Put out the light!

The program often positioned itself as an “information-sedative” ^[5] .

The leaders were Khryusha and Stepashka , who had matured and gained life experience, who had turned into the proletarian Khryun Morzhov and the intellectual Stepan Kapusta, respectively ^[6] . These are no longer puppet, but computer characters who, together with the presenter, discuss recent political news and everyday problems ^{[7] [8] [9] [10]} . In NTV issues, the discussion took place in the Transformer Studio at the Ostankino television center, and already during the program’s release on other channels, in the kitchen of Khryun. Permanent correspondent Philip Sharikov (matured Filya) ^[11] and a neighbor, the cat Genka, help Khryun and Stepan.

Most of the characters, including Khryun, were voiced by actor and parodist Alexei Kolgan . Stepan and some minor characters were voiced by Alexander Lenkov ^{[12] [13]} . Sometimes Kolgan could voice Stepan, if Alexander Lenkov was on tour of his theater ^[14] .

“Inclusions from the Rossiya Hotel” were also practiced, during which comments on various issues were given by experts whose names, surnames and places of work were allusions to real people, such as:

• “Vladimir Bryatsalov, master of alcohol” (allusion to Vladimir Bryntsalov );
• “Gleb Treplovsky, the main image maker” (allusion to Gleb Pavlovsky );
• “Alexey Pudrin, Minister without Finance” (allusion to Alexei Kudrin );
• “Alfred Hitchcock, Director of Gazavatprom” (allusion to Alfred Koch and Alfred Hitchcock );
• “Popalych Buratin, the big bird-secretary,” (allusion to Pavel Borodin );
• “Sergei Spaszhiletovich Plyazhgu, lifeguard on the sands and in the waters” (allusion to Sergei Shoigu );
• “Sbigniew Vmagazinsky, Vodkobaron” (allusion to Zbigniew Brzezinski );
• “Mrs. Ultimashenko” (allusion to Yulia Tymoshenko ) ;
• “Mr. Necenzurinovsky” (allusion to Vladimir Zhirinovsky ) ;
• “Mitrofan Talibanov, an immoral democrat” (allusion to Alexei Mitrofanov ) ;
• “Leo Starozhenov” ( Lev Novozhenov in the near future ) and others.

The graphic design of live broadcasts from the Rossiya Hotel is also a parody of the graphic design of live broadcasts in the Today and Now information programs of NTV and TV-6 channels ^[15] .

The preparation of the script for the program was as follows. In the early morning, four screenwriters began to carefully watch all the latest news releases, choose the most suitable topic for an evening discussion on the air. While watching, a draft version of Hryun’s dialogue with Stepan was attacked, the main jokes on the topic. Most of the feasting and witty remarks were invented impromptu, during recordings and rewriting. After writing the script, a live host was invited. The voices of the cartoon characters were recorded separately from the filming process with a live host ^[16] .

The idea of ​​an evening program with matured Khryusha and Stepashka discussing political events arose in the spring of 1999, shortly after the transfer of the Attic Fruttis program with ORT . Initially, the program was to be called “Good night, men!” And aired on TV-6 with the host Tatyana Lazareva ^[17] , but instead the attic that went there began to go to TV-6 ^[18] . A little later, the idea attracted the attention of the new main producer of NTV, Alexander Levin ^[10] , who had long wanted to launch an operational satirical program like “ Puppets ” on the channel ^[19] . At the same time, the famous animator Alexander Tatarsky came to NTV and suggested that the television companies make a joint television project ^[20] . For a long time, the NTV leadership refused to accept its script, pointing to its dampness and vagueness. But in the end, the decision to launch the project was made, having agreed in advance that in return the authors would receive not money, but only airtime ^[21] .

According to one version, the general director of the channel Oleg Dobrodeev was categorically against the appearance of the program on NTV, however, after his departure to the VGTRK in February 2000, the program had a chance to go on air ^[22] .

The first leading program was searched for a long time. The candidates of Zhanna Agalakova ^[23] , Marianna Maksimovskaya ^[20] , Evgeny Kiselev and Tatyana Mitkova were considered . Lev Novozhenov’s candidacy proposed by the NTV leadership was unanimously adopted ^[9] .

The program appeared on the air in the midst of the dead season ^[24] - July 31, 2000. At first, the audience and the channel’s leadership perceived it coolly ^[25] : the program was absent among the most popular on NTV and in hundreds of popular programs for the week, and the head of the sociological analysis service NTV Vsevolod Vilchek said:

Yes, this is the first time we release such horror on air. Honestly, in the winter, “Extinguish the Light”, it is unlikely that anyone would miss it, but in the summer, when there are less and less quality programs, the time for experiments is coming. What can we worry about the success of the transfer, we haven’t invested a dime in its production, so there’s nothing to risk. We would like to ask the audience for leniency! We already have the courage to admit: everything that is being done in the Pilot TV studio is a shameful, vulgar and rude hybrid ^[21] .

