TV Series: The Almighty Johnsons

There's not much good stuff on television these days. Sure, there are a few good series. I love "Dexter", I love "Glee", and I recently discovered the French tv series "The Returned". But the good series are few and far between. In my opinion the 1990's were the golden age of tv series. There were so many good series that it was a joy to turn on the television in the evening. Now it's like finding a needle in a haystack. (If a series overlaps the decade boundary I include it with the decade when it started, so for instance "The Sopranos" was a 1990's series).

So what's the best series on television today? This is it. "The Almighty Johnsons" is so fresh and original that I can't get enough of it. I'm sure that I bore my friends by telling them they must watch it. It's their own fault for not listening to me; if they watched it I wouldn't have to repeat myself so much.

The principle characters are four brothers, the Johnsons. From left to right in the picture above,  Anders, Axl, Mike and Ty. They live in Auckland, New Zealand, and they are the descendants of Norwegian settlers. But they are also reincarnated Norse Gods. They are really Bragi, Odin, Ullr and Hod. For the past 150 years the Gods have been reincarnated as mortals with limited powers, living normal human lifespans in different bodies, but if Odin fulfils a quest (which I won't go into here) they will all regain their full powers and rule the Earth.

They aren't the only Gods walking around in human form. There are others, all descended from the settlers who travelled on the same ship from Norway to New Zealand. Some of the Gods are helpful, some are selfish, and some even want to prevent Odin completing the quest for reasons of their own. The series concentrates on Odin's quest, while also showing how difficult it is to be a God and lead a normal life in a 21st Century city. Even Gods have to pay the bills, so they have to blend in and go to work... when they're not too busy battling one another or partying.

Odin and Thor

It's a different take on Norse mythology to the one in the recent Marvel films. There are familiar characters, such as Thor and Loki, but they bear little physical resemblance. The series is sometimes described as a comedy, but I disagree. It has humorous moments, but they're on a par with the comedy in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". The humour comes from presenting mystical or divine things in very mundane ways.

Click here to view a trailer.