Magront Maria Viktorovna (Akhvlediani) - Candidate of Philological Sciences, Deputy Head of the Department of Journalism and Television of the Higher School of Economics (Faculty) of Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov, author, director and producer of television programs and films, laureate of international festivals and competitions. Academician of the International Academy of Television and Radio (IATR), member of the Eurasian Academy of Television and Radio Broadcasting, member of the Union of Journalists of Russia, member of the International Union of Journalists. Awarded with the medal “Academician A.I. Berg” in 2015. Author of textbooks and monographs.

In the spring, a new book by Maria Magront - "TV behind the scenes" will be released. It is dedicated to the history of the creation of the legendary domestic television programs: “Come on, girls!”, “What? Where? When?”, “Love at first sight”, “Lucky chance” and others. For many, these names evoke fond memories and nostalgia. Many people know the presenters, but how were these programs created? Who are the heroes behind the scenes? What funny things happened on the sites? All this in the book of Maria Magront "TV behind the scenes."

Love at first sight. 25 years later

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the launch of the iconic Love at First Sight program. For many years this TV show has not appeared on our screens, but how can you forget the charming Alla and her co-host Boris Kryuk. It book could not pass by this touching and funny anniversary. We publish an excerpt from a wonderful book by Maria Magront, dedicated to the iconic programs of Russian television.

The book is based on exclusive interviews with the creators and producers of the programs, and some scripts are published for the first time.

In 1990, specialists from the GUVS - the Main Directorate of Foreign Relations went to the TV market in Cannes. Valentin Lazutkin received permission from Vladimir Voroshilov and Natalia Stetsenko to sell What? Where? When?". Several cassettes were recorded, and although the format was not sold to the West, it was of interest. And just a month or two later, a producer from England, Stephen Leahy, the head of Action Time and the author of the idea of ​​Love at First Sight, came to N. I. Stetsenko, who brought two suitcases with cassettes. It was obvious to Natalia Ivanovna that no one and nothing would buy from us in the West, it was politically unprofitable for them - they buy what America offers them.

Natalia Stetsenko:“Even then they told us that if America buys and they go, then everyone else will buy. And to sell so that we can buy - that's welcome! We understood this then, and Stephen brought different programs, and when I began to watch them, there were mostly quizzes, and I was not interested in doing all this. After all, we then had a Brain-ring with great success, and “What? Where? When? ”, And suddenly I took this cassette“ Love at First Sight ”, I looked, it was something completely different, another plane, unfamiliar to us. And I decided to do it, it turned out to be a completely new format in England, and they told us that we would be the first or second to do it.

A group of television specialists from Holland and the then Soviet Union were met in London. The hospitable hosts first introduced the Soviet TV crew to the capital of Great Britain, and then moved to Nottinghamshire, England, since the production was located in the city of Nottingham, where the Igra-TV company filmed the pilot version of Love at First Sight. The quality of the equipment was amazing, and the joint work turned out to be useful and interesting. But Natalia Ivanovna did not begin to trace the program in everything. With the British, everything is written through endless “stop” commands, the work of the director and cameramen is scheduled for cameras - camera No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, just take the editor and press the buttons. Natalia Stetsenko told her people that our company is working live, and if someone dares to announce “Stop!” in the studio, they will be fired tomorrow. All broadcasts, regardless of whether they are recorded or live, are filmed by the Igra-TV television company live.

In fact, the show costs money, and in the West it is well understood. And since the Soviet side did not have money to shoot the "pilot", the British financed the whole process.

Natalia Stetsenko:“So they gave us 100 pounds as employees, I bought this cross there for 10 pounds and have not taken it off since then.”

At that time, the British had such an interest in the Soviet Union, in Russia, that three young heroes of the program flew on one plane, and three heroines on another plane, lived in different hotels, accompanied by different editors. The hosts of the program were Alla Volkova and Boris Kryuk. Alla spoke good English, Boris spoke it a little. Every lunch and dinner, the English gathered the whole group, and during the dinner, Stephen clapped his hands several times, and everyone moved from their seats to others. So everyone got to know each other.

