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What are you watching? Readers recommend 'Deutschland 83,' 'Heartland'

Monitor TV and movie fans share what they've been watching lately.

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Nik Konietzny
'Deutschland 83'
  • By Robert Karma Monitor reader
  • Jewelia Pence Monitor reader
  • Kerr Lockhart Monitor reader
  • Misty Lizarraga Monitor reader
  • Catherine C. Williams Monitor reader

WHAT ARE YOU WATCHING?  Write and tell us at whatareyouwatching@csmonitor.com.

I highly recommend watching the award-winning German TV series Deutschland 83, which airs on SundanceTV. 

According to the network, the show takes place “in a divided Germany in 1983, [where] naive 24-year-old East German soldier Martin Rauch is pulled from his benign post as a border guard and given a new assignment: undercover spy for the Stasi foreign service in West Germany. Hiding in plain sight as Moritz Stamm in the West German army, Rauch must gather NATO military secrets.”

The series kicks off with Able Archer, an exercise by NATO that caused some in Russia to believe the countries in NATO were actually getting ready for war, and explains why the Soviet leadership was so paranoid. It provides excellent context to the culture of that tense time. I am really looking forward to seeing how they pick up the story with “Deutschland 86,” the name given to the upcoming episodes of the show.

I have also enjoyed watching The Americans on FX, which also takes place during the 1980s. The show depicts historical events that I remember from my youth. 

It makes it interesting to revisit that era with the knowledge we have now about what happened. 

– Robert Karma, Stone Mountain, Ga.

I have been watching the top-notch CBC series Heartland, the BBC series Lark Rise to Candleford, and my cherished, inspiring, Best of Loretta Young collection, which highlights the work of the 1940s actress. I watch all of them on DVD.

– Jewelia Pence, New Market, Va.

I have been watching Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. It was the first series we ever binge-watched. We couldn’t help ourselves.

– Kerr Lockhart, Teaneck, N.J.

Detectorists, which airs on BBC Four, is a wonderful series. Most of it is amusing, some is laugh-out-loud funny, and all of it is very humanly authentic. 

I also like the light touch and the thread of a mystery throughout. I love the quirky characters!

– Misty Lizarraga, Knoxville, Tenn.

Courtesy of Animal Planet
'The Zoo'

The Zoo on Animal Planet is just the best! I never miss it when it airs. The caregivers are passionate about their animals. I love this program. 

I wish I could camp out and live there at the Bronx Zoo.

– Catherine C. Williams, Port Orange, Fla.

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