''Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten'' ("Good Times, Bad Times"), often abbreviated ''GZSZ'', is a long-running German television

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

, first broadcast on

RTL RTL may refer to: Media * RTL Group, a European TV, radio, and production company *** List of RTL Group's television stations (including part-owned channels) *** List of RTL Group's radio stations ** RTL Lëtzebuerg, usually referred to simply a ...

in 1992. The programme concerns the lives of a fictional neighborhood in Germany's capital city

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. Over the years the soap opera tends to have an overhaul of young people in their late teens and early twenties, targeting a young viewership. Based on the Australian format ''

The Restless Years ''The Restless Years'' is an Australian soap opera which followed the lives of several Sydney school-leavers and the drama and relationships faced by young adults. It was created by Reg Watson and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation for N ...

'', which first was successfully adapted in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

as ''

Goede tijden, slechte tijden (, ), also known as ''GTST'' or simply , is the longest-running Dutch soap opera, which began on 1 October 1990 on RTL4. The programme was the first daily (every workday) soap in the Netherlands and Europe. The soap is produced by Joop van de ...

'', the German version took the scripts of the first 230 episodes, even though heavily rewritten, from the original. After the first year, ''Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten'' started using original material. The programme started off with low ratings and was panned by critics. However the network believed in the success of the show and by the autumn of 1993, a

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

storyline helped to improve the ratings, making ''GZSZ'' a success. It not only won its time slot but became also one of the highest-rated programmes, normally ranking in the Top 10 ratings of the day. In 2002, the soap opera reached its peak with over seven million viewers turning in for the 2,500th episode. ''Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten'' has tackled with issues like

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

incest Incest ( ) is sexual intercourse, sex between kinship, close relatives, for example a brother, sister, or parent. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by lineag ...

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

drug addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behavior that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use can ...

, various crimes,

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

bulimia Bulimia nervosa, also known simply as bulimia, is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating (eating large quantities of food in a short period of time, often feeling out of control) followed by compensatory behaviors, such as self-induc ...

, underage drinking,

adoption Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, fro ...

and mental illnesses. Frank-Thomas Mende and Lisa Riecken were the last original cast members when leaving the show in 2010. Wolfgang Bahro, who joined the show in February 1993, has become the longest-serving actor on the show since. He is described as having become a cult-like figure among soap opera stars, frequently noticed in public. Other long-serving actors are Daniel Fehlow, who joined the show in 1996 but has since taken several breaks, and

Felix von Jascheroff Felix von Jascheroff (born 29 August 1982) is a Germay, German actor and singer, best known for his role as John Bachmann in the German soap opera ''Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten''. Private life Felix von Jascheroff comes from a family of act ...

, who's part of the programme since 2001.

Ulrike Frank Ulrike Frank (born 1 February 1969) is a German actress known for her portrayal of Katrin Flemming on the daily drama ''Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten''. Career Mallorca In late 1998, ProSieben planned on launching its first soap opera. Grundy ...

is currently the longest-serving female cast member, being part of the soap opera in her current role since 2002. ''GZSZ'' launched several successful careers in the music industry. The first being original cast member Andreas Elsholz. The most successful ones were

Jeanette Biedermann Jeanette Biedermann (born Jean Biedermann, 22 February 1980) is a German singer, actress, and television personality. Born and raised in the greater Berlin area, Biedermann began performing as a member of a troupe of acrobats in a children's circ ...

and

Yvonne Catterfeld Yvonne Catterfeld (born 2 December 1979) is a German singer, actress and television personality. Born and raised in Erfurt, Thuringia, she later moved to Leipzig to pursue her career in music. In 2000, she participated in the debut season of the ...

, who both left the soap opera at the peak of their careers.

Production

The idea to establish a daily

in Germany first came in late 1991. Production company Grundy UFA (now UFA Serial Drama) adapted the Australian format ''

'' from

Reg Watson Reginald James Watson (27 August 1926 – 8 October 2019) was an Australian television producer and screenwriter and executive. Watson was executive producer on the British soap opera ''Crossroads (British TV series), Crossroads'' and created ...

