Dag Heads Stateside With A Creative Twist

Hit TV2 comedy Dag, starring Atle Antonsen, is backed by Lionsgate for a US remake based in Seattle. In 2011, 20th Century Fox bought a one year rights option, but now the rights have been returned things will be different.

This time Dag is being sold on condition that the Norwegian team should be involved in creating the US version. Anders Tangen will produce along with Steve McPherson (Desperate Housewives, Modern family), and Øystein Karlsen will write the series with Ric Swartzlander (Devious Maids, Samantha Who).

Anders Tangen and Lionsgate have held meetings with HBO, Showtime, TBS, Amazon and Starz in Los Angeles to pitch the series, and a response is expected within a few weeks.

Øystein Karlsen told VG: “We started with channels where we can keep the most content. There are some more adjustments to be made with things such as Anders Christiansen Baasmo’s character before it can go to clean cable channels.”

Dag is a cynical but heart warming comedy about a couple’s therapist who has a 90% divorce rate. He believes that people should live alone and the only thing he loves more than his solitude is prescription drugs. However, Dag’s peaceful existence changez radically when Eva enters his life.

In 2015, The Independent included Dag in its top five shows of the year, saying that it “proved that Norway could successfully create left-field HBO-style comedy.”