Christmas on Vesterbro

Christmas has brought blessings - just not to Stewart Stardust. Someone has sabotaged the engine of his hot dog cart, and it's at the worst possible time. Danny has just been released on parole, and the social worker Arne demands that someone can provide for him - otherwise he will go back to the trap. As if that wasn't enough, the caretaker Greta threatens to put Stewart on the street if he doesn't pay his rent promptly. Fortunately, Kefir the Arab shows up and he wants to fix the hot dog cart for free. It is immediately a good offer, but what interest would he have in a sausage van standing in front of Christiansborg? And can you really repair an engine with the warhead from a Russian SS-20 nuclear missile?

Christmas on Vesterbro (2003) is a Danish comedy series created by Anders Matthesen and Thomas Hartmann for DR2. Anders Matthesen stars as Stewart Stardust, a hot dog vendor whose cart engine has been sabotaged just as Christmas arrives. Across a single season of twenty-four short episodes, each roughly fourteen minutes long, his problems pile up: a newly paroled ex-convict named Danny needs proof of provision or he returns to prison, and the landlady Greta threatens to throw him onto the street over unpaid rent. Into this comes Kefir, an offer of free repairs that seems too good to be true, and the question of what he really wants from a sausage van parked in front of Christiansborg. Matthesen also plays most of the supporting roles himself, including Danny, Greta, Arne the social worker and Igor, which gives the show a self-contained, theatrical feel. The tone is absurd, deadpan and scruffy, with escalating improvised-feeling schemes built from ordinary hardship. Fans of Klovn, Trailer Park Boys and quirky Scandinavian sketch comedy will find resonance in its shabby urban milieu and its refusal to take its crises seriously.

• Klovnabsurd lowbrow comedy, sketch-like deadpan characters, Scandinavian humor
• Trailer Park Boysquirky deadpan ensemble comedy, small-scale hustle and misfit characters
• The Office (UK)chaotic absurdist comedy built on a single eccentric lead and a shabby urban milieu

Created by

Anders Matthesen, Thomas Hartmann

Release Date

2003-12-01

Episode runtime

14 min

Rating

8.1 / 10 (13)

What is Christmas on Vesterbro about?

A hot dog vendor's sabotaged cart and a string of debts send a Copenhagen street hustler into an absurd Christmas scramble.

What is Christmas on Vesterbro like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Christmas on Vesterbro as brisk, its intensity as mild and its storytelling as simple.

Is Christmas on Vesterbro violent?

Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Christmas on Vesterbro as mild.

Which shows are like Christmas on Vesterbro?

Shows with a similar feel include Klovn, Trailer Park Boys, and The Office (UK).

How long is Christmas on Vesterbro?

Christmas on Vesterbro: 1 season, 24 episodes.

Is Christmas on Vesterbro still running?

No, Christmas on Vesterbro has ended.