På spåret explained

Genre:Game show
Creator:Ingvar Oldsberg, Lennart Andersson
Presenter:Ingvar Oldsberg (1987–2009)
Kristian Luuk (2009–)
Judges:Lennart "Hoa-Hoa" Dahlgren (1988)
Björn Hellberg (1995–2003, 2005–2009)
Carl Jan Granqvist (2004)
Fredrik Lindström ((2009–)
Theme Music Composer:Bengt-Åke Andersson (1987–2010)
Augustifamiljen (2010–2019)
Various artists (2019–)
Country:Sweden
Language:Swedish
Num Seasons:28
Num Episodes:291
Location:Sweden
Runtime:59 minutes
Channel:SVT
Related:Jorda rundt

På spåret (On the Track) is a popular Swedish TV game show series broadcast on SVT since 5 September 1987. The show, which is intended to be humorous yet educational, has remained one of the most popular TV shows in Sweden, attracting an average of 2,150,000 viewers during the 2007 season. The all-time record was set in March 1990, when 3.7 million people tuned in to see the show.[1] This means that nearly half of all Swedes saw the game show.

På spåret is an original format developed by Ingvar Oldsberg for SVT, and he hosted the show for many years. Lennart Dahlgren, winner of the first season, was the judge in 1988. Author and tennis legend Björn Hellberg was promoted from contestant to permanent Oldsberg sidekick and judge in 1995 after winning for four straight seasons. Famous gourmet, restaurant owner, and former contestant Carl Jan Grankvist sat in for Hellberg during the 2004 season.[2]

In 2009, after 21 years, Oldsberg and Hellberg left, and Kristian Luuk took over as host with Fredrik Lindström as judge.

Format

Two teams of well-known Swedes (during the initial seasons each team had three participants each, however this was later reduced to two) compete against each other. Participants are shown filmed journeys (usually filmed from the front of a train, but occasionally from a car, or even from a plane) and the objective is for each team to identify the destination of the journey, using visual clues from the video, and additional clues from the host. The clues, which often include puns and far-fetched word play, get progressively easier as the train approaches its destination, and the number of points awarded for a correct answer accordingly declines. After the journey both teams answer questions related to the destination city, and collect more points.

Each one-hour show has three filmed journeys, typically with one Swedish and two foreign destinations.

The journey involves the competitors figuring out the destination of a journey viewed at high speed from the driver's seat on a train (sometimes also a car, bus or boat) on the way to the place in question. The host reads out various tricky clues, as the journey progresses. Clues are awarded on 10, 8, 6, 4 and 2 points, and get progressively easier (2 points almost always includes a pun on the name of the destination). To answer, the team pulls the emergency brake; if the answer is correct, points are given corresponding to the level that the journey has reached. The other team must wait until the next point level to give their answer.

In between journeys 2 and 3, the original hosts, Oldsberg and Hellberg, used to read a text dressed up as Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes, giving progressively easier clues about a specific celebrity. The team that first identified the celebrity won points, or instead lost if the answer was wrong. Later "Holmes and Watson" was substituted by "Tintin and Captain Haddock". Following the 50th anniversary of SVT in 2006, this element was replaced by various mini-games, as follows:

Tournament

In recent years, each season have consisted of a tournament with three groups of three teams each. The winner of each group qualify for the semi-finals; the fourth semi finalist is decided by a "quarter final" match between the two best teams that placed second in their respective groups.

Contestants

Until 1995 each team consisted of three people, since then the contestants have competed in pairs. The show typically feature intelligent, humorous and well-known celebrities, such as sports journalist Lotta Bromé, restaurateur Carl-Jan Grankvist, former weight-lifter Lennart "Hoa-Hoa" Dahlgren, comedians/TV-hosts Filip & Fredrik, Olympic high-jump champion Stefan Holm, and actor/TV personality Peter Harryson, sportsjournalist Johanna Frändén to name a few.

