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''Skam'' (stylized as ''SKAM''; ; English: ''Shame'') is a Norwegian
teen drama In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional te ...
streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as films and television series, streamed over the Internet. Standing in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aerial systems, cable t ...
series about the daily life of teenagers at the
Hartvig Nissen School The Hartvig Nissen School (), informally referred to as Nissen, is a former single-sex education, girls' Gymnasium (school), gymnasium in Oslo, Norway, now co-educational. It is located in the neighborhood Uranienborg, Norway, Uranienborg in the af ...
, a gymnasium in the wealthy borough of
Frogner Frogner is a residential and retail borough in the East End and West End of Oslo, West End of Oslo, Norway, with a population of 59,269 as of 2020. In addition to the original Frogner, the borough incorporates Bygdøy, Uranienborg, Norway, Urani ...
in West End
Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
and Norway's oldest high school for girls. It was produced by NRK P3, which is part of the Norwegian public broadcaster
NRK The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television public broadcasting company. The NRK broadcasts three national TV channels and thirteen nat ...
. Despite no promotion ahead of its 2015 launch, ''Skam'' broke viewership records. Its premiere episode is among the most-watched episodes in NRK's history, and by the middle of season two, it was responsible for half of NRK's traffic. With season three, it broke all
streaming Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...
records in Norway, along with viewership records in neighboring countries Denmark, Finland and Sweden, and attracted an active international fanbase on social media, where fans promoted translations. The series ended with its fourth season in 2017, reportedly due to high production stress.


Hartvig Nissen School

The series focuses on the daily life of teenagers at the
Hartvig Nissen School The Hartvig Nissen School (), informally referred to as Nissen, is a former single-sex education, girls' Gymnasium (school), gymnasium in Oslo, Norway, now co-educational. It is located in the neighborhood Uranienborg, Norway, Uranienborg in the af ...
(''Hartvig Nissens skole''), a gymnasium (preparatory high school) located in the Frogner borough in
Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
's West End, with the address Niels Juels gate (
Niels Juel Niels Juel (8 May 1629 – 8 April 1697) was a Danish naval officer. He served as supreme commander of the Dano-Norwegian Navy during the late 17th century and oversaw development of the Danish-Norwegian Navy. Background Niels Juel was born ...
Street) 56. It is Norway's oldest high school for girls and is informally and widely known simply as "Nissen". Originally named Nissen's Girls' School, it was founded by Hartvig Nissen in 1849 as a private, progressive girls' school which was owned by its headmasters and which served the higher bourgeoisie. The school was described in the British
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
in 1907 as "the pioneer of higher girls' schools in Norway." It was both the first higher school and the first higher education institution (through its former affiliated teachers college) in Norway which admitted girls and women.Maja Lise Rønneberg Rygg: ''Hartvig Nissens skole 150 år: 1849–1999'', Oslo 1999 The girls' school gradually became a co-educational school from the mid 1950s, after four boys were admitted in 1955 alongside hundreds of girls. Its alumni include many famous individuals and two members of the Norwegian royal family. The then relatively new progressive girls' school is also featured in the 1862 play ''
Love's Comedy ''Love's Comedy'' () is a comedy by Henrik Ibsen. It was first published on 29 December 1862. As a result of being branded an " immoral" work in the press, the Christiania Theatre would not dare to stage it at first. "The play aroused a storm of ...
'' by
Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...
.Ivo de Figueiredo, ''Henrik Ibsen: The Man and the Mask'' (p. 172), Yale University Press, 2019


Premise

''Skam'' follows a new main character each season. While airing, a new clip, conversation, or social media post was published in
real-time Real-time, realtime, or real time may refer to: Computing * Real-time computing, hardware and software systems subject to a specified time constraint * Real-time clock, a computer clock that keeps track of the current time * Real-time Control Syst ...
on the NRK website on a daily basis. Each season has a focus on particular topics that range from relationship difficulties, identity, eating disorders, sexual assault, homosexuality, mental health issues, religion, and forbidden love. At the start of a week, a clip, conversation or social media post is posted on the ''Skam'' website. New material is posted on a daily basis, with the content unified and combined into one full episode on Fridays. The main character differs from season to season, and the fictional characters have social media profiles where viewers can follow their activities. The show allows public interaction over the duration of the episode. The format has since been used in other NRK P3 series, ''
Blank Blank or Blanks may refer to: *Blank (archaeology), a thick, shaped stone biface for refining into a stone tool *Blank (cartridge), a type of gun cartridge *Blank (Scrabble), a playing piece in the board game Scrabble *Blank (solution), a solutio ...
'' and '' Lovleg''.


Characters

The following are characters in ''Skam''. 1In season one, David Stakston was credited as playing a character called David, though his name was never spoken in the show. This could be the character Magnus or Stakston was playing a different student. Stakston also makes an uncredited appearance in the last episode of season two. 2In season three, Mikael appears uncredited in a video Isak finds on the Internet of Even.


