''Turn off the Light!'' (russian: Тушите свет!, Tushite svet!) is a

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

n satirical television program, broadcast from 31 July 2000 to 21 June 2003. In 2002, the program won the

TEFI TEFI (russian: ТЭФИ) is an annual award given in the Russian television industry, presented by the Russian Academy of Television. It has been awarded since 1994. TEFI is presented in various sectors (up to 50 nominations in 2008), such as telev ...

award for the best entertainment program.ТЭФИ-2002
newsru.com, 21 January 2003. The program is based on two cartoon characters of the Soviet era (1970s), a piglet and a baby hare, Khryusha and Stepashka (Хрюша и Степашка) from ''

Spokoynoy nochi, malyshi! ''Good Night, Little Ones!'' (russian: Спокойной ночи, малыши!, Spokoynoy nochi, malyshi!) is a long-running Russian-language children's television program. Continuously broadcast since 1964 (premiered during the Soviet era), ...

'', but now grown to adulthood and known as Khryun Morzhov (Хрюн Моржов, allusion to a " mat" expression ''Хрен моржовый'' - "walrus dick") and Stepan Kapusta (Степан Капуста "Stepan Cabbage"). The original puppets were replaced with 3D computer-animated

motion-capture Motion capture (sometimes referred as mo-cap or mocap, for short) is the process of recording the movement of objects or people. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robot ...

caricatures done by Studio Pilot. The main characters form a contrasting

double act A double act (also known as a comedy duo) is a form of comedy originating in the British music hall tradition, and American vaudeville, in which two comedians perform together as a single act. Pairings are typically long-term, in some cases fo ...

, Stepan is the cultivated intellectual, while Khryun is a lower-class or rustic type with an aphoristic mode of expression (his catchphrase expressing approval, "Мощно задвинул! Внушаить" - "You're mighty said! Real catchy", became widely popular). Initially, the program was broadcast on

NTV NTV may refer to: Television * NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh * NTV (India), Telugu regional channel * NTV (Kenya) * NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia * NTV (Newport Television ...

(at the time a subsidiary of

Vladimir Gusinsky Vladimir Aleksandrovich Gusinsky (russian: Владимир Александрович Гусинский, ; born 6 October 1952) is a Russian media tycoon. He founded the Media-Most holding company that included the NTV free-to-air channel, ...

's company , before state-owned

Gazprom PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐzˈprom) is a Russian majority state-owned multinational energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. As of 2019, with sales over $120 billion, it was ranked as the largest ...

's takeover of the latter, resulting in the formation of

Gazprom Media Gazprom-Media (russian: ОАО Газпром-Медиа) is the largest Russian media holding. Gazprom-Media was established in January 1998 as a subsidiary of the 1997 established Gazprom Media Holdings. On its founding in 1997, Gazprom Media ...

), and hosted by Leo Novozhenov. It later switched to

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reage ...

, TV-6 and

TVS TVS may refer to: Mathematics * Topological vector space Television * Television Sydney, TV channel in Sydney, Australia * Television South, ITV franchise holder in the South of England between 1982 and 1992 * TVS Television Network, US dis ...

, with various hosts. After TVS was shut down in 2003, a second version of the program was started on NTV, called ''Red Arrow'' (''Красная стрела''), running until July 2004. After the end of the program, the two characters continued to appear in '' Novaya Gazeta'' and ''

Echo of Moscow Echo of Moscow (russian: links=no, Эхо Москвы, translit=Ekho Moskvy) was a 24/7 commercial Russian radio station based in Moscow. It broadcast in many Russian cities, some of the former Soviet republics (through partnerships with local r ...

'' until they were ordered shut down by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime m ...

in 2022.

References

{{reflist NTV (Russia) original programming Russian satirical television shows 2000 Russian television series debuts 2003 Russian television series endings