Oi Treis Harites

Oi Treis Harites
The three stars of the series. From left to right: Mina Adamaki (Eirini) Anna Panayiotopoulou (Olga) Nena Menti (Maria)
Genre	Comedy
Created by	Michalis Reppas Thanasis Papathanasiou
Written by	Michalis Reppas Thanasis Papathanasiou
Directed by	Theodoros Polychroniadis
Starring	Anna Panayiotopoulou Nena Menti Mina Adamaki
Theme music composer	Antonis Plessas
Composer(s)	Antonis Plessas
Country of origin	Greece
Original language(s)	Greek
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	90(List)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Efi Anastasiou
Producer(s)	Elvira Ralli
Location(s)	Athens, Greece
Running time	30 min / episode
Production company(s)	Studio ATA
Release
Original network	Mega Channel
Original release	February 8, 1990 – April 20, 1992[1]
External links
Website
Production website

Oi Treis Harites (Greek: Οι Τρεις Χάριτες, The Three Harites) is a Greek comedy series created by Michalis Reppas and Thanasis Papathanasiou which aired on Mega Channel from February 8, 1990 to April 20, 1992. The name "Harites" was taken partly from ancient Greek mythology (The Three Graces) and partly from their surname, which was "Haritou".

The series describes the daily life of three single sisters in their middle forties who live in the same house.

Oi Treis Harites received positive reviews, becoming one of the most popular and successful programs ever shown on Greek television, achieving high ratings throughout its run. During the season 1989-1990 and 1991-1992 Oi Treis Harites was the most popular series in Greek television, making history reaching 65% according to AGB Nielsen Media Research on February 3, 1992.^[2] According to Mega Channel, the initial title of the series was "Anna and her Sisters".^[3]

The series was released in DVD from the magazine Tilerama in April 2010.^[3]

Series Overview

Three sisters Olga, Maria and Eirini around in the age of 45. Daughters of a judge, grown in one two-store house that now belongs to the youngest sister, Eirini. When Olga gets married and Maria does the same, they grow apart for about 20 years, until Olga gets widowed and Maria leaves her husband after his adultery. The sisters then, return to their family residence.^[4]

The Three Sisters

• Anna Panayiotopoulou portrays Olga, the eldest sister. Olga is a widow who wants to control her daughter's life, who studies in London. She has an antique shop in Athens. She is a bit ironic in some tricky situations and proud of her blue eyes.
• Nena Menti portrays Maria, the middle sister. Maria is an advertiser with a high sense of humour. She gets a divorce from her husband in the first episode of the series. She is the most logical of the three.
• Mina Adamaki portrays Eirini, the youngest sister. Eirini is a bit of a hysterical woman, with bad luck in her love life since she is not married yet. She is obsessed with keeping the house clean and that's a reason she often quarrels with her sisters. She was the initial resident of the house, which she inherited from her parents.
• Anna Kyriakou portrays Bebeka, the beloved aunt of the three sisters. Aunt Bebeka is a daily visitor. Classy, with finesse, clever but at the same time gullible... she often astonishes her nieces with the advanced opinions and her restless youth.

Seasons

Season 1

Season 1 consists of 22 episodes and begins with Maria trying to persuade Eirini to accept their other sister, Olga, at the house because Olga has to wait for her house to be built. Eirini unwillingly accepts, but in the middle of the first episode Maria announces that she is getting divorced from her husband and she is going to stay with her sisters. The whole season shows their life, the difficulties they face living all together again under the same roof, their constant problems with men and many other hilarious adventures. In the last episode of the first season, the three sisters are making plans for their vacations.

Season 2

Season 2 consists of 40 episodes and it's the largest season. It begins with the three sisters having returned from their vacations and trying to attract a charming man living next door to them. The season continues with the sisters handling hilarious situations in each episode. In the 7th episode of the season, a big change happens. Olga's daughter, Teti, abandons her studies in London and comes to Athens. Initially, Olga, disagrees with her decision and tries to persuade her to go back to London, but soon she realises it is better to have Teti under the same roof. But there is one problem. Teti wants to have her own apartment, and then the conspiracies begin. The season ends with Olga and Maria leaving the house since Eirini is now in a serious relationship.

Season 3

Season 3 consists of 28 episodes. The third and final season begins with the sisters living in their own apartments. But due to some difficulties they face, both Olga and Maria return home. The series ends with their younger brother, Andreas, getting married and having a daughter with Olga's assistant in the antique shop. The three sisters are now in serious relationships and in the final scene they reminisce the three years they were together saying that life goes on...

Cast and Characters

Main Characters

• Anna Panayiotopoulou as Olga Haritou
• Nena Menti as Maria Haritou
• Mina Adamaki as Eirini Haritou
• Anna Kyriakou as Aunt Bebeka
• Michalis Reppas as Andreas Haritos

Nena Menti was the last actress cast. The creators initially wanted Mirka Papakonstantinou to portray Maria, but due to unknown reasons she refused. However, Papakonstantinou appeared in the series, guest starring in one episode in season 2.^[3]

Recurring Characters

• Anna Kouri as Teti, Olga's daughter
• Eleni Kastani as Ntina, Olga's assistant

Notable Guest Stars

In the series many well-known actors made guest appearances during its three seasons. Some of those were long-established stars of film, stage and television, others would find considerable fame and recognition after appearing in the show. Notable appearances of celebrities (whether famous then or later) include those of:^[5]

Crossovers

Anna Panayiotopoulou, Nena Menti and Mina Adamaki guest starred in one episode as the Haritou Sisters in another comedy series that broadcast by Mega Channel, I Eliza kai Oi Alloi in 1992 written by Alexandros Rigas who in 1995 would work with Anna Panayiotopoulou in another hit series Ntoltse Vita again on Mega Channel.^[3]

Reruns

The series ended its run in 1992. Mega Channel rerun the show multiple times. From 1992 to 1997, in 2004, in 2009 and in 2010.^[6]

Reunion

To honour the twenty years of operation of Mega Channel, a small number of new episodes of the series were to be shown in 2009-2010.^[7] Michalis Reppas along with Thanasis Papathanasiou wrote the script.^[8] All the cast members agreed to reprise their roles.^[9] The story of the four episodes would find Maria and Eirini living in the same block of flats but in different apartments and Olga in Tinos. The three sisters would reunite after Bebeka's prompt to find their nanny. As always, they would make a mess, approaching the wrong woman as their nanny, who is mixed up in an incredible story of a lost treasure and they would find themselves being stalked by two gangs of criminals that want to get rid of them.^[10] However the promising and highly anticipated reunion of the series, 18 years later, was cancelled due to financial reasons.^[11][12][13]

See also

• List of programs broadcast by Mega Channel

References

External links

• Oi Treis Harites at the Internet Movie Database
• Megalicious Classics
• Mega Channel