Norwegian tv series are some of the oddest shows I’ve seen. In a good way? Read on…
Trondheim turned into a winter wonderland this weekend with a fresh coat of sparkly snow (did you see my Instagram?), but something else wintry is happening here as well: it is getting dark. It’s not even December yet but the days already feel so short – the sun set at 3 pm yesterday – so it sort of blows my mind that we’re technically still in southern Norway way up here.
But what is there to do on these long winter nights? Watch TV shows of course! And luckily Norway has some brilliant offerings in that department.
Cue the eye rolls from anyone who has ever turned on a television in Norway.
What’s the best way to describe Norwegian television series… Dull? Interesting? Wait, SPECIAL. Yes, Norwegian television shows are certainly special. So special, in fact, that watching television in Norway has probably been the single greatest way for Dan and me to learn more about Norwegian culture.
Five Norwegian tv series in particular have taught me so much about the (often crazy seeming) Norwegian way of life.
The Summer Boat
When we first came to Trondheim all that NRK ever seemed to be showing was footage of a boat. Sometimes the shots were from the boat, sometimes of the boat, of people waving to the boat from land, and every once and a while the boat would stop somewhere and people would throw a party for it.
It was the Summer Boat we were watching, a tiny taste of Norway’s “slow TV.”
It all started in 2009 with NRK’s 7 hour live broadcast of the train journey from Bergen to Oslo. Since then they’ve shown 18 hours of minute by minute salmon fishing, 13 hours of live knitting, and all 899 hymns in the hymnal sung live for over 60 hours. And then there was my personal favorite, the 12 hour broadcast of logs burning in a fire, which garnered such excitement that even the New York Times puzzled over Norwegians’ reactions to it, such as,
I couldn’t go to bed because I was so excited… When will they add new logs? Just before I managed to tear myself away, they must have opened the flue a little, because just then the flames shot a little higher.”
In a world of smart phones, 4G, and endless multitasking, it’s hard to imagine people finding genuine excitement for something so, well, slow.
Is it something about all the time Norwegians spend out in nature that makes them more appreciative of the simpler things in life, or does the frozen landscape just mean that everything, including entertainment, moves at a slower pace here? I’m not sure, but I feel like getting excited over watching someone put logs on a fire is probably a really good thing, and I hope that after more time in Norway it happens to me too.
Lilyhammer
Lilyhammer is probably Norway’s most famous drama series at this point, right? I mean, Norwegian tv series are super famous to begin with, but a lot of my friends abroad have heard of this Norwegian tv show.
In case you don’t know it, it’s a show about New York gangster Frank Tagliano (played by Sopranos star Steven Van Zandt) going into hiding in Lillehammer, where he gets into all sorts of fun mischief with the adorably innocent locals.
I showed Lilyhammer to Dan when we first started talking about moving to Norway and had actually expected it to turn him off of the idea of living in Norway, but it did the exact opposite. Yes, the show points out many of the ways Norway is old fashioned, lacking in diversity, and not the easiest place to get things done, but it also just makes the country look so freaking quaint.
Like when Tagliano goes to jail and it looks super cozy and he spends all his time doing fun crafts and group therapy. Dan said he’d happily move to Norway because worst case scenario he can just hang out in prison! He was kidding of course, though if he hadn’t been he might have had a hard time getting in anyway – during four months of living in Norway’s third largest city I have seen a police officer exactly zero times.
Well, there was that time in the summer when everyone was drinking in the park, which is technically illegal here, and a police van slowly drove by, but no one ever got out. Our friends told us that they were just gently reminding us that they’re here, and… not going to do anything?
Alt For Norge
Alt For Norge brings a group of Americans with Norwegian heritage to Norway for the first time, where they compete in various Norway related games to win the grand prize of getting to meet their Norwegian relatives.
Dan and I are hooked, mostly because watching Americans struggle to learn Norwegian history, culture and language is a nice weekly confidence boost.
Alt For Norge has also taught me two important things about Norwegian culture.
First, Norwegians love to talk about how special Norway is. With American pop culture having such a large presence in Norway, I think people here enjoy seeing Americans try to learn more about their little country.
The show takes the contestants around the most beautiful and culturally significant areas of Norway, and I have a feeling I’m not the only person watching with a sense of pride over how lovely Norway is. This might be why this article is one of my most popular blog posts.
And second, Norwegians hate confrontation. Each week the contestant who has shown the best team spirit wins the “Spirit Award,” which means they are safe from elimination the next week. This also means that everyone is always super nice to each other in the hopes of winning the award.
Like, what? I thought the job of television producers was to amp up the drama, not eliminate any possibility of conflict ever breaking out. Apparently not in Norwegian tv shows.
Adam Seeks Eva
I’ll admit I was a bit surprised when I was flicking through the channels and stumbled on some full frontal nudity. Um, did Dan order cable and forget to tell me?
