Rita (TV series)

Rita
Genre	Comedy-drama
Created by	Christian Torpe
Written by	Christian Torpe; Marie Østerbye; Thomas Levin; Christina Sederqvist; Mette Heeno; Stefan Jaworski; Christoffer Örnfelt; Simon Odid Weil; Jenny Lund Madsen; Jannik Tai Mosholt; Ina Bruhn;
Directed by	Lars Kaalund; Jannik Johansen; Kathrine Windfeld; Mogens Hagedorn; Natasha Arthy;
Starring	Mille Dinesen; Lise Baastrup; Carsten Bjørnlund; Ellen Hillingsø; Nikolaj Groth; Morten Vang Simonsen; Sara Hjort Ditlevsen; Kristoffer Fabricius;
Theme music composer	Nanna Øland Fabricius; Kristian Leth; Fridolin Nordsø;
Opening theme	"Speak Out Now" by Oh Land
Country of origin	Denmark
Original language	Danish
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	40 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Christian Torpe; Birdie Bjerregaard; Keld Reinicke;
Producers	Jesper Morthorst; Theis Nørgaard; Karoline Leth;
Running time	40 min
Production companies	SF Studios Production, MOTOR
Distributor	TV 2 (Denmark); Netflix (international);
Release
Original release	9 February 2012 –; 20 July 2020

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 final three 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 debuted internationally on Netflix on 15 August 2020.[4]

The series centers on 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, airing for one season[7][8] The spin-off takes place in the same school as 'Rita' (season 1-3), focusing on the attempts of her colleague Hjørdis (Lise Baastrup) to organize a school play. Mille Dinesen did not appear in that series.[9]

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]

Cast

Main

Mille Dinesen as Rita Madsen, schoolteacher
- Tessa Hoder as young Rita (season 4)
Lise Baastrup as Hjørdis, schoolteacher and Rita's best friend
Carsten Bjørnlund as Rasmus (seasons 1–3, 5), headmaster and Rita's boyfriend
Ellen Hillingsø as Helle (seasons 1–3; guest season 5), school counselor
Nikolaj Groth as Jeppe Madsen, Rita's youngest son
Morten Vang Simonsen as Ricco Madsen (seasons 1–2; guest season 3), Rita's oldest son
Sara Hjort Ditlevsen as Molly Madsen (seasons 1–2; guest seasons 3–5), Rita's daughter
Kristoffer Fabricius as Uffe, Hjørdis' boyfriend

Recurring

Lykke Sand Michelsen as Bitten Dyrehave (seasons 1–2), Ricco's wife
Carsten Nørgaard as Tom Dyrehave (seasons 1–2), Bitten's father and Rita's ex-boyfriend
Lotte Andersen as Jette Dyrehave (seasons 1–2), Bitten's mother
Lea Maria Høyer Stensnaes as Rosa (season 1), student
Ferdinand Glad Bach as David (seasons 1–3), Jeppe's first boyfriend
Peter Gantzler as Niels Madsen (seasons 1–2, 5), Rita's ex-husband
Alexandre Willaume as Jonas Poulsen (seasons 2–3), schoolteacher
Tommy Kenter as Erik (season 2), schoolteacher
Ole Lemmeke as Bjarne (season 4), headmaster
Charlotte Munck as Lea (season 4), Rita's childhood friend
- Sofie Juul as young Lea
William Friis Nelausen as Reinulf (seasons 4–5), Hjørdis' and Uffe's son
Søs Egelind as Gerd (season 5), Rita's student
Nikolaj Dencker Schmidt (season 5), Jeppe's second boyfriend
Ari Alexander as Ole (season 5), Jeppe's crush

Guest

Lisbet Lundquist as Lillebeth Schmidt Kronborg (season 1), Rita's mother
Line Kruse as Gitte Nielsen (season 1), Rita's sister
Laura Bach as Gitte Nielsen (season 2), Rita's sister

