Verbotene Liebe

German television channel Das Erste ("The First") began airing Verbotene Liebe in January 1995 after many months of planning and production. The project was initially planned for RTL Television, another German channel, but executives there were skeptical that the concept of a love story between a brother and a sister could prove successful. Das Erste took on the project and told the memorable story of Jan Brandner and Julia von Anstetten, two young people who find themselves immediately drawn to each other, although they have just met. The affecting story of the two siblings is told in the first 600 episodes, and is identified today with the series title. In addition to Jan and Julia and their love story, the complex scheming of the other characters made the show popular with audiences. Clarissa von Anstetten becomes popular as Jan and Julia's conniving mother, earning her an unofficial title as the German Alexis Colby. (The "real" Alexis Colby, Joan Collins, had a brief recurring role as Lady Joan on Verbotene Liebe in 2010.) Tanja von Anstetten, too, soon rises to fame for being a murderous vixen. This classic formula brought Verbotene Liebe attention in the press and, with it, a large fan base resulting in three million viewers tuning in on a daily basis.

The series underwent some major changes when actress Valerie Niehaus announced her decision to leave the show after more than two years in the role of Julia. The writers re-focused the storyline on Clarissa and tried to put more attention on her with the addition of her family, the Prozeskis. This new middle-class family was to be the new counterpart to the wealthy Anstetten family, since many of the original Brandner family members had left the show. But the Brandners were too popular, and fans did not seem interested in Clarissa's origins or how she went about becoming a countess. As a result, Clarissa's mother, Erna, and her brother, Walter, were written out of the show by having the characters die in a car accident. Meanwhile, with his character's big, juicy storyline behind him, Andreas Brucker sought to leave his role as Jan. With Jan caught in a failed love relationship with Kerstin Richter, the writers chose to write both characters out of the show's storyline rather than recast the roles. The departures of both Niehaus and Brucker within such a brief amount of time led to the fan-created legend that Jan and Julia had reunited off-screen, somewhere else.

Even with her family gone, the focus remains on Clarissa as she is sent to war against Christoph and Barbara von Anstetten. Eventually, the writers again tried to dredge up Clarissa's past for a storyline. Peter Kaufmann, Clarissa's first husband, appears on the scene to expose Clarissa as a fraud and a bigamist, since the couple had never divorced. Years before, she had forced Peter to flee the country, and then had him declared dead, all before she ever met Christoph von Anstetten and Arno Brandner. However, at the beginning of the series it is revealed that Clarissa was just eighteen years old when she became pregnant by Arno. So a marriage before she even met Arno was either a huge continuity gaffe or that she had been married while in her early teens. The story was not well liked by fans nor by Isa Jank herself. Disagreements with the producers over her role led to the actress's departure from the show a little over a year after the Peter Kaufmann story concluded. It took almost ten years to woo Jank back into the iconic role. Meanwhile, Clarissa's hate for Tanja von Anstetten develops into a heartless, cutthroat rivalry between the two women. From the beginning, Clarissa knows that Tanja is a dangerous person to have around. Having made a similar climb up the social ladder herself, Clarissa understands what Tanja is all about. So when Tanja pretends to be pregnant with the child of Henning von Anstetten, Clarissa's stepson, in order to get him to marry her, Clarissa exposes Tanja as a fraud and a golddigger. Tanja vows revenge on the entire Anstetten family and total destruction of Clarissa. After scoring a job at one of the Anstetten businesses, Tanja puts Clarissa's company in danger by trying to sell cheap knockoff clothing under the Ligne Clarisse label. The lines are drawn for battle, and the war continues today.

The end of the 90s saw the return of Henning von Anstetten, a number of love stories involving the younger characters, the gay love story of Ulli Prozeski and Tom Seifert, the exit of Barbara von Anstetten, and the introduction of Elisabeth Ryan, who would become an important part of the show in the next decade.