Natalia Stetsenko:“I’m not talking about the fact that we didn’t understand at first, they showed how their know-how schedule was not only for shooting, but for the whole day, so that boys and girls would not meet on the set. And they had it planned down to the minute - who enters which dressing room when, who enters the studio, who meets whom at the subway, then they filmed like that. Shooting technology is rigidly prescribed by the minute, i.e. we had to do everything exactly to the minute.”

The only thing the Russian team stumbled over was computers, because we didn’t have any computers at all in our country, and answers to questions had to be written on computers, and these large computers were brought to us from England. A special computer engineer, Chris Goss, arrived and needed to be accommodated in a hotel, and then there was also a problem with this. Then there was a problem with radio microphones, in our country no one knew what it was, and those that we had, so that the participants could communicate with each other, jammed them - the Ostankino Tower, in general, it was a nightmare. When Natalia Ivanovna Stetsenko told Stephen Leahy about this, he replied that they had chosen the most technologically sophisticated, most advanced transmission.

Natalia Stetsenko:“And this program gave us a lot, although then everyone scolded us! How much Boris went through then, how much Alla went through! But it was a revolutionary game, youth poured in! Our office was littered with letters, just like at ChGK, they wrote from all over the country and the popularity was crazy!”

The Russian side bought a hat and music from the British, but they refused a set of questions, taking only two or three from them, because some of the questions in the English version were absurd and unacceptable for us. Natalia Ivanovna also admits that only in England she realized that we are very gloomy people, we are busy and can neither smile nor relax.

Natalia Stetsenko: “Of course, we were very worried, Andrey Kozlov was then a novice director, who at that time had not yet filmed a single program on his own, Boris Kryuk, who directed the Brain Ring, but had never hosted a single program, and I remember that I came to the hotel, where I had a huge bed in my room, which I was afraid to approach, turned back the bedspread, and lay down on the edge. The stress is monstrous!”

Alla Volkova, host of the program recalls the situation at the end of November 1990 in Nottingham. “There was an unusually warm, friendly and sunny atmosphere in the studio. And the director on the set before I went on the “stage” said: “Smile and do not forget that you are not talking to the camera, but are referring to your beloved friend, neighbor. You will come to visit them every week!”

Soviet TV people walked tense and gloomy, while the British had a completely different principle, they entered the studio and they had a rule - no matter who entered: the administrator, assistant, producer or owner of the channel, to the music of Love at First Sight, everyone began to dance. Everyone did it!

Natalia Stetsenko:“And when we came in, they kept asking: “Are you in trouble?” We didn't know what to answer. And we learned to relax and smile.”

Photos from the archive of TC "IGRA-TV".

The end of the famous era of "three channels" on Russian television was marked by the appearance of programs of a new format, already popular in the West. Deprived of an ideological and informational orientation, they immediately gained popularity among the audience. "Field of Miracles" already had its audience, in January 1992 another game TV show appeared on the ORT channel, but already "about love" - ​​the program "Love at First Sight".

