The Almighty Johnsons

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.

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.

Update: binging 3seasons, somewhere in the 2nd season it lost some of it original appeal. 3rd season felt mostly like couples tv drama wt sex happening all the time and fastforwarded some...i give it a 7 +1 for a conclusion that terminated the series properly.--------------------------------------------- Recommended. good cast. not a children friendly show( sex,drugs...) interesting take on the Norse mythology . humor is quirky, sarcastic, misognistic .give it 2 episodes ....you may end up binging like idid. Too bad budget was low for locations and special effects . yes it ca have been better but also worse. thanks .

As a Kiwi ex-pat, I occasionally watch some TV programs from back home to see what is happening. Sometimes they are OK, sometimes dire, but this is a real gem.

Great Kiwi humor, acting and story-line. I love this series! I have even introduced this to a few other Kiwi ex-pats, as well as other foreigners (including an American mate, who actually gets it)

To the Nay-sayers who dislike this program, I don't know what they are expecting or what they want. Perhaps another mass-produced American series ? there are loads of those.

This is original, and brilliant. I am so happy there is going to be a 3rd series!

Cheers

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.