Central cast

*
Lisa Teige Lisa Teige (born 19 January 1998)
is a Norwegian actress and dancer.
as Eva Kviig Mohn (born 2 June 1999) is the main character in the first season. When we first meet Eva, she recently started dating Jonas, who just ended a relationship with Eva's best friend Ingrid. Her relationship with Jonas is complicated and she finds it hard to trust him, eventually leading her to cheat on him and ultimately leading to their breakup at the end of season one. Eva lives at home with a busy mom and starts at the Hartvig Nissen school ("Nissen") in 2015 together with her friends and former classmates Jonas, Ingrid, Sara and Isak. Losing her former best friends Ingrid and Sara due to her relationship to Jonas, she starts up new friendships with Noora, Chris, Vilde and Sana at Nissen. After season one, Eva is mostly portrayed as an outgoing and promiscuous party-girl. * Josefine Frida Pettersen as Noora Amalie Sætre (born 6 April 1999) is the main character in the second season. Noora is portrayed as a confident, smart and helpful character in seasons one and two. In the second season, it is however revealed that she has some insecurities after all. She lives with two roommates and does not have contact with her parents. Unlike her friends Eva, Chris and Vilde, Noora is not into drinking or hooking up with guys. When the school's playboy William continues to flirt with her despite several rejections, she eventually gets interested in him, but due to her prejudices against him, she finds it hard to accept. They end up in a relationship at the end of season two. In seasons three and four, Noora faces complications in her relationship with William. * Tarjei Sandvik Moe as (born 21 June 1999) is the main character in the third season. Isak is a close friend of both Eva and Jonas in season one. At the end of the season, Noora and Eva find
gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...
pornography on Isak's phone, raising suspicions about his sexual orientation. Season three follows Isak's struggles to accept his sexuality. He meets Even, and the two quickly fall in love and begin to secretly see each other. However, Isak unknowingly pushes Even (who has
bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that each last from days to weeks, and in ...
) away by revealing that he does not want to be around people with mental disorders, due to his traumatizing experiences with his mentally ill mother. After struggling with his feelings for Even, Isak decides to come out to his best friend Jonas, and eventually to other people that he is close to. He gets back together with Even with the aid of his friends, but after Even has a manic episode, he distances himself from him again out of fear and heartbreak. However, he comes to better understand Even's situation after a discussion with his friends, and reunites with Even after he realizes that he loves him, accepting the obstacles created by his disorder. In season four, Isak is portrayed as much happier, as he lives comfortably and publicly in a relationship with Even. * Iman Meskini as Sana Bakkoush (born 24 December 1999) is the main character in the fourth season. Sana's biggest struggle throughout the series is to live the traditional Muslim lifestyle and the traditional Norwegian gymnasium-lifestyle at the same time. Sana is portrayed as decisive and eloquent, but faces constant prejudices from her classmates, her parents and people she meets on the street, which sometimes leads Sana to take irrational decisions. This peaks when Sana anonymously cyberbullies her classmate Sara, who wants to exclude Sana from their russefeiring-squad. Unlike Eva, Noora and Isak, she has a close relationship with her family. In season 4, she falls in love with Yousef, who she initially thinks is a Muslim, but turns out not to be. After initial attempts to distance herself from him, they appear to grow closer later in the season.


Main cast

* Marlon Valdés Langeland as Jonas Noah Vasquez (born 20 December 1999), Eva's boyfriend in the first season. He is also Isak's best friend and a classmate of all the main characters. *Ulrikke Falch as Vilde Hellerud Lien (born 13 July 1999), the naive fourth member of the main girl squad. She is the enthusiastic initiator of russefeiring, revy and other social events for the squad. * Ina Svenningdal as Christina "Chris" Berg (born 6 January 1999), the amusing fifth member of the girl squad. She usually avoids most conflicts and emotionally deep conversations. * Thomas Hayes as William Magnusson (born 10 January 1997), the flirt and eventually boyfriend of Noora in the second season. He is two years older than the main cast, but also studies at ''Nissen'' in the first two seasons. *Carl Martin Eggesbø as Eskild Tryggvasson (born 19 August 1995), the roommate of Noora in season two and four, and of Isak's in season three. * Henrik Holm as (born 12 February 1997), the love affair and eventual boyfriend of Isak. Even is diagnosed with
bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that each last from days to weeks, and in ...
at some point prior to season 3. * David Stakston as Magnus Fossbakken (born 30 October 1999), Isak's awkward friend and classmate. In the fourth season he is in a relationship with Vilde. *Sacha Kleber Nyiligira as Mahdi Disi (born 19 January 1999), Isak's friend and classmate. Member of the boys squad. *Cengiz Al as Yousef Acar (born 21 September 1997), the atheist love interest of Sana and a former classmate of Even.


