''Tankki täyteen'' (literal translation "Filling the Tank") is a Finnish

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

television series 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 television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

produced by

Yle Yleisradio Oy (Finnish, literally "General Radio Ltd." or "General Broadcast Ltd."; abbr. Yle ; sv, Rundradion Ab, italics=no), translated to English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founde ...

. The series was written by

Neil Hardwick Robert Neil Hardwick (born 22 July 1948 in Teversal, Sutton-in-Ashfield, England) is a United Kingdom, British-born Finland, Finnish theatre and television, TV director and writer. He was raised in Teversal, near Nottingham. His father was a teac ...

and Jussi Tuominen and was directed by Esko Leimu together with Neil Hardwick. It was one of the most watched and re-broadcast Finnish television comedy series of the 1980s. It was first shown on

Yle TV2 Yle TV2 ( fi, Yle TV Kaksi; sv, Yle TV Två) is a Finnish television channel owned and operated by Yle. TV2 was launched in 1965 as the successor to the former television channels TES-TV (Tesvisio) and Tamvisio, and broadcasts public service p ...

between 1978 and 1980. The first production season (1978) comprised six episodes and the second (1980) five episodes.

Premise

The centerpiece of the series is Emilia and Sulo Vilén's (

Sylvi Salonen Sylvi Inkeri Salonen (1 March 1920 – 23 December 2003) was a Finnish actress. Most of her career, 1949−1985, she worked for Tampereen Työväen Teatteri while also appearing on television and in films. The term "diva" was often attached to he ...

and Tauno Karvonen)

gas station A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Gasoline ...

, which is hardly visited by customers, as there is no longer access to the service station from the new bypass. Vilén's adult son Juhana (

Ilmari Saarelainen Ilmari Saarelainen (born 12 September 1944 in Uusikaupunki) is a Finnish actor. His career has been mainly based on television. Saarelainen began acting in 1970 appearing in a number of TV series. His career has mainly been based on Finnish tele ...

), as well as the unmarried bar assistant Ulla ( Tuire Salenius), the priest ( Erkki Siltola) and the regular guest, the village constable Artturi Reinikainen (

Tenho Saurén Tenho Saurén (1 September 1926, Viiala, now a part of Akaa - 21 March 2001 Tampere, Finland) was a Finnish actor and comic. He appeared on Finnish television several times in the 1970s and early 1980s always in comedy roles. He starred as the po ...

) are among the key figures in the series. Constable Reinikainen was actually so popular that he later got his own title series, ''

Reinikainen Reinikainen is a Finnish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Janne Reinikainen (actor) Janne Reinikainen (born 10 March 1969) is a Finnish actor. He appeared in more than sixty films since 1991. Selected filmography Reference ...

'', which was the first

spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gove ...

series on Finnish television. Tuominen has characterized Juhana Vilén as a common

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...

between him and Hardwick.

Location

The filling station in the series's exterior pictures was the Kesoil service station, which was demolished in the late 1980s and was located in the center of

Ylöjärvi Ylöjärvi () is a town and a municipality in the Pirkanmaa region, northwest of Tampere and north of the capital city Helsinki in Finland. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . ...

, west of the junction of the Vaasantie and Kuruntie roads, about 100 meters from the Kuruntie bridge towards

Vaasa Vaasa (; sv, Vasa, , Sweden ), in the years 1855–1917 as Nikolainkaupunki ( sv, Nikolajstad; literally meaning "city of Nicholas),

. During the filming of the series, a Kale family lived in the bar section of the service station, with the workshop stable on the workshop side. An apartment building has been built on the site. The service station had been completed in 1960 for the Autori service station chain in the

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

and

Pori ) , website www.pori.fi Pori (; sv, Björneborg ) is a city and municipality on the west coast of Finland. The city is located some from the Gulf of Bothnia, on the estuary of the Kokemäki River, west of Tampere, north of Turku and north-w ...

regions and switched to Kesoil in 1964.

Episodes

Re-broadcasts

Even today, the series enjoys strong

cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

in Finland. The latest rerun of the series was shown on TV2 in the spring of 2020, when all episodes of the series were shown. The

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

version of the series, compiled from episodes 1–6, was presented at the

Orimattila Orimattila () is a town in Päijänne Tavastia regions of Finland, region, Finland. The southern part of Lahti is connected to the village of Orimattila, which is located in the region of Pennala. There are also several municipalities in the area, ...

local summer theater, which premiered on July 4, 2008. In summer 2009 and 2010,

Kauhajoki Kauhajoki (; literally “Scoop River”) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region, southwest of the city of Seinäjoki. The population of Kauhajoki is ...

's Teatteri Kajo also performed the first production season spiced with music and in 2012 the second production season. The

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

version by Teatteri Eurooppa Neljä premiered at the Sappee Summer Theater in

Pälkäne Pälkäne () is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Pirkanmaa region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which . The population density is . Onkkaala is the administrative center of the municipality. Tamper ...

on June 15, 2011.

Home releases

* ''Huoltamo halvalla'' (episodes 1–6) VHS (2001) * ''Yrittänyttä ei laiteta – halvalla'' (episodes 7–11) VHS (2002) * ''Kaikki halvalla'' (all episodes) DVD (2002)

References

External links

* 1978 Finnish television series debuts 1980s Finnish television series endings Finnish comedy television series 1970s sitcoms Yle original programming 1980s sitcoms {{Finland-tv-prog-stub