German soaps: GZSZ, UU & AWZ

[DRW50]

Brigitte was also on Celebrity Big Brother 5-6 years ago, briefly reuniting with former mother in law, Jackie Stallone.

Do you have any favorites so far?

[Huntress]

So far I like Brigitte and Rocco best.

Here are the final two minutes of VL's 4000th episode: During Tanja's fashion show of "Ligne Clarisse" her arch nemesis Clarissa reveals herself to alive – on the catwalk, wearing the showstopper!

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Edited January 20, 2012 by Huntress

[Huntress]

The next show has been cancelled: According to media reports, Sat.1 has pulled the plug on "Anna und die Liebe". The telenovela debuted in the fall of 2008 and has suffered from weak ratings for the past few months.

[DRW50]

Did you enjoy Anna und die Liebe?

I guess that fashion show reveal has been done quite a bit (I know it was on Return to Eden); I always associate it with Lilith on ATWT.

[Huntress]

Honestly, I've never watched the show. Just caught a glimpse here and there.

The show's official website: http://www.sat1.de/t...iebe/charaktere

The show's main star was Jeanette Biedermann as Anna Broda, née Polauke. Biedermann used to be GZSZ's poster child after the turn of the millenium and I could never stand her. Due to her popularity as an actress, she also became a successful singer, scoring ten top 10 hits on the German Singles Chart between 2000 and 2009. After "Anna" had completed its first year, Biedermann left the show and was replaced by Josephine Schmidt who starred on GZSZ from 2002 to 2009. Schmidt's character was named Mia, but the show was still called "Anna und die Liebe".

In November 2010, Schmidt left and Biedermann returned. Anna's husband Jonas, whom Anna had finally married at the end of her first run, was killed off and there was some surreal storyline with Jonas being a ghost, which the audience did not approve of. Subsequently, ratings began to fall. The ghost story was scrapped and a new triangle featuring Anna, Tom and Enrique became the main storyline. Anna and Tom eventually got married and Biedermann announced her second departure from the show. Her final airdate is January 25th, 2012. A few weeks ago, the new main character Nina was introduced, who is played by former AWZ actress Maria Wedig. However, Nina is very unpopular with the audience and ratings have fallen once again.

For the most part of its run, "Anna und die Liebe" aired against "Marienhof", which was cancelled in early 2011.

In Germany, the ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG is the main opponent of the RTL group. While RTL operates RTL, RTL II, VOX, SuperRTL and n-tv plus several pay-tv stations, ProSiebenSat.1 owns ProSieben, Sat.1, kabeleins, sixx and N24 plus several pay-tv stations.

While RTL has three successful soaps, Sat.1 has a poor record of keeping soaps and telenovelas on the air. Their first attempt at establishing a daily soap was "So ist das Leben! Die Wagenfelds" which ran from October 1995 to February 1996 at 6 p.m. and was cancelled after only 127 episodes. In 1997, "Geliebte Schwestern" failed at 7 p.m. Until February 2005, they did not launch another daily serial until "Verliebt in Berlin", the German adaption of "Ugly Betty", was produced. ViB became a huge success during its premiere year and even threatened GZSZ in the ratings department. However, during the second season ViB became unwatchable and ratings declined, leading to the show's cancellation in October 2007. Around the time the second season of ViB premiered, Sat.1 also launched a second telenovela called "Schmetterlinge im Bauch" which was cancelled only a few months later. "Anna und die Liebe" then debuted in August 2008. From 2009 to 2010, "Eine wie keine" was paired with "Anna und die Liebe". After the former show's cancellation, "Hand aufs Herz" was launched. HaH also only survived one year. I don't think Sat.1 will produce another soap or telenovela in the near future.

Edited January 22, 2012 by Huntress

[DRW50]

Thanks for all this info. I wish info like stories and characters was easily available for these shows, as I'm always fascinated by these soaps, especially those which burn out quickly. You wonder if they just screwed up, or if they were fads, never to be a long term success.

Why do you think Schmetterlinge im Bauch was so unpopular?

[Huntress]

It happened faster than everyone thought: Sat.1 has taken "Anna und die Liebe" off its schedule as of next week. The remaining episodes will be shown on sixx – a channel that only a small number of households can receive. The same happened last fall with "Hand aufs Herz" which was also only shown on sixx towards the end of its run.

However, ZDF has reactivated its telenovela "Wege zum Glück" which ran from 2004 to 2009. A new season will debut this spring.

I think it was due to the fact that it was basically a clone of "Verliebt in Berlin". Besides, both lead actors clearly lacked screen presence.

[DRW50]

What did you think of Wege zum Gluck?

[Huntress]

It wasn't that bad actually. The best thing about it was Isa Jank who played the main antagonist Annabelle von Gravenberg for most of the show's run. Annabelle was very similar to VL's Clarissa von Anstetten, also played by Jank. However, while Clarissa sometimes displays a softer side, Annabelle was a real witch.

The new edition will probably not feature any of the former characters.

