Monopoly

From travelling salesman to clothing tycoon – how does one sleepy town cope with one man’s climb up the social ladder? A man comes to Korsbæk, Denmark in 1929, opens a women’s clothing store in competition with an established one – bringing him up against the conservative establishment including the bank manager. We follow the families until after WWII. The series is set in a small Danish provincial town before, during and after the Second World War. The main character, Mads Skjern, a travelling salesman in drapery, arrives in the small town of Korsbæk with his young son, Daniel. The newcomer goes to the only drapery store in Korsbæk to sell his goods but is completely ignored by the pretentious and stuck-up salespeople. He is appalled at the treatment he receives and realizes that only the very wealthy customers get served here. This sparks an idea in Mads and he decides to settle in Korsbæk. He wants to start up a clothing store for the middle and lower classes in Korsbæk and is determined to take up the battle against the snobbery and hostility he was met with. Mads makes friends with the local pig farmer and borrows money to set up his store. Over the years, as his business grows in size and popularity, the hostility towards him increases among the leading families who see their position in society threatened by this parvenu. They try hard to break him and they hate him for his strength and persistence, but his ambition gradually leads him up the social ladder and eventually he succeeds in turning everything around in the conservative town. MONOPOLY is the most successful TV series in Denmark ever. Even though MONOPOLY is more than 40 years old, the series is still a massive success. The first run between late 1978 and early 1982 was viewed by at least half the population. The first rerun was at least as successful, the final episode airing on 26 May 1985 to an estimated audience of 3,640,000, which is more than two thirds of the Danish population.