- Leonid Arkadyevich, a whole generation has grown up for which you are the only and permanent host of this program. But Vlad Listyev was the first to introduce it to the viewer. Why, at the peak of the popularity of this program in 1991, he suddenly decided to pass it on to another person?
- Vlad was just a producer.
He opened programs.
First - "Field of Miracles", then - "Theme", then took "Rush Hour".
He had other projects in mind.
He created television.
He was not interested in sitting on one program.
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- Vlad, like many guys from that VID team, before becoming a media person, worked for the USSR State Radio and Television and had the opportunity to watch Western TV channels. Leaves from there brought the idea of the show?
- As far as I know, the idea belonged to Anatoly Grigorievich Lysenko.
He saw the transmission in France.
In my opinion, they were there with Vlad, but now I don't remember exactly.
And Lysenko then decided to make a similar program.
- So it was tracing paper?
- I don’t know, because I didn’t see The Wheel of Fortune initially.
I only watched this program after many years.
Therefore, it is difficult for me to say what they saw then.
- "Field of Miracles" - an old-timer on our television. What has changed in her in 30 years?
- All.
If you watch the first issue - there was no Prize sector, no gifts for players, no gifts from program participants, no museum.
And there was no ad advertisements.
Then I brought it all - "Commercial break!"
- How have players changed during this time?
- The players who were, remained so.
Letters come regularly.
Of these, the letter department selects the players according to some mysterious system.
Most likely, focusing on an interesting letter and an interestingly composed crossword puzzle.
Once I set a task, which is still strictly carried out, so that a wide geography of participants was presented.
There are no boundaries or preferences on the program on any basis: neither age, nor national, nor geographic.
- Do paper letters still come to the program?
- Yes.
- You try to represent the whole country. But flights are quite expensive. Does the program pay people to travel?
- The program pays for accommodation.
The flight is paid by those who help the participants.
Usually this is the administration of a city or province.
Or they find sponsors who pay for their travel.
We pay for a three-day stay in Moscow.
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- And what happens to the treats brought by the show participants?
- Once upon a time, we tried to transfer the most delicious to kindergartens or nurseries.
SES forbade us to do this.
Because it is not clear who did it and how much it was transported.
So everything that is brought, in general, everything, and this is no longer a secret, after the recording is laid out on the table for the audience who comes to the studio.
Everyone gathers at the table, lets the children go ahead and celebrates.
As is usual at a party.
- In every program, when you are presented with gifts, you say that they will go to the Fields of Miracles museum. What is this place, where is it and does it have a keeper?
- For many years this museum was at VDNKh, we had a whole pavilion.
Now there is no pavilion, and the museum is located in the Ostankino television center.
But there is an assumption that it will be reopened at VDNKh.
This is done by special museum people who understand what an exposition is.
Rather, it is such a museum of folk art.
- Was there at least one case when the program, for some reason, had to go live?
- No.
There was never.
- Have you ever had to replace guests while recording?
- No.
But there were cases when a person could not come due to illness or for some other reason.
Then they had to replace him with the one who was closest.
Usually from those who could get to Moscow, say, in a day.
It happened so.
- Who chooses the words for the assignments?
- There is an editorial group that prepares assignments and brings them to me a minute before the start of the program.
© 1tv.ru
I stand in the studio, they give me a folder with assignments, and I do not know the words that will be in them, and I also do not know what lies in this notorious black box.
- How many people are working on the program?
- There are about ten people in the creative group.
Of those who still worked with Vlad Listyev, two people remained.
The rest have been working with me for almost 30 years.
About 30 people are involved in the recording of the program, including cameramen, stage workers, lighting fixtures and so on.
They are invited from another firm.
- Have you ever received an offer from the management to change the host?
- No.
- Have you ever had a desire to leave Ostankino and find some of your own branded place, the house of the Field of Miracles, where you could place everything, including the museum?
- This is the prerogative of the VID TV company.
Such a question was raised and discussed, but today it is an expensive pleasure.
The program does not make so much money that you can rent your own space.
- How did you work during the quarantine at the beginning of the year? How is your work currently being structured in connection with the restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic?
- Firstly, I have never taught the program so hard.
This is the same as playing a play without spectators.
It's just incredibly difficult without spectators.
But nevertheless the program comes out.
Before each recording, they check the temperature of me, the group and those who come from other regions.
And then we work.
You need to go on the air.
The viewer should not suffer.
People are used to this program, and it is not in my rules to break the tradition.
Especially not in my power.
Whatever happens, but this program will come out.
For 30 years there has never been a time when I did not come to the program.
Although I was sick and not feeling well.
But this does not concern anyone - I still came to the recording.
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In the title "Field of Miracles" there is a reference to a textbook fragment from the fairy tale about Buratino, where the main character is looking for an opportunity to get rich easily and quickly, and in the end he loses everything.
Was this title chosen as sarcasm?
- It is better to ask the one who was present at the discussion of the program and chose the name.
I was not there.
I came to work for the program exactly one year later.
Recording of the first anniversary issue of the capital show "Field of Miracles" with the stars: Yuri Nikulin, Eldar Ryazanov, Alla Pugacheva.
Host - Vladislav Listyev.
October 1991.
Photo from the personal archive of Alexey Murmulev.
- And the last question. Taking this opportunity, who would you like to say hello to?
- To myself.
Into the past.
"I wanted to be a little naughty"
The first artistic director of the show, Alexei Murmulev, told RT how the name “Field of Miracles” was born and what meaning the co-authors of the project put into it: “We chose the name of the program in my apartment.
Vlad Listyev and I had two or three hours of brainstorming.
The first option that came to our mind is Capital.
I wanted something foreign, a word meaning success, wealth, which many then aspired to in any Western quizzes.
“Capital” - at first they stopped at this name, and then it seemed that it was somewhat dryish, not so bright.
And after a while, the "Field of Miracles" arose.
Vladislav Listyev and Alexey Murmulev at the recording of the first anniversary edition of the capital show "Field of Miracles".
From the personal archive of Alexey Murmulev.
According to Murmulev, "then it was very bold, and it seemed that the name was very daring."
“Many people forget that 30 years ago it was still a completely different country, it was still the Soviet Union, and a completely different television.
Even that name seemed like a daring challenge to the system.
Nevertheless, we liked both options.
And after some deliberation, we decided to combine the two titles, while simultaneously coming up with a new genre: "The Field of Miracles Capital Show," he adds.
According to the producer, no other options were even considered.
“It was 1990.
New program.
And I wanted to be a little naughty, ”he notes.
“At that time I came from Australia, where I had the opportunity to work on Australian television, to see how many of these programs are being created.
I have proposed five or six well-known formats on American and Australian television.
And we have put together the "Field of Miracles" from these borrowed ideas, ”Murmulev recalls.
According to him, no one then thought about buying a license - the market in the Soviet Union was not perceived as a commercial one: “The socialist countries, especially the USSR, never bought any formats at that time.
This would be impossible for both ideological and financial reasons.
If something cool was done, it was its own, like “What?
Where?
When?".
According to Murmulev, initially Vlad Listyev assumed that Igor Ugolnikov would be the host.
“But Igor could not.
And after a week of persuasion, Vlad agreed to run the program himself.
From my point of view, he was ideal for this role: in his image, in his already stardom, in character, in his ability to joke.
But Vlad never forgot about journalism.
From the very beginning, he assumed that after some time he would launch what is closer to him.
Therefore, "Theme" and "Rush Hour" appeared.
After a year, he wanted something deeper, which is more inherent in him, ”he concludes.