[CassieFan]

They actually canceled "Anna" in Croatia as well after 254 episodes. The only German telenovela that is currently on air is "Alisa". I forgot the original name. German telenovelas and soaps almost never succeed in the ratings here, but they still buy them every now and then. I think the only major sucess was Forsthaus Falkenau, although I don't think that's a soap, more like family drama?

[Huntress]

Brigitte Nielsen won the 6th season of "Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!" last night.

Complete ranking:

11. Martin Kesici (left voluntarily)

10. Daniel Lopes

09. Ramona Leiß

08. Jazzy

07. Radost Bokel

06. Ailton

05. Vincent Raven

04. Micaela Schäfer

03. Rocco Stark

02. Kim Gloss

01. Brigitte Nielsen

Omg, "Forsthaus Falkenau" Yeah, it's some sort of family drama and one of the longest-running shows on German television, currently in its 23rd season.

[Huntress]

Preview pictures for April 2012:

Unter uns

01. Irene (Petra Blossey), nuConnor (Finn Ariens) and one of Connor's kiddy friends 02. Sina (Valea Scalabrino) and Rebecca (Imke Brügger) 03. Micki (Joy Lee Juana Abiola-Müller) and Bela (Bela Klentze) 04. Till (Ben Ruedinger) and Eva (Claudelle Deckert) 05. Britta (Tabea Heynig) and Eva (Claudelle Deckert) 06. Nils (Martin Baden) and Paco (Milos Vukovic) 07. Paco (Milos Vukovic) and Anna (Marylu Saskia Poolman) 08. Britta (Tabea Heynig) 09. Easy (Lars Steinhöfel) and Lili (Sarah Bogen) 10. Moritz (Marvin Linke) and Sina (Valea Scalabrino)

Alles was zählt

01. Lena (Juliette Menke) and Florian (Michael N. Kuehl) 02. Maximilian (Francisco Medina) and Katja (Anna-Katharina Samsel) 03. Lena (Juliette Menke) and Marian (Sam Eisenstein) 04. Jenny (Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen) 05. Simone (Tatjana Clasing) and Jenny (Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen) 06. Axel (Daniel Aichinger), Ben (Jörg Rohde), Richard (Silvan-Pierre Leirich) and Maximilian (Francisco Medina) 07. Constanze (Sabine Fernandez), Marian (Sam Eisenstein) and Lena (Juliette Menke) 08. Maximilian (Francisco Medina) 09. nuEtienne (Mehdi Moinzadeh) and Annette (Ulrike Röseberg) 10. Melanie (Anna Katharina Fecher), Franziska (Julia Engelmann) and Sebastian (Frederik Götz)

Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten

01. Maren (Eva Mona Rodekirchen) and Alexander (Clemens Löhr) 02. Katrin (Ulrike Frank), Gerner (Wolfgang Bahro) and David (Kai Holzapfel) 03. Tanja (Senta-Sofia Delliponti) and Zac (Jascha Rust) 04. Tuner (Thomas Drechsel) and Jacky (Samia Dauenhauer) 05. John (Felix von Jascheroff) and Pia (Isabell Horn) 06. Patrick (Björn Harras) and Tayfun (Tayfun Baydar) 07. Lilly (Iris Mareike Steen) 08. Pia (Isabell Horn) and Jasmin (Janina Uhse) 09. Vince (Vincent Krüger) and John (Felix von Jascheroff) 10. Tayfun (Tayfun Baydar) and Ayla (Sila Sahin)

[Huntress]

Original cast member Ulrike Röseberg is out on Alles was zählt. After almost six years with the show, the actress has decided to leave her role and move to Berlin to live with her girlfriend. Her character Annette Bergmann-Zadek, who has been the heart and soul of the show since the very beginning, will be killed off. Röseberg's final episode will be shown in June 2012.

Thus, Tatjana Clasing and Silvan-Pierre Leirich (Simone and Richard Steinkamp) remain as the last original cast members. Sam Eisenstein (Marian Öztürk) and André Dietz (Ingo Zadek) have also been with the show since the beginning, but started out as recurring.

The last main character to be killed off was Roman Wild, played by Dennis Grabosch, last November. Ironically, Roman was Annette's best friend. Annette will be survived by her husband Ingo, her sister Lena Bergmann (Juliette Menke), her half-sister Katja Bergmann (Anna Katharina Samsel) and her newphew Alexander von Altenburg (Lena and Maximilian's son).

[Huntress]

Official promotion trailer for the "WzG" reboot: "Wege zum Glück – Spuren im Sand"*:

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* Literal translation: "Paths to Happiness – Traces in the Sand".

[Huntress]

"Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten" celebrates 5000 episodes and its 20th anniversary on May 23rd, 2012. New cast pictures have been released.

From left to right: John, Pia, Dominik, Jasmin, Ayla, Philip, Emily, Vince, Zac, Lilly and Tanja

The twentysomethings: Philip, Ayla, Dominik, Emily, Jasmin, John and Pia

The teens: Zac, Tanja, Lilly and Vince

It is however striking that Patrick, Jacky and Tuner were ommitted on the group pictures even though they also belong to the younger crowd. They were probably not sexy enough.