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

The show's still on the air. The first season has 19 episodes and so far 12 have been shown. However, ratings have been rather disappointing for ARD (total viewers: ca. 2.7 million, market share: 7-9 percent), so it's highly unlikely that the show will be renewed for a second season.

"Unter uns" bade adieu to patriarch Wolfgang Weigel (#3726)

During Till and Eva's wedding, Wolfgang had his second heart attack. In the hospital, Wolfgang begged his son to stay away from Eva. Till refused to do so. Wolfgang's family and friends were worried about Wolfgang's condition. While Rebecca, Rufus, Malte, Henning, Ute and Richie gathered at the "Schiller", Anna, Paco and Rolf visited Wolfgang. He told them how proud he was of them. While Till and Eva eventually got married, Wolfgang died with Irene by his side.

Thank you for keeping this going! I haven't caught up on VL or AWZ in a while now. So is Vanessa gone from AWZ? I liked her, I wish they hadn't saddled her with that big mess of a story about Deniz turning straight for her.

Joan Collins of "Dynasty" fame will appear on "Verbotene Liebe" this spring. She plays "Lady Joan", a British millionairess, who keeps a much younger lover. Collins starts filming on February 22nd, 2010.

Source: http://www.bild.de/BILD/unterhaltung/TV/2010/01/24/verbotene-liebe/joan-collins-dreht-verbotene-liebe.html

Wow. That's quite a casting coup. I hope she has some scenes with Cristian or Olli, it has to be better than their current story.

And why is Andreas Jancke exiting in March?

Joan Collins of "Dynasty" fame will appear on "Verbotene Liebe" this spring. She plays "Lady Joan", a British millionairess, who keeps a much younger lover. Collins starts filming on February 22nd, 2010.

Source: http://www.bild.de/B...tene-liebe.html

She will apparently appear in 3 episodes? Apparently to be broadcast starting May 7th.

And why is Andreas Jancke exiting in March?

Andreas Jancke's leaving because he wants to play other roles. Mascha Müller (Luise von Waldensteyck) is leaving with her on-screen husband. I doubt that Andreas will have much success outside the soap genre because he's a terrible actor. He's only popular because of his good looks.

Current contract cast members of all 5 soaps (March 2010):

Alles was zählt

Daniel Aichinger - Dr. Axel Schwarz (2006-)

Nina Bott - Celine Laffort (2008-)

Tatjana Clasing - Simone Steinkamp (2006-)

André Dietz - Ingo Zadek (2006-)

Igor Dolgatschew - Deniz Öztürk (2007-)

Sam Eisenstein - Marian Öztürk (2006-)

Dennis Grabosch - Roman Wild (2006-)

Norman Kalle - Dr. Oliver Sommer (2007-)

Silvan-Pierre Leirich - Richard Steinkamp (2006)

Tobias Licht - Lars Berger (2008-2010)

Silvia Maleen - Jenny Steinkamp (recast, 2008-)

Francisco Medina - Maximilian von Altenburg (2007-)

Juliette Menke - Lena Bergmann (2007-)

Nadine Rennack - Stella Coretti (2008-2010)

Jörg Rohde - Ben Roschinski (recast, 2009-)

Ulrike Röseberg - Annette Bergmann (2006-)

Anna Katharina Samsel - Katja Bergmann (2009-)

Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten

Wolfgang Bahro - Dr. Jo Gerner (1993-)

Tayfun Baydar - Tayfun Badak (2008-)

Alexander Becht - Lenny Cöster (2007-)

Daniel Fehlow - Leon Moreno (1996-1999; 2001-)

Ulrike Frank - Katrin Flemming-Gerner (2002-2003; 2004-)

Björn Harras - Patrick Graf, Jr. (2009-)

Isabell Horn - Pia Koch (2009-)

Felix Isenbügel - Carsten Reimann (2008-2010)

Clemens Löhr - Alexander Cöster (recast, 2009-)

Frank-Thomas Mende - Clemens Richter (1992-)

Anne Menden - Emily Höfer (2004-)

Kristin Meyer - Iris Cöster (2007-)

Raul Richter - Dominik Gundlach (2007-)

Lisa Riecken - Elisabeth Meinhart (1992-)

Sila Sahin - Ayla Özgül (2009-)

Jörn Schlönvoigt - Philip Höfer (2004-)

