''Family Passions'' (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ''Macht der Leidenschaft'') was the first hour-long television serial produced in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It was produced and distributed by

Baton Broadcasting System The Baton Broadcast System ( ), also known as BBS, was a Canadian system of television stations located in Ontario and Saskatchewan, owned by Baton Broadcasting. BBS was the successor to two provincial systems also owned by Baton, the Saskatchewa ...

and

ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...

between 1993 and 1994. In 1996, BBS stations replayed the entire series in a half-hour format.

Storylines

To assist with bringing in a German audience, the show went on location to

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

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 A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

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 ABC Daytime (sometimes shortened to ABC-D or ABCD) is a division responsible for the daytime television programming block on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC Network and syndicated programming. The block has historically encompassed soap o ...

serial ''

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2 ...

'' did this ten years later, it made international news. ''Family Passions'' featured popular soap actors such as

Kin Shriner Kin Herbert Shriner (born December 6, 1953) is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Scott Baldwin on the ABC soap opera ''General Hospital'' and its spin-off, ''Port Charles''. Early life Shriner and his twin brother, actor Wi ...

, Roscoe Born,

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

and Gordon Thomson as well as many Canadian actors including future '' The Walking Dead'' actress

Laurie Holden Heather Laurie Holden (born December 17, 1969) is an American-Canadian actress, producer, model, and human rights activist. She is best known for her portrayals as Marita Covarrubias in ''The X-Files'' (1996–2002), Andrea Harrison in AMC's ...

, future ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' actor

Hayden Christensen Hayden Christensen (born April 19, 1981) is a Canadian actor. He gained recognition for his portrayal of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader in the ''Star Wars'' media franchise. He first appeared in the prequel trilogy films, '' Star Wars: Episod ...

, Barry Flatman, Jennifer Dale, Jason Cadieux, Susan Hogan and Von Flores. Also German actors such as

Dietmar Schönherr Dietmar Otto Schönherr (; 17 May 1926 – 18 July 2014) was an Austrian film actor. He appeared in 120 films between 1944 and 2014. He was famous for playing the role of Major Cliff Allister McLane in the German science fiction series '' Rau ...

, , Adelheid Arndt and Tina Ruland made an appearance on the show.

Main crew

* Jørn Winther * Bruce Neckels * Thom Racina * Jack McAdam * Alfie Kemp

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0108844, title=Family Passions German television soap operas Canadian television soap operas 1993 Canadian television series debuts 1994 Canadian television series endings 1990s Canadian drama television series Television shows set in Germany Television shows set in Canada Canadian English-language television shows 1990s Canadian LGBTQ-related drama television series