The first episode of the comedy series “” viewers saw exactly on October 13, 1998. Although the script was based on the American sitcom format “The Honeymooners”, the creators managed to set the story of two neighboring marriages in Polish reality so well that the viewers fell in love with the characters.
Why did they change Alinka in “Honeymoon”?
The plot revolved around the friendship of the Warsaw tram driver Karol Krawczyk and his wife Alina (Agnieszka Pilaszewska/Katarzyna Żak) with their neighbors, the Norków couple. Tadeusz Norek () is an eternally hungry and charming employee of the municipal sewage plant, and his wife Danuta (Dorota Chotecka) is an assertive woman, a bit domineering, and Alina’s best friend at the same time.
The great advantage of the series was that it was recorded with the participation of the audience at the Jewish Theater in Warsaw. The crew used a revolving stage, which made it possible to quickly change the scenery between scenes. Ultimately, 143 episodes of the production were produced, as well as six special episodes and two featurettes. The issue ended on December 20, 2003. In 2004, “Brand New Honey Years” also started, but these had only one season and were broadcast from September to December.
For many viewers, the series lost its charm when Agnieszka Pilaszewska, who played Alinka, disappeared from the set and was replaced by Katarzyna Żak – Cezary Żak’s real wife. The sudden change was not thoroughly explained to viewers, so speculations began. Some claimed that such a change was even demanded by Cezary Żak. The cast and creators of the change never commented particularly openly, which only fueled all guesses.
Viewers really had different theories. As we read on Filmweb, according to some of them, the reason for the actress’s departure was the worsening level of scripts. “The facts combine into a quite logical whole if we study the list of original episodes and the list of episodes added by Polish creators. The ‘own’ scripts were simply moronic and not funny. The level of script writing dropped dramatically and if Pilaszewska refused to continue playing in the series, when the original ended, the case is obvious and she made a very good decision” – one of the users of the forum spins his theory. “Currently, there are reruns on Polsat 2, I had some time to analyze and after 50 episodes it is simply impossible to watch it anymore. The usual funny characters of Krawczyk and Norki became just moronic characters with an amoeba IQ. Alinka from a loving and sympathetic wife with brilliant with retorts, she became an eternally embittered grump who only growled at Karol. It was impossible to like her “- he argues.
“I have exactly the same opinion that the ‘own’ scripts of The Honeymooners were stupid. Some episodes were better, some were worse, but all of them differed from those based on the American script. You can see that they were made in a hurry and the characters were stripped of their personalities” – he agrees another person.
Agnieszka Pilaszewska herself only spoke about it years later in an interview with “”:
I haven’t given up playing in >>The Honey Years<<, no actor can afford to break his contract. To think otherwise is naive. Let's not go back to that, because it won't get us anywhere. It happened 25 years ago. We are on good terms with Cezary Żak. I loved spending time with him and nothing has changed. Amen.
She also admitted that the fact that she combined work on the set of a sitcom with a full-time job at the Ateneum Theater meant that she had little time for her daughter: “I left the house at 9 and returned after 10 pm. I saw my little daughter only in the morning and at night. “I was haunted by the thought that it was hard for her. In fact, it was hard for me! The thought of me being ruthless about my career. You can work like that for two weeks or three months, but two years is a very long time in a child’s life. Maciejewski he is a great father, the nanny helped us, but I had great remorse. The balance between life and work was disturbed, “she said.
Artur Barciś, in turn, explained to one of the viewers why Katarzyna Żak took over the role of Alinka and strongly denied the reports that it was on the initiative of Cezary Żak:
I will repeat for the thousandth time that this is not true. Mr. Zak was just the opposite. Polsat just found out that it will be funny if Karol’s wife (if there is no other way) will be played by Cezary’s wife, because she is also an actress by chance.
“It was a very dramatic and difficult decision. Continuing the series with Agnieszka Pilaszewska was impossible (which I do not want to write about) and Polsat thought that if Karol’s wife was played by the wife of the actor playing the main role, it would be the best way out of the situation. but I still think that Kasia behaved very heroically, taking up the challenge.
He wrote about working with Agnieszka Pilaszewska herself:
Without taking anything away from the talent of the ‘first Alinka’, she has a very difficult character, so it was better to work with the second one. She repeatedly declared that she no longer wanted to play in the series and the producers agreed to her request.
Pilaszewska, however, now praises the work on “Honey Years”. “It was wonderful, nice on the set. The audience that came to record the episodes reacted spontaneously to us, it gave us wings! (…) We laughed a lot in this job – I loved it!” – she told in an interview.
Agnieszka Pilaszewska has been professionally fulfilling herself as a screenwriter for years. Her first big hit was the TVN series “Recipe for Life” with, among others, Magdalena Kumorek, Piotr Adamczyk, Dorota Kolak, Aleksandra Radwańska, Borys Szyc, Maja Ostaszewska, Dominika Gwit and Edyta Olszówka in the cast. She also worked with the director Michał Rogalski on the production of “Same Sweet”, and has also participated in series such as “Ultraviolet” and “To Must Be Love” as a writer. In 2022, Netflix showed her original project “Family Games”. She told more about the screenwriter’s work in an interview with Gazeta.pl:
Screenwriting is a solitary profession and that suits me. I used to write with a pretty big team for a big station. It was very pleasant, I even had a boss whom I considered my boss and I listened to his comments willingly. But still, I think that writing alone is it. It’s lucky to have a chance to implement your original project without outside interference, without co-opting other screenwriters, etc.
Often the scenarios that are created in teams are a compromise reached between the tastes and intentions of all team members. Sometimes this trade-off isn’t good for the product itself, it’s not good for the viewers or the creators. And who does not risk, does not go.
She also told us about her professional experience: “I am a humble actress and I have never had requirements to play all the important roles of world and Polish drama. An actor is defined by his physical type and I am aware of what physical type I have been all my life and what I am for I also know – or I think I know – how castings are made and actors are selected, how often an actor’s actual physical type must go hand in hand with what is written in the script. I’ve been on stage for 36 years – I just got my jubilee award – I know what my profession is and it’s a very nice feeling.”
Viewers could also see in “The Eddy” made by the creator of the Oscar-winning series, where she played the mother of the character played by Joanna Kulig. “Asia and I are very well arranged and as professionals we tried not to abuse the situation that no one understands us. It would be inelegant. Besides, this production was so well organized that before we entered the film set to play this scene, it was very meticulous rehearsal with the director, the lead producer, the cameraman and his crew, the set manager. They knew everything, we knew everything and we had full freedom in how we wanted to play it – everything was for creative work. It was a wild pleasure. there was no reason to be nervous, to ask any stupid questions. Everyone was crazy about the naturalness of being in the space of this story and the set. It was a dream set. I often think about it to cheer myself up, or when I ask myself why am I still an actress,” she recalls the experience of setting an international production.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
