Havershom

***Havershom*** (English: *Melodrama*) is a Reshan teen comedy-drama broadcast that follows that lives of a group of teenagers in Hederhelm through the four years of gymnasium at Marina Peffel School. Its controversial storylines have explored issues such as dysfunctional families, mental illness, sexuality, gender, addiction, bullying, and abuse. Each season focuses on a particular character, while each episode documents one week in their life.

Something atypical of many shows, a primary feature of *Havershom* is its rapidly changing cast. Characters come and go through the show "as they would in real life", according to series creator Elsabet Samelsen. After the original cast's characters graduated at the end of the eighth season, an entire new cast took their spot in the following season. Casting for the show occurs in Hederhelm acting conservatories (namely the Hederhelm School of Drama and Thespianism, The Neverhahn School, and Marija Ellfar School), and the show has been credited for launching the careers of many notable actors, musicians, and models.

The show has proved itself to be highly influential. It was ranked as "The Best TV Show of the 21st Century" by entertainment magazine *Entertainment Resha*, and has garnered critical acclaim for its storylines, performances, and cinematography. The show has been remade in the Velkanian Isles, Gregus, and Loght, and it remains RTR's most popular series of all-time.

## Background and development

*Havershom* was first thought of when series creator Elsabet Samelsen became dissatisfied with the quality of teen shows available. She believed that they set unrealistic expectations and didn't chronicle what adolescence was actually like without being overdramatic or idealist. After consulting her own teenage children on the matter, she became inspired to begin writing *Havershom*, and took influence from her memories from adolescence, her children's lives, and interviews that she conducted with students of her children's high school.

After writing the pilot episode, Samelsen pitched the idea to several Reshan television networks, and expected that it'd be picked up by a small teenage-targeted station if anything. However, the Reshan public broadcaster Radiotelevizijask Resha (RTR) was the first network to get back to her, and ordered a full first season consisting of 20 episodes. After experiencing the success that she show has experienced, Samelsen has went on to say that she'll keep making more seasons of *Havershom* as long as people are still watching, saying "there are an infinite amount of stories to tell, and as times change the series will adapt to show what the new generation is dealing with".

Samelsen casts the show by visiting numerous Hederhelm conservatories, such as the Hederhelm School of Drama and Thespianism, Marija Ellfar School, The Neverhahn School, and others.

## Characters and plot

Each season of the show focuses on a different student at Marina Peffel School, although most of the show's important characters are within the same friend group.

