Couples Therapy Gets Danish Treatment

Magnify Media has licensed NRK’s short-form comedy series Couples Therapy to DR Denmark, which is in production on a local version of the format.

DR has committed itself to two seasons of the scripted comedy: a first run of 6×12 minutes, followed by four Christmas specials of 12 minutes each. The Danish production heavyweight Nordisk Film TV is now producing the first season, which is due to air on DR in the fourth quarter of this year.

Couples Therapy was originally produced by the Norwegian indie Seefood TV for NRK, for whom it has been a ratings hit. Now heading into its fourth season on the Norwegian public broadcaster, the show’s take on relationship counseling earned it the title of Norway’s most-watched series of 2018.

Each short-form episode sees a mismatched couple attend a therapy session in an effort to resolve an issue—money, sex, infidelity—that is causing them problems. All the primary characters are played by the same comedy actor in the comedic and relatable exploration of relationship dynamics.

A 10-episode run of Couples Therapy also premiered this weekend on Kanal 5 in Sweden, produced by Jarowskij with Swedish television hostess, actress and comedian Christine Meltzer playing the lead.

Aleksander Herresthal, chief content officer at Seefood TV, said: “Couples Therapy has been a huge success for us in Norway and we are currently writing season four for NRK. We are incredibly excited about Denmark making local versions of the series and believe the format has great potential to be produced in many territories. In Norway, Couples Therapy has led the digital shift as over 50% of viewers have viewed the format on NRK’s streaming service. Hopefully the program can have the same effect in other countries.”

Cecilia Ingebrigtsen, who brokered the deal as head of format sales for Germany and the Nordic territories for Magnify Media, said: “This deal with DR is further proof that short-form scripted entertainment—which is a far less risky financial investment than long-form scripted—is providing a real shot in the arm for the formats business. And it’s also true to say that a disproportionate number of these shows are coming out of the Nordic territories, which has a long and strong track record in ‘entertainment with a purpose.’ In the case of Couples Therapy, it’s more a case of ‘hilarity with a purpose’—this format will make you cry with laughter while revealing universal truths about relationships, what goes wrong with them and how they be put right.”