The turn of the 21st century brought with it the rising popularity of gay storylines. In 1999, the groundbreaking love story of Ulli and Tom begins as the coming-out story of a young gay man, Ulli Prozeski, who had formerly led a straight life. After Andreas Stenschke, the actor portraying Ulli, left the show in late 2000, Tom hooks up with the new guy in town, Oliver Sabel, played by Jo Weil. Six months later, in 2001, Ulli suddenly returns to town for a two-week stay that creates tensions between Tom and Oliver. Oliver feels very uncomfortable having Tom's old boyfriend around, and his feeling is justified when he catches Tom and Ulli in a reunion fling, which, sadly for Ulli, does not win his man back. Tom and Ulli are finally reunited with guest appearances in the show's 10th anniversary episode in 2005. Today, the story of Tom and Ulli is available for viewing in several clips online.[3]

The series suffered a blow in 2001 with the announcement that Isa Jank was leaving her iconic role as Clarissa. Her exit was written into the story along with a brief return of Miriam Lahnstein's Tanja. Jank's exit was caused by creative differences with the show's producers over the direction her character was taking. After she left, it was rumored several times that Jank would return in her role as Clarissa, but Jank denied the possibility as late as 2008. After a ten-year absence, however, the actress did return to the small screen as Clarissa on 21 June 2011.[4]

The brother-sister storyline was changed, and returned with the love story of Henning von Anstetten and Marie von Beyenbach in 2001, and later, with Sarah Hofmann and Leonard von Lahnstein in 2006.[5] It was clear to audiences from the beginning that Henning and Marie are not related, and that it is all just a scheme by Tanja. Leonard and Sarah are supposedly half-siblings, sharing the same father. That possibility ends at Leonard's wedding to Jana Brandner, when Adrian Degenhardt admits that he, and not Johannes von Lahnstein, is Leonard's father. Both of these attempts failed to fascinate viewers. The writers tried a different outcome in the fall of 2009 with the introduction of the twins, Helena and Tristan von Lahnstein. This time the forbidden love is said to have come from the mind of a mentally ill Tristan, who admits to being in love with his sister, and even schemes against Helena's boyfriend, Andi Fritzsche, by having him charged with rape.

Verbotene Liebe received international attention in 2008 with the love story of Christian Mann and Oliver Sabel. The gay couple was featured in a story in the British magazine reFRESH[6] and in an article in the 23 September issue of Soap Opera Weekly.[7] Since then, the show has developed a large following elsewhere in Europe and beyond. The relationship between Oliver and Christian unfolds as a love story of two people who happen to be gay, rather than one of gay caricatures trying to play house, as is often the case. The ups and downs of the couple's relationship play out over five years to the couple's engagement and wedding, and continue on.

The show also attracted international popularity with characters Carla von Lahnstein and Stella Mann as a lesbian couple. They are featured on the gay media interest website AfterEllen.com, and their relationship is chronicled in detail in gay media interest blogs.[8] Before her relationship with Stella, Carla was involved in romances with Hanna Novak and Susanne Brandner.

The latest same-sex love story Verbotene Liebe created is the relationship between Marlene von Lahnstein, a former musical star, and Rebecca von Lahnstein, a fashion designer. The story of this couple, also known as Marbecca, began in 2012 and has garnered a sizable international following. In November 2013, the two characters made it into The Top 25 Lesbian/Bi Characters on TV of AfterEllen.com (rank 14 and 15) as two of only three non-English speaking characters. AfterEllen.com wrote at the time: Sometimes you kiss your boyfriend’s sister during a game of spin the bottle and the next thing you know, you’re falling in love with her and leaving your groom on your wedding day and chasing down your lesbian love before she flies off to Los Angeles forever. Soaps are soaps, all over the world, and their love stories are so ridiculously delicious. Even more amazing: A whole year after they confessed their feelings for each other, Rebecca and Marlene are both still alive! Four for you, Germany. You go, Germany.[9]

Rumors about a cancellation of the soap opera were first made back in the fall of 2010 after Verbotene Liebe and fellow soap opera Marienhof performed not well and Verbotene Liebe lost viewers a third year in a row. However, in February 2011, a decision was made about Das Erste's access primetime. Marienhof was canceled and Verbotene Liebe extended from 20 to 45 minutes. The ARD hoped that Verbotene Liebe could gain viewers again, brought back fan favorite - and original cast member - Isa Jank (Clarissa von Anstetten) and reintroduced the original story about siblings Jan and Julia; although the roles were recast. However the return of Jank's character was reviewed by most fans as underwhelming and the recasting of Jan and Julia got mixed reviews as well. Verbotene Liebe continued to lose in ratings and by 2014, the soap opera performed well under the market share of Das Erste.

