Rita (TV series)
Rita is a Danish comedy-drama TV series created by Christian Torpe for TV 2. It premiered in February 2012 and ran for five seasons in Denmark and internationally on Netflix which was also a co-producer on the third, fourth, and fifth seasons.[1][2] A fifth and final season began airing on 1 June 2020, with the show ending its original run in Denmark on 20 July 2020.[3] The final season will debut internationally on Netflix on 15 August 2020.[4]
Rita | |
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Genre | Comedy-drama |
Created by | Christian Torpe |
Written by |
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Directed by |
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Starring |
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Opening theme | "Speak Out Now" by Oh Land |
Composer(s) | Kristian Leth and Fridolin Nordsø |
Country of origin | Denmark |
Original language(s) | Danish |
No. of seasons | 5 |
No. of episodes | 40 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) |
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Producer(s) |
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Running time | 40 min |
Production company(s) | SF Film Production |
Distributor |
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Release | |
Original release | 9 February 2012 – 20 July 2020 |
The series centers around Rita Madsen (Mille Dinesen), a headstrong and unconventional teacher and single mother. It received generally favorable response from critics, including Henrik Palle in Politiken who commented that the series "works really well with some characters who actually look like people".[5] The series uses locations in and near the former school campus at the National Innovative Centre (SPF) in Islev, Rødovre. The theme song is "Speak Out Now" by the Danish musician Oh Land.[6]
A spin-off of the series called Hjørdis debuted in May 2015.[7] It was announced prior to, but aired after, Rita's third season.[8] The spin-off takes place in the same school as 'Rita', focusing on her colleague Hjørdis' attempt to organize a school play. Mille Dinesen did not return for that series.[9] Four episodes aired for the first season and no subsequent seasons have been released.
Mille Dinesen received an award at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival in the category Best Female Lead.[10] At the festival, the series received a total of six nominations, including the producers Karoline Leth and Jesper Morthorst and the screenwriter Christian Torpe for Best International Producer and Best European producer of a TV drama series.[11]
Casting
Actor | Character | Notes |
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Mille Dinesen | Rita Madsen | Schoolteacher |
Carsten Bjørnlund | Rasmus | Headmaster |
Ellen Hillingsø | Helle | School counselor |
Lise Baastrup | Hjørdis | Schoolteacher |
Kristoffer Fabricius | Uffe | Hjørdis's boyfriend |
Nikolaj Groth | Jeppe Madsen | Rita's youngest son |
Morten Vang Simonsen | Ricco Madsen | Rita's oldest son |
Sara Hjort Ditlevsen | Molly Madsen | Rita's daughter |
Lykke Sand Michelsen | Bitten Dyrehave | Ricco's wife |
Carsten Norgaard | Tom Dyrehave | Bitten's father, and Rita's ex-boyfriend |
Lotte Andersen | Jette Dyrehave | Bitten's mother |
Lea Maria Høyer Stensnaes | Rosa | Student |
Ferdinand Glad Bak | David | Jeppe's boyfriend |
Lisbet Lundquist | Lillebeth Schmidt Kronborg | Rita's mother |
Peter Gantzler | Niels Madsen | Rita's ex-husband and father of her children |
Alexandre Willaume-Jantzen | Jonas | School teacher |
Tommy Kenter | Erik | School teacher |
Laura Bach | Gitte Nielsen | Rita's sister |
Charlotte Munck | Lea | Rita's elementary school classmate |
Sofie Juul | Young Lea | 16-year old Lea |
Tessa Hoder | Young Rita Madsen | 16-year old Rita |
