To Retire
| To Retire | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Comedy |
| Created by | Giannis Dalianidis |
| Written by | Giannis Dalianidis |
| Directed by | Giannis Dalianidis |
| Starring | Katerina Gioulaki |
| Country of origin | Greece |
| Original language | Greek |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 84 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Dimitris Tsempelis |
| Production locations | Athens, Greece |
| Running time | 32-52 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Mega Channel |
| Release | September 19, 1990 – July 6, 1992 |
To Retire (English: The Penthouse) is a Greek sitcom series that aired from 1990 to 1992 on the Greek channel Mega. It was written and directed by Giannis Dalianidis.
Plot
In a penthouse in a small-town neighborhood of Athens, live Katerina, her motherm Sofia and her niece, Eirini. Katerina is a hyperactive, active and slightly neurotic woman. She works for the company "Cosmos Ltd.: Advertising-Television Broadcasting-Public Relations". Katerina generally faces problems in her relationships with people, which are mainly caused by her eccentric character.
Her friends call her "crazy", but some minor outbursts are probably justified by the absurdities of everyday life. The main causes that disturb Katerina's nerves are the reactions of her mother and niece to her relationship with the pharmacist Christos and the negative attitude of his sister on the same issue.
Eleni, a young and beautiful girl who meets Iason and falls in love, also works at "Cosmos Ltd.: Advertising-Television Broadcasting-Public Relations". The characters that frame the story are Jason's "classic Greek" mother, Eleni's friend, Charoula, the all-around coffee shop owner Foivos, and many other simple everyday heroes.
Characters
The main character is Katerina Sofianou. Katerina is a divorced, nervous lady that lives with her mother Sofia and her niece Eirini. She wants to get married again but her family does not like the groom.
| Actor | Character |
|---|---|
| Katerina Gioulaki | Katerina Sofianou |
| Koula Agagiotou | Sofia Sofianou |
| Joyce Eveidi | Eirini Sofianou |
| Nikos Kouros | Christos Vakouras |
| Pavlos Evaggelopoulos | Iason Sekeris |
| Elda Panopoulou | Charoula Peponaki |
| Klairi Katsantoni | Eleni Sotiriadou |
| Nefeli Orfanou | Amalia Vakoura |
| Tasos Kostis | Foivos Oikonomou |
| Vicky Vanita | Nora Zacharopoulou |
| Makis Delaportas | Alkis |
| Maria Martika | Thaleia Sekeri |
| Dimitra Seremeti | Aunt Christina |
| Giannis Nezis | Kostas Tselios |
Similarities
A few years after To Retire, Giannis Dalianidis wrote and directed a new sitcom, Oi Mikromesaioi which was a total copy of his previous work. But still, To Retire was not original either. In the late '80s Dalianidis had written a sitcom about modern Greeks and their problems, titled Odos Antheon, which in many ways is similar to both of his following creations.
Success
To Retire was actually a big hit and it is one of the most popular Greek sitcoms. Every summer it is aired again and again on Mega. In the 2008 summer, the sitcom experienced another rerun, also with success. The average rates were 17%, which is very good, especially if you consider that the American sitcom Ugly Betty reached 8% when it is aired on the same time with To Retire.