Recurring cast

*Herman Tømmeraas as Christoffer "Penetrator-Chris" Schistad (born 2 April 1997), the on-and-off love interest of Eva through all four seasons. He is also classmate and best friend of William. * Cecilie Martinsen as Ingrid Theis Gaupseth (born 23 February 1999), Jonas's girlfriend and Eva's best friend prior to season one. Ingrid is a member of the russefeiring-squad "Pepsi Max", which often rivals the main characters' squad. * Kristina Ødegaard as Sara Nørstelien (born 12 July 1999), Ingrid's best friend and leader of the "Pepsi Max" squad. Sara dates Isak in the second season. * Rakel Øfsti Nesje as Linn Larsen Hansen (born 1 January 1996), the introverted roommate of Eskild and Noora/Isak. *Simo Mohamed Elhbabi as Elias Bakkoush (born 5 March 1997), Sana's older brother and Yousef's best friend and former classmate.


Episodes


Series overview


Season 1

The first clip from season 1 was made available on Tuesday, 22 September 2015, with the combined clips during the week premiering as a full episode on Friday, 25 September 2015. The season consists of 11 episodes; the main character is Eva Mohn. The storyline deals with Eva's difficult relationship with her boyfriend Jonas and the themes of loneliness, identity, belonging and friendship.


Season 2

The first clip from season 2 was made available on Monday, 29 February 2016, with the combined clips during the week premiering as a full episode on Friday, 4 March 2016. The season consists of 12 episodes; the main character is Noora Amalie Sætre. The season is about her relationship with William and deals with issues of friendship, feminism,
eating disorder An eating disorder is a mental disorder defined by abnormal eating behaviors that adversely affect a person's health, physical or mental health, mental health. These behaviors may include eating too much food or too little food. Types of eatin ...
s, self-image, violence,
sexual violence Sexual violence is any harmful or unwanted Human sexual activity, sexual act, an attempt to obtain a sexual act through violence or coercion, or an act directed against a person's sexuality without their consent, by any individual regardless of ...
and the contemporaneous refugee crisis in relation to Norwegian democracy.


Season 3

The first clip from season 3 was made available on Sunday, 2 October 2016, with the combined clips during the week premiering as a full episode on Friday, 7 October 2016. The season consists of 10 episodes; the main character is Isak Valtersen. The season deals with Isak's burgeoning relationship with Even Bech Næsheim and is principally a
coming out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...
story that deals with issues of love, sexual identity, authenticity, mental illness, religion and friendship. *
NRK TV The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television public broadcasting company. The NRK broadcasts three national TV channels and thirteen nat ...
and NRK P3 used different titles for 7 of the season 3 episodes.


Season 4

The first clip from season 4 was made available on Monday, 10 April 2017, with the combined clips during the week premiering as a full episode on Friday, 14 April 2017. The season consisted of 10 episodes, and the main character is Sana Bakkoush. The season deals with the
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
ic religion, forbidden love,
cyberbullying Cyberbullying (cyberharassment or online bullying) is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Since the 2000s, it has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers and adolescents, due to young people's increased u ...
, friendship, and the Norwegian russ celebratory period. The series finale episode switches character clip-to-clip, focusing on short stories by characters not given their own, full season. The episode deals with parental depression, love rejection, jealousy, friendship, mutual relationship support, and fear of abandonment.


