Charters are amazing. For a week or so, swedes can leave the cold, rainy Sweden for a christmas celebration... that is not so very different from home. Stig-Helmer Olsson is not the most handsome guy, and he is not the most well-traveled nor the bravest. He is a bit ashamed of his dorky name and is very naive. He begins his journey to Gran Canaria and Nueva Estocolmo with a doctors appointment to cure his fear of airplanes. As a favour, the therapist ask Stig-Helmer to bring a "christmas gift" to his friend in the city. However, the package does not contain what Stig-Helmer was told...
Sällskapsresan (The Charter Trip), formally called Sällskapsresan eller finns det svenskt kaffe på grisfesten? (The Charter Trip or is there Swedish coffee at the Spanish barbecue?) is a Swedish cult classic from 1980, and is probably the most quoted Swedish film of all time. The fame of the first movie spawned a franchise (and probably a whole new genre).
To date, there are five movies in the series (and a theatrical play), not including the first, about Stig-Helmer and his very stereotypical Swedish vacations. (Most of the titles explains the content of the movies very well):
- 1985 Sällskapsresan 2 - Snowroller (Which parodies skiing charters to the european alps)
- 1988 S.O.S. - En segelsällskapsresa ("S.O.S. - A Sailing Conduct Tour")
- 1991 Den ofrivillige golfaren ("The Accidental Golfer")
- 1999 Hälsoresan - En smal film av stor vikt ("The Health Conduct Tour - A Small Film of Great Weight")
- 2011 The Stig-Helmer Story (Which is a prequel to the series and handles the early life of Stig-Helmer)
This show provides examples of:
- Butt-Monkey: Stig-Helmer is king of this trope. A common theme is him losing his baggage is the most mundane or fantastic ways. Or as in SOS, not his baggage, but his boat instead.
- In-Series Nickname: A few for Stig-Helmer, including Giraffen (The Giraffe). He even asks for one from the Sidekick Ole, in order to hide the "Helmer"-part of his name from the Girl of the Week. He is not very imaginative though: Stig H.
- Girl of the Week: Blatantly used in every single one of the films. Stig-Helmer (and Ole) beings each film as single, and the manuscript always finds a reason to break the earlier relationship. Which is a good thing, because there is always a new girl to win the heart of...
- Sidekick: The norwegian, jolly technophile Ole Bramserud.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Stig-Helmer, if you are so afraid of heights/flying, why do you decide to travel to places reachable only by airplane?
