“Borgen” is a Danish television series that is currently being broadcast on LinkTV in the United States (found on DirecTV channel 375 and Dish Network channel 9410). It had its east coast premiere on Saturday, October 29 and west coast premiere the following day.  The series is about a woman politician who through a series of scandals (of other politicans) as well as through her own tenacity and clarity of vision she displays at a huge debate a couple of days before the election, becomes Prime Minister of Denmark!  The character is “Birgitte Nyborg Christensen” and is played by Danish actress Sidse Babett Knudsen.  “Borgen” runs for 10 episodes in season one, four of which were directed by Annette K. Olesen and two by Louise Friedberg.

Its intrigue is certainly as high as the smash hit “West Wing” which ran on NBC in the States for several years, and gives you a good insight into the behind the scenes dealings within Danish politics. It’s also the first series I’ve heard of with a woman leader of the government since Geena Davis’ “Commander in Chief” series in which she played “President MacKenzie Allen.”  It ran on ABC during the 2005-2006 television season.  “Borgen” (“Castle” in Danish) also sold at MIPCOM in Cannes recently to South America (including Brazil, specifically), Europe, Asia and Australia, plus, the show is being turned into a board game!

Check out LinkTV (the best channel in existence, if you ask me, and I’m a six+ year faithful viewer!) to catch the next episodes of “Borgen” which will air on Saturdays at 9:30pm (Eastern) and Sundays at 9:30pm (Pacific), or you can watch online at www.linktv.com/borgen.  I tweeted about the show a few times last week in the run-up to its Saturday premiere since I’ve seen it advertised on LinkTV since September and couldn’t wait to watch.  The American media seems to not be paying much attention to the show — yet, and I hope this changes, but there are a handful of reviews out there if you’re the kind of person who wants to read about it before seeing it!

TV Review: Borgen – “Decency in the Middle” (Blogcritics Video)

Politics at Play in ‘Borgen’ (Community Voices blog of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Borgen Premieres Saturday Night on LinkTV (Women and Hollywood)