like five or six cast members that had decent acting abilities. Those days are definitely over.

Some preview pictures for October/November:

UU

AWZ

GZSZ

Edited September 25, 2010 by Huntress

[DRW50]

Thanks for the photos.

What story are Roman and Deniz having right now?

[Huntress]

The whole cast will be influenced by Jenny's tragic death. She boards a plane to Russia which goes missing. Simone and Richard travel to Russia but cannot find their daughter anywhere. Axel makes Simone believe that Jenny has died by presenting her a fake corpse. Vanessa returns to comfort her parents and to keep the family together. Marian hits rock bottom and Deniz tries to help him. Ben and Maximilian clash violently.

Roman coaches Katja who wants to become a professional figure skater. Ben is torn between Katja and his wife Isabelle. Isabelle's brother Tom is still interested in Katja. Annette and Ingo overcome their marital and financial problems. Richard's niece Franziska arrives in town. In order to become a member of the ice hockey squad, she pretends to be a boy. She secretly falls in love with Roman's brother Florian.

[DRW50]

Thanks! So I guess Florian will be sexually confused and probably talk to Roman about it.

Did they ever resolve Axel having fantasies about Roman?

[Huntress]

Somehow that storyline ended when Axel's love interest Nina (Nathalie Thiede) left town and Deniz and Roman got back together last fall.

Since both GZSZ and its Dutch pendant GTST used the scripts of the Australian soap The Restless Years during their first year on the air, I tried to compile a list of the characters that were part of all three soaps.

The Restless Years – Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden – Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten

Original cast:

Peter Beckett – Peter Kelder (1990–1993; 1995) – Peter Becker (1992-1996; 1999-2002; played by three different actors)

Penny Russell – Linda Dekker (1990-1998; 2005–2006) – Tina Ullrich-Zimmermann (1992-1996; 2000; played by two different actresses)

Clive Archer – Robert Alberts (1990–2008) – Clemens Richter (1992-2010)

Louise Archer - Laura Alberts (1990-present) – Vera Richter (1992-1997)

Alan Archer – Arnie Alberts (1990–1996) – Heiko Richter (1992-1996)

Barry King – Rien Hogendoorn (1990-1992) – Patrick Graf (1992-1996, killed off)

Alison Clarke – Annette van Thijn (1990–1992) – Elke Opitz-Graf (1992-1997; 1999)

Olivia Baxter – Suzanne Balk (1990–2000) – Julia Backhoff (1992-1993)

Raelene Geddes – Myriam van der Pol (1990–1993; 1994) – Marina Geppert (1992-1993)

Bruce Russell – Simon Dekker (1990–1994; 1997–1998; 2002–2003) – Frank Ullrich (1992-1993)

Heather Russell – Jeanne Dekker (1991) – Helga Ullrich (1992-1993, killed off)

Elizabeth McKenzie – Helen Helmink (1990-1997; played by two different actresses) – Elisabeth Meinhart (1992-2010)

A.R. Jordan – Daniel Daniel (1990–1999) – A.R. Daniel (1992-2009)

Richard Dawson – Marc de Waal (1990) – Michael Döring (1992, killed off)

Rita Merrick – Martine Hafkamp (1990–1994M 2003–2005) – Lilo Gottschick (1992-1993)

Jean Hutton Stafford – Stephanie Kreeft-Stenders (1990–1992; 1993–1994) – Claudia Wedemaier-Löpelmann (1992; 1993-1994; played by two different actresses)

Unknown Stafford – Nico Stenders (1990–1991) – Oswald Löpelmann (1992)

Unknown – Jan van Ede (1990–1991) – Bertram Köhler (1992)

Unkown – Petra van Ede (1990–1991) – Denise Köhler (1992)

Later additions:

Maurice Brown – Maurice de Bruin (1991) – Armin Braun (1992, killed off)

Jeff Archer – Jef Alberts (1991-) – Wilfried Richter* (1993)

Carol Archer – Karin Alberts (1991–1992) – Carola Richter* (1993)

Shane Archer – John Alberts (1991–1992) – Karsten Richter* (1992-1993)

David Harker – David Harkema (1991) – André Holm (1992-1995)

Unknown – Frits van Houten (1991–1995; 2006) – Jo Gerner (1993-present)

Diane Archer – Dian Alberts (1991-1999; played by two different actresses) – Diana Richter* (1993, killed off)

Tim Watson – Tim Waterman (1991–1992) – Tommy Walter (1993, killed off)

* After reading the character profiles on the official Dutch website for GTST, I came to the conclusion that the family structure of the Archer family was altered on the German version. Karsten was not Clemens's nephew but his younger brother, whereas Diana was Clemens's niece. Like Shane/John, Karsten married the Marina character. Wilfried and Carola Richter were only recurring characters that disappeared after Diana's death (she and and her bf Tommy were murdered by the pantyhose serial killer).

[Huntress]

Today the new soap opera "Hand aufs Herz" went on the air. I wasn't impressed with the first episode, but it definitely has potential. Vanessa Jung and Andreas Jancke are a reason to tune in, but the rest of the ensemble looked and acted rather dull. For those who are interested, the first episode can be watched here.

"Marienhof" currently celebrates 18 years on the air. ARD has published several classic episodes on their website which can be found here.

Complete list of episodes:

- #1 How it all began

- #672 Marco dies

- #750 Annalena and Frank's wedding

- #835 Nadine and Sven's motorcycle accident

- #1046 Olli's bungee jump

- #1252 Charly is bitten by a poisonous snake

- #1493 Natalie dies in a fire

- #1518 The mail bomb explodes

- #1546-#1549 Bogdan terrorizes Billi

- #1677 Doro is gunned down

- #1678 Doro dies

- #1745 Inge sets her market garden on fire

- #2000 Men strip at "Foxy's"

- #2885-2886 Yasemin and Raul's wedding

- #3000 Christmas at Marienhof

- #3617 Marienhof explodes

[Huntress]

I updated the cast pictures on the first page.

For GZSZ, I did not include both original cast members Frank-Thomas Mende (Clemens Richter) and Lisa Riecken (Elisabeth Meinhart) since they are currently off the canvas. The network stated that it's just an extended break but they did that before with other cast members who never returned. So it seems that there's now no original cast member left on GZSZ. I also left out Kristin Meyer (Iris Cöster) who departs the show in December.

[DRW50]

Thanks once again for your tireless work.