Hyvät herrat

Hyvät herrat
Finnish	Hyvät herrat
Genre	Political satire
Created by	Jarmo Porola
Starring	Matti Tuominen Eero Melasniemi Eila Pehkonen Anja Pohjola Sarina Röhr Mikko Roiha Billy Carson Vilma Melasniemi
Theme music composer	Jussi Halme
Opening theme	Seppo Välimäki
Country of origin	Finland
Original language	Finnish
No. of seasons	7
No. of episodes	207
Production
Running time	58 minutes
Production company	VipVision
Original release
Network	Kolmoskanava, later MTV3
Release	15 January 1990 (1990-01-15) – 21 May 1996 (1996-05-21)

Hyvät herrat (Good Gentlemen) is a Finnish political satire series produced between 1990 and 1996. The series was shown in 1990–1992 on Kolmoskanava and in 1993–1996 on MTV3. Aarno Laitinen was the screenwriter of the series, with his assistant mainly Lasse Lehtinen under the pseudonyms Saara Lenso, Serita Numintio and Sole Sarana. For a few years, together with Laitinen and Lehtinen, Yleisradio's political editor Jarkko Juselius wrote the series. The director of the series was Pertti Melasniemi and the producer was Jarmo Porola. A total of 207 episodes were made in the series. In 1999, the 15-part continuation series Herrat nauraa was completed, which was a continuation of the original series.

Overview

The main characters of the series are business advisor Johannes Paukku (Matti Tuominen), a sausage manufacturer who got rich with "Paukku's Run" and his son-in-law Raimo "Tollo" Koskivuo (Eero Melasniemi), a social democratic politician, whom Yleni promoted from MP to party secretary and minister during the series. In each episode, Paukku and Tollo organised a sauna evening and invited a political guest or other well-known public figure, with whom they tried to talk into favouring their own political projects, along with saunas, sowing and drinking. Sales advisor Paukku's role model was reportedly business leader and business organisation influencer Heikki Tavela.

In order to get up-to-date political remarks, the week's episode was filmed in 1990 on Mondays and the program came out on TV the evening of the same day, which was why they read the same day's afternoon newspapers. From the spring of 1991, the day of recording was moved to Tuesday, until the end of the series. This gave the staff one day more time to make the series. The filming location for the series was the Park Hotel Käpylä in Käpylä, Helsinki, which has been operating under the name Finlandia Park Hotel Helsinki since February 2017.

The screenwriter Lasse Lehtinen has recalled that several well-known male actors were considered for the role of sales advisor Paukku, starting with Lasse Pöysti and Pentti Siimes. The requirement was that the actor to be chosen was absolutely sober. For this reason, according to Lehtinen, the task turned out to be difficult, because almost all the male actors who were free at the time had an alcohol problem. Director Pertti Melasniemi demanded and got Matti Tuominen as sales advisor Paukku. Lasse Lehtinen has considered Tuominen's choice to be successful, as he skillfully embraced the role of Paukku. When Tuominen was chosen, he was still relatively unknown to the general public, although he already had a long career as a theatre actor behind him. Tuominen's son, actor Sakari Tuominen, has said that in his private life, his father was more or less the complete opposite of Paukku, shy and modest in nature and rather a sidekick than the center of the group.

The characters of Hyvät herrat were well-characterised and its humour was often snarky. Sales advisor Paukku was a chauvinistic and whiny industrialist, Tollo, on the other hand, a sleazy political gambler. With the help of the characters, the "good brother network" of politics was caricatured, where decisions are plotted in cabinets and sauna evenings "behind the people's backs". In addition, Paukku and Tollo indulged in high life, drinking, and occasional side-jumping (the business advisor lived in Barcelona, and Mrs. Koskivuoka never appeared in the series either). In the episodes of the first year, the sauna guests' backs were washed by the sower Armi (Eila Pehkonen). The actor Pehkonen died in September 1991, and until the end of the program's life, she was replaced by Tyyne Hurskainen (Anja Pohjola), who commented on politics from her own perspective of a "revolutionary front-line". During the series, the sauna group was served "turpentine" by several waiters, first Pia (Sarina Röhr), then Timo (Mikko Roiha), whom Paukku called Håkan, and finally Dr. Samuel Livingstone Matabele (Billy Carson). Paukku treated the waiter characters with open disdain, which was meant to reflect prejudices against women, sexual minorities, immigrants and animal activists. However, according to the director Melasniemi, Paukku was always the one who misbehaved, got picked on and was laughed at in the end.

