It is four years since Fredrik Skavlan laid down his popular talk show. On Thursday, he is back in SVT. But now the Norwegian takes on an "impossible task" - to try to renew the so heavily criticized genre of debate programs in Swedish TV.
"Understand each other"
Many critics have over the years turned against the predictable - and loud debate programs on TV. SVT has very deliberately tried to find another form and therefore turned to Fredrik Skavlan, explains program director Eva Beckman.
In a society as polarized as we have today, no one benefits from another debate program where people stand and shout at each other. The goal here is for everyone to listen to and understand each other, she says.
In "Skavlan and Sweden", the Norwegian host promises a completely new way of tackling social issues. With a studio audience, unexpected guests, and a softer debate climate where everyone sits around the same table.
But do people even want to hear the other side's arguments in 2025 when everyone sits in their own filter bubbles?
I also felt that way! But then I thought that I grew up in a large family where everyone is extroverted. We sat around the dinner table and discussed all the time. It was fun! So then I thought, why aren't debate programs on TV fun? It can be fun in podcasts, says Skavlan.
Election coverage
Fredrik Skavlan admits that his entertainment background differs from previous tough debate leaders like Janne Josefsson and Robert Aschberg. Therefore, it becomes completely natural that it will be a different program than their more confrontational ones.
I can't be Aschberg and toughen up in some way. I'm not conflict-averse, but I go another way.
The program will continue in the spring. Then maybe Skavlan will become part of SVT's election coverage next year.
I can say this, I don't think it's unlikely that it can happen, says Eva Beckman and smiles.
Skavlan is also open to more politics.
We'll see. Right now, we know that we will do this for two seasons. Then SVT and the viewers will feel it out.
So maybe you'll be the one doing the party leader interviews next year?
Well …, we'll see, says Skavlan and smiles.
"Skavlan and Sweden" premieres on SVT on September 4.
59 years old. Norwegian journalist and cartoonist who started making TV in Norway in 1996.
Between 2009 and 2021, the talk show "Skavlan" was broadcast on SVT. His production company Monkberry is also behind Carina Bergfeldt's and Bianca Ingrosso's talk shows.
Skavlan's cartoons have been published in a number of Nordic newspapers, including Dagens Nyheter in Sweden.
