Courage in the chest stars Nils Vogt (74), Sven Nordin (65) and Hilde Lyrån (60) was recently reunited to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the first Courage episode.
The Norwegian situation comedy, created by Tore Ryen (76), ran on TV 2 from 1993 to 1997, and 142 episodes were made.
– I wanted to move on
In December 1997, the very last episode was broadcast. But why did the popular comedy series end?
– I guess it was actually me who initiated that I wanted to go on, says Sven Nordin, who played the character Nils.
– I thought it was quite smart to give it my all. And I found out that if I was going to have a different life than just being Nils in Mot i brestet, then I had to hurry a little further with my career. I have not regretted that. I was actually pretty well provided for when I got to that point.
COURAGE IN THE CHEST: Nils Vogt, Arve Opsahl, Sven Nordin, Siw Anita Andersen and Hilde Lyrån in the 90s. Photo: TV 2
Nils Vogt, who played the character Karl Reverud, points out Inherit Opsahl as another reason why the series was discontinued. Opsahl was 76 years old when the last episode was broadcast, and age had taken its toll. Courage recorded one episode each week, and Opsahl had to work hard to memorize all the lines.
– It went very quickly. You had to learn a lot of text in a short time. Arve was getting tired, he was in his teens at the time. So Mot i brøstet ended naturally for several reasons, says Vogt.
Arve Opsahl passed away in April 2007, aged 85.
– I would have liked to have stayed longer
Hilde Lyrån, who played Trine, thought it was sad when Mot i brøstet ended. She entered the series’ fifth – and penultimate – season, so she did not have the speed time that Nordin and Vogt had.
– I would have liked to have stayed longer. But, as Sven says, I think it was very wise to give up while it was at its peak. But right then and there, I would have liked to have stayed longer. It was a lot of fun, says Lyrån.
WANTED TO CONTINUE: Hilde Lyrån, who played Trine in Mot i brøset, wanted to continue making the popular TV series. Photo: Ditlev Eidsmo / TV 2
Sequel series
However, the very last episode was not the end of the Mot i brøstet universe.
Barely three months after Mot i brøsets svanesang was broadcast on TV 2, the spin-off series came Karl & Co – also created by Tore Ryen – which ran for three seasons from 1998 to 2001. Karl & Co was about Nils Vogt’s character Karl Reverud.
– And it became just as popular! says Sven Nordin.
– So it was a quite smooth transition from when we put down Mot in the chest and switched to Karl & co.
A reunion special was also made in 1999, The Millennium Partywhere the actors from Mot i brøset and Karl & Co shared the stage.
In 2009 there was another TV 2 series with the Karl Reverud character, called Charles the III. It ran for only one season.
SPIN-OFF: Nils Vogt continued in the role of Karl Reverud in the series Karl & Co and Karl den III. This photo, where Vogt poses with Knut Lystad, is from Karl & Co. Photo: TV 2
Courage in the chest, Karl & Co and The Millennium Party are available on TV 2 Play. You can see the reunion special for Mot i brøset at the top of this article.
