Áramótaskaupið

Áramótaskaupið ("The New Year's Lampoon") is an annual Icelandic television comedy special, broadcast on New Year's Eve by the state public service broadcaster RÚV. Initially aired on radio in 1948, and later moving to television in 1966, it features sketches satirizing the news events of the past year.[1]

It is often the highest-rated television broadcast of the year in Iceland.[1] In 2002, it was reported that the special had been seen by 95.5% of the country; Páll Magnússon, CEO of RÚV stated that this was most likely a record in the Western world.[2] Due to its high viewership, advertising time during Áramótaskaupið is the most expensive on Icelandic television.[citation needed] The show ends just before midnight, and those Icelanders who shoot off fireworks usually do so after Áramótaskaupið ends.[citation needed]

Some of its sketches have become well known in Icelandic culture, such as its portrayal of Minister of Finance Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson as the Batman parody "Skattmann" ("Taxman").[1] In 2009, the show featured a sketch about the protests following the 2008 Icelandic financial crisis, in which Jón Gnarr played a strait-laced middle-aged protester shouting "Helvítis fokking fokk!!". The phrase swiftly became widely used in Iceland in relation to the crisis.[3]

Directors

References

  1. ^ a b c "Laugh Out the Old: Iceland's New Year's Eve Comedy Tradition". Iceland Review. 2019-12-19. Retrieved 2022-10-02.
  2. ^ visir.is
  3. ^ Youtube clip of Áramótaskaup sketch; 'Helvítis fokking fokk á forsíðu Hrunsins', Vísir, 5 June 2009, http://www.visir.is/helvitis-fokking-fokk-a-forsidu-hrunsins/article/2009112316069.
  4. ^ "Ég vona að flestir verði búnir að fá sér í glas þegar þetta byrjar". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 29 December 2003. p. 19. Retrieved 1 January 2023 – via Tímarit.is.Open access icon
  5. ^ "Sigurður Sigurjónsson leikstýrir skaupinu í kvöld". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 31 December 2004. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  6. ^ "Edda Björgvinsdóttir leikstýrir Áramótaskaupi Sjónvarpsins í fyrsta sinn". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 17 November 2005. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  7. ^ Heiða Jóhannsdóttir (3 January 2007). "Þjóðin og póstmódernisminn". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  8. ^ "Ragnar Bragason". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 21 December 2007. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
Stub icon

This Icelandic television programme-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.