The West in the Soviet “Kingdom of Mirrors”: Entertainment of the Soviet Lithuanian Television in the Brezhnev era

A considerable part of Soviet television consisted of propaganda and ideology. However, when the new media emerged in then-occupied Lithuania, its development was limited by the Communist party on the one hand and influenced by Western radio broadcasts, Polish television production, and Western movies. This paper analyzes two unusual cases in Soviet Lithuanian television, which borrowed from and were indirectly yet highly influenced by their Western counterparts. The humourous TV series Petraičių šeimoje (1965–1972) and the four-part adventure movie Tadas Blinda (1972) were, and still are, some of the most popular TV productions from the Soviet period. Based on these examples, this study analyzes the influence of TV productions, as well as their popularity and relations with the ruling regime. Were they really considered Western in form and socialist in content or were they more a socialist form of national content? These questions are key in trying to determine the real purpose of these productions and their influence on Soviet Lithuanian society.