Jean Dujardin stars as “Zorro.” (Courtesy MHz Choice)
This month, “Das Boot” sails with its second season, never before seen in America. (Courtesy MHz Choice)
Greek-language drama “Save Me” debuted this summer on Viaplay. (Courtesy Viaplay)
Family drama “Home In You,” in Arabic and Swedish with English subtitles, debuts this week on Viaplay.
Portuguese drama “Irreversible” comes to Viaplay in August. (Courtesy Viaplay)
Action-comedy “The Legend of Kitchen Soldier” began streaming earlier this year on Rakuten Viki. (Courtesy Rakuten Viki)
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week
Earlier this summer while dining with some new friends, the subject of TV came up and one person at the table, who speaks French, said she has a hard time finding series in French that she hasn’t already seen
I suggested MHzChoice and called up its website and scrolled through its French titles. At first, she seemed unimpressed because the shows listed were largely familiar. But the longer I scrolled, the more she found programs that were new to her. A few weeks later, she told me she’d signed up to give the streamer a try
Plenty of viewers seem to be familiar with BritBox and Acorn TV, home to many British series, but what about other streaming services that offer shows from around the globe, like MHz Choice, Viaplay or Rakuten Viki? They’re even further outside the streaming mainstream, but with summer reruns on broadcast and fewer originals on streaming in a post-Peak TV era, now might be a time to check out these alternative streaming services that all offer foreign language shows with optional English subtitles.
If you can get beyond a name that doesn’t exactly flow easily off the tongue – this service was named after frequency measurement “megahertz” when the company began in broadcasting and added “Choice” when it launched its subscription streaming service – MHz Choice offers hundreds of non-English language international TV shows with a heavy focus on European and Nordic mysteries, police procedurals and dramas
Priced at $9 per month, MHz Choice debuted a new “Zorro” series earlier this summer. It’s an odd but entertaining series
Given the history of the Zorro character – created in 1919 and set in Spanish California, Zorro is a wealthy aristocrat who dons a black cape and mask to defend the oppressed – you might expect this to be a Spanish-language series, but surprise! It’s actually in French. And a comedy!
Oscar-winner Jean Dujardin (“The Artist”) stars as Don Diego de la Vega, who’s always lived in his father’s shadow but finds himself thrust into a town leadership role after a public humiliation. To try to increase his odds of success, Don Diego reactivates his alternate identity as Zorro, entering his secret lair through a slow-moving door (“I didn’t remember it taking so long,” Don Diego quips to his sidekick, Bernardo)
Meanwhile, Don Diego’s wife begins an affair with Zorro – who never removes his mask – not realizing she’s sleeping with her husband
On Aug. 4, MHz Choice launches the American debut of season two of the German-language WWII drama “Das Boot,” a sequel to the 1981 film. Season one streamed on Hulu in 2019 and is now streaming on MHz Choice, which will also stream seasons three and four at a later date
Season one followed a German U-boat crew in 1942, and a woman caught between the Gestapo and the French Resistance. Season two expands the action to two continents as one character arrives in New York
Viaplay
Priced at $6 per month,riptiones in atmospheric Scandina content to capture series from other parts of Europe
Earlier this summer, Set in northern Greece, it begins as a missing persons search and escalates into a hunt for a possible serial killer. “Save Me” streamed on Netflix in Greece
Six-episode Swedish and Arabic-language family drama “Home in You,” streaming July 30, follows the Haddad family as they’re forced to vacate their Stockholm apartment that’s slated for renovation, forcing each family member to contemplate their identity and sense of belonging
Streaming Aug. 13, six-part Portuguese crime drama “Irreversible” follows a psychologist and inspector as they try to solve the mystery around the death of a bullied teenage girl found near the water (shades of Laura Palmer in “Twin Peaks”). Two episodes debut weekly on Thursdays
Rakuten Viki
A destination for East Asian entertainment priced at $8-$12 per month, Rakuten Viki has a large catalog of Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese and Japanese dramas and other series
Earlier this year, Rakuten Viki debuted the action-comedy “The Legend of Kitchen Soldier,” based on a Webtoon webcomic of the same name. It’s the story of a new recruit who becomes a military cook when a “quest” appears, leading him on missions that may help his unit’s cohesion
About the Writer
You can reach TV writer Rob Owen at rowen@triblive.com or 412-380-8559. Follow @RobOwenTV on Threads, X, Bluesky and Facebook. Ask TV questions by email or phone. Please include your first name and location
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