Loving Her: The New Berlin TV Show About  Lesbian Love

Loving Her: The New Berlin TV Show About Lesbian Love

photo: ZDF/Marcus Glahn. 

Following the recent debut of the first gay German TV show All You Need comes a new show shining a light on lesbian love stories – and we’re quite excited about it! Unfortunately, these stories have been pretty underrepresented and it’s long overdue they get the space they deserve.

Directed by Leonie Krippendorff, “Loving Her” tells the story of Hannah and her dating life in Berlin and it could not be more relatable to us. After she has had a hard time finding work in Berlin during the pandemic she is about to move back to live with her parents when she bumps into an ex-girlfriend and her new partner which sets a whole trip down memory lane in motion including all the relationships and affairs she experienced in Berlin. Each episode is dedicated to another girl that was part of her love life in the city and each represents different challenges and life lessons she learned.

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All You Need: The New Gay Berlin TV Show and 3 More Queer Shows to Watch

All You Need: The New Gay Berlin TV Show and 3 More Queer Shows to Watch

photo: ARD Degeto/Andrea Hansen. 

When I look around the TV landscape of recent years I feel quite happy that there are so many shows right now representing LGBTQIA+ people and issues, and that they are no longer just minor storylines of side characters but they’ve also become the center of attention. When I grew up the only show there was Queer As Folk and not much else in the decades after, so no matter if you liked it or not, it was a must-watch and highlight for gay guys at the time.

To see a fully gay show as the first thing on the main page of the ARD Mediathek (German’s major public TV channel) felt really good today, I have to say. I was half expecting they would hide it somewhere in the archive and you would have to search for it, but no, it’s pretty in your face. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think All You Need really is the first German TV show exclusively dealing with gay men as the main characters and getting such a prime spot. And I think the show really deserves to be put in the limelight – it’s a great-looking show, with likable characters and a solid story. A lot of the people involved have done a really good job and a warmly recommend watching.

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A Haunting in the Plattenbau: The New Horror Show Hausen

A Haunting in the Plattenbau: The New Horror Show Hausen

If you’re a fan of horror and looking for some binge-worthy German series for the upcoming lockdown 2.0, we just might have a recommendation for you. Check out “Hausen”, the new horror series available on Sky – especially if you agree that giant East German apartment blocks have something monstrous about them. 

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Just Imagine Emily in Paris Actually Went to Berlin Instead

Just Imagine Emily in Paris Actually Went to Berlin Instead

So, today we’re having a bit of light-hearted fun for you. I guess a lot of you saw the new Netflix show Emily in Paris that comes from the maker of the iconic Sex And The City series from the early 2000s. The new show turned out quite a success, but it’s also quite divisive. No matter if you like Emily or hate her – the show certainly gave us something to talk about.

While the Americans certainly did a great job in glossing over Paris to be the picture-perfect city they imagine the French capitol to be – I did wonder how the show would have looked like if it had taken place in Berlin instead. What if Emily had gone to Berlin, with a little studio apartment in Neukölln. Just imagine! So, inspired by a couple of memes I already saw online I created my own whacky version of Emily in Berlin.

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Berlin, Berlin: The Cult TV Show and New Movie is Out On Netflix Now

Berlin, Berlin: The Cult TV Show and New Movie is Out On Netflix Now

Cheeky, charming and full on 2000s – the German cult series “Berlin, Berlin” returns to our screens! Who knows and loved it? The high school graduate Lolle and her clumsy life and love adventures. For some, the opening credits of the 2000 cult series alone will awaken childhood memories: the wild tracking shots throughout Berlin, the cheesy but awfully catchy soundtrack and the well captured big city feeling. Between 2002 and 2005, the series was shown on the public broadcaster ARD and thrilled an audience of millions for over 4 seasons.