Production

Julie Andem created ''Skam''. In an interview with ''Rushprint'' in April 2016, Andem discussed production of the series. Originally developed for 16-year-old girls, Andem made use of the "NABC" production model ("Needs/Approach/Benefit/Competition"), and instead of collecting information from a vast amount of sources, she had extensive, hours-long interviews with a single representative to uncover what needs that specific target audience had in order to cover that story. In contrast to American shows, which were the primary competition for shows attracting attention from teenagers, Andem stated that she had one advantage; knowing who the audience were and what culture they grew up in. One major area of exploration Andem found through research was pressure; she stated that "the pressure to perform is very high for this target audience. They strive to perform in so many ways. That's fine, and it doesn't necessarily have to be dangerous or unhealthy. But what is unhealthy is that many feel like they can't live up to the demands, and therefore feel that they failed. They are comparing themselves to each other, not themselves. And then a thought occurred: How to get them to let go of the pressure through a series like ''Skam''". Andem wanted the show to be a combination of
social realism Social realism is work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers, filmmakers and some musicians that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structures ...
,
soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...
, and
sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
, transitioning between the genres as the scenes switch, for example from the comical scenes of a doctor's office to the make-out scenes on the stairs. She admitted it did not always work, saying that one particular scene change in episode 5 of season 1 from the stairs to the doctor's office was "a dramatic jump", and elaborated that "in a later scene, I told the photographer that we maybe should try to go a little closer. But we didn't get the humor, so: fuckit, we'll shoot sitcom-ish and blend the genres." Andem created nine characters, without any backstory. Everyone was supposed to be able to lead a season, and the show was going to switch character season-to-season. 1,200 people auditioned for the roles in the first round of casting. As production started, Andem wrote scripts for the shows, and there was no improvisation. "A lot of people think much of the show is improvised. It's not. A lot is written for the actors. And before and after a scene, I'll wait for a while before I say thank you and let them play a little in the scene. If a scene doesn't work, we'll fix it and see what in the script doesn't work." Production had a short deadline, with scripts written in three days, one-and-a-half days to shoot, and four-to-five days to edit. "The plan must be there, and we just have to finish through". The series' use of
real-time Real-time, realtime, or real time may refer to: Computing * Real-time computing, hardware and software systems subject to a specified time constraint * Real-time clock, a computer clock that keeps track of the current time * Real-time Control Syst ...
was planned from early on, and Andem wrote the series in episodic format, although the content also had to work for daily releases, including a
cliffhanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious situation, facing a difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction or bef ...
ending in each scene. Andem read the comments for each day, and looked for feedback from the audience on how to end each season while still keeping her original plans in some way. As the series premiered, there was little or no promotion for the show, due to the production's and NRK's wish for teenagers to find it on their own, spread the news through social media, and avoid the older generation even noticing the series. There were no launch interviews, no reviews, and the actors were shielded from the media, with NRK P3 editorial chief Håkon Moslet saying that "We want most of the focus to be on the show. These actors are very young, I think it's good they're being shielded a little. They do also notice the popularity of the series". The Norwegian newspaper ''
Dagbladet () is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally it was considered the main liberal newspaper of Norway, with a ...
'' reported in December 2016 that the production of seasons 2 and 3 of ''Skam'' had cost a combined sum of
NOK Nok is a village in Jaba, Nigeria, Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The village is an archeological site. Archaeology The discovery of terracotta figurines at this location caused its name to be used for the Nok culture, ...
10 million. NRK P3 editorial chief Håkon Moslet stated: "For being a drama of high quality, ''Skam'' is a very cost-efficient production." In December 2016, the series was renewed for a fourth season. In early April 2017, it was announced that the first clip from the fourth season would premiere on 10 April, and that it would be the last season of the series. NRK P3 editorial chief Håkon Moslet stated that the making of ''Skam'' had been "an extreme sport", and in an
Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
post, creator, writer and director Julie Andem wrote that "''Skam'' has been a 24/7 job. It has also been amazingly fun to work on, and I really believe that has given the series a unique energy, and ensured that ''Skam'' continues to surprise and entertain. We recently decided that we won't be making a new season this fall. I know many of you out there will be upset and disappointed to hear this, but I'm confident this is the right decision." On 23 June 2017, one day before the series finale, the entire cast officially met the press before the series' wrap party, answering questions from fans around the world and describing their experiences and memories from production. It was notably the first time all the actors were allowed to break their silence and speak to the public. On 9 December 2018, NRK published the first of four official blooper reels from the series. The 9 December release featured never-before-seen content from the first season, with the remaining three blooper videos released throughout the following week.


Distribution

In Norway, the series is available on the radio channel NRK P3's website, and on the
web television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as films and television series, streamed over the Internet. Standing in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aerial systems, cable te ...
solution
NRK TV The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television public broadcasting company. The NRK broadcasts three national TV channels and thirteen nat ...
. The weekly episodes are also aired on Fridays on TV channel NRK3. The series has been licensed to air as a
Nordvision Nordvision is a cooperative venture, established in 1959, between five Nordic public service broadcasters: Denmark's DR, Norway's NRK, Iceland's RÚV, Sweden's SVT and Finland's YLE. Sweden's SR and UR, Greenland's KNR, Åland's ÅRTV and ...
co-production by
public service broadcasters Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive f ...
in other
Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; ) are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe, as well as the Arctic Ocean, Arctic and Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic oceans. It includes the sovereign states of Denm ...
, specifically: * In Denmark, the series is shown by DR on the DR TV streaming service and aired on TV channel DR3 since December 2016. * In Finland, the series is shown by
Yle Yleisradio Oy (; ), abbreviated as Yle () (formerly styled in all uppercase until 2012), translated into English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founded in 1926. It is a joint-stock comp ...
on the Yle Areena streaming service since December 2016. * In Iceland, the series is shown by
RÚV Ríkisútvarpið (, ; abbr. RÚV ) is Iceland's national public broadcasting, public-service broadcasting organization. Founded in 1930, it operates from studios in the country's capital, Reykjavík, as well as regional centres around the count ...
on both its streaming service and television channel. * In Sweden, the series is shown by SVT on the SVT Play streaming service since December 2016.


Reception

''Skam'' received critical acclaim and significant recognition for its portrayal of sexual abuse in the second season and homosexuality in the third. The series was also praised for its contributions to promote Norwegian language and culture internationally, as well as for its unique distribution format, adopting a new strategy of real-time, high-engagement, snippet-based distribution rather than rigidity and television schedules. It received multiple Norwegian awards throughout its run, being honored for its dramatic narrative, innovative storytelling format, writing, directing, and actors' performances.


