KVN turns 65: from a student quiz to a TV humor talent factory

65 years since the first broadcast

On November 8, 1961, the program “The Club of the Cheerful and Resourceful” aired on Soviet television for the first time. To mark the date, Life.ru has prepared a retrospective of the history of the game, which over 65 years has grown from a student competition into a large-scale humor movement that gave television dozens of performers, writers and producers. The date of the first broadcast also became the basis for a celebration: International KVN Day is observed every year on November 8 — the tradition was established in 2001 on the initiative of Alexander Maslyakov.

A predecessor with an unfortunate finale

The history of KVN began before the show itself. In 1957, Soviet TV aired the program “Evening of Cheerful Questions,” modeled on the Czechoslovak show “Guess, Guess, Fortune-Teller”: viewers did not just watch but took part in the game, answering the hosts’ questions. The project was shut down after an incident with a prize: the organizers promised a reward to those who came in winter clothing and with a newspaper dated December 31, but host Nikita Bogoslovsky forgot to mention the newspaper on air. Too many people showed up at the studio, a crush ensued, the broadcast was halted, and the program was closed. The idea was revived in 1961 by Sergey Muratov, Albert Axelrod and Mikhail Yakovlev: in their concept, teams competed instead of individual viewers, and the name was borrowed from the KVN-49 television set.

Closure, revival and the Maslyakov era

The first episodes were hosted by Natalya Fateyeva, but she did not become the permanent host: the first permanent host was Albert Axelrod, and in 1964 he was replaced by Alexander Maslyakov — notably, the original candidate was Pavel Kontor, captain of the MIIT team, who declined and recommended a friend. The program quickly became popular, but the teams’ satirical numbers raised questions among censors: control tightened, some acts never made it to air, and at the end of 1971 televised KVN ceased to exist. The game, however, continued to live on in universities and student groups. It was returned to the screen in 1986 on the initiative of Andrey Menshikov, a former captain of the MISI team. The revived KVN developed a system of leagues and festivals, and young performers for the first time got the chance to turn humor into a profession. Maslyakov remained the face of the program for more than half a century and died on September 8, 2024, at the age of 82; in subsequent seasons of the Major League, the host has been Dmitry Khrustalev.

From a game to television brands

KVN alumni not only moved on to existing projects but also created their own formats. Mikhail Galustyan began with the Sochi team “Utomlyonnye Solntsem” (Worn Out by the Sun), which won the Major League in 2003, and became known for his character Gada and the show “Nasha Russia” alongside Sergey Svetlakov. Svetlakov played in the teams “Barabashki” and “Park Tekushchego Perioda,” and then in “Uralskie Pelmeni” — the 2000 Major League champions, who have produced their own show since 2009. Comedy Club grew out of the “Novye Armiane” (New Armenians) team with Garik Martirosyan: the project’s first party took place in 2003, and it later received a television continuation on TNT. Olga Kartunkova led “Gorod Pyatigorsk” to victory in the Major League in 2013, and Azamat Musagaliev of “Sbornaya Kamyzyakskogo Kraya” became a participant and host of the shows “Once in Russia” and “Where Is the Logic?”. Among the club’s traditional events are the KiViN festival in Sochi, the musical festival “Golosyashchy KiViN” (held since 2015 in Svetlogorsk, Kaliningrad Region) and the KVN Summer Cup.