Episodes

Series overview

Series		Episodes	Originally aired
Series		Episodes	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 (2012-02-09)	0.90
2	2	"Læreren" "The Teacher"	Lars Kaalund	Christian Torpe	16 February 2012 (2012-02-16)	0.81
3	3	"Anarkisten" "The Anarchist"	Lars Kaalund	Christian Torpe	23 February 2012 (2012-02-23)	0.88
4	4	"Hun-ulven" "The She-Wolf"	Jannik Johansen	Christian Torpe	1 March 2012 (2012-03-01)	0.89
5	5	"Beskytteren" "The Protector"	Jannik Johansen	Marie Østerbye & Christian Torpe	8 March 2012 (2012-03-08)	0.85
6	6	"Hykleren" "The Hypocrite"	Jannik Johansen	Christian Torpe	15 March 2012 (2012-03-15)	0.79
7	7	"Prinsessen" "The Princess"	Lars Kaalund	Marie Østerbye & Christian Torpe	22 March 2012 (2012-03-22)	0.80
8	8	"Moderen" "The Mother"	Lars Kaalund	Christian Torpe	29 March 2012 (2012-03-29)	0.80

Season 2 (2013)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Danish viewers (millions)
9	1	"Den voksne" "The Adult"	Lars Kaalund	Christian Torpe	11 September 2013 (2013-09-11)	0.65
10	2	"Haven" "The Garden"	Lars Kaalund	Thomas Levin & Christian Torpe & Christina Sederqvist	18 September 2013 (2013-09-18)	0.75
11	3	"Far, mor og børn" "Father, Mother and Child"	Lars Kaalund	Christian Torpe & Marie Østerbye	25 September 2013 (2013-09-25)	0.72
12	4	"Teamplayer" "Team Player"	Kathrine Windfeld	Mette Heeno	2 October 2013 (2013-10-02)	0.79
13	5	"Jeg elsker dig" "I Love You"	Kathrine Windfeld	Marie Østerbye	9 October 2013 (2013-10-09)	0.76
14	6	"Den første kærlighed" "The First Love"	Kathrine Windfeld	Marie Østerbye	16 October 2013 (2013-10-16)	0.69
15	7	"Rollemodellen" "The Role Model"	Lars Kaalund	Stefan Jaworski & Christoffer Örnfelt	23 October 2013 (2013-10-23)	0.75
16	8	"Ukrudt" "The Weeds"	Lars Kaalund	Christian Torpe & Marie Østerbye	30 October 2013 (2013-10-30)	0.73

Season 3 (2015)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Danish viewers (millions)
17	1	"Kandidaten" "The Candidate"	Lars Kaalund	Christian Torpe & Marie Østerbye	23 March 2015 (2015-03-23)	0.80
18	2	"Kælderen" "The Basement"	Lars Kaalund	Christian Torpe & Marie Østerbye	23 March 2015 (2015-03-23)	0.87
19	3	"Sponsorbarnet" "The Sponsor Child"	Lars Kaalund	Christian Torpe & Marie Østerbye & Simon Odid Weil	30 March 2015 (2015-03-30)	0.70
20	4	"Aftenskole" "Evening School"	Lars Kaalund	Christian Torpe & Marie Østerbye	6 April 2015 (2015-04-06)	0.77
21	5	"Lus" "Lice"	Lars Kaalund	Christian Torpe & Simon Odid Weil	13 April 2015 (2015-04-13)	0.76
22	6	"Frit fald" "Freefall"	Mogens Hagedorn	Christian Torpe & Jenny Lund Madsen	20 April 2015 (2015-04-20)	0.76
23	7	"Lederen" "The Head"	Mogens Hagedorn	Christian Torpe & Marie Østerbye	27 April 2015 (2015-04-27)	0.72
24	8	"Testen" "The Test"	Mogens Hagedorn	Christian Torpe	11 May 2015 (2015-05-11)	0.74

