I was going to spend a bit more time blogging tonight, but got caught up in the outstanding entertainment programming on Russian TV: first a domestically produced, sitcom-like show, "Bachelors," on REN-TV. This show is apparently another product of the A-Media group, the geniuses behind some of the most successful Russian-made TV shows of the past couple of years. Then I caught the TV premiere of an outstanding movie about provincial youth gone wild, which I somehow missed in the theaters - "Moth Games" ("Игры Мотыльков") -- here's a link to some rather sparse English-language info about the movie -- on NTV.
It is definitely nice that in the past few years it's become possible to watch quality, Russian-produced programming (both movies and made-for-TV fare) on TV here instead of second-rate Western sitcoms and soap operas or Hollywood blockbusters (though there are still plenty of the latter) -- it almost makes this viewer not miss all of the fine news and informational programs that have been shut down in those same past few years. Almost.
2 comments:
Hmm. I get two Russian channels here, RTR Planeta and Orti. The programming leaves a lot to be desired. Delights such as Fabrika Zvesde (Star Factory, in which talentless Russian youths attempt to sing), some Brazilian soap opera which is badly dubbed into Russian, and endless cabarets featuring men dressed as women all help to keep me abreast of Russian culture. :)
Tim, the fact that those are the two channels with the widest reach and are also the ones with the worst (i.e., least creative, most Soviet in style) programming is one of the depressing realities of Russian TV today. ORT and RTR also have original, Russian-produced programs, but generally on those channels they involve heroic law enforcement officers or soldiers. Maybe they don't broadcast those on their international services (the channels you get via satellite abroad have a different programming mix, usually). I know that NTV also has an international service, you might look into that if you are interested in some variety.
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