Pulttibois
Encyclopedia
Pulttibois was a popular Finnish sketch comedy
television show that premiered on MTV3
in 1989 and which starred a two-man cast of comedic actors - Pirkka-Pekka Petelius
and Aake Kalliala
. Both Petelius and Kalliala previously had been known for their work on YLE sketch comedies during the 1980s. In Pulttibois, Petelius and Kalliala created a compilation of 'over the top' sketches that were often scorned by critics, but loved by television viewers, eventually leading to a large cult following.
Three seasons of the show were made between 1989 and 1991, after which the show ended. It was succeeded by the less popular Manitbois, which saw the return of many of the characters from Pulttibois, as well as the singer imitations. However, the more popular characters from the original show were noticeably absent.
Since the end of Manitbois, Petelius and Kalliala mostly have moved on to more serious drama series and movies. However, Petelius still occasionally stars in humorous advertisements and sitcoms. Kalliala has made occasional comedic film appearances, most frequently in films produced by Porkkana Ryhmä the founders of the Kummeli
comedy troupe.
Pulttibois can still be seen in reruns on MTV3 and SubTV. In addition, episodes of the show have been released recently onto DVD
.
was the bizarre James Potkukelkka (played by Petelius) who would find himself panicking for some reason or another (such as getting stuck in a stopped escalator) and would require "rescuing" by the character played by Kalliala.
In addition, impersonations of celebrities, specifically musicians, were included in the form of lip-synching in front of a computer-generated background. The singers chosen for these impersonations ranged from popular Finnish artists of various eras to foreign (particularly American) artists and from the second season onwards would always be used as the bumper for the commercial breaks with the featured song usually reappearing over the credits.
. This led to the most absolute guideline of the show which meant that no overt swearing or adult humour was to be used. The show was produced on a relatively low budget often utilizing whatever locations the film-crew was permitted to use and very frequently shooting skits against a blue screen background. The show's lip sync segments most often featured computer generated backgrounds. In one of the lip sync sketches Kalliala lip-synched to the song Muistan sua Elaine which was performed by Petelius during his stint on the popular YLE sketch show Velipuolikuu
. Petelius in turn portrayed the role of the famous Finnish accordionist Pedro Hietanen. Additionally Kalliala's performance as Kirka who also guest-starred in one episode has become legendary.
The show had a number of variations made to its introduction as the show went on. The very earliest version of the intro had Petelius and Kalliala make their way to the studio while wearing sun-glasses, fedoras and trench-coats with the film sped up for comical effect. Two variants of the intro with the same music were shot, one in the Winter and one in early Spring. A third intro had the Petelius and Kalliala appear as ministers taking a helicopter ride back to their apartment to retrieve a misplaced box of matches.
Starting with the show's second season, the theme song became MARRS
' 1987 hit Pump up the Volume
. This song was accompanied by Petelius and Kalliala dancing and doing physically silly things to the beat of the music (as well as mouthing the lyrics "Brothers and sisters! Pump up the volume!") against a red background. Variants of this intro appeared all through the second and third season including a reversed version of the intro and versions with still-images from past skits in-between Kalliala and Petelius dancing.
At the beginning of the show's third season the Apuva!-guy's yell was changed to hjelpivä derived from the Swedish word for hjelp. In an interview Petelius said that this was due to critics saying that due to the popularity of the character no-one would any longer take a cry of help (apua) seriously.
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
television show that premiered on MTV3
MTV3
MTV3 is a Finnish commercial television station owned by Bonnier. It had the biggest audience share of all Finnish TV channels until Finnish Broadcasting Company’s YLE1 took the lead. The letters MTV stand for Mainos-TV , due to the channel getting its revenue from running commercials...
in 1989 and which starred a two-man cast of comedic actors - Pirkka-Pekka Petelius
Pirkka-Pekka Petelius
Pirkka-Pekka Petelius is a Finnish actor and screenwriter. He has also written manuscripts for Finnish TV series and made six records as a singer....
and Aake Kalliala
Aake Kalliala
Aarne "Aake" Kalliala is a Finnish actor. He is most famous for appearing on comedy-sketch shows such as Velipuolikuu and Pulttibois ....
. Both Petelius and Kalliala previously had been known for their work on YLE sketch comedies during the 1980s. In Pulttibois, Petelius and Kalliala created a compilation of 'over the top' sketches that were often scorned by critics, but loved by television viewers, eventually leading to a large cult following.
