Rita is a Danishcomedy-dramaTV series created by Christian Torpe for TV 2. It premiered in February 2012 and has run for four seasons in Denmark and internationally on Netflix which was also a co-producer on the third and fourth season. A fifth season was confirmed in August 2019 by Mille Dinesen, and will air on 1 June 2020. The series centers around Rita Madsen, a headstrong and unconventional teacher and single mother. It received generally favorable response from critics, including Henrik Palle in Politiken who commented that the series "works really well with some characters who actually look like people". The series uses locations in and near the former school campus at the National Innovative Centre in Islev, Rødovre. The theme song is "Speak Out Now" by the Danish musician Oh Land. A spin-off of the series called Hjørdis debuted in May 2015. It was announced prior to, but aired after, Rita's third season. The spin-off takes place in the same school as 'Rita', focusing on her colleague Hjordis' attempt to organize a school play. Mille Dinesen did not return for that series. Four episodes aired for the first season and no subsequent seasons have been released. Mille Dinesen received an award at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival in the category Best Female Lead. At the festival, the series received a total of six nominations, including the producers Karoline Leth and Jesper Morthorst and the screenwriter Christian Torpe for Best International Producer and Best European producer of a TV drama series.
A US remake was planned with a pilot episode filmed in 2013, starring Anna Gunn, but it was not picked up as a series. In 2019, American premiumcable networkShowtime commissioned a pilot order for a remake starring Lena Headey. The series will be a joint production between Showtime Networks and Platform One Media. Torpe will serve as showrunner and write the pilot episode while Headey will also act as executive producer. A Dutch remake called Tessa was made, airing in November 2015 on NPO 1, lasting only one season. The lead role was played by Thekla Reuten, following the storyline of Rita Season one, with only a few changes. The series has also been remade in France by TF1 as Sam, starring Mathilde Seigner in the title role, with the show spanning 3 seasons to date. The second season of Sam entered production in 2017 with Natacha Lindinger replacing Seigner in the title role.
