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Welcome To Sweden - General Discussion


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Amy Poehler is just weird at playing this version of herself, she's also unlikeable.  And I'm genuinely starting to dislike Aubrey Plaza just based on her participation in this show -- which I didn't think was possible.  And why would Aubrey have been invited to Bruce/Emma's wedding when she is still trying to seduce him for some reason that is never explained ?  Renting a waiter to pose as her boyfriend to make Bruce jealous -- WTF?

 

How they managed to get Neve Campbell for a recurring role (which was just terrible) along with Jason Priestly, Jack Black, and Paul Simon on this show I have no idea -- I guess these guests never bothered to watch the show before they decided to participate.  Ileana Douglas and Patrick Duffy return as Bruce's parents -- unfortunately.

I don't mind Americans playing dumb or boorish versions of themselves, because they are supposed to be taken as dumb and boorish. I thought Amy Poehler did it quite well, actually.

 

What I don't care for is Bruce, being unable to learn any Swedish, getting freaked out by things like a female priest (I guess Swedish Lutherans do use that word instead of the American "minister") or whining about Emma not wanting to change her name. Not sympathetic at all, as dumb and boorish in his own way as the hyperbolic characters, but treated sympathetically by the writers.

 

I was OK with Neve Campbell, though I wish her character had been used to give a more clever take on the differences between American and Swedish corporate culture.

 

I wish they had not gone with

the surprise pregnancy

to end the season (series as it turns out). It's a tired twist, and not a promising direction for the never going to happen season 3.

Edited by Latverian Diplomat
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I didn't get Bruce's reactions at all. Female clergy and taking a wife's last name are hardly new concepts. They're still more rare, but freaking out about it that much seemed like something from a 1980's sitcom. You could argue that some of it's Bruce's parents being old fashioned, and maybe even Bruce being a little sheltered, but he was working with celebrities in New York City and has a former client casually ask him to buy pot, and he actually assumes it won't be a problem. So I don't buy that even for an American, he's completely sheltered.

 

I actually liked the season up until the past few episodes. I'll stick to a friend's real account of being an American in Sweden. (I think she has seen WTS and was not overly impressed.)

 

As far as Aubrey goes, I think it would work better if A, she wasn't just playing a crazy version of herself (i.e. dialed it down a bit and made herself an actual character as opposed to a joke cameo), and B, if she were a mutual friend of Bruce's and Emma's. Because then I could kind of see them tolerating her a little more, and even why she might resent them moving back to Sweden, if they were people she actually cared about.

Edited by Azaelia
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Cox On Demand has all the remaining episodes available now.  I suspect all of the cable companies will be doing the same.  Alas, I had high hopes for this show to become a quirky little gem, but it never reached its potential and now it never will.  The final episodes were just more of the same.  Great cast and guest stars gone to waste

Edited by doodlebug
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I didn't get Bruce's reactions at all. Female clergy and taking a wife's last name are hardly new concepts. They're still more rare, but freaking out about it that much seemed like something from a 1980's sitcom.

Yes. He made some comment to the effect of "I don't want to be the first American guy ever to change his name." I know three couples where this happened (two couples where both spouses went to a hyphenated name and one where the man changed his name to hers), so definitely not unheard of. Many more examples of women I know who've gotten married and not changed their names. It also struck me as very unrealistic that it wouldn't have been something they'd discussed, or that he wouldn't at least have some intuition of how she'd feel.

 

I don't know, I also binge-watched season 2 and I thought it improved as it went along... but I never warmed to Bruce. Season 2 is on Hulu Plus but, strangely, the season 2 premiere is only available if your Hulu account is linked with a cable provider. I have to think it would have worked better as an online series in the first place; it's way better than a lot of the Hulu Originals comedies being produced now.

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I have this on my auto-record, but I only got two episodes.  On 7/26, I saw the ski trip and shopping for the wedding dress.  No other upcoming episodes listed.

 

So does this mean my local NBC affiliate is gumming up the works?

 

I loathe the main character, but I've spent some time in Sweden and I see why it's so popular there.  "The big stupid man only speaks one language so does anyone mind if we have the class in English?"  "Okay."  "Okay."  "Okay." 

LOL

 

        Verizon FIOS put all 10 episodes OnDemand. I'm binge-watching today. This show was never going to win any awards, but it's a lot of fun. I enjoy seeing a taste of life in Sweden (however comedic, I'm talking as much about the actual physical setting), and hearing spoken Swedish with English subtitles. And maybe because it's a Swedish show, I sense a difference in the type of humor, though it's hard to put a finger on. I'll miss it.

 

That said, Bruce is an idiot.That character took the "fish out of water" thing way too far. Everyone else on the show I loved, even the goofy guest star cameos.

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FYI -- It's been canceled and future episodes have been pulled and are being replaced by Hollywood Game Night Sundays at 8pm.

Hollywood Game Night?!  Oh, FFS. 

 

That sounds like one of the "idiotic American" jokes that would BE on Welcome To Sweden.

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Ha, I loved Emma nitpicking how she could be sitting in lotus position on the beach and somehow still feel the sand under her feet. That is exactly the kind of thing I would think in the same situation.

 

As hilarious as Gustav's conversation about how much salary he should ask for, I'm glad he got caught while trying to be his own reference. I actually thought that he had asked the film buff guy to pretend to be his reference. I was really hoping for a "Vandalay! Say Vandalay!" situation.

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Greg Poehler got a new job:

 

The Welcome to Sweden alum has nabbed the starring role in DirecTV comedy You Me Her, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
The 10-episode comedy series from John Scott Shepherd (NBC's Save Me) has also enlisted Fargo and Flight of the Conchords' Rachel Blanchard, who will star alongside Poehler.
The series centers on Jack (Poehler) and Emma (Blanchard), a happily married couple who are coming off several years of "baby sex" and fertility struggles. A waning sex life and a sequence of surprising turns are about to spin their relationship in a direction neither could have imagined.

I had no idea "DirecTV comedy' was a thing, but I have regular cable so I don't know what kind of exclusive stuff is available to DirecTV subscribers.

 

Shepherd is quoted as saying of Poehler, “In my opinion, he’s one of the best naturalistic ‘everyman’ comedic actors in the business."

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