The Almighty Johnsons

It took me ages to get to see this show and it has exceeded my expectations. As a comedy drama it works on both of those levels. The main characters are likeable and as a fan of Norse mythology, I like the dilemmas they face as modern day Aucklanders who happen to be the vessels of gods and goddesses. I can't praise the cast enough but Shane Cortese as Colin/Loki is wonderfully sleazy, and Ben Barrington as eternally young grandfather Olaf/Baldur is believable as the Johnson who uses getting stoned as a means of coping with immortality.There is pretty good character development and the myths are used as a good inspiration for some of the storylines. I'm almost through all three seasons and I will miss it when I have finished watching it, although I very much feel that it is a show that will go out on a high. Earlier episodes show that the budget may not have been huge, but everything else makes up for that and you can see it has been made with love.

This show is really well put together. It is a perfect blend of fantasy and reality and explores Norse mythology in a compelling way. The main premise is that four brothers belong to a family of people that are living reincarnations of Norse gods. Upon his 21st birthday, Axl finds himself being told that he is Odin the All-Father, and is given a quest to find his Frigg. All four brothers - Ty, Mike, Axl and Anders - have distinct personalities. Alongside the main story line, the show also deals with how Gods interact with mortals and the grey-area that is prophecy.

This is a great show that is witty and quirky. There is quite a bit of nudity, but overall the characters drive the action forward and the mythological elements keep things interesting.

Why on earth does IMDb display one of the few poor instead of the many positive reviews of this series on the main page for this show?

I came to the Almighty Johnsons after watching an ad for the show on Sky and thought "why not? I'll check it out". The show easily lived up to all my hopes and expectations. Starting off lowish budget but with brilliant acting and storytelling with action and comedy easily worthy of the Norse legends it parodies.

Olaf and Anders provide the comic relief whilst Mikkel and Axl provide the main, straight performances that move the story along. Ty is the dark one of the brothers, whose character becomes so much more so in the second series.

Don't believe the haters, try it for yourself. If you are looking for intelligent drama/fantasy with a dedicated, well acted cast then you could be in with a winner here.

I came across this program by accident and what a find it was. I had been watching No Ordinary Family at the time and when I saw the synopsis of what this was about I thought it would be similar. Boy I was wrong. This is more true to life , out with the main subject matter, than most things on TV. There is swearing, but no more than in normal life, nudity, the same and plenty of adult humour. You could also say informative as it does educate about Norse gods. It's difficult to say much more without spoilers but I'll try to say briefly what it's about. There are people living in NZ who are the basically the Norse gods. They currently don't have all their godlike powers and so begin a quest to regain them. If you liked Heroes, No Ordinary Family and especially Misfits then you'll most likely love this, baring in mind this is decidedly adult with swearing, nudity and drug taking.

This is a fun show. Where did the Norse gods go? As far from Europe as possible, of course - New Zealand! The unlikely premise, and the typical NZ down-to-earth way of dealing with things are a great combination.

This show is hard to classify - sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's dark, sometimes exciting, sometimes intriguing. Various mysteries pop up. Enemies become friends, and friends, enemies. Alliances are made & broken. Everyone has their own agenda.

At the center of all this is Axl, the youngest Johnston brother, just turned 21, feckless, reckless, unassertive and a bit slow on the uptake. Which makes it at first hilarious, then very very interesting when he discovers that he's the greatest Norse god of them all.

This is not a show you can watch 5 minutes or even 1 episode of & make a decision. It'll make no sense to you. You have to watch a few episodes, pick up the storyline & get to know the characters. Then it's worthwhile.

If you like your shows formulaic & predictable, it's definitely not for you. But if you like a character-driven story line with the occasional laugh and supernatural thrill thrown in, it's great. The characters react very naturally, like normal people in an extraordinary situation.

Love it.