The early series also saw the introduction of many recurring characters, such as Nils' mother Elna (Liv Thorsen), and Karls' girlfriend Målfrid (Siw Anita Andersen).
The original idea for the show came from Tore Ryen, who had moved back to Norway in early 1992 after eight years working with Aaron Spelling in California.
While Ryen was the executive producer and director, the first series was primarily written by American television writers Joel Alexander and Willy Greenwald.
The final series was noticeably different from the previous ones in that more pre-recorded location footage was used in order to reduce the number of live tapings needed, lessening the workload for the actors.
In later interviews, Nordin revealed that he had decided to quit years before, citing a growing frustration with his character and what he described as "lazy writing and storytelling", but that he hesitated in doing so as the show was at the height of its popularity and created a lot of jobs.
[7] Immediately following the final tapings, Ryen and Vogt announced a spin-off that would enable the character Karl to continue on, albeit with an altered premise and cast.
Footage for the first episode of the upcoming spin-off was actually filmed the day after the final taping of "Mot i brøstet", using the old sets prior to dismantling for an opening scene that would bridge the two shows.
In 1999 a straight-to-video movie entitled Tusenårsfesten ('The Millennium Party') was released, bringing together the main characters from both Mot i brøstet and Karl & Co (with the exception of Trine).
It had its TV premiere on TV 2 in 2001, and was re-released on DVD in 2007, albeit both of these in a heavily edited form, which has caused the VHS tapes of the original cut to become highly attractive to fans.
The 1995 and 2000 tapes were later included in the DVD box sets, while the 1996 video (marking the 100th episode of the series) remains out-of-print and is a highly sought out collectible.
Luckily, it was discovered that series creator Tore Ryen had a complete set of episodes on VHS tapes, which were then restored, making it possible to air repeats once again.