Pikku Kakkonen is an ongoing Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 magazine-type children's TV show shown on YLE TV2

YLE TV2

YLE TV2 is a Finnish television channel owned and operated by YLE.TV2 launched in 1964, and broadcasts public service programming, children's, youth, sport and music programmes.-Own Productions:* Ajankohtainen kakkonen* Akuutti* Jopet Show* Kummeli...

. The first episode aired on January 11, 1977

1977 in television

The year 1977 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1977.For the American TV schedule, see: 1977-78 American network television schedule.-Events:...

. It finished with a bedtime story

Bedtime story

A bedtime story is a traditional form of storytelling, where a story is told to a child at bedtime to prepare them for sleep.Bedtime stories have many advantages, for parents/adults and children alike. The fixed routine of a bedtime story before sleeping has a relaxing effect, and the soothing...

 read by Lasse Pöysti

Lasse Pöysti

Lasse Pöysti is a Finnish actor , director, theatre manager and writer....

 and an East German Sandman animation

Sandmännchen

Unser Sandmännchen, Das Sandmännchen, Abendgruß, Sandmann, Sandmännchen is a German children's bedtime television programme using stop motion animation...

, setting the format for hundreds of later episodes.

The Pikku Kakkonen show is based in Tampere

Tampere

Tampere is a city in southern Finland. It is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The city has a population of , growing to approximately 300,000 people in the conurbation and over 340,000 in the metropolitan area. Tampere is the third most-populous municipality in...

, and its signature melodies (The Pikku Kakkonen mail tune and the main title tune) have been made into mobile phone

Mobile phone

A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...

 ringing tones. The intro animation by Camilla Mickwitz was made in 1983.

Characters and series

• Käytöskukka
• Kössi Kenguru
• Pat and Mat
• Pelle Hermanni
  Pelle Hermanni
  Pelle Hermanni is a Finnish children's TV show shown on YLE TV2 in the Pikku Kakkonen children's program.The show's main character is Pelle Hermanni, a clown who lives in his own trailer at a circus trailer park...
  
   from 1978
• Nalle Luppakorva (Polish Miś Uszatek
  Mis Uszatek
  Miś Uszatek is a Polish character from the stop motion-animated TV series of the same name. He was created jointly by Polish writer Czesław Janczarski and cartoonist Zbigniew Rychlicki....
  
  ) from 1979
• Lohikäärme Justus
• The magician Savinen
• Karvakuonot: Ransu, Eno-Elmeri and Riku, from 1978
• Timo Taikuri from 1979
• Rölli
  Rölli
  Rölli-peikko is a character from Finnish television portrayed by Allan "Allu" Tuppurainen. The character originally appeared in segments on the children's TV show Pikku Kakkonen on YLE's Channel 2...
  
   from 1986
• Ti-ti-nalle from 1989
• The magician Luttinen from 1995
• Roosa and Roope (life in Velkua
  Velkua
  Velkua is a former municipality of Finland. It was, together with Merimasku and Rymättylä, consolidated with the town of Naantali on January 1, 2009....
  
  )

Many of these have been spun off as separate TV shows, theatre film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

s or book

Book

A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...

s.