''Michel aus Lönneberga'' (or ''Emil i Lönneberga'') is a West German-Swedish live-action television adaptation of

Astrid Lindgren Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren (; ; 14 November 1907 – 28 January 2002) was a Swedish writer of fiction and screenplays. She is best known for several children's book series, featuring Pippi Longstocking, Emil i Lönneberga, Emil of Lönneberga, ...

's novel series ''

Emil i Lönneberga ''Emil of Lönneberga'' (from Swedish: ''Emil i Lönneberga'') is a series of children's novels, written by Astrid Lindgren in 1963, 1966 and 1970 respectively, about the prankster Emil Svensson who lives on a farm in the Lönneberga parish o ...

'', based to some extent on the earlier films based on the franchise. As was established in the books, the recordings took place in Katthult in Kalmar län (part of the historical

Småland Småland () is a historical Provinces of Sweden, province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name ''Småland'' literally means "small la ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. The Swedish audio for the show with subtitles became a big success throughout

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

, with the opening theme and the phrases ' ("Damned that child") and ' ("Crafting outhouse") becoming standard phrases even outside of Sweden well into the 2010s. In

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

it aired on

NRK1 NRK1 (pronounced as ''"NRK en"'' or ''"- ein"'') is the main television channel of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK). History Test broadcasts started on 12 January 1954, regular test broadcasts began on 13 April 1958, and regular bro ...

and became a big enough success that the series was in syndication until the 2000s and eclipsed the films in popularity. The scene in episode 3, ', where Emil hoisted Ida up to the top of a flagpole, was cut in NRK's version, to the dismay of the Swedish production team. The show was also aired occasionally on DR1 in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. There are no records of the show airing in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, where the films remained the main way to watch the franchise. In West Germany, the show aired on

Das Erste Das Erste (; "The First") is the flagship national television channel of the ARD (broadcaster), ARD association of public broadcasting corporations in Germany. ''Das Erste'' is jointly operated by the ARD (broadcaster)#Institutions and member org ...

dubbed into German, where the show also gained some popularity. When Denmark aired re-runs on

DR Ramasjang DR Ramasjang is a Danish public television channel owned by DR which targets children aged 3–13. The channel takes its name from the Danish word , which refers to a loud or festive uproar, similar to the English '' hullabaloo''. History DR pr ...

, the Swedish voices had been replaced by a Danish dub as of 2019, causing some controversy in Denmark. An animated revival of the series is in the works, produced by O2o Studio and

Aardman Aardman Animations Limited, known simply as Aardman, is a British animation studio based in Bristol, England, United Kingdom. It is known for films and television series made using stop motion and clay animation techniques, particularly those fe ...

Casts

Jan Ohlsson Jan Ohlsson (full name ''Jan Torsten Olsson'', born 3 June 1962 in Uppsala) is a Swedish former child actor. He is well known for his role as Emil in ''Emil i Lönneberga'', '' Nya hyss av Emil i Lönneberga'' and '' Emil och griseknoen''. Now he ...

as Michel * Lena Wisborg as Ida * Emy Storm as Alma *

Allan Edwall Johan Allan Edwall (25 August 1924 – 7 February 1997) was a Swedish actor, director, author, composer and singer, best-known outside Sweden for the small roles he played in some of Ingmar Bergman's films, such as ''Fanny and Alexander'' (1982). ...

as Anton * Maud Hansson as Lina *

Björn Gustafson Björn Herman Leonard Gustafson (born 30 November 1934) is a Swedish actor. He was born in Stockholm and has appeared in 93 films and television shows since 1956. He starred in the 1965 film '' Love 65'', which was entered into the 15th Berlin ...

as Alfred *

Carsta Löck Carsta Löck (28 December 1902 – 9 October 1993) was a German film actress. Life The daughter of a merchant grew up in Kiel and worked as a typographer. After training as an actor, she made her debut as Rosi in Hermann Sudermann's The Butterfl ...

as Krösa-Maja *

Hannelore Schroth Hannelore Emilie Käte Grete Schroth (; 10 January 1922 – 7 July 1987) was a German film, stage, and television actress whose career spanned over five decades. Career Born in Berlin in 1922, she was the daughter of popular stage and film actor ...

as Miss Petrell

External links

References

Television shows based on works by Astrid Lindgren 1973 Swedish television series debuts 1970s Swedish television series 1973 German television series debuts 1973 German television series endings Kalmar County in fiction {{Germany-tv-prog-stub