Santa is feeling burned out and less people than ever believe in Santa Claus. It doesn't look like Yule is going to be very bright, and if more people don't start believing in Santa soon the Light Lantern will go out and the evil Christmas Goat will come to life...
Panik i tomteverkstan isn't the worst calendar ever, but it's not very good either. There are some aspects about it that work, and others that don't.
The acting is very mixed, but some of the better performances come from those who play the members of the Santa Order plus grandpa and grandma. They never play it up too much and manage to convey some humor and charm in their characters, most of all Helge Skoog. I've always liked him as an actor, so it's nice to see him here.
Per Andersson, although his character's annoying at times, he does a good job as Santa Julius and appears to enjoy himself. And when the script allows him to, he can actually be quite funny.
Leif Andrée is also solid as Snowman, and is usually the only one who makes the cheap puns work.
Victor Beer who I looked forward to seeing unfortunately doesn't appear that much, but he makes the most of the screentime he's given.
Where the calendar fails the most is in the story. While the storyline itself is not so bad, it progresses at a snail's pace. It got so boring eventually that I decided to skip a few episodes. When I started watching again it had only just *barely* moved forward. Not to mention the extremely predictable plot twists. For example they introduce a character who's so suspiciously goody-goody (right down to the very name, Danielle Lama) that it's way too obvious she'll turn out to be evil. And what do you know, she is!
There's also one part of the plot which has the opposite problem, which is the homeless guy meant to take over Julius duties. His jealousy over the new Santa and scheming to have him removed could have been interesting, but they rush it through and drop it after only two episodes. I much preferred it over the boring and drawn out plotline of life coach Danielle Lama taking over the workshop.
The comedy, whenever it fails (and it often does) is really painful. They use so many puns in every episode that eventually they start running out of them and repeat the same ones over and over again. There is also this "hilarious" running gag where someone farts and anyone present around the person start complaining about the awful smell. There's also a scene where Julius blows his nose and a lot of gross snot start coming out of it. I also hate that sometimes when a joke is mildly funny it's ruined by someone overexplaining it. I know kids are part of the main target audience, but that doesn't mean you have to insult their intelligence. The jokes are so simple they don't demand explaining.
The acting from most is good or at least tolerable, but some of it is cringeworthy. Worst of all is Pernilla Wahlgren as Mrs. Claus Julia. She was definitely BADLY miscast. She doesn't provide any warmth and homely charm at all, instead she's shrill and annoying. The worst is whenever she's the one who makes puns, overemphasizing them to an unneccessary degree.
Elis Nyström is also very bad as the son Julle. With child actors you have to give them extra considerate directing, especially if they're just starting out, since you learn to control your performance more as you get older. It's pretty apparent that the director just gave a thumbs up every time, no matter how terribly he delivered a line.
Markoolio as the elf who repairs the sled is okay. It's not really his best role.
The main character Santa Julius is not the most likable protagonist. I know that's kind of the point, but when he's shown as becoming even more of an ass-hole when Danielle Lama starts manipulating him, he's not really that much worse than he already was before.
The episode quality is like a rollercoaster. In the beginning it's decent, then for a while it becomes really shi'tty, and for the last few it's okay. It never reaches an exceptional level of quality however. Even in the best there are still a few issues that permeates it.
While not as not frequently horrible as the last two calendars, it's hardly a classic.