It was a licensed game bought by Russian television from the English studio Action Time. According to the rules, 3 girls and 3 young men who were not married and dreamed of meeting their "soul mate" took part in it. As part of the air time, young people who had not previously met answered various questions from the presenters at the first stage. Based on the answers, the first impression of each other was formed, the participants chose the ones they liked the most. As a result, the computer chose matching pairs. They went to a restaurant to get to know each other better.
The next day, the winners of the first stage answered questions about the partner's behavior in various situations. They scored points based on the number of correct answers. One point was equal to one shot from a gun in sectors with painted hearts. Behind each of them was either a prize (books, TV, film cameras, etc.), a romantic trip, a broken heart - it meant the end of the game.
When the first release of the program was being prepared for broadcast, its creators faced a number of specific difficulties. There was no experience of holding a show of this format, it was not known how the presenters should have behaved, there was not even a computer at the studio - the equipment of the 60-70s was used. It was decided that the entire film crew, along with the participants and presenters, would go to London to record the program. Later, the British colleagues supplied the necessary equipment.
The calling card of the new TV show was its hosts - Boris Kryuk and Alla Volkova. She was represented as such - the "incomparable" Alla. A light and feminine type was always skillfully maintained - the presenter smiled radiantly all the time, very often giggled out of place, but very often changed outfits and hairstyles, and in the first issues she generally spoke very little. Boris is an intellectual with a subtle sense of humor. But what especially bought in his manner of presenting the program was the lack of sarcasm and irony in jokes. Kryuk and Volkova skillfully supported the rumors about an office romance between them. Millions of people were looking forward to: when will they finally get married?
The program, especially in the early years of its existence, had a lot of fans, especially among the female audience of absolutely all ages. Schoolgirls with their mothers and grandmothers dropped everything and sat down in front of the blue screen. They commented on questions and discussed successful answers to them, in the first minutes they suggested a possible ideal couple, determined favorites, rooted for them with all their hearts and sincerely wished to win a romantic trip.
By the behavior of the participants, it was clear that they came here for various reasons. Someone wanted to win prizes, someone wanted to test and show themselves, someone with an interesting partner to go on an interesting trip. But to find love? This probably happened too. They said that the program even kept statistics on the number of marriages.
In 1998, during the default, like many other projects, Love at First Sight was closed. Later, they tried to revive it, but it was no longer the same: in the genre rather for “adults” and with other presenters, they spoke very frankly about everything in it.

"Love at first sight"- a television game show that originally aired on Channel One in two parts. Later, when "Love at First Sight" began to broadcast RTR, the program began to appear in its entirety.

"Love at First Sight" became the first licensed game purchased by Russian television in the West. The rights to it belong to the English studio Action Time.

The constant leaders were Alla Volkova and Boris Kryuk.

Three young men and three girls took part in the game. At the first stage, the participants of the game had to answer the cunning questions of the presenters. At the same time, the players were hidden from each other and formed an idea about each other only on the basis of the answers they heard.

Then the girls and boys, by pressing the buttons, “choose” a pair for themselves, and the computer determines which pairs matched.

Those who were lucky enough to choose each other went to a restaurant, and the next day the second stage of the game began.

Each member of the pair had to answer questions about the expected behavior of the partner in a given situation. Each correct answer earned one shot. After the end of this stage, the couple agreed on who would shoot the painted hearts. A prize was hidden under each heart, if the shooter hit the heart, the prize went to a couple.

The super prize was a romantic trip for two. There was also a "broken heart", which meant the end of the game.

In later releases, the rules of the game have changed slightly. Now, among the matched pairs, viewers chose one, which immediately went to the second stage - answering questions about each other and playing for prizes. Criteria for the audience's choice was the scream - the winner was the pair for which they shouted longer and louder.

The program first aired on the ORT channel on January 12, 1992, and in 1996 the last episode of the show took place. From 1997 to 1998, the program was broadcast on the RTR channel.

In 2000, the ORT company launched a program, the prototype of which was "Love at First Sight" - "The Seventh Sense". Igor Vernik became the host, and the essence was that the participant makes a choice from 6 different applicants, focusing on how the competitors pass various tests. The program aired from February 12, 2000 to May 26, 2001.

pictured Boris Kryuk with his wife and her sister

(odnaknopka)(jcomments on)

Interesting on the web

Nowadays, many different shows go on television, the participants of which must find their soul mate in front of millions of viewers. It all started back in the 90s. The first project of this kind on Russian television was called Love at First Sight.

website found out why this unforgettable transmission is stillis one of the best domestic shows of a similar genre that have ever aired in our country.

