dark comedy
Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...
television show produced by MTV Lietuva. It was aired from November 2007 to January 2008 (10 episodes) by the
music channel
Music television is a type of television programming which focuses predominantly on playing music videos from recording artists, usually on dedicated television channels' broadcasting on satellite, cable, or streaming platforms.
Music televisi ...
s: MTV Lietuva, MTV Latvija and MTV Eesti. It is created by the Lithuanian entrepreneurs and , best known for their performances in the Radioshow, as well as other Lithuanian performers and
stage actor
An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...
Karina Krysko
Karina Krysko (born May 14, 1981) is a Lithuanian singer and TV presenter, a member of the girl group 69 Danguje, with which she started her musical career.girl group
A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...
post-Soviet
The post-Soviet states, also referred to as the former Soviet Union or the former Soviet republics, are the independent sovereign states that emerged/re-emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Prior to their independence, they ...
country Baltish that corresponds to the modern territories of
Latvia
Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...
,
Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
and
Estonia
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
and reflects the worst sides of their societies:
antisemitism
Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
,
xenophobia
Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...
,
sexism
Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is int ...
,
homophobia
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...
and sentiments to the Soviet past. The cultures of the three Baltic states have both similarities and differences, and the creators of the show tried the humor to be understandable for all of them, by avoiding political topics and focusing of social ones.
The show is performed in "Baltish language" a kind of "
broken English
Broken English is a term often used to describe non-standard, non-traditionally spoken or alternatively-written version of the English language. This term is often considered derogatory and has been used to invalidate non-standard or "low pre ...
", i.e. the English language with heavy Eastern European accent and some ingredients of the Russian language. The name "Baltish" is a somewhat corrupt derivative from the geo-political term "
Baltic states
The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...
". In fact, the name of the show is the contraction of the initial idea for the name of the language: "Baltish English" (a pun on "British English") after the Lithuanian MTV channel insisted on the use of English for the show to make it understandable in the three Baltic states.
Characters
The main character Budulis was created by Rimas Šapauskas in 1996 and used in his earlier TV performances.Iš Airijos į "Dviračio šou" grįžta Budulis /ref> Budilis has since become a Lithuanian archetype of violent, rude, and uneducated provincial youngster inclined to criminal behaviour. He is recognizable by a blackened mouth and a
track suit
A tracksuit is an article of clothing consisting of two parts: trousers and a jacket usually with a front zipper. Also known as ''sweatsuits'' or ''trackies'', tracksuits are designed to keep the body warm during and after athletic activity. It w ...
worn on a permanent basis. This caricaturization has acquired a cult status in Lithuanian culture and "budulis" is sometimes used in place of a common noun defining that type of a person.
The red outfitted
devil
A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...
named Molotov von Ribbentrop is another popular character. His name is constructed from the surnames of
Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov (; – 8 November 1986) was a Soviet politician, diplomat, and revolutionary who was a leading figure in the government of the Soviet Union from the 1920s to the 1950s, as one of Joseph Stalin's closest allies. ...
and
Joachim von Ribbentrop
Ulrich Friedrich-Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop (; 30 April 1893 – 16 October 1946) was a German Nazi politician and diplomat who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs (Germany), Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1945. ...
, signatories of
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, officially the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and also known as the Hitler–Stalin Pact and the Nazi–Soviet Pact, was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Ge ...
, which secret protocol constituted a legal basis for the
occupation of the Baltic states
The occupation of the Baltic states was a period of annexation of
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by the Soviet Union from 1940 until its Dissolution of the Soviet Union, dissolution in 1991. For a period of several years during World War II, Naz ...
. The devil is hilarious due to its looks as it is being acted by a woman as well as for its odd speech. It is usually armed with a
trident
A trident (), () is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. As compared to an ordinary spear, the three tines increase the chance that a fish will be struck and decrease the chance that a fish will b ...
and has no
penis
A penis (; : penises or penes) is a sex organ through which male and hermaphrodite animals expel semen during copulation (zoology), copulation, and through which male placental mammals and marsupials also Urination, urinate.
The term ''pen ...
, which is therefore replaced by a black
strap-on dildo
A strap-on dildo (also simply a strap-on) is a dildo designed to be worn, usually with a harness, during sexual activity. Harnesses and dildos are made in a wide variety of styles, with variations in how the harness fits the wearer, how the d ...
in several series.
Česlovas
Česlovas is a Lithuanian masculine given name and may refer to:
*Česlovas Juršėnas (born 1938), Lithuanian politician
*Česlovas Kudaba (1934–1993), Lithuanian politician
*Česlovas Kundrotas (born 1961), Lithuanian long-distance runner and O ...
also acted by Rimas Šapauskas is another character familiar from earlier TV and radio projects, including Radioshow, Orbita and Ragai. He is discernible from curly grey hair and wears glasses. He owns a cabaret which hosts funny performances and contests between representatives of the "Baltish regions" in which Lithuania sometimes prevails or there is no clear winner.
The characters act in stupid ways like ''
Beavis and Butt-Head
''Beavis and Butt-Head'' is an American Adult animation, adult animated Animated sitcom, sitcom created by Mike Judge. The series follows Beavis and Butt-Head, both voiced by Judge, a pair of teenage slackers characterized by their apathy, Stupi ...
''. Algis Ramanauskas said: "The worldview of the characters is a jumble of stereotypes formed by communism and post-communism. Xenophobia, anti-Semitism, sexism, homophobia, sentiments towards the Soviet past are in every character's mind, because every character in the show "Baltish" is an incorrigible idiot".