American remake of German gay soap opera to be set in Portland

'Christian & Olli'

Verbotene Liebe (also known as Forbidden Love, often abbreviated to VL) is a Rose d’Or Award winning German television soap opera that has become popular enough for Americans to want to steal.

Like the UK’s Queer as Folk before them, American producers have seen a good Euro idea and adapted it to our very own market. Pittsburgh in comparison to Manchester didn’t quite work. But we’ll see how Portland plays as a gay soap setting.

Underscoring the growing popularity of German soaps, Santa Monica-based Aid and Abet has acquired rights to a gay storyline in pubcaster ARD’s hit sudser “Verbotene liebe” (Forbidden Love).

Thanks to YouTube and an immense interest from the blogosphere, the storyline following Christian and Olli (also known as Chrolli) has attracted a cult following…

…Per Martin’s production deal, HBO Films and HBO Entertainment will have first look at the properties before they’re shopped to other networks.

Christian & Olli tells the (strange, convoluted) story of Christian Mann, a closeted bisexual man who finds love with seafarer-slash-boxer Oliver Sabel.