Three seasons of the show were made between 1989 and 1991, after which the show ended. It was succeeded by the less popular Manitbois, which saw the return of many of the characters from Pulttibois, as well as the singer imitations. However, the more popular characters from the original show were noticeably absent.
Since the end of Manitbois, Petelius and Kalliala mostly have moved on to more serious drama series and movies. However, Petelius still occasionally stars in humorous advertisements and sitcoms. Kalliala has made occasional comedic film appearances, most frequently in films produced by Porkkana Ryhmä the founders of the Kummeli
Kummeli
Kummeli is the name of a Finnish comedy crew formed by Heikki Silvennoinen, Timo Kahilainen and Heikki Hela from Tampere. They are also the heads of Porkkana Ryhmä, the crew's production company...
comedy troupe.
Pulttibois can still be seen in reruns on MTV3 and SubTV. In addition, episodes of the show have been released recently onto DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
.
Comedy
Pulttibois featured characters that had been modified from those originated in Petelius and Kalliala's previous shows, such as the jolly drunk Laplanders, the over-emotional gentlemen, the pair of gypsy boys and the unnecessarily loud pair of army officers but also emphasized original characters. The show's breakout characterBreakout character
A breakout character is a fictional character in different episodes, books or other media that becomes the most popular, talked about, and imitated. Most often a breakout character in a television series captures the audience's imagination and helps to popularize the show, sometimes inadvertently...
was the bizarre James Potkukelkka (played by Petelius) who would find himself panicking for some reason or another (such as getting stuck in a stopped escalator) and would require "rescuing" by the character played by Kalliala.
In addition, impersonations of celebrities, specifically musicians, were included in the form of lip-synching in front of a computer-generated background. The singers chosen for these impersonations ranged from popular Finnish artists of various eras to foreign (particularly American) artists and from the second season onwards would always be used as the bumper for the commercial breaks with the featured song usually reappearing over the credits.
Production
The series' production was overseen and supported by Spede PasanenSpede Pasanen
Pertti Olavi "Spede" Pasanen was a Finnish film director and producer, comedian, humorist, inventor, TV personality and practitioner of gags....
. This led to the most absolute guideline of the show which meant that no overt swearing or adult humour was to be used. The show was produced on a relatively low budget often utilizing whatever locations the film-crew was permitted to use and very frequently shooting skits against a blue screen background. The show's lip sync segments most often featured computer generated backgrounds. In one of the lip sync sketches Kalliala lip-synched to the song Muistan sua Elaine which was performed by Petelius during his stint on the popular YLE sketch show Velipuolikuu
Velipuolikuu
Velipuolikuu was a Finnish sketch comedy show that aired in 1983 on YLE...
. Petelius in turn portrayed the role of the famous Finnish accordionist Pedro Hietanen. Additionally Kalliala's performance as Kirka who also guest-starred in one episode has become legendary.
The show had a number of variations made to its introduction as the show went on. The very earliest version of the intro had Petelius and Kalliala make their way to the studio while wearing sun-glasses, fedoras and trench-coats with the film sped up for comical effect. Two variants of the intro with the same music were shot, one in the Winter and one in early Spring. A third intro had the Petelius and Kalliala appear as ministers taking a helicopter ride back to their apartment to retrieve a misplaced box of matches.
Starting with the show's second season, the theme song became MARRS
MARRS
MARRS was a 1987 one-off recording act formed by the groups A.R. Kane and Colourbox which only released one commercial disc...
' 1987 hit Pump up the Volume
Pump up the Volume (song)
"Pump Up the Volume" is a song and the only single by British recording act MARRS. It was a number-one hit in many countries and is generally regarded as a significant milestone in the development of British house music and music sampling....
. This song was accompanied by Petelius and Kalliala dancing and doing physically silly things to the beat of the music (as well as mouthing the lyrics "Brothers and sisters! Pump up the volume!") against a red background. Variants of this intro appeared all through the second and third season including a reversed version of the intro and versions with still-images from past skits in-between Kalliala and Petelius dancing.
At the beginning of the show's third season the Apuva!-guy's yell was changed to hjelpivä derived from the Swedish word for hjelp. In an interview Petelius said that this was due to critics saying that due to the popularity of the character no-one would any longer take a cry of help (apua) seriously.