Guests

In each episode of the series, a Finnish politician or other public figure appeared as himself. Although Paukku and Tollo could put their guests behind their backs and in front of them cheaply, there were always enough guests for the show, because they got media publicity and the opportunity to present their own thoughts on a popular television show. This is how real politics and the satire of the screenwriters were mixed in Hyvät herrat. Paukku's sauna was visited by the highest leadership of the kingdom, including ministers. According to Lasse Lehtinen, who wrote the program, the politicians actually competed to be included in the program, and only a few, such as Paavo Väyrynen, refused the invitation.

The Prime Minister Esko Aho participated in the making of the series and appeared in the filming, but at the last drop he refused to air the episode. The Russian diplomat Viktor Vladimirov, on the other hand, had promised to join Hyvät herrat, but cancelled his arrival a day before filming. Vladimirov was replaced at short notice by writer and politician Jörn Donner.

President of Finland Mauno Koivisto was supposed to join an episode of Hyvät herrat to play volleyball with Tollo for the Sikariporras team. The day before the shooting, there were government negotiations, and in order to mix fact and fiction, Pertti Melasniemi sent Tollo with the film crew to the location to comment on the government negotiations. When the afternoon papers reported the next day that Tollo participated in the formation of the government, the Office of the President of Finland was informed that the president wanted to transfer his participation to Hyvät herrat. Melasniemi interpreted that Koivisto would never be seen in the series.

According to Tapani Ruokanen, the author of President Martti Ahtisaari's biography, in 1992 and 1993 Hyvät herrat helped pave the way for Ahtisaari to become the President of the Republic. Ahtisaari's name as a possible future presidential candidate came up in an episode of Hyvät herrat that was shown at the beginning of September 1992. A couple of weeks later, Aarno Laitinen wrote a column in Iltalehti with the title "Could it be Martti Ahtisaari?" Lasse Lehtinen was on bad terms with SDP's long-term chairman and four-time prime minister, Kalevi Sorsa, and wanted to prevent Sorsa from becoming a presidential candidate. The later chairman of the SDP, Eero Heinäluoma, said in Ahtisaari's biography: "The essential thing was that Lasse Lehtinen, a propagandist who was even more skilled than Göbbels, set out to push Ahtisaari for the presidency, systematically and using the entire media. He influenced through his fellow journalists in all media”.

Partial list of guests

• Sauli Niinistö
• Tarja Halonen
• Martti Ahtisaari
• Elisabeth Rehn
• Matti Vanhanen
• Juha "Junnu" Vainio
• Ben Zyskowicz
• Jörn Donner
• Ilkka Kanerva
• Pirkko K. Koskinen
• Sanelma Vuorre
• Tuovi Allén
• Hannele Luukkainen
• Kerttu Törnqvist
• Leif Salmén
• Leena Harkimo
• Eero Paloheimo
• Riitta Suominen
• Ruben Stiller
• Spede Pasanen

Impact

Hyvät herrat was a popular show throughout its lifetime: for example, the episode broadcast on 6 April 1993 drew 1.4 million viewers. The series made its main star, the sales advisor Paukku, a cult figure, and this echoed in almost every episode from the cry "Personnel, turpentine!" (Henkilökunta, tärpättiä!) came the flying phrase. At the same time, the visit of high-ranking politicians in the program, which often cultivates dark humor, also aroused indignation. In the mid-1990s, the current affairs program Mediapeli, shown on MTV3, organized a studio discussion and a viewer survey on the topic "Is it appropriate for ministers to visit the Hyvät herrat show?". The illustration used was the post-May Day episode of Hyvät herrat, where Paukku and Tollo wake up from a drinking hole wearing May Day masks.

