Czterdziestolatek or 40-latek was a Polish television comedy series broadcast between 1974 and 1977. The first series enjoyed so much popularity that it has successfully continued and led to the release of a feature film I'm a Butterfly, a 40-year-old Love Affair and a New Year's Eve television program in 1975.
The series was written by Jerzy Gruza and Krzysztof Teodor Toeplitz and was broadcast on Telewizja Polska. In total, 21 episodes were produced.
The series followed the fate of a Warsaw family and explored topics related to midlife crisis, such as extra-marital affairs, attempts to quit smoking, obsession with hair loss, efforts to maintain physical fitness, pride in achievements and professional life, the desire to seek self-fulfillment through social activities, etc.
Basia and Stefan are a young married couple during World War II who risk their lives to bring aid to Jews. He is an architect, she a nurse--a member of "Zegota" (the Polish underground organization to aid Jews in occupied Poland which operated under the auspices of the Polish government in exile). The series takes place both during the war and in the present day. Basia and Stefan meet accidentally, fall in love, and marry. Basia is active with the underground from the beginning of the war; Stefan is not, but a family tragedy changes his attitude.