In general, the show "Love at First Sight" was the first project in the history of our country, which was filmed under a foreign license. The premiere of the first release of the Russian adaptation of the British television program "Love at first sight" took place in early 1991. The "Iron Curtain" collapsed, and a flood of foreign films and all kinds of TV shows poured into our country. The authors of the domestic version of the contest, in which three guys and three girls answered the questions of the presenters about each other and passed interactive tests in the fight for the main prize - a romantic trip, approached the matter with great enthusiasm. As a result, millions of viewers of all ages gathered at the televisions during the broadcast of "Love at First Sight". Young people dreamed of taking part in the filming, and older people watched what was happening on the screen with great interest and sincerely worried about the newly-made couples.

At that time, there were no mobile phones, social networks and dating sites, so participating in a romantic show was a real opportunity for its participants to meet their love. The filming of the first episodes of the program took place in London, as domestic television people had no experience in creating shows of this kind. British experts were happy to share with their Russian colleagues all the knowledge about working on the set during the production of a romantic program.

Frame from the transmission

Boris Kryuk, the stepson of the Soviet and Russian television star Vladimir Voroshilov, and Alla Volkova, an English teacher, were appointed hosts of the Love at First Sight show. Filming of each program took place according to the script, but the presenters had to improvise a lot to make the show more soulful and alive. Fans of the show still remember this magnificent tandem with great warmth - there was no vulgarity and sarcasm in the manner of their communication with the participants and viewers. Boris Kryuk was always an intelligent person with a subtle sense of humor, which helped him more than once while working on the project. Alla Volkova prepared very scrupulously for the filming of each episode of the show - she studied books on psychology and attended special courses where teachers talked about a scientific approach to people's love relationships, and her elegant outfits and hairstyles delighted viewers.

Now Boris Kryuk continues to work on television - after the death of Voroshilov, he took the place of the host of the cult television game “What? Where? When?". In addition, he was the author and director of the popular Brain Ring project. Much less is known about Alla Volkova. She is not a public person. The network has information that Volkova also did not leave television. According to some reports, she works as an editor for the Cultural Revolution and What? Where? When?" By the way, many fans of the show for a long time considered Boris and Alla a couple in love, but in fact each of them had their own personal life and the relationship between them has always been exceptionally friendly and working.

The program lived for almost 8 years - in 1998, a serious crisis occurred in our country and the expensive project had to be curtailed (during the filming of Love at First Sight, then unprecedented moving scenery and modern computer equipment were used). On Russian and Ukrainian television, several attempts were made to revive this popular show, but the authors of the new versions did not manage to achieve the indicators of the 90s.

Serious relationships arose between many of the participants and winners of the original program “Love at First Sight. Thanks to this show, several dozen strong happy families were created.

Many of us are well acquainted with all these people whom we could very often see not on TV screens in the past, and we still see some of them. Next, we suggest recalling the popular TV presenters from the 90s, as well as finding out how their fate turned out.

Arina Sharapova started as the host of the Vesti program on the second channel, and from 1996 to 1998 she became the host of the information program Vremya (ORT).

Then Sharapova switched to the Good Morning program, and after that she began to rarely appear on the air at all.

In 2014, Arina became the president of the "School of Arts and Media Technologies", in the same year she appeared as the host of the "Island of Crimea" project.

Boris Kryuk. From January 13, 1991 to 1999, Boris was the permanent host and director of the TV game Love at First Sight.

Boris did not disappear from television, he simply became invisible - since May 2001 he became the host, director, scriptwriter and general producer of the television game "What? Where? When?"

The audience only hears his voice. At first, after the death of the creator and permanent host of the program, Vladimir Voroshilov, the editors hid the name of the new host from both viewers and experts: his voice was distorted using a computer.

Alla Volkova was the host of the romantic television show "Love at First Sight" along with Boris Kryuk.

After the closing of this show, Alla got married for the third time, works as an editor for all the programs that the production center "Igra-TV" produces - "What? Where? When?", "Songs of the 20th century" and "Cultural Revolution".