Season 1
Number	Name	Guest(s)	Airdate
1	Raha saa palkkansa	Jukka Keitele	15 January 1990
2	Tittelit pois	Riitta Suominen	22 January 1990
3	Oma koti turhan kallis	Arja Alho	29 January 1990
4	Kolmossivun tyttö	Heikki Tavela	5 February 1990
5	Kallis kansliapäällikkö	Bror Wahlroos	12 February 1990
6	Kirje rajan takaa	Leif Salmén	19 February 1990
7	Paukku ja Leppänen	Urpo Leppänen	26 February 1990
8	Karjala takaisin!	Johannes Virolainen	5 March 1990
9			12 March 1990
10	Oma pää ja pääoma	Esko Seppänen	19 March 1990
11	Muistamaton neuvos	Lasse Lehtinen	26 March 1990
12	Paljon onnea vaan	Juha Vainio	2 April 1990
13			9 April 1990
14			23 April 1990
15	Mustaa valkoisella		7 May 1990

Season 2
Number	Name	Guest(s)	Airdate
16	Turun muikku	Ari Valjakka	15 October 1990
17	Nautaa rajalle	Pekka Ruotsalainen	22 October 1990
18		Erja Tikka	29 October 1990
19	Kumin käryä		5 November 1990
20		Pekka Vennamo	12 November 1990
21	Pappia kyydissä	Heikki Riihijärvi	19 November 1990
22	Melkein ministeri	Pekka Kivelä	26 November 1990
23			3 December 1990
24			10 December 1990
25	Paukkuryssiä	Rita Tainola	17 December 1990
26			29 January 1991
27			5 February 1991
28	Rauha ja solidaarisuus	Jukka Kuikka	12 February 1991
29			19 February 1991
30		Matti Louekoski	26 February 1991
31			5 March 1991
32			12 March 1991
33			19 March 1991
34			26 March 1991
35	Makkaraesirippu	Ben Zyskowicz	9 April 1991
36	Mooses ja Demostenes	Arto Tuominen	16 April 1991
37	Paukku ja pamppu	Sulo Aittoniemi	23 April 1991
38	Makkarapankki	Ulf Sundqvist	30 April 1991
39	Pallo hallussa	Anssi Rauramo	7 May 1991

Season 3
Number	Name	Guest(s)	Airdate
40	Ann yks silakk	Elisabeth Rehn	1 October 1991
41			8 October 1991
42			15 October 1991
43			22 October 1991
44			29 October 1991
45			5 November 1991
46			12 November 1991
47	Ei tippapullo tapa	Ilkka Kanerva	19 November 1991
48	Taistojen teillä	Matti Viialainen	26 November 1991
49	Kauhea Kankkunen	Juha Kankkunen	3 December 1991
50	Dynamiittia!!	Eero Paloheimo	10 December 1991
51	En etsi valtaa	Kirsti Paakkanen	17 December 1991
52	Kuollut kukko	Jörn Donner	4 January 1992
53	Poliisin tuttu		11 February 1992
54	Innostunut sonni		18 February 1992
55	Varkauspäivä	Hannele Luukkanen	25 February 1992
56	Lakkokenraalit	Risto Kuisma	3 March 1992
57	Tiede ja kunnia	Eino Tunkelo	10 March 1992
58	Valoa kansalle	Pentti Sierilä	17 March 1992
59	Peräänanattomat		24 March 1992
60	Sairas kansa		31 March 1992
61	Pekkaspäivä	Tarja Tenkula	7 April 1992
62	On sovittu		14 April 1992
63	Tuhlaajapojat	Raimo Ilaskivi	28 April 1992
64	Jokeri hihassa	Teemu Selänne Hjallis Harkimo	5 May 1992
65	Valkoinen metsästäjä	Peter Fryckman	12 May 1992
66	Tasavallan miehet	Arvo Salo	19 May 1992
67	Hullujen huone	Claes Andersson	26 May 1992

Season 4
Number	Name	Guest(s)	Airdate
68	Loistelohta	Jukka Ojaranta	1 September 1992
69	Meedio	Terho Pursiainen	8 September 1992
70	Kolme muskettisoturia	Raimo Vistbacka	15 September 1992
71	Työstä ja taistelusta	Mikko Laaksonen	22 September 1992
72	Mein Kampf	Renny Harlin	29 September 1992
73	Carlssonin kiusaus	Jorma Ojaharju	6 October 1992
74	Leijonaketju hyökkää	Seppo Lindblom	13 October 1992
75	Käytös kymmenen	Sanelma Vuorre	20 October 1992
76	Tasavallan ruorimiehet	Kimmo Sasi	27 October 1992
77	Miehen kääntöpuoli	Liisa Kulhia	3 November 1992
78	Kaasua, Kauppaneuvos Paukku	Pirjo-Riitta Antvuori	10 November 1992
79	Miesten turvakoti	Ilkka Taipale	17 November 1992
80			24 November 1992
81	Itsenäisyyden varjossa	Georg C. Ehrnrooth	1 December 1992
82	Porsaita äidin		8 December 1992
83	Sponsorisopimus	Riitta Suominen	5 January 1993
84	Joustavin hampain	Paavo Lipponen	12 January 1993
85	Työhönottohaastattelu	Olli Rehn	19 January 1993
86	Rakastan elämää	Jutta Zilliacus	26 January 1993
87	Suuri lehtijako	Markku Laukkanen	2 February 1993
88	Tappajahauki	Seppo Sarlund	9 February 1993
89	Kauhun tasapaino	Jaakko Laakso	16 February 1993
90	Vahakabinetti	Tarja Kautto	23 February 1993
91			2 March 1993
92			9 March 1993
93	Samma på svenska	Ole Norrback	16 March 1993
94	Yltiöheterö	Paavo Nikula	23 March 1993
95	Vettä ja leipää		30 March 1993
96	Saamamies	Kike Elomaa	6 April 1993
97	Pakettiratkaisu		20 April 1993
98	Taivaan täydeltä	Heikki Nikunen	27 April 1993
99	Vapaa Lappi	Esko-Juhani Tennilä	4 May 1993
100	Supersunnuntai	Antti Kalliomäki	11 May 1993
101	Turskan puolesta	Minna Karhunen	18 May 1993
102	Eväsreppu	Tuovi Allén	25 May 1993

Season 5
Number	Name	Guest(s)	Airdate
103	Musta Pekka		31 August 1993
104			7 September 1993
105	Hiomaton timantti	Anne Murto	14 September 1993
106	Ydinkysymys	Martti Tiuri Matti Putkonen	21 September 1993
107	Ekoismi		28 September 1993
108	Kitkan viisas	Pauli Saapunki	5 October 1993
109	Kunnianmies	Lasse Virén	12 October 1993
110	Rantarosvot	Kari Häkämies	19 October 1993
111	Lähivaikuttaja		26 October 1993
112	Kyläpäälliköt	Aaro Heikkilä	2 November 1993
113	Työn sankarit	Juha Mieto	9 November 1993
114	Euromannekiini	Laila Snellman	16 November 1993
115	Isänmaa vaarassa		23 November 1993
116	Karelia-Express	Pekka Karhuvaara	30 November 1993
117	Vihreä akkavalta	Jaakko Pöyry	7 December 1993
118	Sanaton mutiainen	Lasse Kanerva	14 December 1993
119	Työmiehen tietolaari		11 January 1994
120	Lullan och Bullan	Tuulikki Ukkola	18 January 1994
121	Sylttytehdas	Sauli Niinistö	25 January 1994
122			1 February 1994
123	Sananvapauden tunarit	Uma Aaltonen	8 February 1994
124		Kirsi Piha	15 February 1994
125			22 February 1994
126			1 March 1994
127			8 March 1994
128	Jäätä särkemään		15 March 1994
129	Rehellinen konna	Volvo Markkanen	22 March 1994
130	Koirakoulu	Pentti Matikainen	29 March 1994
131	Karjala takaisin	Rauno Meriö	12 April 1994
132	Paavo ja Paavo	Seppo Pelttari	19 April 1994
133	Laastaria, laastaria	Peter Nygård	26 April 1994
134	Painista runoon	Pertti Ukkola	3 May 1994
135	Aatosta jaloa	Eino Grön	10 May 1994
136	Hellät varpaat	Curt Lindström	17 May 1994
137	Vihreä n**keri	Pekka Haavisto	24 May 1994

