Stuff Swedish People Like: Weekend Primetime TV

The Swedes can't get enough of TV on friday and saturday nights. The shows start around eight at night, and keeps Swedes enthralled for hours in millions. It is usually quite innocent material, it might be imported concepts like: Dance with the Stars, Idol, Survivor or Sweden's got talent.
These shows normally don't capture 20-somethings, who are busy going to bars, but the families and upwards are glued to the screens. TV4, the largest channel is the market leader, tightly followed by, surprisingly enough, government run public service TV. TV4 is funded by commercials, whereas TV1 and 2, the public networks, are funded by a mandatory fee for all TV-owners. (Sweden used to be quite socialistic only 15 years ago, and this TV-habit is sacred for Swedish politicians. Once a minister had to step down for not paying these fees.)
Anyhow, TV4 are running eight minute long commercial breaks starting 8.15, but the Swedes don't care, they stay in their sofas, electrified. The favourite snack to go along with these shows are the mandatory "Fredagsmys" ("Friday Cuddlies"), usually fatty potato chips with various artificial flavours, dipped in sour cream with a powder mix of herbs. The children drink Coke or Pepsi, and the adults alcohol.
It is important for children as well as adults to follow these shows, to be able to participate in chatting on mondays, at school or work, who did what to whom, who should win Idol and so forth.
If you want to befriend a Swede who is not in the bar-and-club-age, you should stay in a friday and saturday and zap between the various shows between 8 and 10, or Tivo them. This should give you fodder for at least 10 minutes of conversation material of the highest importance to Swedes, surpassed only by hockey- and soccer-talk with men between 30 and 50 years of age. More about this in a later article.
Hint, if you come across a show called "På Spåret" ("On Track") on state television, you will be immensely confused, but you should know that this is the No. 1 show after the Eurovision Song Contest, and the host, Ingvar Oldsberg, the chuckling guy with little hair, is the most popular person on Swedish TV. So try and watch it for at least 10 minutes and figure out what it's about. Swedes can't get more TV-excitement than this!