In Voice of Russia's entertaining weekly show From Moscow With Love with its unrivaled hosts Vasily Strelnikov and Natalia Stefanova tell you about the most interesting events in Moscow, Russia and the World. This week, Vasily salutes the Russian NATIONAL Hockey Team’s win at the World Championships. What was the atmosphere like at the Moscow Sports bar, where Vasily and a bunch of screaming locals watched the game live on TV? What else do Muscovites watch on TV besides Sports and News programs? Are foreign shows popular? Meanwhile, as someone who does not watch much television, Natasha is busy with her son, who has just finished school. How did “The Last Bell” ceremony go and when do exams start?
Vasily: On line, on satellite and on your mobile – hello, everyone, and welcome to the show!
Nataly: Hi, folks!
Vasily: Look, I've been living in Moscow for nearly 40 years, I've seen leaders change, systems change... But the "hot water summer shut off" remains the same. They claim it's for maintenance purposes, but I think there's something more sinister involved!
Nataly: You and your conspiracy theories!
Vasily: Every year, at around this time, tens of thousands of Muscovites warm their water in bins and buckets on kitchen stoves to have that shower or bath. This is the 21st century. The more fortunate ones like me, have heaters installed that send the electric meter spinning wildly out of control and send your head spinning out of control when the electric bill arrives in the mail...
Nataly: Anything else you want to get out of the way before we start the show?
Vasily: Yes! Congrats to the Russian National Hockey team for winning the world championship this year! It was a well-deserved victory after the poor showing at the Sochi Olympics. Also, the team has a new coach. I believe he’s from Moscow Dynamo - another dynamite team in the Continental Hockey league! The guy has character. Did you see the incident with the “I’ll cut your throat” gesture, directed at the Swedish coach? Man, that was funny… I posted a video to that on our Facebook Fan Page.
Nataly: So, you were following the championships after all?
Vasily: Didn’t see a single game this year, Natasha. Had other things on my mind. Watching the very last game between Finland and Russia was my friend’s idea. We got together at a bar Sunday night, had some food and watched the game. Go Caps Captain – Ovechkin! After it ended, the crowd at the sports bar went bonkers. There was so much cheering and yelling…
Nataly: What else are you watching, VAS?
Vasily: Jack Bauer! “24” is back for a mini-series and I AM tuned in! Just curious how it’s doing in the ratings in the United States? Can anyone tell me, please? There is so much quality programing out there right now. It’s been like that for several years now, as an example, your favorite show – The Newsroom! All this is having an effect on Russian television. Local production companies want to get in on the bandwagon. It turns out there will soon be a local version of “Homeland” staring some pretty good Russian actors. Over the years, there have been quite a few Russian remakes of popular TV shows. The rate at which Russia is adapting foreign TV series is amazing. In the Soviet Union, they did not make any TV series in the modern sense of the word. Instead, they had miniseries, and these made up the core of the Russian TV schedule. Today, 80 percent of prime-time hours are given over to TV series, with the rest being filled by news programs. The very first successful adaptation came at the turn of the century. It was “The Nanny”.
Nataly: Let me see. My kids watch “The game of thrones”, which they said is not meant for me. I trust them. Together we watched “The House of Cards”. I loved Kevin Spacey. He is a genius, but I couldn’t watch the second season, it’s not meant for my nerves. Sandy and I watch “Downton Abbey”, and so does Stephen Graves, I know! We watch “Once Upon a Time” – I love fairy tales and fantasy. I practically learnt by heart “The Newsroom” and continue re-watching it from time to time. But my all-time favorite is the British detective series “Foyle’s War”, starring Michael Kitchen. To be quite frank, I prefer British series. They are very good quality, so intricately made with genuine love for detail.
Vasily: Check out our Fan Page for a link to an interesting video, comparing the Original, American version of The Nanny with the Russian version and tell me what you think.
