The Originator... Yakov Smirnoff

"We have no gay people in Russia—there are homosexuals but they are not allowed to be gay about it. The punishment is seven years locked in prison with other men and there is a three-year waiting list for that." - America on Six Rubles a Day; Smirnoff, Yakov; 1987

The 80's had a very fascinating place in time and a very special relationship with Pop Culture. It was the Cold War, and we were afraid of anything Red. The most amazing thing about this fear was that Pop Culture gave us an amazing look into a staple that started in 1984. It was a small film named "Moscow on the Hudson," and the man was Yakov Smirnoff. The impact was the hilarity of Eastern European/Russian Mockery Comedy, and for that we thank you.

Before Borat blew up on the scene. Before Balky Bartakamos rolled into Chi-town. We had the Originator, Yakov Smirnoff. He had a small role in Moscow and he eventually took that to the next level. He cashed in on the whole accent and beard schtick. He was everywhere back in the day: movies, HBO, MTV, all the major media outlets back in the 80's. Chest hair, gold chains, bad anecdotes, crazy Russian hats, it was all his. He made the catch phrase of the decade for all immigrants, "What a country!"

Where did it all go? As we know Borat is the new Yakov. Yakov has moved to Branson, MO and is an artist. He got his Masters from some University (Psychology). He still does some comedy, but its safe to say he's out of the comedy game, but he deserves a "good game" from all comedy fans. He has become that typical American. But he had given us a style of comedy has not waned. It has moved on. But not without him because in the end, if it wasn't for my man, I think the Cold War would still be on. Thank you, for teaching us that in Russia, well, it sucked.

So, in closing I just want to say that this shit got really old BTW. Its almost good that all that Russian crap ended when it did. Rocky 4, Moscow on the Hudson, Red Heat, Rambo 3, Russkies, Glasnost, Peristroika, The Berlin Wall, We Didn't Start the Fire, White Nights, No Way Out, Little Nikita, Scorpions' Winds of Change, etc., etc. The list can go on for freaking ever. Yeah, I think we got it. Russia was the bad guy and we kicked some ass. Yay! I'm just glad that now we moved on to making the bad guys Terrorists from the Middle East. They at least dress up like ninjas, which makes them way more villainous.