Nyhjää tyhjästä

What would Finnish entertainment be without our favourite Briton, Neil Hardwick? He was Da Man for almost two decades, from the children's educational series "Hello Hello Hello" (1975) through highly original and funny entertainment series like "Tankki täyteen" (1978-1980), "Kielipuolipotilas" ("Dumb Show", 1978) and "Sisko ja sen veli" (1986) right to "Nyhjää tyhjästä" (direct translation: "Make Something out of Nothing", 1991)."Nyhjää tyhjästä" is an improvisation show much like "Whose Line Is It Anyway". Not that they are completely similar, although I think Hardwick probably had seen some early episodes of the British variant. In the Finnish version the improvised stories and songs are much more hit and miss than in its Anglo American counterparts. Whether this is caused by the British/American actors being superior to their Finnish counterparts, or simply because the Finnish version isn't as carefully scripted in advance, I cannot tell. Nevertheless, when the performances click, they are superbly funny.The cast list reads like a "Who Is Who" of Finnish actors with live talent. Although almost all performers are quite good, there are still some that stand apart, namely (and in this order) Ulla Tapaninen, Kari Heiskanen and Mikko Kivinen.I find very few Finnish entertainment programs where I actually end up wiping laughter tears from my eyes. Still, I'm afraid that unless you understand the language, you probably wouldn't enjoy the show very much, even if it was subtitled in your own mother tongue. This series gets a strong 8 from me - only the occasional not-so-funny performances rob it from scoring even better.