Pulttibois

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Pulttibois
Herra 47 ("Mr 47" on the left, played by Pirkka-Pekka Petelius) trying to get into a restaurant. Aake Kalliala on the right.
Format	Sketch Comedy
Created by	Pirkka-Pekka Petelius Aake Kalliala
Starring	Pirkka-Pekka Petelius Aake Kalliala
Country of origin	Finland
Language(s)	Finnish
No. of episodes	58
Production
Running time	approx. 22 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	MTV3
External links
IMDb profile

Pulttibois (Finglish for "Bolt Boys"; also a play on words of pultti pois - "to have a screw loose") was a popular Finnish sketch comedy television show that premiered on MTV3 in 1989 and which starred a two-man cast of comedic actors - Pirkka-Pekka Petelius and Aake Kalliala. Both Petelius and Kalliala previously had been known for their work on YLE sketch comedies during the 1980s. In Pulttibois, Petelius and Kalliala created a compilation of 'over the top' sketches that were often scorned by critics, but loved by television viewers. In fact, the show had a large cult following.

Pulttibois featured characters that had been modified from those originated in Petelius and Kalliala's previous shows, such as the jolly drunk Laplanders and the over-emotional gentlemen, but also emphasized original characters. In addition, impersonations of celebrities were not uncommon, but were never considered the trademark of the show. For example, one popular sketch had Petelius and Kalliala impersonate singers by dressing up as them and then subsequently lip-synching in front of a computer-generated background. The singers chosen for these impersonations ranged from popular Finnish artists of various eras to foreign (particularly American) artists.

Three seasons of the show were made between 1989 and 1991, after which the show ended. It was succeeded by the less popular Manitbois, which saw the return of many of the characters from Pulttibois, as well as the singer imitations. However, the more popular characters from the original show were noticeably absent, such as the bizarre and easily startled Apuvatyyppi (HELP!-guy a.k.a. James Potkukelkka, performed by Petelius), which had been known for yelling APUVA (corrupted version of the Finnish word for help - apua).

Since the end of Manitbois, Petelius and Kalliala mostly have moved on to more serious drama and movies. However, Petelius still occasionally stars in humorous advertisements and sitcoms, while Kalliala's last comedic performance was in the movie Kummeli: Kultakuume (produced by Porkkana Ryhmä - founders of the Kummeli comedy troupe) in 1997. Furthermore, Kalliala is due to appear in the new Kummeli movie Jackpot, where he is reportedly the highest-paid actor on the production.

Pulttibois can still be seen in reruns on MTV3 and SubTV. In addition, episodes of the show have been released recently onto DVD.

[edit] Trivia

Starting with the show's second season, the theme song became MARRS' 1987 hit Pump up the Volume, which is still associated in Finland with the show.
The series' production was overseen and supported by Spede Pasanen. This led to the most absolute guideline of the show which meant that no swearing or adult humour was to be used.
The character played by Kalliala, who always saves the Apuva!-guy, was revealed to having a name in one episode. His name is Niilo Olli Hääppönen or N. O. Hääppönen, which is pronounced en oo hääppönen, a play on the words I'm not much.
At the beginning of the show's third season the Apuva!-guy's yell was changed to hjelpivä derived from the Swedish word for hjelp. In an interview Petelius said that this was due to critics saying that due to the popularity of the character no-one would any longer take a cry of help (apua) serious^{[citation needed]}.
In one of the lip sync sketches Kalliala lip-synched to the song Elaine which was performed by Petelius during his stint on the popular YLE sketch show Velipuolikuu. Petelius in turn portrayed the role of the famous Finnish accordionist Pedro Hietanen. Additionally Kalliala's performance as Kirka who also guest-starred in one episode has become legendary.