På spåret


På spåret is a popular Swedish TV game show series broadcast on SVT since 5 September 1987. The show, which is intended to be humorous yet educational, has remained one of the most popular TV shows in Sweden, attracting an average of 2,150,000 viewers during the 2007 season. The all-time record was set in March 1990, when 3.7 million people tuned in to see the show. This means that nearly half of all Swedes saw the game show.
På spåret is an original format developed by Ingvar Oldsberg for SVT, and he hosted the show for many years. Author and tennis legend Björn Hellberg was promoted from contestant to permanent Oldsberg sidekick in 1995 after winning for four straight seasons. Famous gourmet, restaurant-owner, and former contestant Carl-Jan Grankvist sat in for Hellberg during the 2004 season.
In 2009, after 21 years, Oldsberg and Hellberg left and Kristian Luuk took over as the host with Fredrik Lindström as judge.

Format

Two teams of well-known Swedes compete against each other. Participants are shown filmed journeys and the objective is for each team to identify the destination of the train, using clues from the host. The clues, which often include puns and far-fetched word play, get progressively easier as the train approaches its destination, and the number of points awarded for a correct answer accordingly declines. After the journey both teams answer questions related to the destination city, and collect more points.
Each one-hour show has three filmed journeys, typically with one Swedish and two foreign destinations. During some previous years, Oldsberg and Hellberg used to read a text dressed up as Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes, giving progressively easier clues about a specific celebrity. The team that first identified the celebrity won points, or instead lost if the answer was wrong. Later "Holmes and Watson" was substituted by "Tintin and Captain Haddock". However, following the 50th anniversary of SVT in 2006, this was replaced by showing archive footage, and the contestants were challenged to name the year the footage was from. The last few years a famous person again has been the challenge of the 60 seconds archive footage clues.

Tournament

In recent years, each season have consisted of a tournament with three groups of three teams each. The winner of each group qualify for the semi finals; the fourth semi finalist is decided by a "quarter final" match between the two best teams that placed second in their respective groups.

Contestants

Until 1995 each team consisted of three people, since then the contestants have competed in pairs. The show typically feature intelligent, humorous and well-known celebrities, such as sports journalist Lotta Bromé, restaurateur Carl-Jan Grankvist, former weight-lifter Lennart "Hoa-Hoa" Dahlgren, comedians/TV-hosts Filip & Fredrik, Olympic high-jump champion Stefan Holm, and actor/TV personality Peter Harryson, sportsjournalist Johanna Frändén to name a few.

Contestants 2007–08

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SeasonWinnerRunners-up
1987Lennart "Hoa-Hoa" Dahlgren, Margareta Söderström & Thomas Wernerson
1988Björn Hellberg, Mats Strandberg & Bengt Grive
1990Björn Hellberg, Mats Strandberg & Joakim NyströmMargareta Söderström, Lennart "Hoa-Hoa" Dahlgren & Thomas Wernerson
1991Björn Hellberg, Mats Strandberg & Bengt GrivePutte Wickman, Birgit Carlstén & Lennart Broström
1993Björn Hellberg, Mats Strandberg & Bengt GriveLasse Strömstedt, Inger Nilsson & Kicki Hultin
1995Cecilia Hagen & Tomas TengbyPeter Harryson & Eva Bysing
1996Tommy Engstrand & Birgit CarlsténBengt Järnblad & Ma Oftedal
1997Peter Harryson & Malin PetersonAdde Malmberg & Cecilia Hagen
1998Carl Jan Granqvist & Lotta BroméLasse Eriksson & Ulrika Knutson
1999Peter Harryson & Carina LidbomBirgit Carlstén & Sven Melander
2000Agneta Bolme Börjefors & Adde MalmbergBirgit Carlstén & Sven Melander
2001Annette Kullenberg & Jesper AspegrenLotta Bromé & Carl Jan Granqvist
2002Carina Lidbom & Tommy EngstrandCecilia Hagen & Lennart "Hoa-Hoa" Dahlgren
2003Ingela Agardh & Stefan HolmCecilia Hagen & Lennart "Hoa-Hoa" Dahlgren
2004Ellinor Persson & Dick HarrisonIngela Agardh & Stefan Holm
2005–06Katarina Mazetti & Stefan HolmAdde Malmberg & Magdalena Forsberg
2006–07Caroline af Ugglas & Göran HäggAnne Lundberg & Johan Wester
2007–08Anne Lundberg & Johan WesterCecilia Hagen & Lennart "Hoa-Hoa" Dahlgren
2008–09Lisa Syrén & Johan WesterJessika Gedin & Hans Rosenfeldt
2009–10Johanna Koljonen & Marcus BirroHélène Benno & Peter Apelgren
2010–11Peter Apelgren & Hélène BennoMartina Haag & Erik Haag
2011–12Martina Haag & Erik HaagNiklas Strömstedt & Jenny Strömstedt
2012–13Ellinor Persson & Dick HarrisonCecilia Hagen & Lennart "Hoa-Hoa" Dahlgren
2013–14Helena von Zweigbergk & Göran EverdahlElisabet Höglund & Jesper Rönndahl
2014–15Elisabet Höglund & Jesper RönndahlFredrik Wikingsson & Filip Hammar
2015–16Elisabet Höglund & Jesper RönndahlAnna Ekström & Göran Hägglund
2016–17Johan Hilton & Kristin LundellIsobel Hadley-Kamptz & Kalle Lind
2017–18Josefin Johansson & Johar BendjelloulAmie Bramme Sey & Gunnar Bolin

Some of the participants have been celebrities in Sweden, more due to this show, than for anything they were before. This applies especially for the former weightlifter Lennart "Hoa-Hoa" Dahlgren. Although far from unknown before his first participation, his celebrity rose quite a lot due to his geographical knowledge. But also Björn Hellberg, Carl Jan Granqvist, Johanna Koljonen are included among the ones who perhaps are more associated with this television show than anything else, at the time and to the general public at least.

International adaptations

The format was sold to the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, where the show was called Jorda rundt. It was canceled after only one season.