A negative reaction among some viewers and channel employees was also caused by the issue, which was dedicated to the accident at the Kursk nuclear submarine . Critics considered that it was incorrect to discuss tragic events within the framework of a humorous program ^{[26] [27]} . At one of the rallies, the leader of Labor Russia , Viktor Anpilov, said that the program “Put Out the Light!” And its presenters are engaged in “abuse of the honor and dignity of Russian people,” and the NTV channel “instead of talking about the needs of the people, leads against it information warfare, corrupts and stuns him ” ^[28] . Soon after, Anpilov also filed a complaint with the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation about the TV channel and this broadcast ^[29] . In the second year of the broadcast, the audience’s perception of the program changed ^{[30] [31] [32]} .

After the conflict related to the change of leadership of NTV , from April 16 to 19, 2001 the program went to TNT , after which the program was included in the number of channels that went to the TV-6 channel ^[33] . Her first issue on this channel was broadcast on May 14 at 23:30 ^[34] , and for the first two weeks (from May 14 to May 27) she was not listed in the printed programs ^[35] .

From that moment on, the leading or correspondents from the former NTV journalistic team ^{[36] [37]} , leading non-political programs of TV-6 and TVS, and sometimes leading other TV channels (for example, Vladimir Pozner , Alexey Lysenkov, began to play the role of co-hosts Khryun and Stepan and Elena Malysheva ) or famous politicians and creative people (for example, Nikolai Kharitonov , Mark Zakharov and Mikhail Shvydkoy ) ^{[38] [39]} . During the first half of November 2001, captions showing the people who worked on it were shown in the intro of the program.

The program was awarded the TEFI Prize in the nomination "Best Humorous Program" in 2001, and its presenters in 2002 ^[40] . The creators of the program considered it unique, since no other animation studio has produced such a product ^[41] .

In June 2002, the program began to appear on the TVS channel ^[42] , and for the first time on this channel, like on TV-6 a year earlier, the program was run only by virtual heroes without a live host due to the unavailability of a suitable studio for recording conversations ^[43] . Then the transfer again began to lead the three of us.

In May 2003, due to the unfavorable economic situation on fuel assemblies, “Put Out the Light” together with the “Kremlin Concert” from the same production studio, it was decided to close ^{[44] [45]} . The last issue of the program ends with the fact that the neighbor of the heroes Genka nailed the transfer logo with the boards and said the phrase “So, now you won’t go wrong!” And then laughs maliciously ^[46] .

After the closure of the fuel assembly on September 1, 2003, the second version of the program aired on NTV under the name “ Red Arrow ” ^[47] . The storyline is also completely changed: there Khryun and Stepan acted as guides of the Red Arrow train ^[48] and talked with humor on various topics, mainly of a political nature. The program was broadcast four times a week from Monday to Thursday at 22:40 (after the information program " Country and the World "), on Wednesday (since 2004) they were joined by Lev Novozhenov or another presenter. The program was repeated at first at 12:35 on weekdays the next day, from the end of September 2003 it was shown as part of the morning block “ Morning on NTV ” at 8:35. In the event that a live broadcast of the Champions League football match came at 10:40 p.m., the program (like “Put Out the Light” during NTV) did not go on air.

Since April 2004, “Red Arrow. Spetsvagon ”, where Khryun and Stepan were sitting in a restaurant at the Bologoe-Moskovskoye station and talking with guests. July 10, 2004 was the last issue of "Red Arrow". In the same year, the program received the TEFI Award.

After closing

From 2005 to 2010, Khryun and Stepan went on the air of Ekho Moskvy radio and on the RTVi channel in the program Facets of the Week with Vladimir Kara-Murza on Fridays at 20:00. It was a repetition of the old episodes of the regional television program “Personal Account”, produced by the now closed Internews company, which was led by Manana Aslamazyan . The rubric of Hryun and Stepan, as well as the program itself, existed from the end of 2004 to the beginning of 2007. The program itself was broadcast on regional television channels - partners of Internews (for example, on the Istoki shopping center from Orel ), on NN Network in Nizhny Novgorod , on Region-TV in Novosibirsk and others).

From 2006 to 2007, Khryun and Stepan hosted the program “My Hut on the Edge” on the Ukrainian television channel Inter with Sergey Sivokho ^[49] .

