“M is for love” is one of the longest-running and most popular Polish television productions, whose plot focuses on the Mostowiak family. The series shows the life of the inhabitants of Warsaw and the small town of Grabina, and viewers have the opportunity to meet various characters, such as the twins Paweł and Piotr, Maria and Artur Rogowski and Tadeusz.
The cast of the series includes famous names from the Polish film and television scene, including: Teresa Lipowska, Katarzyna Cichopek, Mikołaj Roznerski or Adriana Kalska. “M jak miłość” is an emotional and tense story about feelings, family and friendship, which has been attracting millions of viewers for years.
According to Nielsen research, “M jak miłość” has maintained its leading position among series for many years and is among the most popular programs on the market. The average audience for an episode in 2020 is 4.4 million viewers. What were the beginnings of this iconic saga like? Let’s look at the beginnings of the most recognizable family in Poland!
The action of the series began on the day when Lucjan and Barbara Mostowiak celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary, and their daughters are preparing a party for this occasion. This is a great opportunity for viewers to meet the younger generation of the family: Maria, who lives in Gródek with her husband and two sons, Marta – a judge who lives in Warsaw with her son Łukasz, Marek, who is just returning from Germany, and the youngest daughter – Małgosia, who unfortunately did not get into her dream studies.
Over the years, the actors have faced many challenges, but they have also won the sympathy of entire generations of Poles. How do they remember their beginnings on the set, and who among them actually grew up there?
“When we started shooting in August 2000 ‘M is for love’, None of us, even in our wildest expectations, expected that we would see such an anniversary!” – recalled Teresa Lipowska, the series’ Barbara Mostowiak, during the series’ 20th anniversary. “We thought that this adventure would end with a few, or at most a dozen or so, episodes.”
“I have been playing in this series for 24 years. I’ve been watching since the first episode and this is confirmation that it was worth it. I have wonderful memories over these 24 years. Moreover, this series is a bit of a family for me,” she recalled in an interview with “Plejada”.
Rafał and Marcin Mroczek – probably the most popular twins in Poland, are already inseparable heroes of the series. We followed them as energetic teenagers, and now they are both more or less settled. Not everyone knows that the Zacharzewski brothers were initially considered for the role of the Zduński twinswho, however, refused. The first brother once answered a question about what the plan of this series reminded him of:
“Second home. Of course, not in the literal sense, but in the metaphorical sense. I feel like I’m on the set of “M jak miłość” very good, homely, safe, sure, just like at home. There are still people on the show’s crew who have been working from the very beginning, for twenty years. We know each other very well. Those who have joined us over the years are also nice people. We respect each other and are understanding of each other.”
The series also featured children – we are currently watching subsequent generations of the Mostowiak clan create their own families, and the young actors literally grew up on the set, including: Marcjanna Lelek, who played the adoptive daughter of Hanka and Marek in the series.
“I spent my entire childhood on the set of “Emka”. I grew up, yes, I was raised there! I can fully say that this series shaped me. I owe what I am and who I am to a large extent to the wonderful people I met while working at ‘M jak miłość’. (…) Natalka’s story moves me very much. Even as a child, I was perfectly aware of what Natalka had been through and how difficult it was for her. I always wished her well,” said Natalka in the series a few years ago.
The fate of Katarzyna Cichopek’s heroine was initially supposed to be completely different. She was 18 when she joined the show and it was an intense time for her. Initially, she was only supposed to play the role of Paweł Zduński’s friend, but after the episode with her participation was broadcast, viewers immediately started writing letters to the production to develop her story. As you can see, it worked! And what were her favorite plots?
“For me, an extremely interesting plot that I played in was the one when Kinga lost her eyesight. This was almost at the very beginning of the show. (…) Now we are at a completely different stage in the series, there are children and working with them is completely different. It’s hard to choose the best one. Every age has its rights,” we read in Viva!
On October 6, a special anniversary episode was published on the TVP VOD platformin which viewers could see unique moments: family memories, the discovery of a secret hidden for years, the return of long-unseen heroes and a moving tribute paid Witold Pyrkosz.
The episode became a sentimental journey into the past – thanks to flashbacks, famous faces of old heroes appeared, played by: Dominika Ostalowska, Kacper Kuszewski, Joanna Koroniewska, Krystian Domagała, Agnieszka Perepeczko, Steffen Möller and others.