TVSeriesFTW

In a world where seemingly everyone is a caricature - Åke the insane super nerd; Lill-Erik, the ultimate punch-bag; Klimpen, the epitome of a bully; Torleif, the recorder-playing, cultured snob; and of course the hot girls, Paulina, Nadja, etc - Bert himself is just your average teenager, with his fantasies and life experiences. He plays in a garage rock band, the Heman Hunters, plays soccer, longs for company from the opposite sex and secretly writes his diary.

It is a strangely surreal show that expands beyond being an average young-teen angst series like "Eva och Adam" and becomes an oddity that is worth seeing by anyone. The show's intro is classic, where Bert (played brilliantly, I should add, by Martin Andersson) dances around in front of the mirror in his underpants to Lill-Babs' "Älskade Ängel".

Also appearing are Johan Ulvesson (hilarious) as Bert's boring dad, an optician, and Henrik Schyffert as the sort of subtly hilarious game show host that only he could play. Well worth seeing but not a complete hit for Swedish television.

Awful, awful, awful times a hundred still doesn't begin to describe how crappy "Biggest Loser" is. Picture this: take two fat couples with nothing interesting to say, humiliate them, and let them work to lose weight, all on prime time television. Am I the only one who thinks that this isn't something people with IQs in the 3-digit area WANT TO WATCH? Everything drags on forever, with the lumps of lard whining on about how losing weight is going to mean so much for them and their lives. Does anyone care? Do they think we care? Do they care if we care? Probably not. I think I'll videotape myself doing crunches and sell it to some major television corporation. If this passes for television, then so can my workouts!

Nostalgic value is what saves this series from being completely forgettable. In my opinion only one TV series based on Astrid Lindgren's books was worth seeing, and it was Emil i Lönneberga. This show is only recommended if your kid is restless and you want to kill some time. No memorable characters, no compelling plot lines, and no hilarious jokes or sidekicks, but the series does have a soothing and innocent atmosphere that small kids will enjoy.

The plot concerned three families, mainly their children, in a small community called Bullerbyn (Noise Village) somewhere in Sweden. Cute, like I said, but only in small doses.