Oi Aparadektoi
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Oi Aparadektoi (Greek Οι Απαράδεκτοι for The Unacceptables) is a comedy television series produced by Mega Channel during the period 1990-1992. It is generally considered one of the most fondly remembered shows of its kind in the history of Greek television, and its one-liners survive to this day.
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[edit] Premise
The show is about the lives of four friends, the eponymous "Aparadektoi": Spyros (Spyros Papadopoulos), Dimitra (Dimitra Papadopoulos), Yannis (Yannis Bezos) and Vlassis (Vlassis Bonatsos). Spyros and Dimitra have been married for five years, while Yannis and Vlassis are roommates and best friends, despite the fact that the former is a homosexual and the latter a shameless womanizer. All four live in the same floor of an apartment building in Lycabettus, Athens, Greece. The cast is rounded out by Renia (Renia Louizidou), Vlassis' girlfriend, and Mr. Vassilis (Vassilis Halakatevakis), the landlord.
The show's episodes are self-contained - indeed, all hell may have broken loose by the end of an episode (e.g. Dimitra declaring that she will divorce Spyros), and the next episode will find everything back to normal. The show is also notable for the unconventional friendship between the characters; even though they describe themselves as friends, the four frequently quarrel, casually badmouth and plot against each other; Spyros and Vlassis often plan to cheat on Dimitra and Renia and vice versa; and so on.
It is worth noting that both Spyros Papadopoulos and Yannis Bezos are widely considered to be among the finest Greek actors of their generation and that the legendary intro theme was composed/sampled by renowned electronica musician Nikko Patrelakis.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Spyros
Spyros is an advertising producer. Despite a golden - according to him - past in the Communist Party of Greece and his taking part in the Athens Polytechnic uprising against the Greek military junta of 1967-1974 from November 14 to November 17, 1973, Spyros today is no better than the capitalists he views with disdain. He is obsessed with making and saving money and thus absorbed in his work, while maintaining the theoretical views of a communist. He is short fused and supposedly the most level headed of the quartet, which makes him often exclaim his catchphrase "Ti egine re paidia?" (approx. "What on earth happened, you guys?") while looking at the camera in perplexed demeanour when crazy situations arise.
[edit] Dimitra
Dimitra is Spyros' disgruntled wife. Spyros' devotion to his job leave her feeling neglected, leading her in numerous fruitless attempts to arouse her husband's interest in her. She is not as refined as Spyros claims to be, which is often a cause of friction between them. She is insanely jealous of Spyros, often with good reason and she has threatened to divorce him many times during the show's run.
[edit] Yannis
Yannis is a fashion designer. He is also a homosexual, a fact that all his friends know and accept. He has a neurotic personality and elitist attitude. This is because he knows he is often the shrewdest one in the gang, but also because being a homosexual in the Greece of the early 1990s made forming and having an according relationship tricky, a source of much stress for Yannis. His only surviving family, his Aunt Virginia, is in the dark about her nephew's sexuality.
[edit] Vlassis
Vlassis works as the main actor in Spyros' commercials. He is also Yannis' best friend and roommate ever since one of his girlfriends broke up with him. Vlassis is laid back and easy going - he enjoys the earthly pleasures of life, like food, drink and especially women.
[edit] Renia
Renia works as an advertising model and secretary in Spyros' firm. She is also Vlassis' girlfriend, a pretty shaky term considering Vlassis' flirtatious nature. Renia is young and modern and often introduces new notions for the others to try. Yannis views Renia with disdain, nicknaming her To astropeleki ("The thunderbolt") due to her unpredictably energetic attitude and inane comments.
[edit] Mr. Vassilis
Mr. Vassilis is the landlord of the apartments Spyros, Dimitra, Yannis and Vlassis live in. He tries to have friendly relationships with his tenants but something always puts a crimp in these attempts, such as he demanding overdue rent or him being decidedly uncool. He is often the harbringer of bad news to the rest of the gang.
[edit] Reruns
After the show ended its run in 1992, Mega Channel rerun it a multitude of times over the next few years, together with other much-loved series like Oi Treis Harites. The show ended up being rerun more times than any other in the Greek television (more than 12 reruns within 5 years). Eventually, a tired television audience and sarcastic TV magazine reviews forced the show off the air somewhere around 1997. In 2004, Mega Channel rerun a snall number of episodes as part of its 15-year anniversary. After 7 years of absence, this revisit was welcomed by the public. Mega Channel then started rerunning Oi Aparadektoi again on a weekly basis in a prime time slot (Friday 21:00) for a few months.
