To quote one of the comedic greats, “curb your enthusiasm”.
Welcome to Sweden, part of NBC’s latest offering of sitcoms, is an already tired concept. An American has to figure out how to live in a different country, dealing with the crazy customs and different language that the new country forces upon them. In this show, we have Bruce, an American accountant for the stars, moving to Sweden so that his Swedish girlfriend, Emma, can live closer to her family (who lives in Sweden). Let the culturally based humor ensue.
The show, created by Greg Poehler (yup, Amy’s sister), does one thing right by making Bruce suffer the consequences of the cultural misunderstanding. The Swedish customs are never the butts of the jokes; on the contrary, they are portrayed as normal practices instead of just a bunch of weird things that the Swedes do. Bruce is the weird one for not being able to fit in. The culture is respected instead of being made fun of, a formula successfully used by similar shows such as Outsourced and Lillehammer (which somewhat awkwardly takes place in the country right next door).
Each episode features a celebrity cameo, as one of Bruce’s ex-clients coming back to him for various reasons. Yet, in the first two episodes released, they both feel like awkward, forced placement to get the show some extra viewers. It wasn’t really cute seeing Amy Poehler playing opposite her brother as a meaner, fictionalized version of herself. And there was no real point to Will Ferrell being on the show, except to have Will Ferrell on the show. Audrey Plaza’s cameo in the third episode is actually quite funny, but she is unfortunately limited to only about a minute of on-screen time.
The show’s writing doesn’t do it any favors either. Like any genre of tv or film, there needs to some sort of conflict, the stakes need to be raised. Seinfeld was a show literally about nothing, yet it played off of constant conflict, and raised the stakes high enough to get its characters to do the craziest, funniest, things. Welcome to Sweden has a plot: Bruce needs to learn to be Swedish. But any moment of potential conflict is quickly solved with a hug and a kiss. There is nothing to play off of, which is why most of the jokes fall flat.
The only big laugh so far came during second episode, in the form of a shocking joke about the Iraq war. The joke itself was brilliant, but it was way too deep, shocking, and dark for a show this lighthearted.
In addition to not being that funny, the editing is very strange for a sitcom. The scenes are introduced by long establishing shots of pretty scenery, accompanied by the jolly, traditional Swedish music. We then get what feels like a short scene, one that almost always ends in laughter (from the characters themselves) and resolvement of whatever went slightly wrong during the scene. Then, back to the establishing shot and the music before the next scene. Maybe it’s the music, but this makes the show feel like something straight from Nick Jr.
While Welcome to Sweden certainly has potential to become a much better show, it has a lot of areas that are begging for improvement.
Hailing from central New Jersey, Jared Sokoloff is a current Radio/TV/Film Communications major at The College of New Jersey. As part of the school’s Lion’s Television, he produces their flagship entertainment program, Kendall Live. He can typically be found hanging out with friends, playing the guitar, running, listening to music, or naming all of his social media sites after himself. He is also this site’s resident expert on Bruce Springsteen.