Season 4 (2017)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Danish viewers (millions)
25	1	"Nutid/datid" "Present/past"	Lars Kaalund	Christian Torpe & Jannik Tai Mosholt	21 August 2017 (2017-08-21)	0.77
26	2	"Du bliver, hvad du spiser" "You Become What You Eat"	Lars Kaalund	Christian Torpe & Jannik Tai Mosholt	28 August 2017 (2017-08-28)	0.68
27	3	"Tøbrud" "Thaw"	Lars Kaalund	Christian Torpe, Jannik Tai Mosholt & Simon Oded Weil	4 September 2017 (2017-09-04)	0.56
28	4	"Rigtige Venner" "Real Friends"	Natasha Arthy	Jannik Tai Mosholt, Christian Torpe & Jenny Lund Madsen	11 September 2017 (2017-09-11)	0.66
29	5	"Dig og mig" "You and I"	Natasha Arthy	Jannik Tai Mosholt, Christian Torpe & Ina Bruhn	18 September 2017 (2017-09-18)	0.60
30	6	"Barndommens gade" "Childhood Streets"	Lars Kaalund	Jannik Tai Mosholt, Christian Torpe & Simon Oded Weil	25 September 2017 (2017-09-25)	0.59
31	7	"Familie" "Family"	Lars Kaalund	Jannik Tai Mosholt, Christian Torpe & Ina Bruhn	2 October 2017 (2017-10-02)	0.63
32	8	"Hjemme" "Home"	Lars Kaalund	Jannik Tai Mosholt, Christian Torpe & Marie Østerbye	9 October 2017 (2017-10-09)	0.63

Season 5 (2020)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Original air date	Danish viewers (millions)
33	1	"Fake News" "Fake News"	Lars Kaalund	1 June 2020 (2020-06-01)	0.76
34	2	"Hurlumhejhus" "Hullabaloo House"	Lars Kaalund	8 June 2020 (2020-06-08)	0.62
35	3	"Udflugten" "The Outing"	Lars Kaalund	15 June 2020 (2020-06-15)	0.48
36	4	"Do You Speak English?" "Do You Speak English?"	Lars Kaalund	22 June 2020 (2020-06-22)	0.56
37	5	"Hedetur" "Hot Flash"	Lars Kaalund	29 June 2020 (2020-06-29)	0.56
38	6	"Grænser" "Boundaries"	Lars Kaalund	6 July 2020 (2020-07-06)	0.53
39	7	"Søen" "The Lake"	Lars Kaalund	13 July 2020 (2020-07-13)	0.44
40	8	"Kaos" "Chaos"	Lars Kaalund	20 July 2020 (2020-07-20)	0.44

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 at IMDb
Rita at TV 2

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[1] "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.

[2] "Netflix Partners SF Production, TV2 On Rita 3". www.nordiskfilmogtvfond.com. Retrieved 2016-12-06.

[3] "'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.

[4] "Rita Season 5 is to Premiere on Netflix on August 15, 2020". Premier Date. Retrieved 8 August 2020.

[5] Palle, Henrik. "Palle om ny tv-serie: »Rita, du, har ramt mig nu«" (in Danish). Politiken. Retrieved 14 January 2015.

[6] Oh Land & Lily Pads, Popservations, February 9, 2012

[7] "Hjørdis". 1 January 2000. Retrieved 14 January 2017 – via IMDb.

[8] "Hjørdis fra "Rita" får sin egen TV-serie" (in Danish). Retrieved 14 January 2017.

[9] "Naive Hjørdis fra 'Rita' får sin egen tv-serie" (in Danish). Retrieved 14 January 2017.

[10] Braagaard, Natali. "Dinesen vinder pris for "Rita"". TV2 Nyheder (in Danish). Denmark: TV2 (Denmark). Retrieved 15 June 2012.

[11] Hansen, Stine (23 September 2012). "'Rita' nomineret til flere store priser" (in Danish). Copenhagen, Denmark: BT. Retrieved 14 January 2015.

[12] Boesen, Steffen (10 December 2012). "Populær TV 2-serie bliver genindspillet i USA" (in Danish). Copenhagen, Denmark: Politiken. Retrieved 14 January 2015.

[13] Andreeva, Nellie (2013-07-26). "UPDATE: Pilot 'Rita' Gets A Pass At Bravo, Other Networks Interested". Deadline. Retrieved 2017-01-14.

[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.

[15] "Sam : la saison 2 en tournage dès le mois de mai". hd1 (in French). 2017-03-03. Retrieved 2017-08-26.