. The programme was successfully launched in the

one year earlier. Production on the German adaption, officially now called ''Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten'', started on 23 February 1992. The first episode aired almost three months later, on 11 May 1992. The programme was filmed in a studio in Berlin-

Tempelhof Tempelhof () is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg. It is the location of the former Tempelhof Airport, one of the earliest commercial airports in the world. The former airport and surroundings are now a park call ...

for the first three years. In October 1995, production of the show moved to the

Filmstudio Babelsberg Babelsberg Film Studio () (also known as Studio Babelsberg), located in Potsdam-Babelsberg outside Berlin, Germany, is the oldest large-scale film studio in the world, producing films since 1912. With a total area of about and a studio area of a ...

. This required several set changes. In the beginning it wasn't certain where the show was set. However, in its second year it was established that ''Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten'' is set in Berlin. The city has since been used to identify with the format; using several skyline settings in an episode. Rainer Wemcken and Guido Reinhardt have the primary responsibility over the production, with Marie Hölker controlling the day-to-day production and overseeing the writing of the programme. The writing is controlled by a team of writers who are known to shift between the other Grundy UFA soaps ''

Alles was zählt ''Alles was zählt'' ("All That Matters") is a German television soap opera first broadcast on RTL Television, RTL on 4 September 2006. Plot The original plot revolved around Diana Sommer's dream to become a world class ice skater. She fell i ...

'', ''

Verbotene Liebe ''Verbotene Liebe'' (, "Forbidden Love") is a German television soap opera created by Reg Watson for Das Erste. The show was set primarily in the German city of Düsseldorf although, at times, the city of Cologne and the Spanish island of Mall ...

'' and '' Unter uns''. ''Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten'' uses a darker setting than the other three soap operas with sets appearing in modern, mostly dark, colors.

Cast

* Wolfgang Bahro as Dr. Hans-Joachim "Jo" Gerner * Daniel Fehlow as Leon Moreno (1996 - 2023) *

as John Bachmann *

as Katrin Flemming, née Gabriele "Gabi" Galuba *

Anne Menden Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie and Ana. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in t ...

as Emily Wiedmann *

Jörn Schlönvoigt Jörn Schlönvoigt (; born 1 August 1986) is a German actor and singer who became popular through the soap opera "''Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten, Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten''". Early life and his career Schlönvoigt was born in Köpenick, ...

as Philip Höfer * Thomas Drechsel as Max "Tuner" Krüger (2009 - 2024) * Eva Mona Rodekirchen as Maren Seefeld * Iris Mareike Steen as Lilly Seefeld * Felix van Deventer as Jonas Seefeld * Maria Wedig as Nina Navarro * Niklas Osterloh as Paul Wiedmann *

Patrick Heinrich Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name *Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint *Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick or ...

as Erik Fritsche * Olivia Marei as Toni Ahrens * Timur Ülker as Nihat Güney * Gisa Zach as Yvonne Bode * Lennart Borchert as Moritz Bode * Jan Kittmann as Tobias Evers * Lars Pape as Michael Bode * Nina Ensmann as Jessica Reichelt

Spin-off

In 2000, at the peak of the programmes success, RTL wanted to launch a spin-off, called '' Großstadtträume'' (''City Dreams''), of the highest-rated soap opera. Actress Sandra Keller who vacated her popular role as Tina Zimmermann four years earlier was set to return to star in the new format. However negotiations between the network and Keller fell through. The network decided to recast the popular role.

, who just starred in the canceled '' Mallorca – Suche nach dem Paradies'', was cast. The character of Tina shortly returned to ''Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten'' with Frank in the role. ''Großstadtträume'' premiered on 8 May 2000. Next to Ulrike Frank as Tina, the show saw the return of Victoria Sturm as Milla Engel. Laurent Daniels, who played Philip Krüger, switched from ''GZSZ'' to its spin-off. The programme was about the launch of a lifestyle print magazine, called POOL. It targeted an older viewership well below the age of twenty. The network ordered 26 episodes. However the show wasn't a success. After the premiere the ratings dropped dramatically and ''Großstadtträume'' was canceled after only seven aired episodes. The programme was never aired again since then.

Parody

In the German comedy series ''Freitag Nacht News'', they had a sketch called ''Schlechte Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten'' (''Bad Times, Bad Times'' or ''SZSZ'') which was a parody of the soap opera. The sketch featured four men who lived together in an apartment, and suffered from severe depression. In every sketch, they kill each other but often kill themselves. Although three of the characters were unnamed, the fourth person was named Clive, whose face was never seen. He is always shown dead in every sketch, mostly hanging himself.

References

External links