''Solsidan'' (lit. "The Sunny Side") is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

television comedy Television comedy is a category of broadcasting that has been present since the early days of entertainment media. While there are several genres of comedy, some of the first ones aired were variety shows. One of the first Television in the United ...

series that premiered on 29 January 2010 on

TV4 TV4 or TV 4 may refer to: *TV4 (Poland), a private Polish television station *TV4 (Sweden), a Swedish television network **TV4 Group, owners of the Swedish television station *South African Broadcasting Corporation TV4, a channel operated by the st ...

. The series is named after a small part of

Saltsjöbaden Saltsjöbaden is a locality in Nacka Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 9,491 inhabitants in 2010. It is on the Baltic Sea coast, deep in the Stockholm Archipelago. History Saltsjöbaden () was developed as a resort by Knut Agathon Wa ...

called Solsidan. It revolves around Alex (

Felix Herngren Felix Tobias Herngren (born 4 February 1967), is a Swedish director, actor, writer and comedian. He is known for creating and acting in the Swedish television drama-comedy series '' Solsidan''. He is the younger brother of director and actor Må ...

) and Anna (

Mia Skäringer Maria Elisabeth "Mia" Skäringer (born October 4, 1976) is a Swedish actress and comedian who has twice won the Kristallen Award. Her first television job was at the ''Sanning och konsekvens'' show on ZTV, where she met Klara Zimmergren. Skär ...

) who are expecting their first child and have just moved to Alex's childhood home in

Stockholm County Stockholm County ( sv, Stockholms län, link=no ) is a county or '' län'' (in Swedish) on the Baltic Sea coast of Sweden. It borders Uppsala County and Södermanland County. It also borders Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The city of Stockholm ...

. Alex tries to get Anna to enjoy herself, and at the same time spend time with his childhood friend Fredde (

Johan Rheborg Carl Johan Rheborg (born 5 June 1963) is a Swedish comedian, actor and script writer. He is a member of the Swedish comedy group Killinggänget. Rheborg is probably most known for his role as the space hero Kenny Starfighter, the irresponsible P ...

). Ten episodes were scheduled to air in the first season. A second ten-episode season premiered 16 January 2011.

Plot and characters

Alex Löfström (

) is a 39-year-old dentist who moves back to his childhood home in posh

with his girlfriend Anna Svensson (

). They are expecting their first child. Anna works as an actress and feels alienated in Alex's home town. She does everything she can to fit in. Alex's mother Margareta (

Mona Malm Mona Kristina Wahlman (24 January 1935 – 12 January 2021), better known by her stage name Mona Malm, was a Swedish film, stage, and television actress. Born in 1935 to Harald Ericsson and Inez Malmberg, she began her career with the Swedish R ...

) has sold the house to Alex and Anna, but thinks she is still allowed to drop by whenever she wants. Alex is reunited with his childhood friend Fredrik "Fredde" Schiller (

), who lives in one of the town's fanciest houses with his wife Mikaela "Mickan" (

Josephine Bornebusch Leyla Jerrie Josephine Bornebusch (born 12 September 1981) is a Swedish actress. Career Bornebusch was involved in Vår teater, a children's theatre, as a child. She began her acting career in the Swedish drama series ''Rederiet'' in 1999 and ...

) and their two children. Ove Sundberg (

Henrik Dorsin Per ''Henrik'' Dorsin (born 20 November 1977, Lidingö Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden) is a Swedish actor, comedian, singer and revue-artist. Dorsin started his career as an extra in the 1995, film Vinterviken. He started his television ...

) is another one of Alex's childhood friends and is seen as the most annoying person in Saltsjöbaden. He lives with his greedy and pushy wife Anette (

Malin Cederbladh Malin may refer to: Places * 4766 (1987 FF1) Malin, an asteroid, see List of minor planets: 4001–5000 * Rivière du Malin (Malin River), a tributary of Jacques-Cartier River, in Quebec, Canada * Malin, Homalin, Sagaing Region, Burma * Mal ...

Production

''Solsidan'' was created by Herngren, Seth Fransson, Kvensler and Edgren and produced by Jarowskij and FLX, which is owned by Felix Herngren, Niclas Carlsson and Pontus Edgren. The series was directed by Herngren, Jacob Seth-Fransson, and Ulf Kvensler, and written by Herngren, Kvensler, Seth-Franson, and Pontus Edgren. According to Herngren, they had for a long time thought it "would be fun to do a more venturing series where script and characters got a bit more time to develop, and now we got the chance to do that for

." Herngren has described ''Solsidan'' as a free-standing sequel to his films ''

Vuxna människor ''Adult Behavior'' ( sv, Vuxna människor) is a 1999 Swedish comedy film directed by Felix Herngren and Fredrik Lindström. Cast * Felix Herngren - Frank Philgren * - Nenne Philgren * Cecilia Ljung - Rosie * Mikael Persbrandt - Georg * Käll ...

'' and ''

Varannan vecka ''Every Other Week'' (Swedish: ''Varannan vecka'') is a Swedish comedy/drama film, released in 2006 and directed by Måns Herngren, Felix Herngren, Hannes Holm and Hans Ingemansson. The film also stars Måns and Felix Herngren, amongst others. ...

'', and much of the series is inspired by events in his and his friends lives. Herngren confirmed that he and Rheborg would appear in the series in July 2008. Filming began in the spring of 2009 and finished in June. Much of it was recorded near the sea in the locality of

, where the show takes place. In June 2009 Skäringer confirmed that she was playing one of the lead roles. During filming, she commented that "we have so much fun all the time, so we have to struggle to avoid laughing hile recording scenes" Skäringer has also noted that she had never met Herngren before ''Solsidan'', but that they have "the same tone in

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officiall ...

acting and work well together." Fredrik Arefalk, TV4's program director, called the series a "modern comedy with sharp humor" and commented that he was "extremely proud and happy" that they had managed to gather some of Sweden's "foremost comedy profiles" for it. It was announced on 3 December 2010 that the script to the series had been sold to the American television network

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

who plans to create their own version of the series in the U.S.

Reception

The first episode of ''Solsidan'', which aired on 29 January 2010, was viewed by 1,840,000 people. It was the fourth highest-watched series in Sweden that week, following ''

Antikrundan is the Swedish version of the original BBC format ''Antiques Roadshow''. The show visits different locations in Sweden and lets people bring their antiques to be valued by experts. It has stayed popular throughout the years, often with more than ...

'', ''

På spåret ''På spåret'' (''On the Track'') is a popular Swedish TV game show series broadcast on SVT since 5 September 1987. The show, which is intended to be humorous yet educational, has remained one of the most popular TV shows in Sweden, attracting ...

'', and ''

Mästarnas mästare (idiomatic translation "''Champion of Champions''") is a Swedish reality competition show which each season feature a number of former athletic stars who all became "masters" of their individual sports. In the show the athletes competes against ...

''. It was the most-watched series on TV4 and beat '' Let's Dance'', which had 1,675,000 viewers. The second-season premiere aired on 16 January 2011 and was a huge success for TV4. It was viewed by more than 2,500,000 people which makes it, apart from two episodes of ''Let's Dance'' and some sports broadcasts, the channel's highest viewing figure of the 2000s.

Seasons

References

External links

Official website
at TV4.se *{{IMDb title, 1593584, Solsidan Swedish television shows Swedish television sitcoms 2010s Swedish television series 2010 Swedish television series debuts TV4 (Sweden) original programming Television shows set in Stockholm Swedish-language television shows