If you grew up on Tumblr like me, you may have heard of the television show SKAM. SKAM, translated to SHAME, is a Norwegian comedy-drama series following teens in 2015. This entertaining show has the most unique release format I’ve ever seen, which has led to its equally unique remake record.
As the original show premiered in 2015, the episodes would come out once a week, as most shows do. However, in the show, when the scenes transitioned, they would show a timestamp of the day and time. What made this show so special was that before the episode was released, these clips would be released in real time. If the episode started at 7:32 a.m. on Monday morning, the individual clip of that scene would be posted at that exact time.
The real-time posting aspect of the show had me so enthralled. It was an experimental format for a show at the time, and with the rise of short-form content, I think it was nothing short of brilliant. Instead of waiting all week, you got to be immersed daily, and experience things at the same exact time the characters were. It made the fandom feel so alive and made the show stand out to me.
What else stands out about this show is its impressive remake legacy. After the original SKAM came out, eight international remakes were created, all in different languages and countries. Currently, the newest remake, SRAM (SKAM Croatia), is dropping clips and episodes for its third season, and I’m loving it! This is an insane run of remakes to establish in 11 years and is relatively unheard of for a modern scripted and formatted like this one.
SKAM Norway consists of four seasons, each following the story of a character within connecting friend groups. All of these remakes follow this story pattern but with different dialogue and scenes. They all have a similar narrative spine, but they also adapt the story culturally, and the characters are given different complexities. It always feels fresh, while also building excitement when you know to anticipate certain things. Watching this show is so cool because you get to experience the live scene drops in ongoing remakes. You can get the similar comfort of rewatching a show, but with less monotony, as the remakes aren’t exact carbon copies; it is the best of both worlds. If you are looking to watch something different and binge-worthy, I cannot recommend the SKAM universe enough!