Alexander Maslyakov
Encyclopedia
Alexander Vasilyevich Maslyakov (born November 24, 1941, Yekaterinburg
, Russia
) is a prominent Soviet and Russian television game show host. He is an extremely well known, iconographic figure throughout the former USSR, having been on the screen for the greater part of most people's lives. In this he compares with personalities such as Bob Barker
or even Dick Clark on American television.
Maslyakov was the regular host of Soviet coverage of World Festivals of Youth and Students, held in such major world capitals as Sofia, Havana, (East) Berlin, Pyongyang, and Moscow, as well as hosting a number of popular Soviet Eurovision-style lip-synching song competitions over the years.
, Yaroslavl Oblast
, but was quietly given an early release after several months in view of his popularity with all Russians.
(Club of the happy and inventive), a game show nearly as long-lived as «Chto? Gde? Kogda?», in which teams of enthusiastic and clever young people (usually university students) compete against one another in a series of improvised and rehearsed comedic and musical skits and witty repartee (and occasionally cutting-edge politically risque satire and social commentary) in front of a live audience and a jury of stars of stage and screen. KVN went on the air in 1961, and Maslyakov became its host in 1964, while still a student himself. He has remained at the helm ever since, and now runs the production company that owns the show itself and all spinoff rights. Maslyakov is currently the president of the International Union of KVN and the host of all the games of the Major League of KVN as well as of the annual KVN festivals in Sochi
and Jūrmala
.
Grade IV on Maslyakov «for a significant contribution to the development of domestic television and many years of creative activity».
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg is a major city in the central part of Russia, the administrative center of Sverdlovsk Oblast. Situated on the eastern side of the Ural mountain range, it is the main industrial and cultural center of the Urals Federal District with a population of 1,350,136 , making it Russia's...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
) is a prominent Soviet and Russian television game show host. He is an extremely well known, iconographic figure throughout the former USSR, having been on the screen for the greater part of most people's lives. In this he compares with personalities such as Bob Barker
Bob Barker
Robert William "Bob" Barker is a former American television game show host. He is best known for hosting CBS's The Price Is Right from 1972 to 2007, making it the longest-running daytime game show in North American television history, and for hosting Truth or Consequences from 1956 to 1975.Born...
or even Dick Clark on American television.
Game Shows
Maslyakov has been working in television since 1964. He has hosted numerous game shows in this time, including «Allo, my ishchem talanty» [Hello, we're looking for talents], «Adresa molodykh» [Addresses of young ones], «Veselye rebyata» [Happy kids], the long-running misogynistic «A nu-ka, devushki» [Let's go, girls], in which young women competed against one another in various gender-stereotypical skills such as cooking, dancing, or milking cows, and its short-lived counterpart for young men, «A nu-ka parni». He was also the first host (1974) of what subsequently became one of Russia's longest-running game shows, «Chto? Gde? Kogda?» [What? Where? When?].Maslyakov was the regular host of Soviet coverage of World Festivals of Youth and Students, held in such major world capitals as Sofia, Havana, (East) Berlin, Pyongyang, and Moscow, as well as hosting a number of popular Soviet Eurovision-style lip-synching song competitions over the years.
Arrest
In 1974, Maslyakov was arrested and convicted under what was at the time a very serious charge in the USSR - operations with foreign currency. He was sentenced to deprivation of liberty in colony YuN 83/2 in RybinskRybinsk
Rybinsk is the second largest city of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, which lies at the confluence of the Volga and Sheksna Rivers. Population: It is served by Rybinsk Staroselye airport.-Early history:...
, Yaroslavl Oblast
Yaroslavl Oblast
Yaroslavl Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , which is located in the Central Federal District, surrounded by Tver, Moscow, Ivanovo, Vladimir, Kostroma, and Vologda Oblasts. This geographic location affords the oblast the advantages of proximity to Moscow and St. Petersburg...
, but was quietly given an early release after several months in view of his popularity with all Russians.
KVN
Maslyakov is most famous, however, for his involvement in the game show KVNKVN
KVN is a Russian humour TV show and competition where teams compete by giving funny answers to questions and showing prepared sketches. The programme was first aired by the First Soviet Channel on November 8, 1961...
(Club of the happy and inventive), a game show nearly as long-lived as «Chto? Gde? Kogda?», in which teams of enthusiastic and clever young people (usually university students) compete against one another in a series of improvised and rehearsed comedic and musical skits and witty repartee (and occasionally cutting-edge politically risque satire and social commentary) in front of a live audience and a jury of stars of stage and screen. KVN went on the air in 1961, and Maslyakov became its host in 1964, while still a student himself. He has remained at the helm ever since, and now runs the production company that owns the show itself and all spinoff rights. Maslyakov is currently the president of the International Union of KVN and the host of all the games of the Major League of KVN as well as of the annual KVN festivals in Sochi
Sochi
Sochi is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated just north of Russia's border with the de facto independent republic of Abkhazia, on the Black Sea coast. Greater Sochi sprawls for along the shores of the Black Sea near the Caucasus Mountains...
and Jūrmala
Jurmala
Jūrmala is a city in Latvia, about 25 kilometers west of Riga. Jūrmala is a resort town stretching and sandwiched between the Gulf of Riga and the Lielupe River...
.
Education and Awards
Maslyakov graduated in 1966 from the Moscow Institute of Transport Engineers and in 1968 he completed Higher Courses for Television Workers. He is a Merited Figure of the Arts of the Russian Federation, 1994 laureate of the «Ovatsiya» prize, and a member of the Academy of Russian Television. In 2002 he was awarded the highest honor of the Academy of Russian Television, the «TEFI» «For individual contribution to the development of domestic television». In 2006, in commemoration of the 45th anniversary of KVN, the then-president of the Russian Federation conferred the Order of Merit for the FatherlandOrder of Merit for the Fatherland
The Order of Merit for the Fatherland was instituted on 2 March 1994 by Presidential Decree. The statutes describe it as a decoration for merit, not an order of knights....
Grade IV on Maslyakov «for a significant contribution to the development of domestic television and many years of creative activity».