Baltish is the black humour TV show produced by MTV Lietuva. It was aired from November 2007 to January 2008 by the music channels: MTV Lietuva, MTV Latvija and MTV Eesti. It is created by the Lithuanian entrepreneurs Algis Ramanauskas and Rimas Šapauskas, best known for their performances in the Radioshow

Radioshow

Radioshow is the cult Lithuanian black comedy radio and TV show hosted by Algis Ramanauskas-Greitai and Rimas Šapauskas. It is also the name of their humorous rock band. Radioshow has started at radio station Radiocentras in 1992. Later it has moved to the radio station Ultra Vires. In 1995...

, as well as other Lithuanian performers and stage actors. The conductor of the show is Polish-Lithuanian

Polish minority in Lithuania

The Polish minority in Lithuania numbered 234,989 persons, according to the Lithuanian census of 2001, or 6.74% of the total population of Lithuania. It is the largest ethnic minority in the country and the second largest Polish diaspora group among the post-Soviet states...

 musician Karina Krysko.

Setting

The show takes place in the fictitious post-Soviet country Baltish that corresponds to the modern territories of Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

, Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

 and Estonia

Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

 and reflects the worst sides of their societies: antisemitism, xenophobia

Xenophobia

Xenophobia is defined as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange". It comes from the Greek words ξένος , meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος , meaning "fear."...

, sexism

Sexism

Sexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas...

, homophobia

Homophobia

Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...

 and sentiments to the Soviet past. The Baltish language is the one known otherwise as the "broken English

Broken English

Broken English is a 1979 album by singer Marianne Faithfull. It is often cited as Faithfull's definitive recording; Faithfull herself describes it in her autobiography as "the masterpiece"...

", i.e. the English language

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 with heavy Eastern European accent and some ingredients of the Russian language

Russian language

Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

. The name "Baltish" is a somewhat corrupt derivative from the geo-political term Baltic states

Baltic states

The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...

.

Characters

The main character Budulis is a widely known Lithuanian archetype of violent, rude and uneducated provincial youngster inclined to criminal behaviour, created by Rimas Šapauskas in his earlier TV performances. He is discernible from a blackened mouth and a track suit worn on a permanent basis. This caricaturization has acquired a cult status in Lithuanian culture and "budulis" is sometimes used in place of a common noun defining that type of a person.

The red outfitted devil

Devil

The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...

 named Molotov fon Ribentropp is another popular character. His name is constructed from the surnames of Vyacheslav Molotov

Vyacheslav Molotov

Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov was a Soviet politician and diplomat, an Old Bolshevik and a leading figure in the Soviet government from the 1920s, when he rose to power as a protégé of Joseph Stalin, to 1957, when he was dismissed from the Presidium of the Central Committee by Nikita Khrushchev...

 and Joachim von Ribbentrop

Joachim von Ribbentrop

Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop was Foreign Minister of Germany from 1938 until 1945. He was later hanged for war crimes after the Nuremberg Trials.-Early life:...

, signatories of Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact

Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact

The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, named after the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, was an agreement officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union and signed in Moscow in the late hours of 23 August 1939...

, which secret protocol constituted a legal basis for the Occupation of Baltic states. The devil is hilarious due to its looks as it is being acted by a woman as well as for its odd speech. It is usually armed with a trident

Trident

A trident , also called a trishul or leister or gig, is a three-pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and was also a military weapon. Tridents are featured widely in mythical, historical and modern culture. The major Hindu god, Shiva the Destroyer and the sea god Poseidon or Neptune are...

 and has no penis

Penis

The penis is a biological feature of male animals including both vertebrates and invertebrates...

, which is therefore replaced by a black strap-on dildo

Strap-on dildo

A strap-on dildo is a dildo designed to be worn, usually with a harness, during sexual activity. Harnesses and dildos are made in a wide variety of styles, with variations in how the harness fits the wearer, how the dildo attaches to the harness, as well as various features intended to facilitate...

 in several series.

Česlovas also acted by Rimas Šapauskas is another character familiar from earlier TV and radio projects, including Radioshow, Orbita and Ragai. He is discernible from curly grey hair and wears glasses. He owns a cabaret which hosts funny performances and contests between representatives of the "Baltish regions" in which Lithuania sometimes prevails or there is no clear winner.