(edit title) Anyone watch "Familjen Annorlunda"... ...Måndagar på TV4? Options

[CosmoKramar]

Obviously, my missus forces me to watch it.

But anyway...I think it's a sweet programme and as a foreigner it provides me a mildly amusing and often thought-provoking look at Svensk home life. It is very Swedish in ways that I find myself frequently smiling wryly at - the insistence of pappa Micke that he could grill korv outside in any conceivable meteorological conditions, his partner's comparison of him in this respect to a character from Solsidan, her evening out to Ladies Night where she hob nobs with big names like...Anders Timell...the incessant little trips out with polar bread mackor and a flask of varm choklad as picnic material, and just the sheer un-worldliness of their lives - you never see a book on anyone's shelves or a suggestion that there is a world outside Sverige (this isn't meant as a criticism, and may indeed be true of many similar sized families in most countries - it's just that there's a conspicuous lack of references to the wider world.)

One thing that strikes me as particularly Swedish and that I think would be different in Britain - and certainly the USA - is that the pappor all seem to have fairly low status jobs, yet they support huge families in reasonably pleasant conditions. Two of the fathers go to work in Hi-Viz jackets - I think one is a truck driver - and the other works in a mobile phone shop. The mammor, as far as I can tell, don't work, or certainly don't work much.

Now, where I come from, eight or nine kids and one parent working - in a shop - means poverty. It means you live in a rough area, probably have nightmare neighbours, and have real trouble supporting yourself. I dread to think what 8 kids and a shop job would mean in the States but...I don't think you'd be having the kind of cosy, activity filled life that these Swedes seem to have. I think it's fair to say that in the anglophone world, if you want 8 kids then you either have to be prepared to be hard up and have a pretty depressing existence, or you need two good jobs, or one REALLY good job.

So...I suppose what I wonder is, is this show a vindication of the Swedish way of doing things? Isn't it a good thing that ordinary people working ordinary jobs, without flashy careers, can afford to support very large families and not suffer for it? These people appear to be very attentive, affectionate parents and their children seem to be well adjusted and articulate...so I guess they've given something back to society by raising them all.

It looks to me, on the face of it, like evidence of the high-tax, big society way of doing things succeeding - and if I try to imagine a UK or US equivalent, it involves a depressing council estate or trailer park, lots of disgusting ready meals for dinner, parenting-by-TV, and kids who end up as much less pleasant individuals.

But my impression may well be wrong - this is just what occurs to me on watching the show, so I thought I'd "throw it out there" to anyone else who's seen it or seen similar things in Sweden for discussion.