''Polònia'' (meaning "

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

" in the

Catalan language Catalan (; autonym: , ), known in the Valencian Community and Carche as ''Valencian'' (autonym: ), is a Western Romance language. It is the official language of Andorra, and an official language of three autonomous communities in eastern Spa ...

) is a popular

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

TV show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

broadcast in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

by the

public broadcaster Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television *Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso *Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala *Channel 3 (Algeria), a public Algerian TV channel owned by EPTV ...

. It has more than a million viewers and is one of the most watched TV shows in Catalonia. It is hosted by

Toni Soler Antonio Soler Mulet (born 23 March 1992) is a Spanish footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder. Playing career Youth and college After playing with the Villarreal academy and having various spells in the lower leagues in Spain, Soler ...

who conducted other successful Catalan programmes such as ''Malalts de tele'' or ''Set de nit''. It won the 2007 '' Ondas'' award. The name of the programme comes from the common derogatory slurTranslation
of ''polaco'' from

Collins Dictionary The ''Collins English Dictionary'' is a printed and online dictionary of English. It is published by HarperCollins in Glasgow. The edition of the dictionary in 1979 with Patrick Hanks as editor and Laurence Urdang as editorial director, was ...

. in the

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...

polaco Polaco is surname of: * Jorge Polaco (1946–2014), an Argentine filmmaker * Peter Polaco, better known as Justin Credible (born 1973), American professional wrestler * Pico Polaco, a mountain in the Cordillera de la Ramada range of the Andes of Ar ...

'' (literally "Pole" or "Polish") referring to the

Catalan people Catalans (Catalan, French and Occitan: ''catalans''; es, catalanes, Italian: ''catalani'', sc, cadelanos) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citizen ...

or the

History

Polònia was derived from a radio programme called ''

Minoria absoluta ''Minoria'' is an indie Metroidvania game developed by Brazilian studio Bombservice and published by DANGEN Entertainment. It was released on August 27, 2019 for Windows, and on September 10, 2020 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. ...

'' ( en, Absolute Minority), broadcast on the Catalan radio station

RAC 1 RAC 1 is the main Catalan language private radio station. It is mainly owned by Grupo Godó and is based in Barcelona. It has a sister radio station, RAC 105, dedicated to chart music. RAC 1 is a spoken-word radio station, and focuses on news an ...

from 2000 to 2009. Between 2004 and 2005 a television version of ''Minoria absoluta'' was shown on 8tv, and later in 2005 on Antena 3. Soon after, TV3 pitched Toni Soler to host the future Polònia based on the Antena 3 version of ''Minoria absoluta'' but with a Catalan setting. Polònia launched on 16 February 2006 with great success, making it among the most watched TV programmes in Catalonia. A total of 140 episodes were shown from 2006 until 11 June 2009 with special episodes in between and after; the latest special episode was broadcast on January 3, 2013.

Content

Most of the programme consists of sketches with

impersonation An impersonator is someone who imitates or copies the behavior or actions of another. There are many reasons for impersonating someone: *Entertainment: An entertainer impersonates a celebrity, generally for entertainment, and makes fun of ...

of celebrities, and they often interact with Toni Soler after recording those gags. Mainly it collects

humour Humour (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humorism, humoral medicine of the ancient Gre ...

and

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

from

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

and especially Catalan politics. However, a few other famous people that are not related to

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

also appear. Singers such as

Lluís Llach Lluís Llach i Grande (; born 7 May 1948) is a Catalan singer-songwriter, novelist and politician from Spain. He is one of the main representatives of the ''nova cançó'' genre and an outspoken advocate of the right to self-determination of ...

, chefs such

Ferran Adrià Ferran Adrià i Acosta (; born 14 May 1962) is a Spanish chef. He was the head chef of the ''El Bulli'' restaurant in Roses on the Costa Brava and is considered one of the best chefs in the world. He has often collaborated with his brother, the ...

Joan Laporta Joan Laporta Estruch (; born 29 June 1962) is a Spanish politician and current president of FC Barcelona. Laporta is a lawyer (he graduated from the University of Barcelona) with his own firm, Laporta & Arbós, which has a number of notable Sp ...

, the president of

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

(though these were removed a while ago for the new show "Crackòvia"), the former

caudillo A ''caudillo'' ( , ; osp, cabdillo, from Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise definition of ''caudillo'', which is often used interchangeably with " ...

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

and even the

pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

are regularly shown. It also makes fun of many other TV3 journalists like Josep Cuní,

Pilar Rahola Pilar Rahola i Martínez (; Barcelona, 21 October 1958) is a Spanish journalist, writer, and former politician and MP. Career Rahola studied Spanish and Catalan Philology at the Universitat de Barcelona. She has published several books in Sp ...

, Ramon Pellicer and the TV3 director Mònica Terribas.

Some impersonated characters

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polonia 2006 Spanish television series debuts 2000s Spanish television series 2010s Spanish television series 2020s Spanish television series Televisió de Catalunya Catalan television programmes Spanish comedy television series Spanish satirical television shows