Kalambur: The funniest 90s show finally ended

Just say «Village of Fools» and a cheerful tune starts playing in your head. And if you utter «Miss Murple,» the rhyme suggests itself: Miss Burple! All these memory slots were firmly occupied by «Kalambur» (16+).

The history of the show began in 1996, when performers from the trio «Magazin Fu» and the duo «Sweet Life» decided to create something new. There was no money, so they took out a loan for filming, which later turned out to be at a crazy 215% annual interest rate. The first twelve episodes under the title «Full House Magazine» were born in Kharkiv, but the final fate of the show was decided in Moscow.

The tapes were handed out to acquaintances in television, and they took a risk to break into ORT (Obshchestvennoye Rossiyskoye Televideniye, Public Russian Television, Channel One). By a happy coincidence, they were accepted by Sergei Shumakov, a producer of entertainment programs. He liked the episodes, and a few weeks later a contract was signed. With one condition — to change the name.

For two days, the performers went through options and eventually settled on «Program »Ouch!«». But a couple of hours later, the channel called: Konstantin Ernst did not approve the name. Then actor Yuri Styskovsky exclaimed: «What a pun!» (Kalambur — a play on words meaning pun/calembour). Everyone liked that phrase! Thus «Full House» became «Kalambur».

At first, the show aired at 11:15 PM, but viewers literally flooded the channel with letters. It turned out that children did not want to go to bed until they had watched «Kalambur»! So the show moved to Saturday morning.

«Village of Fools» is perhaps the most popular series in «Kalambur». Eduard Tsiselsky«s music still gets stuck in your head the moment you hear it. All the jokes revolved around the simple villagers: The Man and his friend the Sailor-Fool were always doing things that annoyed the Woman, and she whacked them with a frying pan.

To soften the blows, foam rubber was glued to the combat cookware. The hallmark of The Man«s image was his mustache — they moved as if by themselves. The secret was in a wire that actor Sergei Gladkov clenched with his teeth and thus controlled the »facial expressions« of the mustache. According to the plot, the Sailor is the Woman»s lover, but in real life, actors Vadim Nabokov and Tatyana Ivanova have been married for more than 20 years.

Another masterpiece was «Krutoye Piké» (Nosedive). The «Broiler-747» plane crashes over the waters of the Atlantic Ocean... over the course of 325 episodes. During this time, the characters managed to celebrate pilot Drinkins« birthday twice, while Commander laughed madly into the camera, mocking their imminent death.

Filming first took place in a flight simulator at the Kharkiv Aviation Institute, and later in Odessa, where a separate set of the cabin was assembled from parts of real planes.

If you suddenly don«t know how this story ended, then attention: spoiler! In the last episode, the »Broiler-747« manages to land safely. Everyone is happy. But when the flight attendant appears and reports that Miss Burple is already standing at the exit with her suitcases, the Commander commands:

— Drinkins, are you a gentleman? Morse, are you a gentleman? I am a gentleman too. We, as true gentlemen, cannot sit down when a lady is standing. Take off!

And… to be continued.

Over five years, 136 episodes were filmed. Until 2000, «Kalambur» aired on ORT, then moved to RTR, but lasted there only a year. The authors admitted: it became increasingly difficult to maintain that absurd but fresh humor.

And yet «Kalambur» is not just remembered — it literally became ingrained in the memory of an entire generation. The show has long been off the air, but its sketches live on in memes and GIFs. And nostalgic millennials still dress up as characters from «Village of Fools» for costume parties and try to look on the bright side of all life«s twists and turns.