The series, based on the novel by German author James Krüss, tells the story of Timm, the boy who traded in his infectious laugh for the ability to win any bet. The man who did the devilish deal with Timm is wealthy businessman Baron de Lefouet, who is even more successful in business now that he has Timm's engaging laugh to win him friends. Timm, on the other hand, soon realizes that life is not the same without the ability to laugh, and he sets out to find the evil Baron and try to regain the ability to laugh.
The 21-year-old student Oliver Mansfeld attends a boarding school in Frankfurt. There he meets the married banker's wife Verena. A passionate affair develops between them, which does not remain undiscovered by Verena's husband for long.
The film tells of the beginnings of the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. At the end of the 1950s, the Tanzanian National Park Administration wanted to fence in the protected area around the Ngorongoro Crater. Bernhard and Michael Grzimek were invited by the national park administration in 1957 to get a precise picture of the animal migrations and to provide the national park administration with the values they needed for their project. Using a new counting method with two airplanes, the Grzimeks found out that the migration of the herds was different than assumed.