Ole Lemmeke | Bjarne | Headmaster |
Episodes
Series overview
Series | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
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First aired | Last aired | ||||
1 | 8 | 9 February 2012 | 29 March 2012 | ||
2 | 8 | 11 September 2013 | 30 October 2013 | ||
3 | 8 | 23 March 2015 | 11 May 2015 | ||
4 | 8 | 21 August 2017 | 9 October 2017 | ||
5 | 8 | 1 June 2020 | 20 July 2020 |
Season 1 (2012)
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Danish viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | "Idealisten" "The Idealist" | Lars Kaalund | Christian Torpe | 9 February 2012 | 0.90 |
2 | 2 | "Læreren" "The Teacher" | Lars Kaalund | Christian Torpe | 16 February 2012 | 0.81 |
3 | 3 | "Anarkisten" "The Anarchist" | Lars Kaalund | Christian Torpe | 23 February 2012 | 0.88 |
4 | 4 | "Hun-ulven" "The She-Wolf" | Jannik Johansen | Christian Torpe | 1 March 2012 | 0.89 |
5 | 5 | "Beskytteren" "The Protector" | Jannik Johansen | Marie Østerbye & Christian Torpe | 8 March 2012 | 0.85 |
6 | 6 | "Hykleren" "The Hypocrite" | Jannik Johansen | Christian Torpe | 15 March 2012 | 0.79 |
7 | 7 | "Prinsessen" "The Princess" | Lars Kaalund | Marie Østerbye & Christian Torpe | 22 March 2012 | 0.80 |
8 | 8 | "Moderen" "The Mother" | Lars Kaalund | Christian Torpe | 29 March 2012 | 0.80 |
Season 2 (2013)
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Danish viewers (millions) |
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9 | 1 | "Den voksne" "The Adult" | Lars Kaalund | Christian Torpe | 11 September 2013 | 0.65 |
10 | 2 | "Haven" "The Garden" | Lars Kaalund | Thomas Levin & Christian Torpe & Christina Sederqvist | 18 September 2013 | 0.75 |
11 | 3 | "Far, mor og børn" "Father, Mother and Child" | Lars Kaalund | Christian Torpe & Marie Østerbye | 25 September 2013 | 0.72 |
12 | 4 | "Teamplayer" "Team Player" | Kathrine Windfeld | Mette Heeno | 2 October 2013 | 0.79 |
13 | 5 | "Jeg elsker dig" "I Love You" | Kathrine Windfeld | Marie Østerbye | 9 October 2013 | 0.76 |
14 | 6 | "Den første kærlighed" "The First Love" | Kathrine Windfeld | Marie Østerbye | 16 October 2013 | 0.69 |
15 | 7 | "Rollemodellen" "The Role Model" | Lars Kaalund | Stefan Jaworski & Christoffer Örnfelt | 23 October 2013 | 0.75 |
16 | 8 | "Ukrudt" "The Weeds" | Lars Kaalund | Christian Torpe & Marie Østerbye | 30 October 2013 | 0.73 |
Season 3 (2015)
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Danish viewers (millions) |
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17 | 1 | "Kandidaten" "The Candidate" | Lars Kaalund | Christian Torpe & Marie Østerbye | 23 March 2015 | 0.80 |
18 | 2 | "Kælderen" "The Basement" | Lars Kaalund | Christian Torpe & Marie Østerbye | 23 March 2015 | 0.87 |
19 | 3 | "Sponsorbarnet" "The Sponsor Child" | Lars Kaalund | Christian Torpe & Marie Østerbye & Simon Odid Weil | 30 March 2015 | 0.70 |
20 | 4 | "Aftenskole" "Evening School" | Lars Kaalund | Christian Torpe & Marie Østerbye | 6 April 2015 | 0.77 |
21 | 5 | "Lus" "Lice" | Lars Kaalund | Christian Torpe & Simon Odid Weil | 13 April 2015 | 0.76 |
22 | 6 | "Frit fald" "Freefall" | Mogens Hagedorn | Christian Torpe & Jenny Lund Madsen | 20 April 2015 | 0.76 |
23 | 7 | "Lederen" "The Head" | Mogens Hagedorn | Christian Torpe & Marie Østerbye | 27 April 2015 | 0.72 |
24 | 8 | "Testen" "The Test" | Mogens Hagedorn | Christian Torpe | 11 May 2015 | 0.74 |
Season 4 (2017)
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Danish viewers (millions) |
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25 | 1 | "Nutid/datid" "Present/past" | Lars Kaalund | Christian Torpe & Jannik Tai Mosholt | 21 August 2017 | 0.77 |
26 | 2 | "Du bliver, hvad du spiser" "You Become What You Eat" | Lars Kaalund | Christian Torpe & Jannik Tai Mosholt | 28 August 2017 | 0.68 |
