''What a Country!'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

starring

Garrett M. Brown Garrett M. Brown (born November 7, 1948) is an American character actor. Early life Brown was born in Michigan but grew up in Connecticut. In 1972, he moved to New York City, where he worked as an orderly in a nursing home and as a waiter befor ...

and

Yakov Smirnoff Yakov Naumovich Pokhis (; born 24 January 1951), better known as Yakov Smirnoff (; ), is a Jewish Soviet-American comedian, actor and writer. He began his career as a stand-up comedian in the Soviet Union, then immigrated to the United States in ...

that aired in

first-run syndication Broadcast syndication is the practice of content owners leasing the right to broadcast their content to other television stations or radio stations, without having an official broadcast network to air it on. It is common in the United States whe ...

from September 27, 1986, to May 23, 1987. The series is based on the British sitcom ''

Mind Your Language ''Mind Your Language'' was a British sitcom that premiered on ITV in 1977. It was produced by London Weekend Television and directed by Stuart Allen. Three series were made by London Weekend Television between 1977 and 1979, and it was briefly ...

'' and was intended as a showcase for Ukrainian-American comedian Yakov Smirnoff, whose catchphrase provided the show's title. Five years previously in 1981, an episode of sitcom ''

Diff'rent Strokes ''Diff'rent Strokes'' is an American television sitcom, which originally aired on NBC from November 3, 1978, to May 4, 1985, and on ABC from September 27, 1985, to March 7, 1986. The series stars Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges as Arnold and ...

'' titled "Almost American" had served as a

backdoor pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) in United Kingdom and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television netwo ...

for a US version of ''Mind Your Language'' but it was not picked up for a series.

Synopsis

''What a Country!'' is set in a class of recent immigrants to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

who are trying to pass the

citizenship test A citizenship test is an examination, written or oral, required to achieve citizenship in a country. It can be a follow up to fulfilling other requirements such as spending a certain amount of time in the country to qualify for applying for citize ...

. Their teacher, Taylor Brown (played by Garrett M. Brown), is a part-time substitute teacher looking for a high school

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

coaching job, while the students are: # Nikolai (a Russian-Soviet taxi driver), # Laszlo (a retired Hungarian doctor), # Ali (a

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

i), # Robert (the son of a deposed

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

n king), # Maria (a housekeeper working for a rich Beverly Hills family), # Victor (a

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

in love with Maria), and # Yung Hi (a shy

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

woman).

Gail Strickland Gail Strickland (born May 18, 1945)Maurice, Dick (July 27, 1975)"Celebrities on the Couch – Interview: Gail Strickland" ''The St. Tammany News-Banner''. p. 4. Retrieved February 27, 2025. is a retired American actress who had prominent s ...

initially played the character of Principal Joan Courtney, though she was replaced by

Don Knotts Jesse Donald Knotts (July 21, 1924February 24, 2006) was an American actor and comedian. He is widely known for his role as Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife on the 1960s sitcom ''The Andy Griffith Show'', for which he earned five Emmy Awards. He als ...

during the series' run.

Cast

as Taylor Brown *

as Nikolai Rostopovich *

George Murdock George Peter ("Pete") Murdock (May 11, 1897 – March 29, 1985), also known as G. P. Murdock, was an American anthropologist who was professor at Yale University and University of Pittsburgh. He is remembered for his empirical approach to ethn ...

as Laszlo Gabo *

Vijay Amritraj Vijay Amritraj (; born 14 December 1953) is an Indian sports commentator, actor and retired professional tennis player from Madras. He was awarded the Padma Shri, the government of India's fourth-highest civilian honour, in 1983. In 2022, ...

as Ali Nadim * Harry Waters, Jr. as Robert Muboto * Ada Maris as Maria Conchita Lopez * Julian Reyes as Victor Ortega * Leila Hee Olsen as Yung Hi *

as Principal Joan Courtney (episodes 1–10) *

as Principal F.J. "Bud" McPherson (episodes 11–26)

Episodes

References

External links

* 1986 American television series debuts 1987 American television series endings 1980s American sitcoms American television series based on British television series American English-language television shows First-run syndicated sitcoms Television series about educators Television series about immigration Television shows set in Los Angeles Television series by Tribune Entertainment Television series by CBS Studios Long stubs with short prose {{US-comedy-tv-prog-stub