Vintiöt
Encyclopedia
Vintiöt is a Finnish
television comedy and sketch series that ran on the MTV3
channel beginning in 1994.
, Santeri Kinnunen, Niko Saarela, Janus Hanski, Jussi Chydenius
, Kari Hietalahti and Juha Veijonen. The show was extremely popular especially among children and teens, resulting in many new phrases becoming common expressions. These included Asiaa! ("This is business!"). The show was written by the actors Hietalahti and Saarela and directed by known Finnish director Aleksi Mäkelä.
film K-19 Widowmaker.
n and proceeds to present the "warmup" exercise, often very ridiculous. He is backed up by a group of at least four others. The main punchline of the sketch is that the instructor (called Kaido Kuukap) counts from one to four in a funny "Estonian" way (Yks, kaks, koli, neli).
Often he would also deliver short monologues of nonsense while the other members of his team did something incredibly silly in the background.
car from the seventies. Several sketches end with either one of the them driving the car, and then they show a shot of the same car crashing into a gravel pit. (The same film clip is always used.) The character's names are also very stereotypical middle-class Finnish names.
submachine gun
and strafes the other man. He immediately regrets and soon gets arrested. After this he announces intermission. (This is also the oldest Vintiöt sketch.)
. (The second official language of Finland and compulsory at all education levels.) Their pronunciation and language skills in general are very bad, which is the main joke of the entire sketch.
, which is a popular place to visit by the Finns, mostly because you can buy cheap alcohol and fake products there. The couple proceeds to unpack their shopping - a pirate version of the movie Häjyt featuring Samuli Edelmann, one of the show's actors, two cartons of cigarettes (one has a piece of wood inside and the other one has exploding cigarettes.) Often cursing because they have lost so much money (€
3, in fact) they open a bottle of vodka
and lose their eyesight - the bottle was filled with poisonous methanol
.
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...
television comedy and sketch series that ran on the MTV3
MTV3
MTV3 is a Finnish commercial television station owned by Bonnier. It had the biggest audience share of all Finnish TV channels until Finnish Broadcasting Company’s YLE1 took the lead. The letters MTV stand for Mainos-TV , due to the channel getting its revenue from running commercials...
channel beginning in 1994.
Cast
The show featured a cast of well-known Finnish actors, including Samuli EdelmannSamuli Edelmann
Samuli Casimir Edelmann is a Finnish actor and singer.-Family and career:Samuli Edelmann is the son of actress Marja-Leena Kouki and composer Toni Edelmann. Edelmann has two children, Venla and Ilmari, with his wife Laura Tuomarila...
, Santeri Kinnunen, Niko Saarela, Janus Hanski, Jussi Chydenius
Jussi Chydenius
Jussi Chydenius is a Finnish musician and composer. He is best known for singing bass in the vocal ensemble Rajaton.He is the son of composer Kaj Chydenius and director Kaisa Korhonen. His brother is music producer Kalle Chydenius. He played drums for the rock band Don Huonot from 1989–2001 and...
, Kari Hietalahti and Juha Veijonen. The show was extremely popular especially among children and teens, resulting in many new phrases becoming common expressions. These included Asiaa! ("This is business!"). The show was written by the actors Hietalahti and Saarela and directed by known Finnish director Aleksi Mäkelä.
The show's humour
Vintiöt was known for its bizarre characters and absurd humour. Most sketches were simply improvised at the shooting location, with makeshift props and rarely any specially built sets. The show's budget was non-existent. Often the idea of a sketch was the interaction between two absurd characters. Some sketches were also "accelerated" in post production to give the characters a nasal sound. Most often the characters would appear in multiple sketches and episodes, although there were no continuous plot lines. There were also one-off sketches and characters.Original opening credits
The show's original opening credits showed the cast as crew members on a Soviet submarine, performing various tasks and generally running around the mostly dark boat in a frenzy. Incidentally, the same boat was later used in the Harrison FordHarrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
film K-19 Widowmaker.
The Estonian Exercise Program
A sports instructor (Hietalahti) greets the audience cheerfully in fake EstoniaEstonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
n and proceeds to present the "warmup" exercise, often very ridiculous. He is backed up by a group of at least four others. The main punchline of the sketch is that the instructor (called Kaido Kuukap) counts from one to four in a funny "Estonian" way (Yks, kaks, koli, neli).
Often he would also deliver short monologues of nonsense while the other members of his team did something incredibly silly in the background.
- During early sketches they used Ennio Morricone's song "My name is Nobody" as a background music. Later they used a song specially composed for the show, but the original song was sometimes played briefly.
