Soviet Spies and Russian Sitcom Rip-Offs

Russia has given us many wonderful things: Russian nesting dolls, Eduard Anatolyevich Khil, classic Bond villains and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to name a few. But America's relationship with Russia hasn't always been so rosy. Believe it or not, there was a time when we believed that the Russians were spying on us.

Well, I hate to be the one to break this to you, faithful readers, but it looks like the Russians are still spying on us and they're not satisfied with military technology anymore - they want our television programs. That's right, our precious, precious TV shows.

This matter of national security was first brought to my attention by, alert reader, Jeff Tromphlin. He showed me the opening credits for a Russian television show called Project Popcorn (Проект “Попкорн”). 



Now, I don't speak Russian, but that looks pretty close to the opening credits for Mystery Science Theater 3000, one of the greatest TV shows of all time. But MST3K was only the beginning. After further investigation, I found a number of Russian rip-offs that shocked me to the very core.

For example, check out their version of the classic 80's television program, Married..with Children.



Счастливы вместе, or "Happy Together" as it translates to, has lookalikes for each member of the Bundy family! Shocking!

But maybe you're not the kind of person who watched Married...with Children or MST3K. Maybe your house was a little more strict and you could only watch wholesome, uplifting shows with a moral or some type of educational message? Well then, here's Russia's version of Full House:



I wasn't quite convinced that дом кувырком ("House Upside Down") was, in fact, Full House, until I saw that it was Dave Coulier (Uncle Joey) himself that posted the video. And, as we all know, if Dave Coulier says it, it must be true. I wonder if the Russian paparazzi is obsessed with the Tsvetkova twins. 

But we all know that TV sitcoms aren't worth their salt unless they feature our very own Tony Danza. But Russia, being the sneaky country that they are, has also copied Who's the Boss, and have creatively named it Кто в доме хозяин (Who's the Boss). They weren't even trying to hide this blatant rip-off!



You know. . .they can have Who's the Boss?. I'm ok with that one.

Now you're probably thinking to yourself, "Well, these are all old television programs from the 80s and 90s. Surely now that the Russians aren't our enemies, they don't have need for spying on us and stealing our TV shows!" Tsk, tsk, tsk. Oh, you poor naive reader. Watch the following clip and see if you can guess what modern TV show has been stolen by the Russkies. They call it Теоретики ("Theorists"):



It looks like the Cold War ain't over yet.

WOLVERINES!!!!

In Soviet Russia, Viral Video Posts YOU!

I'm going to start this post with the video - no explanation, no forewarning, no preparation, just the video - enjoy:



How's that for a slice of fried gold?

The reason I presented this video to you like that is because that's how it was presented to me. I was just given the link and was able to enjoy it for what it was: pure, unfiltered, baritone Russian joy. I mean, can anyone watch that whole video and not crack a smile? That guy seems so happy, so careless - it's contagious!

But who is he?

Well, if you must know, after some in-depth investigative journalism, I found out his name is Эдуа́рд Анато́льевич Хи́ль, aka Eduard Anatolyevich Khil, aka Eduard Khil, aka Edward Hill. He's a Russian singer who was born on September 4th, 1934. That video is taken from his performance on a Russian variety show in 1976. The name of the song is "Я очень рад, ведь я, наконец, возвращаюсь домой," or, "I Am Very Glad, Because I’m Finally Going Home." No, I am not making that up.

But why the weird gibberish lyrics? Well, Eduard explains them by saying, "Lyrics were written for it, but they were poor. I mean, they were good, but one couldn't publish them at that time. They contained words like these: 'I'm riding my stallion, so-and-so mustang, and my beloved Mary is thousand miles away knitting a stocking for me". Of course, we failed to publish it at that time, and we, Arkady Ostrovsky and I, decided to make it a vocalise. But the essence remained in the title."

Yes it did, Eduard. Yes it did.

This random video is now being passed all around the interwebs. Plus, it's been shown and parodied on such shows as The Colbert Report and Jimmy Kimmel Live. And some even say that this "Trololololololololololo" video is going to become the new Rick Roll. I, personally, don't think it will, though. It's just too tiresome to say "HA! YOU JUST GOT Trololololololololololo-ed!"

But what does Eduard think of all this sudden and random fame? "I haven't heard anything about it," he said, "It's nice, of course!"

Yes it is, Eduard. Yes it is.

You can find more out about Eduard on his website by clicking here. . .and finding a translator.

In the meantime, let's watch it again, shall we?



Ahhhhh. Pure, unfiltered, baritone Russian joy!

Bask in it!