On 17 July 2014 the Bild newspaper was first to report that the show has been canceled.[10] Online magazine DWDL later confirmed the report, saying they were able to name several more sources about the cancellation.[11] The reports suggest that Verbotene Liebe is finishing its last year and airing into January 2015; long enough to let the show live through its 20th anniversary.

An official statement by Das Erste was made on 18 July 2014; confirming the cancellation.[12] Director of Program Volker Herres said: "20 years ago, the siblings Jan and Julia made Verbotene Liebe a German series hit. Who could have guessed back then that VL, as the glamor soap was soon only be called, would have such a long breath? But eventually all shades of the forbidden and glamorous are told. It is then necessary to stop at the right time. And in our opinion this is now. As painful as it may be for the loyal fans of the series. But one thing is sure: Verbotene Liebe wrote television history." ARD coordinator of access primetime Frank Beckmann added: "With great dedication and impressive creativity, the team of Verbotene Liebe has shaped the access primetime for years. We know the strength of the brand and the importance of their loyal fans. Therefore, we consider whether we can offer Verbotene Liebe in another form at a later date." The statement also confirmed that the soap opera will be replaced by the game show Quizduell, which was tested for four weeks in May 2014, and that Verbotene Liebe will air its series finale most likely in the beginning of 2015.

Rainer Wemken, CEO of UFA Serial Drama, shared the following statement hours after the ARD confirmed the cancellation: "The ARD has terminated the contract for Verbotene Liebe at this time. I regret this decision very much, especially because it is a series with a strong brand, with a large fan base that is also very popular on the Internet and achieves high polling numbers. We are therefore make offers to the ARD, how the series can continue - possibly with other production or broadcast models - at a later date. I therefore hope very much that we can continue Verbotene Liebe."[13]

Only hours after rumors of the cancellation started, Verbotene Liebe fans opened a Facebook page and a petition to fight for the survival of the soap opera.[14][15]

The remaining original cast member Gabriele Metzger (Charlie Schneider) and the show's matriarch Martina Servatius (Elisabeth von Lahnstein) opened up about the cancellation in a statement to the Bild newspaper.[16] Metzger received a mail about the cancellation. About her reaction the actress said: "I went into the garden, watered my lawn and cried." About the reason for the cancellation and the declining ratings, Metzger suggested that "look-wise, we have developed forward. But what makes a soap opera - exciting stories and characters with whom one can identify - moved into the background over the years." Meanwhile, Martina Servatius is criticizing Herres' statement about the cancellation that all stories are told: "That is nonsense. It was the desire of the ARD to extend the individual episodes from 20 to 45 minutes. We, the actors, have already feared then that this decision could break our necks. It's sad that the ARD twisted cause and effect in retrospect."

After over a month since the show was officially canceled, the Bild newspaper reports on 3 September 2014 that ARD might move ahead with a concept from the production company UFA to bring Verbotene Liebe back as a weekly series.[17] The cast would undergo some changes to adjust to the new format and the production style of the show would change dramatically. The media-devoted websites Quotenmeter and DWDL.de agreed on the Bild report and suggested that official news about the future of Verbotene Liebe would be made in the upcoming days.[18][19]

On 4 September 2014, official word broke that Verbotene Liebe would return as a weekly series in 2015 as soon as airing on the daily format has stopped.[20] The network ordered 15 episodes and will air the weekly series Fridays at 6:50 PM. The show will introduce a new central character, Mila von Draskow (who has yet to be cast), and still feature members of the Lahnstein family - namely Elisabeth, Ansgar, Sebastian, Tanja, Tristan and Rebecca, original character Charlie Schneider, the Helmke brothers and the younger set around Charlie's nephew Olli who are sharing a flat. Sets like the bistro Schneiders and the bar No Limits will also still be a part of the show. "There will be a new Verbotene Liebe with more shooting time, more opulent images and a dense plot. And yet the new look will still deliver intrigue, passion and great feelings - like many fans of Verbotene Liebe wished", said ARD coordinator of access primetime Frank Beckmann about the renewal.[21]

The fifteen weekly episodes started on 27 February 2015 and lasted till 26 June 2015. The weekly season, which was called "Vergeltung" (Retribution) introduced new characters and a darker plot. Fans of the show widely criticized the new concept of the show and ratings ultimately turned even worse, leading to Das Erste canceling the show for good.