Susan Sideropoulos - Verena Koch (2001; 2002-)

Sarah Tkotsch - Lucy Cöster (2007-)

Janina Uhse - Jasmin Nowak (2008-)

Felix von Jascheroff - John Bachmann (2001-)

Marienhof

Erwin Aljukic - Frederik Neuhaus (1998-)

Giovanni Arvaneh - Sülo Özgentürk (1995-1998; 2003-)

Maike Billitis - Kerstin Töppers (2007-)

Hendrik Borgmann - Dr. Nic Stein (2009-)

Viktoria Brams - Inge Busch (1992-)

Christian Buse - Torsten Fechner (1999-)

Julia Dahmen - Constanze Riemer (2005-)

Simone Gorholt - Ruth Horvath (2009-)

Maria Hönig - Lea Horvath (2009-2010)

Isabella Hübner - Dr. Lisa Busch (recast, 2004-)

Sandra Koltai - Toni Maldini Verhaag (recast, 2006-)

Nermina Kukic - Susi Schäfer (2004-)

Alfonso Losa - Carlos Garcia (2000-)

Verena Mörtel - Heidi Torg (2009-)

Ivonne Polizzano - Netty Töppers (2007-)

Antonio Putignano - Stefano Maldini (2000-)

Wolfgang Seidenberg - Frank Töppers (1995-)

Jan Stapelfeldt - Valentin Ernst (2008-2010)

Sven Thiemann - Charly Kolbe (1997-)

Heike Ulrich - Tanja Maldini (2000-)

Tuna Ünal - Tarek Berisi (2009-)

Christian Volkmann - Christian Verhaag (2007-)

Simon-Paul Wagner - Marlon Berger (2000-)

Mirco Wallraf - Raul Garcia (2002-)

Unter uns

Joy Lee Juana Abiola - Micki Fink (2009-)

Petra Blossey - Irene Weigel (1994-)

Stefan Bockelmann - Malte Winter (2001-)

Sarah Bogen - Lili Mattern (2001-)

Imke Brügger - Rebecca Mattern (1997-)

Claudelle Deckert - Eva Wagner (2001-2006; 2008-)

Kathleen Fiedler - Anna Weigel (recast, 2006-)

Stefan Franz - Rolf Jäger (2002-)

Birte Glang - Heidi Danne (2010-)

Isabell Hertel - Ute Weigel (1995-)

Tabea Heynig - Britta Schönfeld (2010-)

Marvin Linke - Moritz Schönfeld (2010-)

Patrick Müller - Tobias Lassner (2006-)

Kai Noll - Rufus Sturm (2003-)

Ben Ruedinger - Till Weigel (recast, 2000-)

Marcel Saibert - Mars Sommer (2004; 2005-)

Lars Steinhöfel - Ingo "Easy" Winter (2005-)

Milos Vukovic - Paco Weigel (2000-)

Andreas Zimmermann - Henning Fink (2009-)

Verbotene Liebe

Wolfram Grandezka - Ansgar von Lahnstein (2004-)

Jens Hartwig - Tristan von Lahnstein (2009-)

Andreas Jancke - Gregor Mann (2005-2010)

Jana Julie Kilka - Jessica Stiehl (2010-)

Sven Koller - David Brandner (2008-)

Konrad Krauss - Arno Brandner (1995-)

Miriam Lahnstein - Tanja von Anstetten (1995-1998; 2001; 2004-)

Jasmin Lord - Rebecca von Lahnstein (2008-)

Krystian Martinek - Ludwig von Lahnstein (2009-)

Dr. Gabriele Metzger - Charlie Schneider (1995-)

Mascha Müller - Luise von Waldensteyck (2009-2010)

Thomas Ohrner - Matthias Brandner (2008-)

Simone Ritscher - Maria di Balbi (2009-)

Dominic Saleh-Zaki - Andi Fritzsche (2001-2007; 2009-)

Sebastian Schlemmer - Sebastian von Lahnstein (recast, 2009-)

Thore Schölermann - Christian Mann (2006-)

Martina Servatius - Elisabeth von Lahnstein (1999-)

Theresa Underberg - Lydia von Lahnstein (2008-)

Renée Weibel - Helena von Lahnstein (2009-)

Jo Weil - Oliver Sabel (1999-2002; 2007-)

Jenny Winkler - Nathalie Käppler (2004-)

I love Deniz and Roman but I am looking forward to the angst when they bring Roman's first love onto the show. Also Marian and Jenny are so fascinating. I can't wait to see Marian's reaction to Jenny marrying Axel.

