Helena (TV series)

Helena is a Czech television sitcom broadcast since March 22, 2012 on TV Nova. The series depicts the family life of the large Musil family headed by Helena, played by Sandra Pogodová. The creators of Helena found inspiration in the American TV sitcom Roseanne.

TV Nova reported in 2014 that a fourth series was in the works. But later it was announced in the Volejte Novu program that the next season is not being prepared. However the fourth season was eventually broadcast in September 2018.

About series
Helena (Sandra Pogodová) is a goal-oriented woman who has given up her dreams at the expense of her family and faces all the sorrows and joys of family life with great perspective and optimism. According to the creators, it represents a kind of sitcom-non-sitcom. "The comedy series is the right example, because Helena is not a typical sitcom in terms of genre. This is due to the fact that the Musils are indeed an average working-class family with an above-average number of children. With a certain sense of humor and perspective, Helena has to solve a lot of problems, both existential and relational. In addition to all this, she goes to work and raises three children," indicated producer Evžen Gogela.

The story of the series changes at the beginning of the second season, when Helena's sister Klára (formerly Martha Issová; now Petra Hřebíčková) undergoes the biggest transformation. After losing her job, she makes a completely unexpected decision for everyone and starts a career as a policewoman. It is the first decision that he manages to see through to the very end, and he does indeed become a police constable. As a good sister, Klára supports Helena in all her personal crises and represents her in the household and in raising the children.

In the third season, the story of the series moves forward several years. A slightly crazy family is going through a difficult life situation. He deals with financial problems, the loss of his job, but also the departure of his daughter Lucie (Martina Kavanová) from home. However, the Musils approach all problems with humor and perspective.

Cast and characters

 * Sandra Pogodová as Helena Musilová
 * Leoš Noha as Dan Musil
 * Martina Kavanová as Lucie Musilová
 * Kristýna Belzová as Tereza Musilová (Season 1-3)
 * Kamila Mottlová as Tereza Musilová (Season 4)
 * Jan Maršál as Marek Musil
 * Martha Issová as Klára Brázdová (season 1)
 * Petra Hřebíčková as Klára Brázdová (season 2-4)

Production
It is based on sitcom Roseanne. Ivo Macharáček known for films Panic je nanic or Tajemství staré bambitky and Ján Novák directed the series. TV Nova was confident the series will be as successful as its other sitcoms Comeback and Hospoda. Four seasons were filmed in Hostivař ateliers. Pregnancy off Martha Issová was the largest problem for the production and it required her recasting by Petra Hřebíčková in season 2.

Theme
The opening theme song of the series Helena, which is broadcast every few minutes of the series, begins with samples from individual episodes of the series. After the demos, the individual actors are introduced, where an imaginary line always pops up in the corner with the character's name suspended by pegs on it and the actor's name below it. After the introduction of the individual actors, samples from the episodes start again. The end of the jingle is followed by the arrival of a string with the series title "Helena", then a bird flies in and sits on the string, blasting one of the pegs holding the letter "a". After the jingle, the episode starts, where the title of the episode is displayed. Only the main characters are introduced in the opening theme song.

Rating
The series premiered on March 22, 2012 on Nova TV. The premiere episode called Perný den attracted 1.211 million viewers over the age of 15, which meant a share of 34.66%. In the younger 15-54 group, the show's share reached 38.76%.