Lyudmila Chebotina

KVN is a Russian humour TV show and competition where teams compete by giving funny answers to questions and showing prepared sketches. The programme was first aired by the First Soviet Channel on November 8, 1961. Eleven years later, in 1972, when few programmes were being broadcast live, Soviet censors found the students' impromptu jokes offensive and anti-Soviet and banned KVN. The show was revived fourteen years later during the Perestroika era in 1986, with Alexander Maslyakov as its host. It is one of the longest-running TV programmes on Russian Television. It also has its own holiday on November 8, the birthday of the game, which KVN players celebrate every year since it was announced and widely celebrated for the first time in 2001.

Born into an oligarch family, Grigory is so spoiled that he thinks he is above the law. When he goes too far with his escapades and faces a jail sentence, his father takes measures. With the help of a friend he plans to ‘rehabilitate’ his son. They reconstruct an abandoned village, 19th century style. Soon after that, Grigory gets into an arranged car accident and “goes back in time” reincarnated as a serf. All the people he meets there are actors. There are hidden cameras everywhere, and a team of psychologists watches Grigory. He will have to learn how to appreciate life and to work hard.