Otto is turning 65 and a big celebration with relatives and friends is coming up. What does life bring? A comfortable retirement, looking after his beloved grandchildren, lamenting the aches and pains of old age. None of that. Otto falls in love with Klara and the two of them are looking for a place to live together. What is in itself a matter of course comes up against many barriers. A turbulent time begins for the two newly in love...

In Frankfurt am Main, a red sports car crashes into a wall and bursts into flames along with the driver. Erika Bongert, the owner, was not in the car and is not questioned by the police. Her boyfriend is CIA agent Jack Treets, who is able to keep her out of everything. He is soon in trouble himself, as Erika puts him under pressure ... Another car races across a road, this time on the transit highway to West Berlin. Erika Bongert dies as a result. The Ministry for State Security soon realizes that the American secret service is involved.

Master baker Oskar Lorenz is plagued by a number of worries, because almost every day one of his employees is affected by a different "ailment", making it difficult for the bakery to meet the plan. After all, Lorenz and his team have to ensure that fresh bread rolls and, above all, Berlin country bread can be sold to customers on time every day. And Oskar alone cannot fill all the gaps in the staff. To remedy this situation, Oskar's sister Ilse has come up with something for her brother: a "disease" that is difficult to diagnose. He is now confined to his bed and can no longer fulfill his duties. Ziegler, his deputy, is deeply impressed by the pitiful sight that his otherwise strong master now presents. This seems to be the first ray of hope for Ilse to cure Oskar's coworker and her brother of their "ailments" at the same time.

Erich Kasulke and Rudolf Portmann are comedian stars of the former GDR. When the Wall falls, so does their success. Portmann becomes a successful businessman, while Kasulke tries to continue working on the comedy circuit - without success. When his wife also cheats on him, he decides to start a new life in Berlin. There he quickly meets his old friend Portmann, who has built up a huge company. He offers him a job. But Erich puts the entire company in danger...

In a backwater town, opera director Andrej Wischnewsky is supposed to put on a production of Mozart's "Don Giovanni".

The "Astoria", an English luxury liner, collides with a freighter shortly before the end of its voyage and threatens to sink. Captain Mitchell, successful and envied, sets in motion an expensive rescue operation. He manages to avert a catastrophe and bring the passengers and the ship to safety. But the shipowner considers the operation excessive, calls Mitchell a coward and fires him. His career seems to be over. When his friends and his fiancée also make fun of him, he devises a cunning plan of revenge.

The criminalist Hannes Bergemann tries to blackmail the city where he spent his youth. After many years returning to the familiar places of his childhood, he hopes to meet again his old friends, especially Fred, Helmuth and Richard, with whom he had a close childhood friendship. When confronted with a murder shortly after his arrival and given the task of investigating it, he has the painful experience that his friends are involved in the case.

Two friends fall in love with the same girl and end up in a situation that can only make everyone unhappy. In Forget America, it is also reinforced by the setting, a small East German town. Life in Aschleben is difficult enough in itself for David, who would like to be a famous photographer, for Benno, who desperately wants to open an American road cruiser store in his dreary hometown, and for Anna, who dreams of a career as an actress, but it is their feelings for each other that rob them of practically any chance of a little happiness.