* Season one focused on **Veronica Zeffermann** (Anja Mur) as she began high school. After being dumped by her best friends from elementary school the summer before, she befriends Lukas Titjansk, a mutual friend from elementary school. Lukas introduces her to his friend group; aspiring musician Lise Kappel, stoner Helena Bostromann, smart girl Paula Zakker, footballer Cristoff Purus (Antonin Ricker), and party girl Malina Sandsk.
* Season two focused on **Lukas Titjansk** (Denis Balskbacher) as he began coming to terms with his sexuality. All characters from the previous season returned. New additions included Lukas's potential love interest Alexander Laff (Robert Desmins), Lukas's best friend Viktoria Gemmel (Katija Vick), Lukas's older brother Oscar Titjansk (Daniel Esermann), and transfer student Nicola Martinja (Alivia Lans).
* Season three focused on **Lise Kappel** (Lejla Hal-Samskrut) as she dealt with her parent's divorce and the deterioration of her family. All characters from the previous season returned except for Oscar and Viktoria. New additions included Lise's friend Gabriela Ekger (Asha Mahmood), Nicola's best friend Klara Hagmann, Klara's boyfriend Jakob man Kasko (Erik Jasper), and Nicola's friend Katerina Vest (Trina Elvers).
* Season four focused on **Helena Bostromann** (Madelina Halmstad) as she struggled with depression, anxiety, and mental illness following the death of her grandmother. Alexander, Cristoff, and Jakob did not return for season four. New additions include Lukas and Helena's friends Brjana Iseksen (Ella Danielsen) and Kendal Murman (Paul Marinsk).
* Season five focused on **Malina Sandsk** (Rosa Denig) as she struggled with alcohol addiction and her antisocial behavior. Brjana and Kendal did not return for season five. New additions included Veronica's boyfriend Samel Kopp and Malina's boyfriend Henrik Martinsen (Kai Jorno).
* Season six focused on **Klara Hagmann** (Anastasija Hepperskansk) as her relationship with Nicola began deteriorating. Malina and Henrik did not return for season six. New additions included Klara's friend Niki Bever (Nicoletta Oliversen) and Nicola's friends Chelsija Sulo (Ellie Gregersk) and Erina Bakker (Jessica Ispermann).
* Season seven focused on **Samel Kopp** (Rocko Regg) as he began dealing with the pregnancy of his girlfriend Veronica. Nicola, Katerina, Niki, Chelsija, and Erina did not return for season seven, while Jakob returned after not being present since season three. New additions included Samel's friends Daniel Murbacher (Otto Rochbach), Peter Astermann (Bernard Fils), and Rodrick Gurgo (Boris Leserpam).
* Season eight focused on **Paula Zakker** (Donatela Levjo) as she struggled with deciding what to do with her life. The season is also subtitled "Toskfammi", which maintains an important theme throughout the season. Daniel, Peter, and Rodrick did not return for the eighth season. New additions included Paula's friends Leja Hus (Ina Cappermann), Julija Nazaba (Alja Za), and Gina Koffermann (Katarina Alexandersen).
* Season nine focused on **Elsa Peltz** (Joanna Rennegger) as she began high school and tries to discover who she is. After the previous cast graduates at the end of the season eight, season nine introduces an entire new cast. Other new characters include Elsa's party girl friends from elementary school Kristina Alfaross, Denisa Megurin (Franka Falin), and Magdalena Vurster (Lina Muro), Kristina's boyfriend and the younger brother of Paula, Franky Zakker (Alexander Dersk), and Elsa's new artsy friends Danika Finsdarsk and the younger brother of Veronica, Nikolas Zeffermann (Viktor Samperin).
* Season ten focused on **Kristina Alfaross** (Lene Horn) as she dealt with physical, emotional, and sexual abuse at the hands of Franky. All characters from the previous season returned. New additions included Kristina's new love interest Erik Deffersk.
* Season eleven focused on **Erik Deffersk** (Greg Paskin) as he dealt with his abusive alcoholic father and helpless mother. Franky did not return for season eleven. New additions included Erik's girlfriend Sabina Timan (Elina Halmordal).
* Season twelve focuses on **Danika Finsdarsk** (Dina Helmdal-Kvickermann) as she begins questioning her gender identity and self-image. Due to the season's themes of gender identity and transgender individuals, the season subtitle was stylized as "~~da~~NIK~~a~~", to represent Danika's gender transition ("Danika" is a female name, while "Nik" is a male diminutive for the name "Nikolas") All characters from the previous season returned. New additions include Danika's mentor Ina Murcha (Corinne man Jakvo).

## Broadcast

*Havershom* airs uniquely compared to other television series. Throughout the week, scenes from an upcoming episode are uploaded onto RTR's website in real time with when they'd actually happen. For example, if Veronica is talking to Lukas at 11:00 on a Monday, the scene will air at 11:00 on Monday. Each Friday, the scenes from each episode are edited together and aired as a full-length episode on RTR. Fans can also follow characters on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.

*Havershom* first aired on 9 September 2011 on RTR. The final episode of season one later aired on 20 January 2012. Each season lasts 20 weeks (20 episodes), and typically two seasons are shot at once because of the amount of episodes that are released. Over the course of six years, the show has aired twelve seasons.

### International

Originally, *Havershom* was intended for purely a Reshan-speaking audience, and there were no plans to air the show internationally. However, following season two, the show began to go viral through the use of social media networks such as Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. After demand from international fans, RTR being selling the rights to subtitled versions of the show to other Pravian nations in 2013. By 2015, season one had aired in every Pravian nation.

#### Remakes

Because of the international success of *Havershom*, many international broadcasters requested for the rights to produce a remake of the show in their own countries. The first foreign remake, *Muska*, began airing in the Velkanian Isles in 2014. In 2016, Gregus and Loght began their remakes of the show, *Kalaźeći* and *Barüğ*, respectively. While the remakes share the same format and premise, many storylines and characters are altered in order to fit with the respective nation's culture.

## Reception

### Critical

Ever since its premiere episode, *Havershom* has received critical acclaim for its storylines, characters, performances, cinematography, and writing. On *SuperCritic*, the series holds an overall approval rating of 98%, based on the reviews of 436 critics. The most acclaimed seasons are seasons one, two, seven, and eight, which all have approval ratings of 100%. It was ranked as "The Best TV Show of the 21st Century" by entertainment magazine *Entertainment Resha* in 2016.

### Television ratings

The pilot episode of *Havershom* averaged 5.7 million viewers, largely due to an abundance of promotion within Reshan media. Season two averaged 6.1 million viewers. By season three, 60% of the Reshan population regularly watched *Havershom*. The all-time high occurred during season eight, when 14.8 million people watched the finale, which is about 81% of the country. It is the most-watched Reshan television series of all-time.