Alexander Lyubimov. He came to television as a correspondent, and then as the host of the Vzglyad program. From 1995-1998 he became the author and host of the One on One program.

Since 2007 - an employee of the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, hosted the Senate program on the Rossiya channel. Later he was appointed First Deputy General Director of the Rossiya TV channel.

In August 2011, he left the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, becoming a member of the Right Cause political party. In November of the same year, he left the party and headed the RBC television channel, at the end of 2014 he left the post, but at the same time remained on the board of directors.

Svetlana Sorokina. From 1991 to 1997 she was a political columnist, host of the daily news program Vesti. Sorokina's branded farewells, with which she closed each issue of Vesti, were especially famous.

From May 2001 to January 2002, she worked on the TV-6 channel in the news program "Today on TV-6" and the talk show "Voice of the People".

Now Svetlana is a member of the Academy of Russian Television, a former member of the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation (2009-2011), a lecturer at the Higher School of Economics, the host of the program "In the circle of LIGHT" on the radio station "Echo of Moscow" and the program "Sorokina" on the TV channel "Rain". "

In the 80s and early 90s, Tatyana Vedeneeva was perhaps the most popular TV presenter. She led "Alarm Clock", "Good night, kids!" and "Visiting a Fairy Tale" (Aunt Tanya), the program "Morning", "Song of the Year" and many other television shows.

Vedeneeva left television quite suddenly. Resting in London, the presenter was delighted with him and decided to extend the trip for a week. Called work and asked for a few days off.

In Ostankino, no one shared the host's joy over England; Tatyana was categorically offered to return on time or ... write a letter of resignation. Vedeneeva did not take the threat seriously. And her statement was taken quite seriously.

Now Tatyana is engaged in business. Once her husband brought her tkemali sauce from Tbilisi. The ex-leader was on fire with the idea of ​​​​arranging the production of tkemali in Russia. It took several years to study recipes and organize production. Now Tatyana is the owner of the Trest B corporation, and in every metropolitan supermarket you can buy sauces from Vedeneyeva.

The peak of Igor Ugolnikov's popularity came in the early nineties. First, the program "Oba-na!" was aired, followed by the equally funny "Corner Show!" In 1996, Igor released a series of programs "Doctor Angle".

After that, the programs "Good evening" and "It's not serious!" appeared. But they did not gain popularity.

The official version of Russian television regarding the closure of Good Evening is - "The program sucks out a lot of money," Igor said in an interview. "And rightly so: it was daily, a large number of people worked in it."

For some time, Igor tried himself in a different role: he served as vice president of the Russian Cultural Foundation, was the director of the House of Cinema. But the television did not let go.

Now he is a producer of the TV magazine "Wick". Do not forget the acting profession. He has acted in several series and films.

Ksenia Strizh hosted the programs "At Ksyusha", "Swift and Others", "Night Rendezvous" ... She never had such wild popularity and recognition as while working in the program "At Ksyusha". In the early 90s, there was little music on TV, and Strizh invited the most interesting artists to her show.

In 1997, Strizh returned from television to radio: there she feels at ease. She was a host on the television channel "La Minor". After the scandal associated with the fact that she appeared on the air drunk and laughed at the teeth of her guest Alexander Solodukha, information appeared about her dismissal, but now Ksenia is working on the channel again.

Shenderovich's last program, which was seen by the mass Russian audience, was called "Free Cheese" and went on TVS. When the TVS was closed, Shenderovich spat on the big television.

He began writing for Novaya Gazeta and the Gazeta newspaper, got his own programs on Ekho Moskvy and Radio Liberty. True, Shenderovich did not succeed in completely tying up with TV.

On the Russian Channel Abroad, on Sundays, in the final analytical program "Russian Panorama", he leads his own column - "A Cup of Coffee with Shenderovich", in which he tells his former compatriots who left to live in Israel and Germany, how things are in Russia.

