Svetlana: An Indiscrete New Comedy

This week I thought it would be interesting to review not just a new show, but a new show on a fairly new channel. Owned by Mark Cuban, HDNet is the first TV channel to be both launched and shown exclusively in High Definition. In fact the video resolution is about its only coherent and unifying theme, besides targeting the over-masculinized wannabe alpha-male demographic. The programming is primarily either “Girls Gone Wild” spinoffs, re-runs of obscure and long cancelled shows like “Andy Richter Controls the Universe”, MMA fights, the oddly placed “Dan Rather Reports”, and any and everything in between.

One of those in between shows, is the not so original, but still entertaining, “Svetlana”. Started as a clip on the website Funny or Die, “Svetlana” tells the tale of Svetlana Maksimovoskya, a former Russian mail order bride who has made it big in LA, living the American lifestyle every stylized immigrant dreams of. Svetlana is able to pay for this American dream by running a brothel, St. Petersburg House of Discrete Pleasure, staffed with her four daughters, ‘one for every kind of man’. Svetlana also consults in the associated shady dealings of her high profile clientele. The Russian madame spends her time trafficking yellow cake uranium and prodding her unemployed husband Vlad to job interviews. Svetlana manages to navigate both the seedy world of international politics and the banal chores of running a Hollywood brothel through a combination of naiveté and strong-headed caustic wit.

The show appears largely improvised, a kind of handheld camera comedy that emulates a hugely successful trend in TV epitomized by shows like “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Reno 911”. Comedy troupe members from both of these shows appear in Svetlana, and a cameo from Thomas Lennon, among others of “Reno” fame, give further legitimacy to the program. Svetlana herself-Iris Bahr-is probably most recognizable for her role on ‘Curb’ as Rachel Heinemann. Bahr’s memorable character on ‘Curb’ couldn’t be more different from Svetlana, and this versatility is exactly what makes her performance the crux of the show. As with any improvisation, the situations can sometimes seem a little too contrived. Early episodes also strain to get going on any kind of momentum-another issue with having all the dialogue improvised. Some performances, like that of Vlad her husband, and her chauffeur-Phil Lamarr from MADtv-show some promise, while others are just freshman level improv filler. One of the most appealing aspects of the show is its glaring low-budgetness. The sound and video quality make me think 'hey I could do this', and maybe this too is a ploy aimed at the self-indulged male.

It may be impossible to tell what exactly ‘the Cubes’ is trying to get out of Svetlana, or HDNet itself, but whatever it is, it must be working. The channel has recently one a slew of independent broadcasting awards and on a trip to their website Svetlana is unavoidable. Will Svetlana ever get more than 500k viewers a night, probably not, but it does provide some interesting viewing material for those dull hours in between “Bikini Destinations” and “Dan Rather Reports”.