Norway and Nordic countries

In Norway, on average, about 192,000 viewers watched the first season, with the first episode being one of the most viewed of all time on NRK TV online. In the first week of June 2016, streaming of ''Skam'' was responsible for over half of the traffic on NRK TV. Following the release of the third-season finale, NRK stated that the second season had an average audience of 531,000, while the third season broke all streaming records on its NRK TV service with an average audience of 789,000 people. The trailer for the fourth season, released on 7 April 2017, was watched by 900,000 people within four days. During the start of the fourth season, 1.2 million unique users had visited ''Skam''s website, and the first episode had been watched by 317,000 people. NRK P3 editorial chief Håkon Moslet told ''
Verdens Gang (), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norway, Norwegian Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, declining from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. Nevertheless, ''VG'' is ...
'' that "We see that there is high traffic and high interest for season 4. Since the end of the season we have seen a pattern around viewer interest. We lie high in the first week and towards the end of the season when the drama kicks in." In May 2017, NRK published a report on 2016 viewing statistics, writing that the third season broke both the streaming record for a series on NRK TV and for streaming of any series in Norway. An October 2016 ''
Aftenposten (; ; stylized as in the masthead) is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation as well as Norway's newspaper of record. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 daily copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen ...
'' report detailed that ''Skam'' had become popular in Sweden, with "well over 5000" viewers with Swedish
IP address An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label such as that is assigned to a device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. IP addresses serve two main functions: network interface i ...
es watching the episodes, not counting the individual clips. A later report from ''
Verdens Gang (), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norway, Norwegian Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, declining from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. Nevertheless, ''VG'' is ...
'' in January 2017 stated that ''Skam'' had "broken all records" in Sweden, with over 25 million plays on SVT Play. Following the series' licensing deal for broadcasting in Denmark, the series broke records in January 2017, with the show's first episode scoring 560,000 viewers on DR TV. In Finland, the first episode had more than 130,000 views by the end of February 2017, two and half months after its release, described by Yle audience researcher Anne Hyvärilä as "quite exceptional". ''Skam'' has received critical acclaim. The newspaper ''NATT&DAG'' selected it as the best TV series of 2015. In its second season,
Kripos The National Criminal Investigation Service (, previously ''Kriminalpolitisentralen''), commonly known as Kripos, is a special agency of the Norwegian Police Service. Based at Bryn in Oslo and established in 1959, it is a national unit that wo ...
, Norway's National Criminal Investigation Service, praised the series' handling of
sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using physical force, or by taking advantage of another. It often consists of a persistent pattern of sexual assaults. The offender is re ...
, including the girls' encouraging the victim, Noora, to go to the emergency room to explain the situation and gather evidence of the abuse, and Noora confronting her abuser with relevant laws he has broken to prevent the sharing of photographs showing her naked. The National Center for Prevention of Sexual Assault also praised the portrayal, adding that they wish for the series to become a syllabus in schools. In the third season, Martine Lunder Brenne of ''Verdens Gang'' praised the theme of homosexuality and wrote that "I praise it first and foremost because young homosexual people, both in and outside the closet, finally get some long-awaited and modern role models. It doesn't matter if it's a character in a fictional drama – right now, ''Skam'' is Norway's coolest show". In the fourth season, Christopher Pahle of ''
Dagbladet () is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally it was considered the main liberal newspaper of Norway, with a ...
'' praised a conversation about religion, writing: "two young people, with Muslim backgrounds, have a reflected, respectful and enlightening conversation about religion without arguing or taking it to the trenches. Think about that. They pick flowers and dribble a ball, and even if they don't necessarily convince each other, that's not the purpose either. The point is that they understand each other". ''Skam'' has been recognised for its contributions to promote Norwegian language and culture, and to foster affinity between Nordic countries. In December 2016, the Nordic Association awarded ''Skam'' the annual Nordic Language Prize for its ability to engage a young Nordic audience, connecting with young people across the Nordic region and fostering positive attitudes about the region's neighbouring languages. In April 2017, ''Skam'' and its creator Julie Andem were awarded the Peer Gynt Prize, an award given to a person or institution that has had a positive impact on society and made Norway famous abroad. The show also led to popularisation of the word , which was noted by the
Norwegian Language Council The Language Council of Norway (, ) is the administrative body of the Norwegian state on language issues. It regulates the two written forms of the Norwegian language: Bokmål and Nynorsk. It was established in 2005 and replaced the Norwegian Lan ...
in 2016 when it chose it as one of the words of the year. In June 2017, just prior to the show's ending, ''Aftenposten'' published a report featuring interviews with many well-known Norwegian television creators, writers and directors, all praising ''Skam'' showrunner Julie Andem for her creative work on the show. Praise was directed at the series' "unpolished" nature, her ability to maintain "such a high level of quality over a long period of time", the series' blend of different sexualities and ethnicities and use of dialogue to resolve issues, and the show's compassion, thereby its ability to truly capture its generational audience. The show's series finale received positive reviews. Vilde Sagstad Imeland of ''Verdens Gang'' praised the final clip for being a "worthy and emotional ending". Cecilie Asker of ''Aftenposten'' wrote that "The very last episode of ''Skam'' leaves us with a big sorrow, a sore loss, and a craving for more. It couldn't have been better." On 1 July 2017, during the celebration of Oslo Pride, ''Skam'', its creator Julie Andem, and actors Tarjei Sandvik Moe, Henrik Holm and Carl Martin Eggesbø were awarded the "Fryd" award, an award given to persons or organizations that break the norms in gender and sexuality in a positive manner. In February 2018,
Prince William William, Prince of Wales (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982), is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales. William was born during the reign of his p ...
and
Catherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...
, the then- Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and members of the
British royal family The British royal family comprises Charles III and other members of his family. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member, although the Royal Household has issued different lists outlining who is considere ...
, visited the Hartvig Nissen school to meet with the cast and learn more about ''Skam'', its impact on the actors' lives and to discuss youth and mental health.