Ivan Demidov was the permanent host of the musical program "MuzOboz". But the mysterious image with the same dark glasses remained in the past.

Demidov preferred the position of Deputy Minister of Culture to a television career, and now he heads the Foundation for the Development of Contemporary Art.

The duet of Olga Shelest and Anton Komolov is an amazing example of professional compatibility and many years of friendship.

After the closure of MTV, the tandem was temporarily revived on the Zvezda channel in the show Starry Evening with Anton Komolov and Olga Shelest, but did not repeat its former success.

Currently, Olga is a permanent host of the entertainment show "Girls" and the music competition "Artist" on the Russia-1 channel, the host of the TV game "Understand Me" on the Karusel channel, and the co-host of the program "Temporarily available" with Dmitry Dibrov on the TVC channel .

Anton worked on various TV channels, and since September 5, 2011, together with Elena Abitaeva, he has been hosting the "RUSh-RadioActive Show" at the Europa Plus radio station

Elena Khanga was remembered for her bold and frank program "About This", which aired on the NTV channel from 1997 to 2000. And if today the topic of sex is a common thing, then for the late 90s it was a real breakthrough.

Later, Hanga hosted the daytime and, of course, much less high-profile talk show "The Domino Principle", at various times her co-hosts were Elena Starostina, Elena Ischeeva and Dana Borisova.

Since the autumn of 2009, he has been working in low-profile projects: he hosts the weekly talk show Cross Talk on the Russian English-language channel Russia Today, broadcasts on the Komsomolskaya Pravda radio station.

Valery Komissarov. On the program "My Family" the most burning topics of family life were dealt with: various heroes willingly "took dirty linen out of the hut", discussing their problems live on the state channel "Russia".

Housewives watched the program with bated breath (not least because of the imposing presenter Valery Komissarov) from 1996 to 2003, until it was closed.

From November 16 to December 30, 2015 - director and host of the Our Man program on Russia 1 channel, as well as the creator and owner of the My Family food brand.

In addition to Arina Sharapova, there were several other memorable news anchors on ORT/Channel One. One of them is Alexandra Burataeva. In 1995, she moved to work on the ORT television channel and from the same year began to host the Vremya and Novosti programs until 1999.

On December 19, 1999, she was elected to the State Duma in the single-member Kalmyk constituency and re-elected in 2003 on the list of United Russia.

From March to August 2013, Alexandra worked as a PR director for the Sergei Bezrukov Theatre, and from September 2013 as president of the So-druzhestvo production company.

Igor Vykhukholev is also a former presenter of the news programs "News" and "Vremya" on Channel One. In 2000-2004, he sometimes replaced his colleagues in the Vremya information program.

Went for a promotion. Since 2005 - chief editor of night and morning information broadcasting of the Directorate of Information Programs of the First Channel. In 2006 he moved to VGTRK. Since 2006, he has been recording interviews with politicians for the Vesti 24 news channel.

Igor Gmyza. In 1995, after the creation of the ORT TV channel, he received an invitation to become the host of the Vremya program. He led the program in 1996-1998, alternating with Arina Sharapova.

He worked as the host of Novosti until the spring of 2004: at first he hosted daytime and evening editions, towards the end of his work he switched to morning broadcasts, after which he left Channel One.

After a short experience as a political press secretary, he left for the radio. Since January 2006 - political observer for Radio Russia, host of the daily interactive talk show "Special Opinion"

Sergey Dorenko. In the early 1990s, he was a political observer for the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company and host of the Vesti program. Then the host of the program "Time" on the first channel "Ostankino", and since January 1994 - the host of the program "Details" on the RTR channel.

Then he was the chief producer of the Directorate of Information Programs and Analytical Broadcasting of ORT and the host of the daily program "Vremya".

Despite the fact that he gained his fame thanks to television, Dorenko repeatedly claimed that he did not watch TV. Currently, he runs an author's program on YouTube, and since 2014 he has been the editor-in-chief of the radio station "Moscow Speaks".