Yleisradion syysparaati: A weird, fuzzy trip into the archives

Is this for you?

If you have a weird obsession with mid-century television production or just like staring at old, fuzzy footage of people smiling at nothing, you’ll probably find something to love here. Everyone else? You’ll likely be bored out of your mind within five minutes.

There isn't a plot, really. It’s more of a parade of faces and stiff smiles.

Notes from the couch

Watching this felt like digging through an attic. Everything has this layer of dust—not physical dust, but that specific, grey visual texture that only comes from old magnetic tape. 📺

The lighting is consistently flat. You can tell they were trying to make it look fancy, but it mostly just makes everyone look like they’re standing in a brightly lit doctor’s office. It reminded me a bit of the frantic, low-budget charm found in The Siren, though with significantly less drama and a whole lot more accordion music.

There’s this one sequence where someone is just walking across the stage, and the camera lingers for about ten seconds too long. You can almost feel the cameraman wondering if he should cut away. He never does. It’s awkward, it’s charming, and it’s completely unnecessary.

The little things

• The stage decorations look like they were made out of cardboard and pure hope.
• The audio crackles in a way that’s actually kind of soothing.
• Nobody seems to know where to look.
• There’s a weird amount of pride in the transitions between segments.

It’s not a masterpiece. It’s not even a particularly good piece of television by today's standards. But there’s a pulse to it. It’s raw, unpolished, and completely lacking the slickness of modern media. Sometimes it feels like watching a rehearsal where the actors haven't quite figured out the blocking yet.

If you compare the pacing to something like Mush and Milk, it feels positively glacial. There's no slapstick to save you here, just a lot of earnest talking and polite swaying. I don’t know why I finished it. But I did.

Maybe it’s just nice to see people trying to put on a show without the internet breathing down their necks. Or maybe I’m just nostalgic for a time I never actually lived through. Either way, it’s a weirdly honest piece of work.