Kummeli

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Kummeli is the name of a Finnish comedy crew formed by Heikki Silvennoinen, Timo Kahilainen and Heikki Hela from Tampere. They are also the heads of Porkkana Ryhmä,^[1] the crew's production company. Other famous members have included Olli Keskinen, better known for his on-screen persona Eero Kakko, and Heikki Vihinen who replaced Keskinen in the mid-90s.

Kummeli appeared on television between 1991 and 1995. After a successful three-part pilot aired in 1991,^[2] they were given their own show on YLE's channel 2 with a completely new look. The Kummeli TV show was primarily composed of skits with insane characters, but would also feature musical guests as the core crew of the team were actually musicians rather than professional actors (with the exception of Hela, who, ironically, ended up behind the camera for the early episodes of the show). Some episodes would also have a running set of skits that would reach a conclusion at the end of the episode (such as a father and son visiting an exhibit where the wax figures are actually the caretakers in various costumes).

In the mid-90s, after the end of the show, the Kummeli crew would make random appearances on TV and at different events. During this time Keskinen left the crew and was replaced by Heikki Vihinen.

Kummeli was re-launched at the turn of the millennium, with Keskinen returning to host the show, now with a live studio audience. Another re-launch occurred in 2004, with Mikko Kivinen hosting the show for its short run. In between these two seasons of Kummeli, Keskinen and Silvennoinen, along with some other colleagues, produced another short-lived show Mankeli.