From March 2002 to June 2012, the characters appeared with the new materials in the Novaya Gazeta under the heading Station Supervisor. Their “colleague” Philip Sharikov also worked there. At one time, the names "Khryun Morzhov" and "Stepan Kapusta" were printed on the list of the editorial board of the newspaper among other authors and leading columns.

From 2009 to 2010, the display of the animated series “Discovery of Russia” began on the site of Radio Liberty , the main characters of which were Khryun Morzhov, Stepan Kapusta and Philip Sharikov. The first episode, entitled “ Ruriks, ” was posted on the radio's portal on December 17 ^[50] .

In 2015, the Pilot team made two special issues with the participation of Khryun and Stepan, including the use of swear words, by analogy with the non-broadcast issues of Extinguish the Light! Stepan was voiced by Konstantin Karasik, since by that time Alexander Lenkov was already alive as a year ^{[51] [52]} .

Hryun Morzhov

The name of the character "Khryun Morzhov" is consonant with the Russian colloquial euphemism "walrus horseradish." According to the plan, Khryusha has matured from the children's program Good Night, Kids (and his co-host in the program, Stepan Kapusta, has matured Stepashka ).

As a rule, Khryun appeared on the screen in a quilted quilted jacket with a single button, under which a vest was worn, but in separate episodes he was dressed in various clothes of the characters of the played plots. Sometimes several Khryunov appeared in different costumes (technically clones of the original character).

Khryun has a wife named Khavronya, no less loud and foul. She first appeared in a number of 2000 issues that were dedicated to the fact that Khryun was arrested and imprisoned - this was due to the fact that Alexei Kolgan had a tour of his theater and he could not attend the dubbing. In the first appearances, Havronyu was voiced by Nina Ruslanova , later on, Kolgan himself began to voice it ^[53] .

Unlike Stepan, a clearly visible intellectual , he was a prototype of a common citizen with a kind of “collective farm” articulation and facial expressions , specific gestures, as well as individual ability to make aphoristic statements ^[54] . The most famous was his phrase “ Powerfully pushed! Inspire! " ^[55] , which soon after its first appearance on the air became winged ^[56] . Also in issues on TV-6 and TVS he constantly turned to his co-hosts: “ Guys! ", Despite the fact that sometimes the invited host was a woman.

At the end of the program, often, Khryun and Stepan performed a duet of a song of their own composition, usually on the motive of a lullaby from the movie “ Circus ”:

Boring to live friends when

We gagged!

We are going nowhere

Slamming vodka loudly!

last episode of the program ( 2003 )

Stepan Cabbage

In a manner of behavior and conversation - a spoiled intellectual , an adherent of liberal political views ^[54] .

Unlike his friend, who had only young piglets , Stepan was the father of the already adult son Tikhon, sometimes also participating in the program and sitting in the place of Hryun, who at that time, as usual, sat in the place of the invited host.

Philip Sharikov

He works as a correspondent and always provides viewers with the latest news in his Hot Dog News section. At work, he constantly moves from place to place and always broadcasts without interruption.

In the rallies “rally in support of NTV” and “NTV capture” symbolized the “best-selling” journalists and leading TV channels who agreed to the terms of Gazprom Media .

Each news release begins with a hoarse howl. Not very often present in the company of Hryun and Stepan, but is present in almost every issue.

After closing the Extinguish the Light program in the Red Arrow program, he became a seller of fresh newspapers, traded on the train or at the Voloboe station.

Genka

Symbolizes the gray mass (most of the characters in the program are cats ).

In the transfer was an adult. He lives in the neighborhood of Khryun and is constantly present in the program, leaning out of a hole in the wall (since the releases on TV-6 since November 2001).

He begins almost every remark with the words “It's ... I'm sorry!”, Which hints at his possible forgetfulness. It makes sharp jokes about neighbors and hosts - the latter deliberately and emphasizes the names of the latter ( Comrade Maxim , Comrade Sorokova , Meshok Talibov , Mr. Mukomolov , etc.) - but his comments on the next topic addressed in each issue have a big accuracy and weight. He has a characteristic laugh that laughs at the situations of the program’s releases and his neighbor Hryun if he cannot understand any obvious facts.

После закрытия программы «Тушите свет» вместе со многими её персонажами «перекочевал» в программу « Красная стрела » как начальник станции « Волобое ».