Season 6
Number	Name	Guest(s)	Airdate
138	Kaatuneiden muistopäivä	Veltto Virtanen	30 August 1994
139	Yks paskan maku	Kauko Juhantalo	6 September 1994
140	Malja Euroopalle	Rolf Kullberg	13 September 1994
141	Ryssän kätyri	Georg Paile	20 September 1994
142	Anekauppaneuvos	Tapani Ruokanen	27 September 1994
143	Likivihreät	Heidi Hautala	4 October 1994
144	Bryssä hyökkää	Erkki Liikanen	11 October 1994
145	Opin sauna	Olli-Pekka Heinonen	18 October 1994
146	Turun tauti	Mikko Rönnholm	25 October 1994
147	Maamiehen tietolaari	Heikki A. Ollila	1 November 1994
148	Miesten turvakoti	Sinikka Hurskainen	8 November 1994
149			15 November 1994
150	Muodollisesti pätevä	Anne Sällylä	22 November 1994
151	Nuori vesipeto		29 November 1994
152	Varjovastaanotto	Heikki Sarmanto Matti Oiling	6 December 1994
153	Köyhien joulu	Niilo Tarvajärvi	13 December 1994
154	Hei, me sukelletaan	Jari Komulainen	17 January 1995
155			24 January 1995
156			31 January 1995
157			7 February 1995
158			14 February 1995
159	Paragondemari	Tarja Halonen	21 February 1995
160	Vaalilöylyt	Anneli Taina	28 February 1995
161			7 March 1995
162			14 March 1995
163	Käärme paratiisissa	Ruben Stiller	21 March 1995
164	Asfalttikepulainen	Matti Vanhanen	28 March 1995
165	Mäntsälä mielessäin	Timo T. A. Mikkonen	4 April 1995
166	Melkein ministeri		11 April 1995
167		Tuija Brax	25 April 1995
168			2 May 1995
169	Uusi poliittinen kulttuuri	Outi Ojala	9 May 1995
170	Lapuan vireä	Tapio Korjus	16 May 1995
171	Viimeinen demari	Aimo Kairamo Tom Warelius	23 May 1995
172	Aatosta jaloa	Liisa Hyssälä	30 May 1995

Season 7
Number	Name	Guest(s)	Airdate
173	Iso vihree		29 August 1995
174	Ylämaan kunkku		5 September 1995
175	Hyvä kysymys		12 September 1995
176	Jhallikeisari		19 September 1995
177	Tohtorikopla		26 September 1995
178	Elokuvaa suurempaa	Spede Pasanen	3 October 1995
179			10 October 1995
180	Missitohtori		17 October 1995
181			24 October 1995
182			31 October 1995
183			7 November 1995
184			14 November 1995
185			21 November 1995
186	Hojo, hojo	Heikki Turunen	28 November 1995
187	Formuakauppa		5 December 1995
188	Sikaenergiaa		12 December 1995
189	Toverikauppa	Pekka Korinen	9 January 1996
190	Tervemenoa		16 January 1996
191	Nuoret kotkat		23 January 1996
192	SULi kuuhun		30 January 1996
193	Leivätön pöytä		6 February 1996
194	Sissimajuri		13 February 1996
195	Routaporsas		20 February 1996
196	Silkkiä ja puoteja		27 February 1996
197	Oi noita taikureita		5 March 1996
198	Shakki ja nakki		12 March 1996
199	Ei EU-nukkeja!		19 March 1996
200	Paljon onnea vaan		26 March 1996
201	Helise maa!		2 April 1996
202	Havuja, perkele		16 April 1996
203	N**kerijatsia	Jyrki Kangas Ted Curson Reiska Laine	23 April 1996
204	Kuninkaallinen vappu		30 April 1996
205	Viherkossu		7 May 1996
206	Kala nimeltään Vanda	Pekka Kejonen	14 May 1996
207	Laulu Katupoikien		21 May 1996

Sequels

In 1999, a short sequel was made to the series called Herrat nauraa.

