Then there was Fortitude, the erratic but occasionally brilliant psychological thriller set in a fictional Arctic Norwegian settlement, and another Danish show Borgen, which we haven't got round to watching yet, but which we understand is very good.
We're clearly not the only ones to notice this.
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, English celebrity chef, television personality, journalist and food writer has too, and is hosting a three-episode show considering the matter on Prime, starting on Thursday at 8.40pm.
Fearnley-Whittingstall says in episode one he plans to look at why Sweden, Denmark and Norway are three of the happiest countries on the world, but also promises to discover if the famed "dark side'' of Scandinavia really exists.
We'll bet you anything it does.
Meanwhile, outside broadcast television, we have continued our journey into the mind and work of New York comedian Louis C. K.
We are still working our way through the first four series of his show Louie on Lightbox, and are busy downloading the latest episodes of his new series Horace and Pete, available only from his website.
Episode one arrived unheralded at the end of January, while the last two episodes came out in the past week.
The first episode was $5, the second $2 and the third $3 (who knows why?) for some of the darkest but most excellent viewing around.
The show stars Steve Buscemi, Alan Alda and Jessica Lange alongside Louis C. K., and its creator sent a warning to those on his email list when he announced the second episode last week.
It goes like this: "Warning: this show is not a 'comedy'.
"I dunno what it is. It can be funny. And also not. Both.
"I believe that 'funny' works best in its natural habitat. Right in the jungle along with ‘awful', ‘sad', ‘confusing' and ‘nothing'.
"I just think it's fair this one time to warn you since you have every right to expect a comedy from a comedian. I will not warn you again.''
Meanwhile, we're mad about Baskets, co-created by Louis C. K., Zach Galifianakis and Jonathan Krisel, and starring Galifianakis as Chip Baskets, whose dream is to become a professional clown.
After failing to get a degree at a clowning school in Paris, France, he is stuck with a job at a local rodeo in his hometown of Bakersfield, California.
Baskets dredges the depths of dysfunction and human misery, loneliness, naivety and sadness to create something quite brilliantly funny and also not funny on Sky's Soho, on Thursdays at 9.30pm.
Unmissable.
- Charles Loughrey