Contestants 2007–08

Group 1
Group 2
Group 3

Contestants 2008–09

[3]

Group A
Group B
Group C

Contestants 2009–10

[4]

Group A
Group B
Group C

Contestants 2012–13

Group A
Group B
Group C

Contestants 2013–14

Group A
Group B
Group C

Contestants 2014–15

[5]

Group A
Group B
Group C

Past winners

[6]

SeasonWinnerRunners-up
1987
1988
1990 Margareta Söderström, Lennart "Hoa-Hoa" Dahlgren & Thomas Wernerson
1991 Putte Wickman, Birgit Carlstén & Lennart Broström
1993 Lasse Strömstedt, Inger Nilsson & Kicki Hultin
1995 Peter Harryson & Eva Bysing
1996 Bengt Järnblad & Ma Oftedal
1997 Adde Malmberg & Cecilia Hagen
1998 Lasse Eriksson & Ulrika Knutson
1999 Birgit Carlstén & Sven Melander
2000 Birgit Carlstén & Sven Melander
2001 Lotta Bromé & Carl Jan Granqvist
2002 Cecilia Hagen & Lennart "Hoa-Hoa" Dahlgren
2003 Cecilia Hagen & Lennart "Hoa-Hoa" Dahlgren
2004 Ingela Agardh & Stefan Holm
2005–06 Adde Malmberg & Magdalena Forsberg
2006–07 Anne Lundberg & Johan Wester
2007–08 Cecilia Hagen & Lennart "Hoa-Hoa" Dahlgren
2008–09 Jessika Gedin & Hans Rosenfeldt
2009–10 Hélène Benno & Peter Apelgren
2010–11 Martina Haag & Erik Haag
2011–12 Niklas Strömstedt & Jenny Strömstedt
2012–13 Cecilia Hagen & Lennart "Hoa-Hoa" Dahlgren
2013–14 Elisabet Höglund & Jesper Rönndahl
2014–15 Fredrik Wikingsson & Filip Hammar
2015–16 Anna Ekström & Göran Hägglund
2016–17 Isobel Hadley-Kamptz & Kalle Lind
2017–18 Amie Bramme Sey & Gunnar Bolin
2018–19 Eric Ericson & Kjell Wilhelmsen
2019–20 Josefin Johansson & Johar Bendjelloul
2020–21 Louise Epstein & Thomas Nordegren
2021-22Cecilia Düringer & Jonatan UngeHanna Hellquist & Ina Lundström
2022-23Marie Agerhäll & Fritte FritzsonCecilia Düringer & Jonatan Unge
2023-24Marie Agerhäll & Fritte FritzsonPeter Apelgren & Hector Apelgren

Some of the participants have been celebrities in Sweden, more due to this show, than for anything they were before. This applies especially for the former weightlifter Lennart "Hoa-Hoa" Dahlgren. Although far from unknown before his first participation, his celebrity rose quite a lot due to his geographical knowledge. But also Björn Hellberg, Carl Jan Granqvist, Johanna Koljonen are included among the ones who perhaps are more associated with this television show than anything else, at the time and to the general public at least.

International adaptations

The format was sold to the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, where the show was called Jorda rundt (Around the World). It was canceled after only one season (1998–99).[7]

References

  1. https://web.archive.org/web/20110612111139/http://svt.se/svt/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=69768&a=1210974
  2. Web site: SVT.se - Kultur & nöje programinformation . 2009-01-21 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080421154211/http://svt.se/svt/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=69768&a=890330 . 2008-04-21 . sv.
  3. Web site: Många debutanter i På spåret 2008! - Kultur & nöje programinformation | SVT.se . 2009-01-21 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110612111139/http://svt.se/svt/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=69768&a=1210974 . 2011-06-12 . sv.
  4. https://web.archive.org/web/20091116073652/http://svt.se/2.99867/1.1728942/spelschema_2009_copy?lid=puff_1728946&lpos=extra_2
  5. Web site: Säsongens matchordning och musikgäster. svt.se. 2014-12-07. 2014-12-05. https://web.archive.org/web/20141205045345/http://www.svt.se/pa-sparet/har-ar-sasongens-matchordning-och-musikgaster. dead.
  6. Web site: Vinnare genom åren - På Spåret | SVT.se . 2009-10-14 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090917101624/http://svt.se/2.99869/1.890229/vinnare_genom_aren_ny?lid=puff_1455341&lpos=extra_0 . 2009-09-17 . sv.
  7. Web site: Jorda rundt (TV Series 1998–1999). IMDb. 2018-06-29. 2017-10-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20171017230351/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0272981/. live.