In the winter of 2006–2007, MTV3 aired a new series, Donna Paukku, in which Johannes Paukku's illegitimate daughter arrives in Finland and begins to sauna guests with the help of Tollo and Tyyne. Of the actors of the old series, only Anja Pohjola, who played Tyyne Hurskainen, was involved. Aarno Laitinen opted out of the Donna Paukku series, but he could not prevent it from being done under the copyright law.

Reruns

The episodes of the series in the first years were repeated on the Sunday morning after the premiere. Episodes of the series were rerun in the summer of 1998.[ During the 2006 presidential elections, three episodes of the fifth season were repeated, which were visited by presidential candidates Matti Vanhanen, Tarja Halonen and Sauli Niinistö. In addition, in the summer of 2006, MTV3 aired eight selected episodes from 1990 to 1992 as a wish list.

Title theme

The theme music of the series and other synthesizer music in the program was made by Jussi Halme. In 2022, Halme and a Finnish hip-hop and R&B singer-artist collaborated on an updated version of Hyvät herrat's signature theme, as the original series soundtracks had been destroyed in MTV's archives.

Intro

1993

In 1993, the episodes used an intro in which the Table Frame appears on a cloudy background, where the most central people of the series appear alternately: sales advisor Paukku, Tollo Koskivuo, Tyyne Hurskainen and bartender Timo, in later episodes Samuel Livingstone Matabele.

1994-1996

At the beginning of the episodes from 1994 to 1996, a computer-generated animation by Seppo Välimäki was used as its intro. The animation in question later became an internet meme, earning the nickname "Bowling Alley screens when you get a Strike".

At the beginning of the animation, the parliament building is depicted. The "lump" rumbles along the ground to the steps of the parliament building. The "pillars" of the House of Parliament look on and the "lump" moves from the stairs to the central pillar. At the same time, the other columns start running out of the picture. The middle column begins to bulge, and the face of Sales Advisor Paukku begins to appear, smiling widely. Suddenly, Paukku's face freezes, and remains under the banknote. After a while, the picture shows a 100-mark bill with the face of the sales advisor. Raimo T. Koskivuo takes the bill into his pocket and after a moment Koskivuo disappears inside the coffee cup shown in the picture. Then Tyyne Hurskainen takes the cup and drinks coffee, when suddenly the picture becomes strange and the bartender Samuel Livingstone Matabele appears in the picture. After that, he crumbles into little pink balls. The bartender sweeps up the shattered balls, and at the end, the roof of the parliament building collapses.

Cast

In the main roles

• Matti Tuominen as trade advisor Johannes Paukku
• Eero Melasniemi as Member of Parliament/Party Secretary/Minister of Chancellery Raimo "Tollo" Koskivuo
• Eila Pehkonen as sower Armi (1990–1991)
• Anja Pohjola as sower Tyyne Hurskainen (1991–1996, 1999)
• Sarina Röhr as bartender Pia (1990–1991)
• Mikko Roiha as bartender Timo/Håkan (1992–1993)
• Billy Carson as South African-born bartender Dr. Samuel Livingstone Matabele (1993–1996)

Cameo roles

Sales advisor Paukku made a cameo role in Ere Kokkonen's movie Vääpeli Körmy - taisteluni. In the film, when negotiations are underway to end the war between Finland and Sweden, the commander of the Swedish army is softened up by taking him to Paukku's sauna.

Homages

The sauna facilities at Park Hotel Käpylä are named after the series characters Paukku, Tollo and Tyyne.