International success

Starting with season three, the show attracted an international audience, and NRK was therefore heavily asked to add English subtitles to the ''Skam'' episodes online. The requests were declined due to the license for the music presented throughout the series being restricted to a Norwegian audience, and that easy availability outside Norway would violate the terms of NRK's license agreements. An attorney for NRK elaborated that
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videos featuring more than 50% original Skam content would be automatically removed. When denied official subtitling, fans started making their own translations of the episodes into several world languages, greatly expanding the online fanbase. Norwegian viewers were quick to share translated clips quickly after availability through
Google Drive Google Drive is a file-hosting service and synchronization service developed by Google. Launched on April 24, 2012, Google Drive allows users to store files in the cloud (on Google servers), synchronize files across devices, and share files ...
, and also started blogs to cover additional material and language courses to explain Norwegian
slang A slang is a vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in everyday conversation but avoided in formal writing and speech. It also often refers to the language exclusively used by the members of pa ...
. By the end of 2016, ''Skam'' had been trending globally several times on Twitter and Tumblr, and its Facebook, Instagram and Vine presence grew rapidly. On social media, fandoms developed creative paintings, screensavers, phone covers, and fan videos. Filming locations, including
Sagene Church Sagene Church is located in Oslo, Norway. The church is one of the most rugged and prominent in Oslo. The church was built in gothic revival style and it was consecrated in 1891. It was designed by architect Christian Fürst in neo-Gothic style. T ...
, and the Hartvig Nissen school, were visited by fans, and the actors were receiving worldwide attention. After being featured in an episode in the third season, Gabrielle's song " 5 fine frøkner" saw a 3,018 percent increase in listening on
Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...
, with over 13 million streams and, at one point, rising to eighth place on the Swedish top music rankings. Its social media popularity continued into its fourth season in April 2017, with over 20,000 tweets containing #skamseason4 registered in 24 hours at the time of season four's first clip, a substantial portion of which originated from the United States. In January 2017, ''Skam'' was geoblocked for foreign viewers. NRK attorney Kari Anne Lang-Ree stated that "NRK has a right to publish content to the Norwegian audience and foreign countries. The music industry is reacting to the fact that many international viewers are listening to music despite NRK not having international licensing deals. NRK takes the concerns from the music industry seriously. We are in dialogue with he music industryto find a solution". NRK stated that "We want to thank our international fans and followers who have embraced ''SKAM''. We are blown away by your dedication – it is something we never expected. That is why it hurts to tell you guys that due to a necessary clarification with the music right holders, ''SKAM'' will until further notice not be available outside Norway. We are working hard to figure out how to solve this issue so that the fans can continue to enjoy ''SKAM'' from where they are". When the fourth season premiered in April, the geoblock was removed for Nordic countries. The series has received significant attention from international media publications for its unique distribution model of real-time snippet-based information. Anna Leszkiewicz of ''
New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...
'' posted in March 2017 that she considered ''Skam'' "the best show on TV", highlighting the second season's handling of
sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...
. She praised the series for avoiding "shocking, gratuitous rape scenes", instead focusing on a single hand gesture by abuser Nico as a sign of predatory behavior. However, Leszkiewicz criticized the show for taking the "escape route", in which Noora finds the courage to speak to another girl who was at the party, who insists that, while Noora and Nico were in bed together, no sexual intercourse took place. Leszkiewicz commented that "So many women go through what Noora went through in ''Skam''. Most of them don't get offered the same escape route. Instead, they have to live with the shame and confusion of an 'ambiguous' assault." The same month, ''
Elite Daily ''Elite Daily'' is an American online news platform founded by David Arabov, Jonathon Francis, and Gerard Adams. The site describes its target audience as millennials. In addition to general news and trending topics, the site offers feature st ...
''s Dylan Kickham wrote that the international fanbase for ''Skam'' on social media was "much larger than I ever would have predicted", with major fan groups on Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr. He credited the third season's storyline of homosexuality, calling it "incredibly intimate and profound", particularly praising a scene featuring a conversation about flamboyant attitudes between main character Isak and supporting character Eskild. While acknowledging highlights of the past two seasons, Kickham explained that "season three stands above the rest by shining a light on aspects of sexuality that are very rarely depicted in mainstream media", praising Eskild's "magnificent and timely take on the toxic 'masc-for-masc' discrimination within the gay community" in response to Isak's homophobic comments. "It's these small, incisive moments that show just how much ''Skam'' understands and cares about the issues it portrays", explained Kickham. In March 2017, voters of