Nope, this is just Europe. Swearing is also totally cool here – even on NRK I’ve heard people saying c***, a word considered so bad in America that I only dare write one of the letters down.
Adam Seeks Eva is a dating show where two people meet on a deserted island without any clothes. It was originally a Dutch show, but now a lot of European countries have made their own versions – including Norway!
It’s not the best show, but I do love that the people on it have totally normal bodies. Can you imagine what an American version of this would look like? I’m sure it would not be good for my self image.
The News
And then there’s the national news, which rarely fails to make me feel warm and cozy.
Especially now when so many news channels around the world seem to be successfully filling people with terror (um, speaking of which, the U.S. State Department has now put a travel alert out for the entire world? Until the end of February?!), I’m very happy to be in Norway, where the other day a good five minutes of the evening news were devoted to footage of a woman feeding a squirrel. For real.
Have any other bizarre Norwegian TV series you’d like to add?
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Megan says
mwhwhwhhahahhah this is hilarious and makes me miss norwegian tv. they used to have a show called gøy på landet which was a bunch of girls trying to win the heart of a farmer. was hilarious. and norwegian tv def has it’s drama. paradise hotel is a perfect example of this. i can’t even watch- it is so, so, so bad. lol. i guess perhaps it beats the liveliness of the knitting show.
Silvia says
Haha I did watch Jakten På Kjærligheten, which is also about farmers looking for love, and of course really, really good, ha. And I actually thought about Paradise Hotel when writing the bit about no drama! But I decided that it’s just Norwegians trying to be Swedish? haha
Megan says
ahhh yea gøy på landet was searching for love around the country or something hahaha. they were both gems. have you seen luksusfellen (something like that?). it is the show about norwegians in serious debt having a financial makeover. its pretty interesting. it used to come on nightly i think! there was also a show about norwegians looking for love in america. it was like one american and a ton of norwegians bachelor style. it was so drama filled and awkward that it got cancelled after one season lol (i think!?)
yea paradise hotel is sick. i used to watch on occasion for the hilarity from this chick https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgldOogUbdw it was such a trainwreck. i need to watch german tv sometime to see if i can find any fun shows. i literally dont even know how to turn on my tv. and im not even sure i have cable or how they do it here.
Silvia says
I almost wrote about Luksusfellen as well. It’s so bizarre the ways people have managed to get themselves into debt. Though one woman just had to stop buying so much snus and Red Bull – it was crazy how much money she spent on it (I also do not understand how snus is so popular here). I couldn’t even finish the Iselin video, it was too painful, haha. You definitely need to find some German shows – I’m sure there are some gems out there!
Sarah Elizabeth says
This made me want to move Norway. You make it seem so quaint and a little slower than the craziness that living in the states is. Plus happy local news? Sign me up!
Silvia says
The happy local news is definitely one of my favorite things here!
Rob says
Great! Sounds positively surreal!
Silvia says
haha it is a little!
Lauren Lalicon says
AHHHH I LOVE THIS! I love TV from all over the world! This makes me wanna go to Norway, just to watch these shows! The Summer Boat seems hilariously peaceful. 13 hours of live knitting? Do people switch out? That’s so funny! I’m definitely interested in Lilyhammer, so I’m gonna check it out ASAP. I like innocently happy people because I feel like that’s so me. Seems like it would be a very light-hearted uplifting show! And I think there’s an American show like Adam and Eva. I watched a little bit of it and it just was like a typical MTV dating show.
Silvia says
I actually heard that some people DID watch almost all of the log burning – so crazy. I guess the American version of the naked dating show must have been shown on cable? I can’t remember how much nudity is allowed on American tv, but I’m guessing not as much as was shown here, haha.
Kaelene @Unlocking Kiki says
I wish we had a show like Alt For Norge! We sometimes have Norwegian shows on TV as well, they are interesting for sure. The Icelandic shows always are entertaining, the news, it just kills me with cuteness. At the end of each news broadcast a full minute is spent showing a pretty scene, like the ocean or a group of kids playing with sheep, while relaxing music plays. I mean how can I leave here?!
Silvia says
Ahh that is my new favorite thing about Iceland! Ending the news on a happy, peaceful note should be made mandatory everywhere.
Caroline L. says
Hilarious! What a place Norway seems to be.
PS – an American version does exist, but I’m pretty sure it was canceled or something like that. It was called Naked While Dating I think?! Not positive, but it came up while I was doing some media research 🙂
Silvia says
Oooh really? I’m sure the participants all looked like super models – it was actually surprising to see how normal the people on the Norwegian version looked.
Edna says
These are hilarious, but I love this post! What a great introduction to Norwegian culture haha.
Silvia says
At first I was sad that Norwegian tv seemed so dull, but I’ve definitely embraced it now!