VL German Broadcast History:

• 2 January 1995 − 30 December 2004: Mon−Fri 5:55 pm on Das Erste, approx. 23 minutes
• 5 January 1998 − 25 September 1998: Mon−Fri 9:03 am on Das Erste (episodes 1−171)
• 22 June 1999 − 30 December 1999: Mon−Fri 9.03 am on Das Erste (episodes 172−250)
• 3 January 2005 − 28 December 2007: Mon−Fri 5:50 pm on Das Erste, approx. 23 minutes
• 1 December 2006 – present on Passion (reruns; stylized as 'classics')
• 7 January 2008 − 20 June 2011: Mon−Fri 6:00 pm on Das Erste, approx. 23 minutes
• 21 June 2011 − 18 January 2012: Mon−Fri 6:00 pm on Das Erste, approx. 44 minutes
• 23 January 2012 – 7 June 2012: Mon-Fri 5:50 pm on Das Erste, approx. 38 minutes
  • 22 June 2011 – 11 June 2012: Mon−Fri about 8:00 am on MDR (previous day's broadcast)
  • 6 September 2011 – 11 June 2012: Mon−Fri 12:00 pm on EinsFestival (previous day's broadcast)
  • 23 March 2012 − 11 June 2012: Mon−Fri 6:40 am on NDR (previous day's broadcast)
  • 16 April 2012 − 11 June 2012: Mon−Fri 11:45 am on BR (previous day's broadcast)
• 11 June 2012 – 06 February 2015: Mon−Fri 6:00 pm on Das Erste, approx. 38 to 43 minutes
  • 12 June 2012 – 15 March 2013: Mon−Fri 6:40 am on NDR (previous day's broadcast)
  • 12 June 2012 – 21 March 2013: Mon−Fri 7:05 am on MDR (previous day's broadcast)
  • 12 June 2012 – 12 October 2012: Mon−Fri 11:45 am on BR (previous day's broadcast)
  • 12 June 2012 – 21 March 2013: Mon−Fri 12:00 pm on EinsFestival (previous day's broadcast)
• 27 February 2015 - 26 June 2015: Fridays 6:50 pm on Das Erste, approx. 42 minutes

In the beginning, Verbotene Liebe aired weekdays at around 5:55 pm on Das Erste and was followed by fellow soap opera Marienhof, creating a soap line-up for the network. The line-up proved successful in its early years and showed a lot of contrast. VL was labeled as glamor soap, while Marienhof showed the working-class of fictional district in Cologne. Becoming a huge success, Das Erste decided to show reruns in the early morning. With a break from about nine months, the network aired the first 250 episodes, who later were labeled as the show's first season.

After seven years on the air, the soap opera started slowly to lose viewers. Still a ratings success several cast changes seemed to hurt the show in the process. When Das Erste decided to change the airtime of both soaps, Verbotene Liebe (5:50 pm) and Marienhof (6:20 pm), particularly VL had now to challenge RTL's soap opera Unter uns, which ended at 6:00 pm. After two years, Das Erste changed the airtime again. Verbotene Liebe started around 6:00 pm and still provided the lead-in for Marienhof, which started around 6:25 pm again. In the meanwhile, the Pay-TV channel Passion started airing repeats in late 2006. However, the original airings of Verbotene Liebe and Marienhof continued to lose viewers and in late 2010 cancellation rumors started to surround fan bases. Das Erste eventually canceled Marienhof after over 18 years on the air and continued Verbotene Liebe, extending their episodes to 50 minutes with commercial breaks. The glamor soap served as the lead-in for various new crime dramedy series'. With the extension, VL now aired repeats on several ARD stations.