Rampe and Sirkka
A married couple (Played by Edelmann and Hietalahti) argue a lot, often the target being an orange Opel KadettOpel Kadett
The Opel Kadett is a small family car produced by the German automobile manufacturer Opel between 1937 and 1940, and then again from 1962 until 1991 , when it was replaced by the Opel Astra.-Original model :...
car from the seventies. Several sketches end with either one of the them driving the car, and then they show a shot of the same car crashing into a gravel pit. (The same film clip is always used.) The character's names are also very stereotypical middle-class Finnish names.
Nakkikaverit ("The Sausage Pals")
This sketch revolved around a tiny hot-dog stand selling Finnish meat pies and hamburgers. The small stand had a staff of three chefs, the manager and a female attendant Mirjami (played by Hietalahti in drag). Only the customers' hands were ever shown, and their speech was never heard. Often the character Mirjami had a one-way dialogue with the customer while the others just argued in the background. Most sketches ended with Mirjami declaring "Now you're gonna get punched!"Varjomiehet (The Silhouette Men)
Two men would walk in a dark street and look through a curtained window to see something terrible happening inside. (A person getting stabbed or such). The pair would rush inside only to find two men doing something bizarre at the window. (Like vacuuming each other's back.)Rane ja Keravan kollit (Rane and the Kerava Tomcats)
Rane (Edelmann) is a young man who speaks with an incredibly nasal voice and brags continually to his friends about his adventures with women and trouble with police. His friends are often awed by Rane. In the end of each sketch they would kick at a concrete wall, repeating "Asiaa!" (The show's perhaps most famous punchline.)Moilanen
Mr. Moilanen (Hietalahti) visits his neighbour, usually driving the poor man crazy. He is most recognizable for his tone of laughing.Armas Tanska ja Charme (Armas Tanska and Charme)
Armas Tanska is a crazy man who has a large leather mitten as a "pet" (called "Charme"). Mr. Tanska keeps talking to the mitten in his hand in a high-pitched voice and usually bothers everyone around him.Tervasaaren kesäteatteri (Tervasaari Summer Theatre)
Two men perform makeshift theatre for an audience of one (sometimes two or even three or four). All plays have essentially the same plot. One man irritates the other and then the other (Hietalahti) takes out an imaginary JaTiMaticJaTiMatic
The Jatimatic is a Finnish 9 mm submachine gun developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s by Jali Timari. The submachine gun made its debut in 1983. The Jatimatic was manufactured in very limited numbers initially by Tampereen Asepaja Oy of Tampere and later—Oy Golden Gun Ltd...
submachine gun
Submachine gun
A submachine gun is an automatic carbine, designed to fire pistol cartridges. It combines the automatic fire of a machine gun with the cartridge of a pistol. The submachine gun was invented during World War I , but the apex of its use was during World War II when millions of the weapon type were...
and strafes the other man. He immediately regrets and soon gets arrested. After this he announces intermission. (This is also the oldest Vintiöt sketch.)
Hundkarusellen (The Dog Carousel)
Two men with very long blond hair answer the phone in their studio and talk about dogs in SwedishSwedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
. (The second official language of Finland and compulsory at all education levels.) Their pronunciation and language skills in general are very bad, which is the main joke of the entire sketch.
Kyttäruutu (The Cop TV)
The crime reporter Sakari Kaulaote (Neck Grip) interviews victims of various crimes.Kesämies (The Summer Man)
The Summer Man (Hietalahti) is a slick-haired man who appears in various sketches. Often he just recites things he is allowed and not allowed to do in a nasal voice.Tourists returning home
In this sketch a middle-class couple returns home from a cruise to the Estonian capital city of TallinnTallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
, which is a popular place to visit by the Finns, mostly because you can buy cheap alcohol and fake products there. The couple proceeds to unpack their shopping - a pirate version of the movie Häjyt featuring Samuli Edelmann, one of the show's actors, two cartons of cigarettes (one has a piece of wood inside and the other one has exploding cigarettes.) Often cursing because they have lost so much money (€
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
3, in fact) they open a bottle of vodka
Vodka
Vodka , is a distilled beverage. It is composed primarily of water and ethanol with traces of impurities and flavorings. Vodka is made by the distillation of fermented substances such as grains, potatoes, or sometimes fruits....
and lose their eyesight - the bottle was filled with poisonous methanol
Methanol
Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol, wood alcohol, wood naphtha or wood spirits, is a chemical with the formula CH3OH . It is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile, colorless, flammable liquid with a distinctive odor very similar to, but slightly sweeter than, ethanol...
.