Mister 8

Mister 8 is a Finnish eight-part comedy drama series directed and co-written by Teemu Nikki [fi; it; arz] with Vesa Virtanen, based on an idea by Nikki and Jani Pösö [fi]. All episodes were released on Elisa Viihde Viaplay on 31 January 2021.

Mister 8
Genre	Comedy drama
Created by	Teemu Nikki Jani Pösö
Written by	Vesa Virtanen Teemu Nikki
Directed by	Teemu Nikki
Starring	Pekka Strang Krista Kosonen
Composers	Timo Kaukolampi Tuomo Puranen
Country of origin	Finland
Original language	Finnish
No. of episodes	8
Production
Producer	Jani Pösö
Running time	24–33 minutes
Production company	It's Alive Films
Original release
Network	Elisa Viihde Viaplay
Release	31 January 2021 (2021-01-31)

Cast

• Pekka Strang as Juho
• Krista Kosonen as Maria
• Chike Ohanwe [fi] as Pelle
• Amir Escandari as Darius
• Elias Westerberg [fi] as Terho
• Ville Tiihonen [fi; de] as Sepe
• Joonas Saartamo [fi; de; eo] as Vertti
• Jari Virman [fi] as Hermanni
• Olli Rahkonen [fi] as Tuukka
• Matti Onnismaa [fi; de] as Pietari
• Jouko Puolanto [fi] as Veikko Bergholm
• Hannamaija Nikander [fi] as Jenny
• Hannes Suominen [fi] as Mica
• Joel Hirvonen [fi] as Jussi
• Petra Heinänen as Ida
• Topi Patjas as Ville
• Rafael Airaksinen as Oliver
• Essi Patrakka as Adele
• Samuli Jaskio as Ilpo
• Marjaana Maijala as a therapist
• Rebecca Viitala [fi] as Marika
• Maija Rissanen [fi] as Sanna

Plot

The series is follows Maria, who has seven dates – one for each day of the week - until the eighth man, Juho, affects her relationships. Juho wants Maria to himself and tries to get the other men out of the arrangement.^[1]

Production

Mister 8 was produced by Jani Pösö, Laura Kuulasmaa of Elisa Viihde, and Maria Sekikirkina. The series was shot in black-and-white because Nikki wanted to "create a unique universe" and make it "stand out from the crowd".^[2] Principal photography took place during the autumn of 2019 and filmed in Helsinki.^[3]

Episodes

The English titles are from SBS On Demand.

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	"I Wish Everybody Could Be Monday" (Finnish: Miksei aina voi olla maanantai?)	Teemu Nikki	Teemu Nikki, Jani Pösö, Vesa Virtanen	31 January 2021 (2021-01-31)
2	"Testosterone Tuesday" (Finnish: Testotiistai)	Teemu Nikki	Antero Jokinen, Teemu Nikki, Jani Pösö	31 January 2021 (2021-01-31)
3	"Poetic Thursday" (Finnish: Runollinen torstai)	Teemu Nikki	Teemu Nikki, Jani Pösö, Vesa Virtanen	31 January 2021 (2021-01-31)
4	"Fishy Wednesday" (Finnish: Muikunmakuinen keskiviikko)	Teemu Nikki	Teemu Nikki, Jani Pösö, Vesa Virtanen	31 January 2021 (2021-01-31)
5	"Comedy Friday" (Finnish: Komediaperjantai)	Teemu Nikki	Teemu Nikki, Jani Pösö, Vesa Virtanen	31 January 2021 (2021-01-31)
6	"Sysma Saturday" (Finnish: Sysmäläinen lauantai)	Teemu Nikki	Teemu Nikki, Jani Pösö, Vesa Virtanen	31 January 2021 (2021-01-31)
7	"Cabin Sunday" (Finnish: Mökkisunnuntai)	Teemu Nikki	Teemu Nikki, Jani Pösö, Vesa Virtanen	31 January 2021 (2021-01-31)
8	"The Battle Over Weekdays" (Finnish: Taistelu viikonpäivistä)	Teemu Nikki	Teemu Nikki, Jani Pösö, Vesa Virtanen	31 January 2021 (2021-01-31)

Release

All episodes were released on Elisa Viihde Viaplay on 31 January 2021.^[1]

Reception

Pramit Chatterjee of High On Films wrote a positive review about Mister 8 for being outside the norm of traditional romance stories, and how it tackles polyamory.^[4]

J.A. Kaunisto of Mesta.net wrote that the series is "strange and distortorted" but also "teasing and thought-provoking" and gives "pointed underlines and painful observations about the behaviour of city people of the 21st century" while Nikki and co-writer Vesa Virtanen do not provide explanations.^[5]

Accolades

Mister 8 won or was nominated with the following rewards:

Award	Date of Ceremony	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.
Canneseries	8–13 October 2021	Best Series	Mister 8	Won	[6][7]
		Best Performance	Pekka Strang	Won
Golden Venla Awards	7 May 2022 [fi]	Best Comedy Series	Mister 8	Nominated	[8]
		Best Actor	Pekka Strang	Nominated