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The New Netflix Show Unorthodox is an Escape to Berlin

The New Netflix Show Unorthodox is an Escape to Berlin

Since Dark, the German TV show productions of Netflix have unfortunately not really been my cup of tea. This changes with the new mini-series Unorthodox created by Anna Winger and Alexa Karolinski and directed by the wonderful Maria Schrader (also known as an actress from Deutschland 83/86 and the film classic Aimée & Jaguar). I just finished the entire 4 episodes in one evening and really warmly recommend it to everyone, especially since it does a good job at making Berlin look incredible.

The show is based on the autobiographical book by Deborah Feldmans by the same name and tells the story of 19-year-old Esty who grows up in the ultra-orthodox Hasidic Jewish community of Brooklyn – or as another Jewish character from the show describes it: the “lunatic fringe”. During her arranged marriage Esty realizes that she can’t imagine living her life under such strict rules, so she escapes to Berlin where she gets drawn into the scene of young aspiring musicians of the Berlin Philharmonic. Both timelines, her final year in Brooklyn and her first days in Berlin, are told in parallel which creates an impressive contrast between the strict community and the liberal life in Berlin.

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New TV Show Spides Shows an Invasion of Bodysnatchers in Berlin

New TV Show Spides Shows an Invasion of Bodysnatchers in Berlin

photo: ©SYFY. 

After Netflix, Amazon Prime and TNT, another American TV channel/streamer is dipping their toes into the German original market. With Spides, the German branch of SYFY is releasing its first original German show. The story that is based in Berlin’s nightlife brings a contemporary twist into the classic Bodysnatcher plot. By way of a modern party drug called Blis that you consume over your eyes, an Alien organism is infiltrating young ravers and erasing their minds. Sounds like a regular night out at Berghain if you ask me…

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Berlin Artist Philipp Scherer Talks About His Work on Game of Thrones

Berlin Artist Philipp Scherer Talks About His Work on Game of Thrones

Earlier this year a unique exhibition called Unseen Westeros took place in Berlin dedicated to the world of Games of Thrones. Forty artists from the art departments of the iconic series had been working together for three years to present you something special.

Being big fans of Games of Thrones, we could not miss the chance to get in touch with the organizers. That’s why we decided to interview Philipp Scherer, who is not only one of the creative minds behind this amazing exhibition but also one of the concept artists who has been working for almost all seasons of Game of Thrones. He shared stories and experiences with us, and it was pretty interesting and inspiring!

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BEAT: A New TV Show about Crime, Techno and Berlin

BEAT: A New TV Show about Crime, Techno and Berlin

Crime, techno, and Berlin: these three words are the perfect keywords to describe BEAT, the brand new TV show that will premiere on November 9th, 2018, on Amazon Prime.

This crime show tells the story of Robert Schlag, a Berlin club promoter. Robert, also known as BEAT, is a real Berlin nightlife lover whose excesses have deeply caught him: sex, drugs and rock’n’roll techno music. Being a real clubber means to be a notorious person in the underground world. Whatever you would need, Beat knows how to get it: he has contacts, he knows the right people and he knows how to handle unconventional situations. His attitude and temperament attracted the German governmental authorities, charged to destroy the growing network of criminality and organ trafficking. But how to defeat crime if not from the underground itself? Beat is the only one who can help them.

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Serie/ous Addiction: Scary Tales

Serie/ous Addiction: Scary Tales

We haven’t done a new “Serie/ous Addiction” post in a while mostly due to the fact that we’ve covered the new Berlin-related TV shows either individually – like Babylon Berlin or 4 Blocks – or paired with movies – such as this massive listing. But a recent new Netflix show has spiked my desire again to write about addictive shows and paired with the occurrence of Halloween I thought it would make a lot of sense to write up a new round of recommendation with the theme of horror.

Scary and suspenseful shows have always fascinated me (with The X Files being my first favorite show as a teenager) but to be honest, it’s rare that this genre creates something truly original or surprisingly frightening. But for some reason, this year (possibly inspired by the horrific politics in the world) saw the release of quite a lot really good horror shows. And maybe you haven’t heard of some of them, so here are my recommendations.

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