7.2 /10 1 Votes
5.7/10 TV Directed by Jørn Winther Country of origin Germany
Canada No. of seasons 1 Number of seasons 1 Written by Thom Racina | 8.8/10 IMDb Also known as Macht der Leidenschaft Starring Andrew Jackson Original language(s) German
English First episode date September 1993 Director Jørn Winther | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Networks ZDF, CTV Television Network Cast Hayden Christensen, Laurie Holden, Roscoe Born, Kin Shriner, Jennifer Dale Similar Higher Ground, Trapped in a Purple Haze, Harrison Bergeron, Forever Knight, Young Catherine | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Family Passions (German: Macht der Leidenschaft) was the first hour-long television serial produced in Canada and Germany. It was produced and distributed by Baton Broadcasting System and ZDF between 1993 and 1994. In 1996, BBS stations replayed the entire series in a half-hour format.
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To assist with bringing in a German audience, the show went on location to Hamburg when a jewel thief and his lover (who had been in a coma for seven years and wanted revenge on the woman her husband had married in the meantime) stole the Dimarco diamond from a museum in that country.
Another milestone of this show was the exploration of a lesbian couple attempting to adopt a daughter whose biological mother was deemed unfit because of her addiction to cocaine. Their attempts were thwarted when the child's biological father (who had been working as their butler) intervened. This couple also frequently shared on screen kisses. When the ABC Daytime serial All My Children did this ten years later, it made international news.
Family Passions featured popular soap actors such as Kin Shriner, Roscoe Born, Andrew Jackson and Gordon Thomson as well as many Canadian actors including future The Walking Dead actress Laurie Holden, future Star Wars actor Hayden Christensen, Barry Flatman, Jennifer Dale, Jason Cadieux and Von Flores. Also German actors such as Dietmar Schönherr, Raphael Wilczek, Adelheid Arndt and Tina Ruland made an appearance on the show.