One of the things that we have a LOT of on TV culture here in the North are crime series. For such a small place in the world, we happen to produce an alarming amount crime TV series each year. And they are all high-quality drama series. Every night of the week you can count on there being shown a Scandinavian crime series on our TV channels. And we actually show more of them than American crime series. And I will say that most of the time, our crime series are way better than American one´s.
One of the things we frequently criticize over here in Scandinavia is the particular obsession of American TV franchises to take on European TV shows and ideas and attempt to convert them into something more "suitable" for American TV viewers. We see it as 'dumbing down' because
A) We watch American series all the time, either dubber or with subtitles so why can´t American´s watch our tv series in the same way
B) American version of European shows frequently end up being way worse than the original one. Such as The Office, Coupling.. need I go on?
C) European TV series are produced with the same caliber and quality as American ones. So why can´t American TV viewers watch them? Are they afraid of them or something?
D) Is it really so bad to listen to another language?
So when I heard they were going to reproduce Forbrydelsen in America I sighed. Here you have an excellent, very popular Danish series, which Americans are dying to reproduce. Everyone has Scandinavian last name and the storyline is comfortably moved to the good old USA. I had already decided first handed that this series would be awful, even before I started researching it.
So I was surprised to read that actually the series is popular, well-liked and apparently high-quality produced. So I have to eat up my own words. And yes, I will watch it one day.
But rest assured, us Nordics will continue to view with suspicion anything American TV franchises produce based on European TV! It is in our own dear nature in order to nurture our ego.
