Kõige Suurem Sõber (

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

for ''The Biggest Friend'') was a long-running children's TV show on

Estonian Television Eesti Televisioon (ETV) () is an Estonian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by Estonian Public Broadcasting. It made its first broadcast on 19 July 1955. History Eesti Televisioon (''Estonian Television'') was launched on 19 ...

in the early 1980s. It featured a big orange furry creature called Leopold (played by Harry Kõrvits) and a host of other more or less recurring characters, and is for many Estonians a symbol of childhood and/or children's TV. Unfortunately, most of the magnetic video tapes used for storage of the show have been recycled due to the

perestroika ''Perestroika'' ( ; rus, перестройка, r=perestrojka, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg, links=no) was a political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s, widely associ ...

-era

deficits The government budget balance, also referred to as the general government balance, public budget balance, or public fiscal balance, is the difference between government revenues and spending. For a government that uses accrual accounting (ra ...

. However, a small number of the episodes have remained, and are now available from ETV on both

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

Major characters

Leopold

The main character of the show. Played by Harry Kõrvits in a

fursuit Fursuits are custom-made anthropomorphic animal costumes owned and worn by cosplayers and members of the furry fandom, commonly known as "furries"; a furry who wears a fursuit is called a fursuiter. The term is believed to have been coined in ...

Postikana

A chicken serving as a

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

of the show. Puppeteered by Hendrik Toompere.

Onu Raivo

Playing himself, a freelance artist. See Raivo Järvi.

Äpu

A small and shy character living inside one of Leopold's drawers. Puppeteered by

Heino Seljamaa Heino Seljamaa (born 21 April 1952 in Türi) is an Estonian actor. In 1978 he graduated from Tallinn State Conservatory Stage Art Department. 1978–1996 he worked at NUKU Theatre, 1996–1997 at Ugala Theatre and 1997–1998 at Rakvere Theatre. ...

Minor recurring characters

Anekdoot

This character lived inside one of Leopold's cupboards, and sometimes told a joke after the main show. He had no other relations to the other characters.

2007 parody controversy

In early 2007, Ken Saan and others planned to introduce an irreverent parody show "Täna Õhtul Leo Põld" (

Tonight Leo Põld Tonight may refer to: Television * ''Tonight'' (1957 TV programme), a 1957–1965 British current events television programme hosted by Cliff Michelmore that was broadcast on BBC * ''Tonight'' (1975 TV programme), a 1975–1979 British current ...

) reusing, in grotesque ways, characters of this show. Many people considered this extremely inappropriate, and objected in various ways. Although the first few episodes were produced, the show was withdrawn before broadcasting the pilot episode, scheduled for 15 May 2007, due to death of

Dan Põldroos Dan Põldroos (6 March 1970 – 5 May 2007) was an Estonian stage, television and film actor who began performing on stage at age fifteen. Although mostly known for comedic roles, he was also an accomplished dramatic actor. Põldroos' career ende ...

, one of the main actors of the parody. In response to the controversy,

Estonian National Broadcasting Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also * ...

, a successor of

and

Estonian Radio Eesti Raadio (Estonian Radio, ER) was the public service radio broadcaster of Estonia that, at the time of closure, operated five national radio stations. It was closed in 2007 as a result of a merger with Eesti Televisioon (Estonian Television, ...

, decided to trademark some of its most well-known characters, including those of Kõige suurem sõber. Broadcasting of the pilot episode was rescheduled to 6 September 2007 at 22:05, but on 5 September 2007, the

Harju County Court Harju may refer to: Geography Estonia *Harju County, one of 15 counties of Estonia *Harju, Hiiu County, a village in Hiiumaa Parish, Hiiu County. *Pühalepa-Harju, a village in Hiiumaa Parish, Hiiu County, formerly known as Harju. *Harju Bay, a b ...

issued a temporary injunction against broadcasting until

ETV ETV may stand for: Television * Educational television, the use of television in education * Enhanced TV, an interactive television application specification Africa * e.tv, South Africa * ETV (Ethiopia), Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation * ETV G ...

's trademark claims have been tried. On 29 January 2009, Harju Maakohus dismissed the lawsuit and lifted all related temporary injunctions, ruling that the plaintiff has not proven that the defendant is the show's producer, and therefore, that the appropriate defendant was sued.

Postimees is an Estonian daily newspaper established on 5 June 1857, by Johann Voldemar Jannsen. In 1891, it became the first daily newspaper in Estonia. Its current editor-in-chief is Priit Hõbemägi. The paper has approximately 250 employees. ''P ...

29 January 2009
Kohus lubas liba-Leopoldi taas ekraanile
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koige Suurem Sober 1980s Estonian television series Estonian television shows featuring puppetry Eesti Televisioon original programming Puppetry in Estonia