''Macken'' (Swedish slang for ''The Filling Station'') was a Swedish six-part

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

that ran on SVT in 1986. It was produced by Galenskaparna och After Shave and was a major breakthrough for the group. The programmes were built up from a series of sketches, sometimes with

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

or satirical elements. Some of the songs from the show became hits on

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, and the series was adapted into a 1990 film, ''Macken – Roy's & Roger's Bilservice''. The series was also adapted to a play, ''Macken – TV-serien på scen'', in 2016.

Story

The story centres around the two brothers Roy and Roger who own a small car garage and adjoining self-service

petrol station A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Gasoline ...

, with associated shop, in

Västergötland Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden. Väs ...

(an old garage in

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was used as the outside location in the 1990 movie). The bulk of the show involves the

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customers that the pair have to deal with. There are also three subplots, where the local authority wants to demolish the garage to build a new motorway; where an annoyed customer keeps returning to collect his white

Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Grou ...

, after a

service Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a pu ...

, but Roy and Roger are unable to find the car; and where a very timid, beige-clothed man keeps parking his blue

Volvo 240 __NOTOC__ Year 240 ( CCXL) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sabinus and Venustus (or, less frequently, year 993 ''Ab u ...

outside the garage, much to Roy's annoyance, but is too nervous to ever actually approach Roy or Roger.

Production

The show was shot completely in the studio with no exterior shots. The setting never moves from the interior of the station and aside from a small glimpse when Roy opens the backdoor you never see how the outside looks.

In other media

The television series was adapted into a film, ''Macken – Roy's & Roger's Bilservice'', in 1990. In 2016, the television series was adapted into a stage play, ''Macken – TV-serien på scen''. , the play is still touring the country, largely with the original cast. The script is almost identical to the original television screenplay.

References

{{reflist

External links

Original Macken episodes
at Öppet arkiv 1986 Swedish television series debuts Galenskaparna och After Shave 1990s musical comedy films Musical comedy plays Musical comedy television shows Sveriges Television comedy shows Swedish television sitcoms Swedish comedy films Swedish musicals Västergötland 1990 films 2016 musicals Skaraborg Swedish satirical television shows Surreal comedy television series Swedish surrealist artists 1990 comedy films 1990s Swedish films