• Во время выхода программы на НТВ использовалась «студия-трансформер» (11-я студия Останкино), также использовавшаяся программами « Итоги », « Глас народа », « Футбольный клуб » и другими ^[57] . На большом экране показывалась настроечная таблица . Малые экраны использовались в Новогоднем спецвыпуске 2001 года, показанном 31 декабря 2000 года: на них выводился слайд из «зимней» рекламной заставки канала.
• Оформление программы на ТНТ, ТВ-6 и ТВС было единым: основная часть программы происходила на кухне Хрюна ^[58] или в гостиной Степана ^[59] , начальные интермедии — в других местах. Кухня была виртуальной, речь ведущего снималась в отдельном помещении за накрытым скатертью или газетой столом с рядом стоящими стульями ^[16] .

• На НТВ выходила в 22:45 или 23:40 с повтором в утреннем блоке « Сегодня утром ».
• На ТНТ выходила в 21:45.
• На ТВ-6 выходила в 23:30 или в 21:40 ^[60] с повтором в 9:20, позже в утреннем блоке «День за днём».
• На ТВС выходила в 20:45 с повтором в утреннем эфире ^[61] .

• Лев Новожёнов (31.07.2000 — май 2001, Новогодний спецвыпуск 31.12.2000, 14.01.2002) ^[62]
• Владимир Кара-Мурза (Новогодний спецвыпуск 31.12.2000, 2001—2003) ^{[63] [64]}
• Светлана Сорокина (Новогодний спецвыпуск 31.12.2000, 04.06.2001, 27.06.2001, 24.08.2001, 04.09.2001, 21.09.2001, 17.10.2001, 14.11.2001, 28.11.2001, 26.12.2001) ^{[65] [66]}
• Евгений Киселёв (Новогодний спецвыпуск 31.12.2000, 14.06.2001, 28.06.2001, 27.07.2001, 16.10.2001, 04.12.2001, 14.11.2002) ^{[67] [68]}
• Михаил Осокин (Новогодний спецвыпуск 31.12.2000, 18.06.2001, 03.07.2001, 16.07.2001, 10.09.2001, 22.10.2001, 08.11.2001, 17.12.2001, 28.08.2002, 28.01.2003, 26.02.2003, 10.04.2003) ^{[69] [70] [71] [72] [73]}
• Андрей Норкин (Новогодний спецвыпуск 31.12.2000, 10.07.2001, 24.07.2001, 20.09.2001, 11.10.2001, 27.11.2001, 24.12.2001, 06.11.2002, 13.02.2003, 08.04.2003) ^[74]
• Марианна Максимовская (Новогодний спецвыпуск 31.12.2000, 06.07.2001, 12.07.2001, 28.08.2001, 24.09.2001, 10.10.2001, 22.11.2001, 18.12.2001, 16.01.2002, 03.09.2002, 16.10.2002, 26.11.2002, 21.01.2003, 05.03.2003, 02.04.2003, 30.04.2003) ^{[75] [76] [77]}
• Виктор Шендерович (Новогодний спецвыпуск 31.12.2000, 09.07.2001, 17.07.2001, 06.09.2001, 21.11.2001, 06.02.2003) ^[78]
• Иоланда Чен (Новогодний спецвыпуск 31.12.2000, 19.09.2001, 19.11.2001, 09.04.2003) ^[79]
• Константин Точилин (Новогодний спецвыпуск 31.12.2000, 03.12.2001, 04.09.2002, 26.03.2003) ^[80]
• Павел Лобков (Новогодний спецвыпуск 31.12.2000)
• Ирина Зайцева (Новогодний спецвыпуск 31.12.2000, 20.12.2001, 29.08.2002, 18.03.2003) ^[81]
• Кирилл Набутов (Новогодний спецвыпуск 31.12.2000, 26.11.2001) ^[82]
• Эрнест Мацкявичюс (Новогодний спецвыпуск 31.12.2000, 15.10.2001, 05.12.2001) ^[83]
• Алексей Кондулуков (Новогодний выпуск 31.12.2000, 27.12.2001) ^[84]
• Юлия Бордовских (Новогодний выпуск 31.12.2000, 13.07.2001, 18.07.2001, 01.08.2001, 05.09.2001, 15.11.2001) ^[85]
• Борис Берман (Новогодний спецвыпуск 31.12.2000, 04.03.2003) ^[86]
• Ильдар Жандарёв (Новогодний спецвыпуск 31.12.2000, 12.03.2003) ^[87]
• Владимир Познер (20.06.2001, 18.10.2001) ^[88]
• Марк Захаров (02.07.2001) ^[89]
• Алим Юсупов (24.10.2001, 10.12.2001, 15.10.2002) ^[90]
• Вячеслав Крискевич (20.11.2001, 15.01.2002) ^[91]
• Николай Харитонов (07.11.2001) ^[92]
• Вадим Глускер (31.10.2001) ^[93]
• Иван Усачёв (01.11.2001) ^[94]
• Сергей Селин (06.11.2001) ^[95]
• Елена Малышева (30.10.2001) ^[96]
• Ашот Насибов (13.11.2001, 19.12.2001, 17.01.2002, 02.09.2002, 08.10.2002, 06.03.2003, 06.04.2003, 21.04.2003) ^{[97] [98]}
• Сергей Бунтман (30.08.2001, 29.10.2001, 19.03.2003) ^[99]
• Юлианна Шахова (12.11.2001, 16.04.2003) ^[100]
• Елизавета Листова (23.07.2001, 21.08.2001, 13.12.2001, 27.08.2002, 11.10.2002, 12.02.2003, 27.03.2003, 23.04.2003) ^[101]
• Григорий Кричевский (21.01.2002) ^[102]
• Ksenia Turkova (09/05/2002, 10/09/2002, 11/20/2002, 03/13/2003) ^[103]
• Alla Chernysheva (10.23.2002, 03.25.2003, 04.29.2003) ^[104]
• George Vasiliev (10/18/2002) ^[105]
• Andrey Belkevich (11/25/2002) ^[106]
• Alexey Lysenkov (11/27/2002) ^[107]
• Vladimir Solovyov (11/12/2002, 02/04/2003, 04/01/2003) ^[108]
• Alexey Mochanov (11.28.2002) ^[109]
• Alexander Shirvindt (12/31/2002) ^[110]
• Mikhail Shvydkoy (01/30/2003) ^[111]
• Maria Shakhova (02/05/2003) ^[112]
• Denis Pankratov (04/15/2003) ^[113]
• Petr Kosenko (04/22/2003) ^[114]
• Pyotr Kuleshov (02/19/2003) ^[115]

