Here is a nice Nordic innovation for you to consider: slow TV. Invoking both mysig and hygge, modern slow TV was developed in Norway as a super chill alternative to noisy and stressful programming. The first versions were the view of a train ride, chugging through the Norwegian mountains for many hours in real time. Afraid that would be boring? Well don’t worry, they offer the train tips in multiple seasons and routes. Check out the winter trip from Trondheim to Fauske below.
Sweden has come out with it’s own more nature-based version, Stora Älgvandrigen (the great moose migration). Up North as the ice melts, moose migrate out of their winter territory to their summer snacking grounds, and the nature of the geography around the river Ångermanälvan funnels most of the moose to cross at the same place. The national broadcaster set up 22 cameras on the shore to capture this, and it was an unexpected hit. It is a nice way to mark the passing seasons and see all the other migrating animals too, like birds. There are frequent cameos by other forest friends, sometimes a fox and more rarely a shy lynx. 24 hours a day for a few weeks, there is a counter on the screen that counts how many moose have crossed the river – see the first one make it across below. There is no commentary and only ambient noise of the river, the wind, the birds, and sometimes crunching ice. We’ve watched a few times as a post-dinner chill-out, and Graham usually skips to the best highlights (like the lynx!)
IMAGINE MY DELIGHT when SVT decided to expand their slow TV offerings to a more suburban local. Introducing: Luffar-Lasse! Luffar-Lasse (Lars the hobo) is an orange cat from Trollhatten with a large social media following, and has collected record amounts for charities at the end of 2023. In 2024, he is getting his own slow-TV show, in which he wears his own lil collar-mounted video camera to show his adventures around the neighbourhood. They’ve also got some cameras around the neighbourhood, so you get to see his little cat-self running around and not just POV shots with a couple of paws and some whiskers. They are planning 14 hours of real-time slow TV. Based on the previews, he spends some time just licking his fur and taking naps (needed downtime, Lasse is 12 years old after all). Obviously it is on my to-watch list.