27 | 3 | "Tøbrud" "Thaw" | Lars Kaalund | Christian Torpe, Jannik Tai Mosholt & Simon Oded Weil | 4 September 2017 | 0.56 |
28 | 4 | "Rigtige Venner" "Real Friends" | Natasha Arthy | Jannik Tai Mosholt, Christian Torpe & Jenny Lund Madsen | 11 September 2017 | 0.66 |
29 | 5 | "Dig og mig" "You and I" | Natasha Arthy | Jannik Tai Mosholt, Christian Torpe & Ina Bruhn | 18 September 2017 | 0.60 |
30 | 6 | "Barndommens gade" "Childhood Streets" | Lars Kaalund | Jannik Tai Mosholt, Christian Torpe & Simon Oded Weil | 25 September 2017 | 0.59 |
31 | 7 | "Familie" "Family" | Lars Kaalund | Jannik Tai Mosholt, Christian Torpe & Ina Bruhn | 2 October 2017 | 0.63 |
32 | 8 | "Hjemme" "Home" | Lars Kaalund | Jannik Tai Mosholt, Christian Torpe & Marie Østerbye | 9 October 2017 | 0.63 |
Adaptations
A US remake was planned with a pilot episode filmed in 2013, starring Anna Gunn, but it was not picked up as a series.[12][13] In 2019, American premium cable network Showtime commissioned a pilot order for a remake starring Lena Headey. The series will be a joint production between Showtime Networks and Platform One Media. Torpe will serve as showrunner and write the pilot episode while Headey will also act as executive producer.[14]
A Dutch remake called Tessa was made, airing in November 2015 on NPO 1, lasting only one season. The lead role was played by Thekla Reuten, following the storyline of Rita Season one, with only a few changes. The series has also been remade in France by TF1 as Sam, starring Mathilde Seigner in the title role, with the show spanning 3 seasons to date. The second season of Sam entered production in 2017 with Natacha Lindinger replacing Seigner in the title role.[15]
References
- "Denmark's TV 2 and Netflix Team On Third Season Of Rita". Netflix Media Center. Copenhagen, Denmark: Netflix. 12 January 2015. Archived from the original (Press Release) on 14 January 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
- "Netflix Partners SF Production, TV2 On Rita 3". www.nordiskfilmogtvfond.com. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
- "'Rita' vender tilbage for sidste gang: 'Hold kæft, jeg kommer til at savne dig!'". B.T. (in Danish). Berlingske Media. 11 May 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
- "Rita Season 5 is to Premiere on Netflix on August 15, 2020". Premier Date. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
- Palle, Henrik. "Palle om ny tv-serie: »Rita, du, har ramt mig nu«" (in Danish). Politiken. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
- Oh Land & Lily Pads, Popservations, February 9, 2012
- "Hjørdis". 1 January 2000. Retrieved 14 January 2017 – via IMDb.
- "Hjørdis fra "Rita" får sin egen TV-serie" (in Danish). Retrieved 14 January 2017.
- "Naive Hjørdis fra 'Rita' får sin egen tv-serie" (in Danish). Retrieved 14 January 2017.
- Braagaard, Natali. "Dinesen vinder pris for "Rita"". TV2 Nyheder (in Danish). Denmark: TV2 (Denmark). Retrieved 15 June 2012.
- Hansen, Stine (23 September 2012). "'Rita' nomineret til flere store priser" (in Danish). Copenhagen, Denmark: BT. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
- Boesen, Steffen (10 December 2012). "Populær TV 2-serie bliver genindspillet i USA" (in Danish). Copenhagen, Denmark: Politiken. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
- Andreeva, Nellie (2013-07-26). "UPDATE: Pilot 'Rita' Gets A Pass At Bravo, Other Networks Interested". Deadline. Retrieved 2017-01-14.
- Petski, Denise (June 27, 2019). "Lena Headey To Star In & Executive Produce Dramedy Pilot 'Rita' Based On Danish Series At Showtime". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 1, 2019. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
- "Sam : la saison 2 en tournage dès le mois de mai". hd1 (in French). 2017-03-03. Retrieved 2017-08-26.
External links
- Rita on IMDb
- Rita at TV 2