Joella says
Sooo this post actually made me think Norway is even more wonderful than I already did (without ever having been there of course!). I dont think the shows sound crazy I think they all sound so lovely and endearing! I find TV in tbe US all very shiny, fast paced and violent! Ha! Well there is some good stuff here but I miss quaint British shows line countryfile and Bakeoff.. Even though I hardly watched those shows. I did once spend a week of evenings watching a show called Lambing Live on the BBC where they basically just waited for some lamb s to be born! Good old Europe and its heartwarming TV ha!!
Silvia says
European TV is definitely more my pace than American TV! It’s too stressful, haha.
tigerlyly says
I used to love the idea of Norway, always thought I would love to live there… Not only you made it look so much more real than before but is 1am and i am laughing my head off. My neighbors might just come knocking to see if I did not go crazy yet. Thanks for this kind of post, made my night and week so far <3
Silvia says
Norwegian tv definitely has a way of making me laugh! So bizaree, but so cute too.
Jane M says
We watched all of Lillyhammer on Netflix, which gave us a deep sense of nostalgia for what it’s like to be a foreigner in Norway.
I remember one day going to the bank in Oslo, which was empty, and standing in line waiting for a teller to help us. About 5 minutes of standing there later with no one helping us, a Norwegian woman walked in, took a number and barged in front of us to the teller. We kind of went “What the…?” and she sneeringly said to us “You have to take a number” and kept on with her banking.
Yup, it takes a while to get acclimated and even longer to get people to warm up to you. Drinking is usually involved.
Having said that, we love it in Norway and would love to go back for a longer stay.
Except maybe only in summer.
J
Silvia says
Haha your bank story made me laugh out loud – SO Norwegian!
LisaLDN says
Hahaha, this post made me incredibly proud of being Norwegian! Great list! 😀
Silvia says
I think being Norwegian is definitely something worth being proud of!
Allison says
The show with the Americans sounds hilarious and I love Lilyhammer as well! I recently saw Zwei Leben, which is a German-Norwegian film with a killer twist at the end – loved it !
Silvia says
I haven’t seen Zwei Leben – I’m going to look it up now!
Mary B says
I could see myself becoming completely addicted to the log burning show! I once spent a good chunk of time watching a camera trained on a river where bears go to catch salmon. I feel like most of the shows you mentioned must be better for the mind and soul than the fake-reality drama and anxiety-producing news in the US. Norway sounds charming!
Silvia says
Haha it sounds like Norwegian TV would be right up your alley!
Kenzie @ CME says
To be honest, all of those shows make Norway sound even more wonderful! I definitely hope to travel there one day, it sounds and looks like the loveliest of places and so peaceful!
Silvia says
I hope you can visit one day too! It’s definitely a peaceful place.
Reidun says
Next slow-tv production this weekend from Saltstraumen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saltstraumen 🙂
http://www.nrk.no/presse/slow-tv-1.12057032
Laure says
The only Norwegian TV we have access to in New Zealand have been 2 TV series: “Nobel” and “Occupied”. Whilst this isn’t reality TV, I found that the quality of the shows and the acting were incredible and I can’t wait for new seasons to arrive! It kept us going before our visit to Norway this year and getting familiar with the language. I’m wondering if they have been broadcasted much in Norway because the people we met didn’t seem to really know these shows.
Silvia says
That’s really funny, because I do know both shows, but I found out about both of them from foreign friends! So maybe they aren’t as popular here.
Name says
Adam seeks Eva is great tv show and You are crazy 🙂
Laila U says
There is one show that no one has mentioned yet, and it is fantastic. I am referring to SKAM. The series is placed in Oslo, it is about high school pupils (elever på videregående skole) at Hartvig Nissen skole. It has meant a lot to very many people, and now they have sold the concept to at least five other countries – and USA who according to reliable rumours, will have it shown on Facebook TV.
The actors are all amateurs, they look like average youngsters – the boys and girls next door – and this is a series about what they think, what they do, how they interact, how they cope with school, love, coming out, and some scenes are so hauntingly beautiful that I at least will never forget them.
What is particularly fun and interesting, is the real-time postings. Like if they are on a party friday night, we might get Instagram pics or messenger chats posted at the right time. You can also comment this – and wooow – a couple of times, the director took notice of these comments and fanart. It is fantastic. I expect to see a lot of good acting from these young actors in the years to come!
Silvia says
I looove SKAM. I’m so sad it’s over! Though I’m interested to see how the American version turns out – the original is just so Norwegian it’s hard to imagine how the American version will be.
Melissa says
Oh my goodness! I just found your blog and I am LOVING it! I am 42% Norwegian and it’s my goal to live there one day. Your blog is going to be my new favorite read!
Silvia says
Haha I read so many Norwegian blogs while dreaming of moving to Norway, and eventually I did!
Robert Tynes says
Love your blog, Silvia. Already started learning Norwegian in anticipated move. My wife & 1 are 50+. Would we still be able to find work there? As for tv, I once spent hours watching Bob Ross paint. So logs are definitely for me.
Karoline says
You should Check out NRKs new show: Lovleg 😅😍
Silvia says
Lol just looked it up – amazing.