Lenny and Carsten on GZSZ are sweet but their storyline is so depressing, but I can't stop myself from watching.

I love Deniz and Roman too. I'm excited about their upcoming story. Really, I love AWZ on a whole, from what I see. I wish they issued subtitled full episodes, cause I'd like watch the whole show. Show's really improved since Tom Chroust took over as HW last year.

Roman's first love, Marc is hot. Roman didn't answer Deniz's question about if he still loved Marc. I think Roman does still love Marc. I would to see Roman with a new man for awhile and Marc would do the trick. Deniz is young, he can be alone for awhile.

I love Jenny marrying Axel who is obviously still in love with her. Marian had his shot and kept blowing it with Jenny. I can't wait to see Jenny and Axel take on the rest of the Steinkemps who are so annoying now.

Some casting news...

– Ania Niedieck has joined "AWZ" in the new contract role Isabelle Reichenbach. Isabelle is a new member of the ice figure skating squad and will some cause trouble for Katja and Ben. Niedieck played a different character on "AWZ" a few months ago.

– Last fall Dominic Saleh-Zaki returned to "VL" as Andi Fritzsche, now Andi's ex-girlfriend Nico von Lahnstein, once again played by Verena Zimmermann, is also back on the canvas. Zimmermann debuted on "VL" in November 2002 and stayed on contract until September 2007, followed by a guest appearance in March 2008. Nico is also Christian's ex-girlfriend.

– Also on "VL", Stephan Käfer has been cast in the new contract role Philipp zu Hohenfelden. He will become Nico's new love interest.

– On "Unter uns", the role of Henning Fink has been recast with Benjamin Kiss. Previously, Andreas Zimmermann had played the role from February 2009 to March 2010.

– Also on "Unter uns", Valea Scalabrino has been cast in the new contract role Sina Uhland. Sina turns out to be the illegitimate daughter of Wolfgang Weigel, who died last fall.

Verena Zimmermann & Stephan Käfer of "Verbotene Liebe"

On 15 May, 2010 (episode 4490), "Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten" celebrates 15 years on the air.

Traditionally, anniversary episodes feature a huge event which results in a tragedy.

- In the 2500th episode (2002), "Daniel's Bar" exploded during Cora and Leon's wedding party. Several characters ended up being trapped in the basement and uber bitch Sonja Wiebe died in the wreckage.

- In the 3000th episode (2004) the whole cast was aboard an airplane that was about to crash. Luckily, everybody survived.

- In the 3500th (2006) episode several characters were involved in a serious car crash near the border to the Czech Republic. Heavily pregnant and heavily injured Isabel had to give birth to her baby boy in a cabin. She died a few episodes later.

- In the 4000th (2008) episode Emily and Franzi, both strung-out, accidentally set the "Fasan" restaurant on fire. Franzi died in the wreckage.

This time, the "Mocca" café will be destroyed by a landslide while Katrin throws a huge party in a nearby building. This episode will also feature a crossover with "Alles was zählt" as AWZ's Simone and Richard Steinkamp (Tatjana Clasing and Silvan-Pierre Leirich) attend Katrin's party.

Do the German soaps usually do crossovers?

Do the German soaps usually do crossovers?

No, this is only the second time that a crossover happens. In 2007, there was a small one between AWZ and UU when several characters of AWZ attended a concert by UU's resident musician Mars.

In other casting news:

- Alexander Becht (Lenny) exits GZSZ on 19 April, 2010. Becht joined the soap in December 2007. Felix Isenbügel, who plays Lenny's boyfriend Carsten, will also exit the soap this summer. Originally a recurring player, Isenbügel became a contract cast member last summer once Lenny and Carsten fell in love.

- In order to stabilize ratings, the producers of "Marienhof" have decided to bring back Nicole Belstler-Boettcher as Sandra Behrens. Belstler-Boettcher first appeared as Sandra in 1995 and was fired in 2009 because the producers felt that the character had run its course. There are also rumors that Miriam Smolka will return as Mascha, a character that hasn't been seen on screen since 2001. Mascha is Frank Töppers's (Wolfgang Seidenberg) daughter and was a major character in the late 90s.