Good Night, Little Ones!

"Spokoinoi Nochi, Malyshi" (in English, roughly: "Good Night, Kids") is a Russian language children's television program. Begun in the time of the Soviet Union, it now airs on the Rossiya ("Russia") television station. In the Moscow area it runs weeknights from approximately 8:50 pm to 9 o'clock, completing a 30-minute block that begins at 8:30 pm with local news and then local weather. Occasionally the timing is off by a minute or two, depending on when the serial preceding the local newscast ends. In Moscow, "Rossiya" is broadcast over-the-air on Channel 2.

Format

The format has remained relatively constant over the decades. The presenter (a recognisable news reader, actor, or public figure) is joined on-set by one or two puppet characters. The most regularly appearing puppets are Hrusha (a pig), Stepashka (a rabbit), and Phila (a dog). The presenter engages the puppets in a short conversation or helps them to perform a quick activity such as cleaning up the puppets' toys.

After a minute or two the presenter introduces a short cartoon. The cartoon lasts about five minutes and may or may not be in Russian. If the cartoon is in another language (in early 2006, for instance, American "Casper the Friendly Ghost" cartoons wre used on Fridays) the cartoon is crudely overdubbed into Russian (the other language may still be heard).

After the cartoon the presenter and puppets return for a few seconds to say "Spokoinoi Nochi, Malyshi", or a variant thereof, and wave goodnight.

Lullaby music opens and closes each segment.