• On December 31, 2000, at midnight, NTV released a large New Year's program ^[116] , in which, in addition to Khryun and Stepan, all the presenters of the old NTV were present: Lev Novozhenov , Tatyana Mitkova , Andrey Norkin , Marianna Maksimovskaya , Mikhail Osokin , Vladimir Kara-Murza , Viktor Shenderovich , Yevgeny Kiselev , Leonid Parfyonov , Boris Berman , Ildar Zhandaryov , Irina Zaitseva, Dmitry Dibrov , Svetlana Sorokina , Kirill Nabutov , Elena Khanga , Nikolai Fomenko , Nikolay Nikolaev , Oksana Pushkina , Eleonora Filina, Eduard Uspensky , Pavel Yakov Branden Lobkov , V Ladimir Gusinsky (a portrait is shown through the telephone communication screen from Madrid from the Today program, Alexey Kolgan’s voice sounds), Pavel Lyubimtsev , Mikhail Shirvindt , Alexander Belyaev , Pyotr Marchenko , Kirill Pozdnyakov , Olga Belova , Yulia Bordovskikh , Yolanda Chen , Kirill Kiknadze ^[117] as well as correspondents Vyacheslav Grunsky, Alexey Veselovsky, Boris Koltsov, Konstantin Tochilin, Vladimir Chernyshev , Timofey Bazhenov , Elena Kurlyantseva , Ernest Matskevichyus , Vadim Takmenev , Natalya Zabuzova, Alexey Kondulukov , Vadim Fefilov and Alexey Pobortsev presented in the form of "singing" Christmas tree decorations at the very end of the New Year’s program.
• In the issue of “Spring Aggravation” (dated March 20, 2003), a fragment of the famous video message from LDPR deputy Vladimir Zhirinovsky to the 43rd US President George W. Bush was shown on Genka’s TV screen, but with a re-voice. The issue was shown on air, the mat muffled ^[118] .

Off-air edits

• For the anniversary of Alexander Tatarsky, one of the founders of the Pilot TV studio, which released “Put out the Light”, a special issue of the program was made, the feature of which was the excessive use of obscene vocabulary. It was not intended for broadcast (exclusively for internal use), but was posted on the Internet. Lev Novozhenov in this issue at first unsuccessfully tries to pacify the raging "animals", but then he begins to use profanity himself ^[119] .
• Already after the transition to TV-6, a special release was made on the birthday of Lev Novozhenov, which also did not go on air for censorship reasons, since it contained “strong expressions” ^[120] .
• There was another “obscene” special issue - to the tenth anniversary of Novaya Gazeta ^[121] .

• Transcripts of program releases from January to April 2003 on the TVS channel website