“Little bastards” used to hit politicians of every option on TVP. The program would work much better today

In 2023, you can be surprised to see what appeared in the TVP schedule for 13 years. Despite the fact that in 2010 the political mood in Poland was very tense, it was not visible in the state media, which tried not to polarize society too much. It is about both journalistic and entertainment programs, which used to be on a similar level on Telewizja Polska as on commercial stations.

Politicians and stars in the fire of questions from the youngest

One of such proposals was the slightly forgotten show “Małe bastards”, which was an original TVP format. The program was broadcast on Jedynka in autumn 2010 and was hosted by six children aged 4 to 10. The star of each episode was a well-known person from public life – usually a politician, whom the youngest visited at home, apartment or other private place indicated by the invited person. Watch excerpts from the program in the video below:

One of the heroes was Ryszard Kalisz, who was then an SLD member of parliament. The little hosts visited him at his summer house, and the main topic of conversation was the politician’s interests and his memories from school and student times. The children also visited his parliamentary office, where they prepared a special surprise for him.

The politician tried to encourage the kids to enter his office first, but they flatly refused. When Ryszard Kalisz barely looked inside, he couldn’t help but be amazed. He told the young reporters, smiling, “Oh my gosh! Don’t be silly. Where’s my office?” It turned out that the title “Little Bastards” filled his office with two thousand balloons. As the voice-over pointed out, it is a childhood dream of the then MP, and the recording shows how he pierces multi-colored decorations together with the youngest.

Other guests on the program were Polish Olympic sportsman Mateusz Kusznierewicz, or the then MP from the Civic Platform, Joanna Mucha. In the episode with Kusznierewicz, the kids, even before meeting the athlete, look at his photos and evaluate his stylizations. In the end, everyone says he’s “hot,” and one of the boys asks the other kids, “How much percent?” The meeting with the Olympian took place in the cabin below the boat deck. The children had no objection to asking him about his greatest secrets. Kusznierewicz openly admitted that he had no secrets, but he said something that we would not expect from a person who won an Olympic medal for sailing. He revealed to young reporters that he sometimes gets seasick when he rocks too much on the water and has been with him since he was a child.

In the episode with Joanna Mucha, the MP decided to prepare a feast for the youngest, admitting that she rarely eats sweets. At one point, she was perplexed by a direct question she received from one of the young reporters: “Do you think you are pretty or not?” The politician timidly replied that she considered herself “so average”.

TVP knew how to program programs for the youngest. Now it will be hard to fight for a young viewer

The program did not stay long in the station’s schedule. Only a few episodes of the show were produced, and the viewership was not great. However, from today’s perspective, the very idea for the program seems very interesting and it can be said that it somehow carried out a public mission. Thanks to the light form, the youngest viewers were able to get to know important figures from public life in an accessible way, in whom they would normally be interested only in a few years.

Adults, on the other hand, could get to know the “true face” of politicians or stars who could only be perceived through the prism of their work, which does not always reflect how they live every day. Importantly, the program was free from political pressures that have accompanied Polish Television and Polish Radio for several years. Recently, it was very clearly seen in the selection of artists for the National Festival of Polish Song in Opole. For years, the event has not seen too many recognized stars who do not want to appear in the national media, while expressing their opposition to the way they present the world.

Contrary to what Telewizja Polska is currently proposing or planning in its offer for the youngest, I believe that such a program in the era of social media would have much more clout. With a good script, it could also be a much more reliable source of knowledge for the youngest, who nowadays are often seduced by the hypocritical content of some politicians on TikTok, which is co-created by a team of specialists. This has serious consequences in manipulating those who are not yet aware enough to verify various information. And the role of a real public television should be to prevent such situations.