E! Online E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable television network. It is owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. The channel focuses primarily on pop culture, celebrity based reality shows and movies. ...
's poll regarding "Top Couple 2017" declared characters Isak and Even, main stars of the show's third season, the winners. ''Verdens Gang'' wrote in April that ''Skam'' had become popular in China, where publicly discussing homosexuality is illegal. It reported that almost four million Chinese people had watched the third season through
piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...
and a total of six million had watched all episodes so far translated to Chinese. The report also stated that NRK has no plans to stop piracy in China, and NRK P3 editorial chief Håkon Moslet told ''Verdens Gang'' that "It was Isak and Even that captured a young Chinese audience. There's a lot of censorship in China, and they are role models and have a relationship that Chinese people have a need to see." Anna Leszkiewicz wrote three more articles on ''Skam'' and its impact between April and December 2017. In the first report, she credited the series for having tackled multiple difficult topics with the use of universal emotions like loneliness rather than issue-based strategies. In the second, she specifically focused on the series' ending, noting that it originally had nine characters designed to each lead a season, and quoted fans with the sentiment that "It seems like such an abrupt decision. It doesn't serve the storyline at all." Acknowledging the pressure of the show's global popularity as potentially a key element to end ''Skam'', Leszkiewicz highlighted some fans' disapproval of the storylines presented towards the ending; season four's main character Sana, a member of the Muslim religion who had been under-represented in the series, had a shorter amount of focus in her season than other main characters had at their respective times; the final moments of the series focused on short stories by characters not given their own season, one of which told the story of a minor character without significant relevancy to the series; and a lackluster conversation about
Islamophobia Islamophobia is the irrational fear of, hostility towards, or hatred against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general. Islamophobia is primarily a form of religious or cultural bigotry; and people who harbour such sentiments often stereot ...
between Sana and her white, non-Muslim friend Isak. Leszkiewicz quoted disgruntled fans, one of which said that "Sana has been disrespected and disregarded and erased and sidelined and that is fucking gross. She deserved better". Finally, in her last report, she focused on ''Skam''s legacy as an American adaption was in production. NRK P3 editorial chief Håkon Moslet told her that "There was a lot of piracy", acknowledging that the show's global popularity was the result of fans illegally distributing content through Google Drive, though adding "But we didn't mind". Producer and project manager Marianne Furevold explained that "We were given a lot of time to do so much research, and I think that's a huge part of the success that we see today with ''Skam''", referencing extensive in-depth interviews, attending schools and youth clubs, and immersing into teenagers' online lives, something that she did not think would have been possible with a commercial network. In regards to ending the series after its fourth season, while its popularity peaked, Moslet told Leszkiewicz that writer Julie Andem spent an enormous amount of time developing the series; "It was kind of an extreme sport to make, this series, especially for her. It was her life, 24/7, for two and a half years. It was enough, I think. And she wanted to end on a high. So that's the reason. I think it was the right thing". Andem had posted on Instagram that she "wouldn't have been able to make a season five as good as it deserved to be", though she had also written that she did not want to give away the producing job of the American version, opting to take on the responsibility of that adaptation. That decision itself disgruntled fans, who "found her decision to leave the Norwegian series just to take on another huge commitment with the American show disappointing". Moslet praised the series' diverse set of characters, concluding with the statement that "At a time of confusion and intolerance, it seems more important than ever" for content creators to embrace diversity and reject intolerant attitudes. In December 2017, Tumblr released its list of the most talked-about shows of the year on its platform, with ''Skam'' topping the chart as number one, outranking hugely successful American series, such as ''
Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...
'', ''
Stranger Things ''Stranger Things'' is an American television series created by the Duffer brothers, Duffer Brothers for Netflix. Produced by Monkey Massacre Productions and 21 Laps Entertainment, the Stranger Things season 1, first season was released on N ...
'', and '' The Walking Dead''.


Scholarship

SKAM has been the subject of numerous academic studies. Vilde Schanke Sundet argues that the real-time quality of shows like SKAM help broadcasters to reconnect with younger audiences, and has examined viewers motives for engaging with the community online. Other scholars, such as Tore Rye Andersen and Sara Tanderup Linkis, analyse the narrative effect of what Ruth Page calls "real-time narration", while
Jill Walker Rettberg Jill Walker Rettberg (born Jill Walker in 1971) is co-director of the Center for Digital Narrative and Professor of Digital Culture at the University of Bergen. She is "a leading researcher in self-representation in social media" and a European ...
analysed the use of social media narrative to include the viewer in a "we-narrative", a collective
narration Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...
that emphasises the group above the individual.


