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Science Fiction TV-Series in SwedenNow, this is not about Swedish produced science fiction TV-series, because frankly, there aren't any worth mentioning. The only ones I can remember are two, one called something similar to Vägen till Gyllenblå, and Kenny Starfighter, as I said: not worth mentioning :-). Sometime way back, they broadcasted a few episodes of The Twilight Zone. Second out is Den osynlige mannen, (The Invisible Man), broadcasted in September -76. Starring David McCallum as Dr. Daniel Westin, who is rendered invisible as a result of a lab experiment. The company he works for, KLAE Corporation, use him as a secret agent under the name "KLAE Resource" in special operations. Nine episodes of Star Trek was aired in -77. Why they stopped after only nine episodes I have no idea. Why would they stop broadcasting the most popular series in the history of science fiction up til then? Captain Kirk and Mr Spock onboard the Enterprise are "living" legends, even if Swedish broadcasting people didn't understand that back then. In February -78 Holmes & Yoyo aired. In this series, police officer Alexander Holmes is teamed up with a robot partner that looks human, "Yoyo". Holmes & Yoyo is alarmingly similar to Future Cop (renamed into Polisen är inkopplad in Swedish, aired November -79). Here, police officer Cleaver is teamed up with an android called Haven. This series, however, is a lot more serious than Holmes & Yoyo, which is actually a comedy. Officer Cleaver is played by actor Ernest Borgnine. Mork & Mindy was broadcasted in May -80. Starring Robin Williams as Mork and Pat Dawbear as Mindy. In June -83 Swedish television started broadcasting Buck Rogers, (Buck Rogers in the 25th Century). Starring Gil Gerard as Captain William "Buck" Rogers and former model Erin Gray as Colonel Wilma Deering. The show also includes a little robot or "ambuquad" called Twiki played by Felix Silla but with the voice provided by Mel Blanc. Buck Rogers is the producer and creator Glen A. Larsons second attempt to cash in on the success of Star Wars, (his first attempt was Battlestar Galactica). Another series made by Glen A. Larson is Automan which aired in -85. This an enhanced secret agent series with a computer generated hologram as the hero. Glen A. Larsons most successful production is the series Knight Rider. The series was named Nattens riddare in Swedish, probably due to a little misunderstanding of the words knight and night. The show, which began in June -86, features former police officer Michael Knight (David Hasselhoff) and his car KITT, who has a mind of its own, as they struggle against the "criminals who operate above the law" (to quote the opening narration). Another series that began in -86 was V hotet från rymden, (V), where the alien lizards comes to Earth disguised as humans, stating that they mean no harm, oh no, not at all... In January -88 Alf started. ALF stands for Alien Life Form, he comes from the planet Melmac and he crashed into the Tanner family's garage. He soon adapted and became a loved family member (almost anyway). Mannen från rymden, (Starman) was broadcasted in September -88. This is a series based on the movie by John Carpenter. In the show Starman (Robert Hays) returns in the identity of photographer Paul Forrester, he helps his son Scott (C.D. Barnes) in search for his mother, Jenny Hayden (Erin Gray from Buck Rogers), whom the Starman had to leave 14 years earlier. At the same time, he and his son are chased by FSA agent George Fox (Michael Cavanaugh) who found out that the alien was back and wants him captured at any cost. Red Dwarf, or Borta i rymden, as the newly started TV 4 renamed it to, began in September -90, on the very opening night of the channel. Only the first episodes were shown though. In August -92, ten episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation were shown on TV 4. Again I ask: why only show the first episodes, when the show is so popular? Highlander began airing in January -93 on SVT 1, only the first season though, then it moved on to cable television channel TV 1000. Now, in -98, TV 6 is broadcasting the series. In the recent years, Swedish viewers have also enjoyed series like The X-Files, Lois & Clark, Millennium, Space: Above and Beyond, Time Trax, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Bugs, VR 5, The Outer Limits (the new), Earth 2, American Gothic, RoboCop, SeaQuest DSV, Space Precinct, Doctor Who, Wild Palms, Babylon 5, Brisco County Junior and Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories. As for science fiction television series for children, Swedish television has broadcasted the British series Chocky, and the two Australian series The Girl From Tomorrow and Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left. I also have some series which I do not know when they aired the first time. They are Space 1999 and The Incredible Hulk. Additionally, reruns of series like Knight Rider, Space 1999, Alf, Mork & Mindy and Star Trek (both the original series and the Next Generation, and all of the episodes this time) has been broadcasted. Star Trek yes, with the reruns of the first two series, and the first seasons of Deep Space Nine broadcasted, you will be happy to know that Swedish television is planning to show Star Trek: Voyager, starting June -98. Another TV-series that made it to Sweden, although not as a television broadcast, is actually Battlestar Galactica. The three movies Stridsplanet Galactica (Battlestar Galactica), Cylonerna anfaller (Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack) and Hallå Jorden (Conquest of the Earth) were shown in selected movie theaters in Stockholm and Göteborg.
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