November 13th, 2013
11:17 AM ET

Norway’s surprising TV hit

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In Norway, where the divorce rate is 40 percent, one official has some advice for married couples: Do as Tina Fey and Steve Carell did in the movie "Date Night." Go out. That date ended with car chases and mobster confrontations.

But at least they weren't home on the couch. Last Friday, 1.3 million Norwegians were indeed home, watching a smash hit television show. That's a quarter of the nation's population, tuning in for over 12 uninterrupted hours for a national…knitting evening.

Yes. Knitting. So-called slow TV is huge here. Whether it's seven hour train rides, a full day of salmon fishing, 12 hours of burning wood or 30-hour interviews. More than 50 percent of the population once tuned in for a ship's 134-hour coastline cruise. The knitting evening did have a dramatic twist. After hours of knitting, they attempted to break the world time record for producing a sweater. Starting from the very beginning – the shearing of a sheep.

They unfortunately missed the record books, but eight and a half hours later – voila, a sweater! One company plans to bring slow TV to the United States. Perhaps it will be a hit. Compared with 21 hours of Senator Ted Cruz reading Green Eggs and Ham, discussions about wool seem absolutely spellbinding.

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Topics: Last Look

soundoff (27 Responses)
  1. denim

    Wait, am I the only one who sees the Beatles in Norway watching 12 hours of burning wood?

    November 13, 2013 at 1:11 pm |
    • Oscar Pitchfork

      Most excellent reference! That is what your teachers used to refer to as applied knowledge...

      November 14, 2013 at 7:35 am |
  2. derrick

    Compared with 21 hours of Senator Ted Cruz reading Green Eggs and Ham, discussions about wool seem absolutely spellbinding.

    Cnn had to get that last piece of garbage in there hunh? I guess Wendy Davis filibustering down in Texas is garbage also? Or is it only Repu8blicans this punk Jason Miks reserves his vitrol for?

    November 13, 2013 at 1:37 pm |
    • Crybaby

      WAAHHHHHH !!!!!

      November 13, 2013 at 2:46 pm |
    • Fred Evil

      At least Wendy did it for a good reason, Cruz is just a selfish, slimy CONservative whose effort was a complete waste of time and OUR money.
      FIRE CRUZ!!

      November 13, 2013 at 8:49 pm |
      • CurmudgeonTx

        Just so you know...What you consider a good reason the other side considers a waste of time, and vice verse.

        November 14, 2013 at 6:49 am |
      • Clue

        So killing babies is good but saving governent for the people and not for hordes of "non-essential" bureaucrats is bad??

        November 14, 2013 at 2:48 pm |
      • john mcinsane

        Ted cruz has an elephant sized cawk that fits tightly in your ***. Yall mofos kno fo sho

        November 24, 2013 at 5:20 pm |
    • iceload9

      They only used the Cruz reference because he is a self-aggrandizing idiot.

      November 14, 2013 at 5:19 pm |
    • Patrick

      You need to do a little research on what a filibuster is. Cruz was blocking the vote on something he (and his party in the senate) ultimately voted for. He was grandstanding. showboating. Not blocking legislation he was trying to prevent. try to keep up.

      November 15, 2013 at 8:29 am |
  3. Dude

    Why not? We're on the internet anyway and the TV is just background noise. Plus, it would cost old people far less than their fake TV Shopping Network friends. I'd go for the coastal cruise via TV.

    November 13, 2013 at 2:47 pm |
  4. Yakobi

    "One company plans to bring slow TV to the United States."
    They already did–it's called "Big Brother".

    November 13, 2013 at 3:29 pm |
  5. Sol Rosenberg

    This from the country that brought you "What Does the Fox Say?" 'Nuff said.

    November 13, 2013 at 10:05 pm |
  6. Richard

    It's best not to initiate a serious comentary about what is noteworthy or, on the other hand, boring about television. Roughly 98% percent of what is on TV is pure crap regardless of your country of origin.

    November 13, 2013 at 10:46 pm |
    • DJ

      Richard...Truer words were never spoken...It is a vast wasteland with the exception of public TV in the USA.

      November 14, 2013 at 12:08 am |
      • Dude

        You must really like that tote bag they sent you.

        November 14, 2013 at 10:56 am |
  7. ✠ RZ ✠

    This article has just left me "pining for the fiords". +_+

    November 14, 2013 at 3:13 am |
  8. j. von hettlingen

    The Norwegians are ingenious, when it comes to making simple chores monumental!

    November 14, 2013 at 10:56 am |
  9. Sako

    Don't bother bringing it to America, Americans don't have the luxury of time to even be able to waste it watching 8 hours of bs shows... Between work and more work there's barely enough time left to be with family, sleep and chores... And i have a good paying job.. rather have the time tho

    November 14, 2013 at 12:15 pm |
  10. J.P. Evans

    Considering the violent crap that we get served by Hollywood on a nightly basis here in the USA, "slow" TV would be a much needed and welcome change.

    November 14, 2013 at 12:23 pm |
  11. Squeezebox

    Why import it when you can just buy video fireplaces and virtual fish tanks?

    November 14, 2013 at 1:17 pm |
  12. scott

    next week: 7 hours of paint drying...

    November 14, 2013 at 1:21 pm |
  13. craig

    12 hours of burning wood? Reminds me of college, and the first time I had a herpes outbreak

    November 14, 2013 at 2:14 pm |
  14. jj

    Love it, hope to see it in America soon!

    November 14, 2013 at 3:51 pm |
  15. chrissy

    Lol @ Oscar, i totally agree! Kinda ironic that Verison is Ted Cruz's major political funding huh? Means he gets "unlimited talk time" even though he has really nothing to say! We need to deport him back to his own country!

    November 15, 2013 at 7:27 pm |
  16. Major Bagg

    https://www.electricpercolatorcoffeepot.com/10-top-coffee-bloggers/

    January 11, 2021 at 12:00 am |

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