Awards and nominations


Other media


Adaptations

In December 2016,
Simon Fuller Simon Robert Fuller (born 17 May 1960) is a British entrepreneur, artist manager, and film and television producer. He is the creator of the Idols (franchise), ''Idols'' TV format, including the British series ''Pop Idol'' and the American ser ...
's XIX Entertainment production company signed a deal with NRK to produce an American version of the series, then-titled ''Shame''. Development of the series continued in the following months, with a title change to ''SKAM Austin'', casting calls taking place, and the announcement that ''Austin'' would air on
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
's "Facebook Watch" original video platform and on the original's series network, NRK. It premiered in April 2018 and has been renewed for a second season. In April 2017, the Danish theatre Aveny-T was reported to have acquired exclusive rights to produce a stage version of ''Skam''. Four different performances will be made, one for each season, with the first show having taken place in Copenhagen on 15 September 2017, and the remaining three performances produced once a year through the year 2020. In September 2017, French entertainment website ''
AlloCiné AlloCiné is an entertainment website founded by Jean-David Blanc in 1988, then joined by Patrick Holzman. It has belonged to the company since 2013 Webedia. which specializes in providing information on French cinema, mostly centering on nove ...
'' reported on the imminent production of a French remake of the series. In October 2017, ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' and ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' reported that local adaptations of ''Skam'' would be produced in five European countries; Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. NRK CEO Thor Gjermund Eriksen said in a statement that "We are very excited about the tremendous interest that ''Skam/Shame'' has generated outside of Norway. The creators of ''Skam'' aimed to help 16-year-old-girls strengthen their self-esteem through dismantling taboos, making them aware of interpersonal mechanisms and showing them the benefits of confronting their fears. This is a vision we are proud to bring to other countries". ''Variety'' notes that each local production will be required to do its own local research into the dilemmas and dreams of its teenagers, rather than copying the original Norwegian production. In October 2018, Belgium began airing its own adaptation. On 3 April 2019, the educational Swedish broadcasting channel UR began broadcasting the first seasons of ''Druck'' (as ''Skam Deutschland''), ''Skam España'', and ''Skam France''. In April 2024. a Croatian remake was announced, marking the first
Eastern European Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountains, and ...
adaptation of the series. It was premiered on 27 October 2024. Having achieved success, multiple remakes have been renewed for additional seasons, progressing in development at different speeds.


Counterparts

: Currently airing season : Adaptation no longer in production : Upcoming season announced : Status of season/adaptation unknown


Books

In September 2018, Julie Andem announced on her Instagram account that, in coordination with Norwegian book publishing company Armada Forlag, four ''Skam'' books, one for each season of the series, would be released to the public, including original, unedited manuscripts, featuring scenes that were never filmed, lines that were later cut, as well as Andem's personal comments and thoughts. The first book, focusing on season one, was made available for purchase on the day of the announcement, on Monday, 3 September 2018. In the press release from Armada Forlag, Andem said that "Releasing these unedited scripts, including typos and nerd comments, is right at the edge of my comfort zone", while adding that "I hope people think it's fun to read the scripts, and that maybe someone gets inspired to write themselves". Jonas Forsang, chairman of Armada Forlag, said that "This is not just TV-history, this is major literature". Norwegian press company ''Aftenposten'' noted at the time that the timeline for the release of the three remaining books was unclear. A few days later, Andem signed a book contract with Swedish publishing company Salomonsson Agency, which included rights for the agency to distribute the ''Skam'' books outside of Norway. CEO Julia Angelin told ''Verdens Gang'' that "We are incredibly proud to be working with the genius Julie Andem. She has changed the entire Scandinavian culture", and added that "It will be incredibly fun to build her career as an author with this unique project. We have only seen the beginning". The report from ''Verdens Gang'' also stated that the first book had been sold "at record tempo" since its release just three days earlier, and that all four ''Skam'' books will be released before the 2018 Christmas holiday period. Andem told the publication that "The ''Skam'' fans are, as I've expressed before, 'the coolest fanbase on earth'. And they are always very enthusiastic and thankful. That is nice and moving". A later update to the same article clarified that the book had "already" been distributed to Finland and Sweden, without details of further distribution. Website ''Books From Norway'', which provides English-language information on Norwegian literature, states that rights for international book release have also been sold to Denmark through the Høst & Søn agency, Italy through the Giunti agency, Poland through the Rebis agency, and Russia through the Popcorn Books agency, though the website does not specify release dates.


References


External links

*
Official series archive
* {{Skam 2010s LGBTQ-related drama television series 2010s teen drama television series 2015 Norwegian television series debuts 2017 Norwegian television series endings Fiction about Islam Norwegian drama television series Norwegian LGBTQ-related television shows Norwegian-language television shows NRK original programming Television series about teenagers Television shows set in Norway Gay-related television shows Television series about social media Coming-of-age television shows Television shows set in Oslo Norwegian teen drama television series