Deutschland 83: The Cold War was Heating Up

This solid drama of the late Cold War period in Germany is an eight-episode German television series starring Jonas Nay as a 24-year-old native of East Germany who, in 1983, is sent to the West as an undercover spy for the Stasi.  

The show is notable for its extensive use of 1980s popular music, including Nena's "99 Red Balloons," David Bowie, and New Order, Eurythmics, among others. Each week's episode has a curated playlist of music from and/or inspired by the episodes.  The score was created by Reinhold Heil, who produced Nena's famous song, "99 Red Balloons."

It can be viewed on Sundance TV for free (though for a limited time) or it can be purchased for $1.99 per episode (a bargain at $15.92.  Think of it as part of your German language studies) on Amazon Prime.    

Here's a short "advanced" German language quiz.  Take it and see how you do.  If you do well, or even if you don't, it's not too late to enroll in German classes at CCSF this Fall.  

And in case you've not heard it in a long time or weren't even around back then, here is Nena's big hit: