goodbye to friends

most people who know me also know I haven't watched TV in decades... lost the habit years and years ago - so I get my news these days via Internet- and my social literacy from the web and magazines etc... I am a gal who likes WORDS and pictures, but as for TV when I turn it on, I can go through a hundred channels and not find anything to watch-

so-
you will be amazed to read that I have seen all 30+ hours of a Danish TV series called Matador. (translation in English- Monopoly) and now that it is over, I am saddened at the loss of the story of this town of Korsbaek, where I became so attached to so many people who populated this tale of small town Denmark from 1929-1947.

here is the wikipedia blurb about it-

Matador is a Danish TV series produced and shown between 1978 and 1982. It is set in the fictional Danish town of Korsbæk between 1929 and 1947. It follows the lives of a range of characters from across the social spectrum, focusing specifically on the rivalry between the families of two businessmen: The banker Hans Christian Varnæs, an established local worthy, and social climber Mads (Andersen-)Skjern, who arrives in town as the series opens. The name Matador was taken from the localised edition of the board game Monopoly. In addition, in contemporary Danish a "matador" is often used to describe a business tycoon, in the series referring to the character of Mads Skjern and his craftiness as a self-made entrepreneur.

Directed by famed Danish film maker Erik Balling, Matador was the idea of author Lise Nørgaard who wrote the bulk of the episodes alongside Karen Smith, Jens Louis Petersen and Paul Hammerich. The series is one of the most well-known and popular examples of Danish television and represents the peak of longtime development of Danish TV drama by the public service channel Danmarks Radio.

The series has become part of the modern self-understanding of Danes, partly because of its successful mix of melodrama and a distinct warm Danish humour in the depiction of characters, which were portrayed by a wide range of the most popular Danish actors at the time; but also not least because of its accurate portrayal of a turbulent Denmark from around the start of the Great Depression and through Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark in World War II.

The distinctive and in Denmark celebrated theme tune of the series was composed by Bent Fabricius-Bjerre.

Matador originally aired on DR between November 1978 and January 1982 and has enjoyed repeated successful reruns in 1984-85, 1989–90, 1997–98, 2006–07 and 2012–13. The 1985 airing of the series finale still stands as the most viewed ever in Danish TV history, with 3.6 million viewers on May 26 that year, this in a country of some 5 million people at the time.

The series was widely popular in neighbouring Norway, Sweden and Germany, and it has been broadcast in more than 20 countries worldwide.

The DVD set was a gift for Phil's 60th birthday from our dear friend Aase Bak (whom I think wanted Phil to get a chance to brush up on his Danish as well as offer us some first rate entertainment)

thank you, Aase! it was a wonderful experience, and we both felt very attached to the characters - it has been hard to say goodbye...