The line-up however was changed when the network signed Thomas Gottschalk and developed a new evening talk show for him. Gottschalk Live premiered in January 2012, causing Verbotene Liebe to lose about six minutes per episode and being a rival to Unter uns again. The talk show failed miserably and was canceled in June 2012. That led to the network changing the air time of Verbotene Liebe yet again. It was announced that the soap opera would return to its old time slot at 6:00pm. However, VL actually airs now around 6:10pm. Fans complained about the several air time changes, indicating that the glamor soap and former glory of the Das Erste evening program has become the ugly step-child.

As of the end of March 2013, all local stations of the ARD stopped airing the previous day's broadcast of the show.

In 2008, Grundy UFA worked out a contract with the video-sharing website Sevenload to make the first season of Verbotene Liebe, consisting the first 250 episodes, available online. Sevenload started with the first episode on August 25, 2008.[22] After rumors about new contract, Grundy UFA and Sevenload ended their cooperation in the following year.

Das Erste started with its own video library, Das Erste: Mediathek, in May 2008 and airs extended previews, specials and new episodes (for seven days) of Verbotene Liebe.

Grundy UFA instead went into business with the video-on-demand platform Maxdome, which is owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media. The first 800 episodes were made available for €0,99 per episode with a valid link for 48 hours. Maxdome also owns rights to new episodes, adding them right after television broadcast starting with episode 3400. With episode 3820 the show is available in high-definition.

In 2012, MyVideo became another provider for old Verbotene Liebe episodes. Under the label Verbotene Liebe classics are currently 360 episodes available for free.[23] MyVideo and Grundy UFA plan to extend the video library to more than the first 1000 episodes of the show. Currently there isn't an official schedule when MyVideo plans on releasing more episodes.

In the show's best years, Verbotene Liebe had three million viewers per episode,[24] the second-highest rated soap opera behind Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten, with a 16 percent market share overall.[25] That all began to change in 2007, when the show began losing viewers. In 2008, ratings dropped dramatically as viewers became dissatisfied with recent casting changes and lackluster storylines.[26] On 15 December 2008, only 1.57 million viewers watched the show.[27] Producers reacted immediately and moved the storylines in a different direction.[28] The 3333rd episode was seen by 2.18 million viewers and featured an elegant masked ball.

One year later, Verbotene Liebe faced rumors of cancellation, when Das Erste announced intended changes to the lineup.[29] The show was revamped, and eventually it was lead-out soap Marienhof that went off the air in mid-2011. Verbotene Liebe was extended to an hour and took over Marienhof's problematic time-slot, resulting in a dip in ratings. The ratings got much worse in 2012, which again led to rumors that the soap opera might get canceled. Overall, Verbotene Liebe halved its ratings in the last five years.

Clarissas Tagebuch (English: Clarissa's Diary) is a 2011 five-part series that stars Isa Jank in her role as Clarissa von Anstetten. It chronicles much of Clarissa's past and shows that the character has been in a South American prison for the last ten years. The special aired before Jank before would return on-screen on the main show.

Die längste Nacht von Königsbrunn (English: The longest Night of Königsbrunn) is a 2014 fifteen-part series, set on a stormy night in the kitchen of Castle Königsbrunn. It stars Martina Servatius (Elisabeth von Lahnstein), Claus Thull-Emden (Justus Stiehl), Miriam Lahnstein (Tanja von Lahnstein), Sebastian Schlemmer (Sebastian von Lahnstein), Jana Julie Kilka (Jessica Stiehl), Jens Hartwig (Tristan von Lahnstein), Nicole Mieth (Kim Wolf) and as special guest stars Konrad Krauss (Arno Brandner) and Verena Zimmermann (Nico von Lahnstein). The special revolves around secrets of every character and concludes on 30 May 2014 with a live episode.

• 2012 "Best Actor" Wolfram Grandezka (Ansgar von Lahnstein)
• 2012 "Fan Award Male" Jo Weil (Oliver Sabel)
• 2011 "Sexiest Woman" Jasmin Lord (Rebecca von Lahnstein)
• 2011 "Fan Award Male" Jo Weil (Oliver Sabel)
• 2011 "Most Beautiful Couple" Oliver Sabel and Christian Mann

• 2005 "Best Soap"