It was well known—when Kviskoteka was on, everything stopped. Host Oliver Mlakar would wish viewers a “pleasant evening,” then introduce the contestants and the jury, which remained in a constant lineup: Darko Novaković, Pavao Pavličić, Boris Senker, and the author Lazo Goluža.
Kviskoteka is the most popular and longest-running quiz show in Yugoslavia, broadcast on TV Zagreb for fifteen years, from 1980 to 1995, across 223 episodes, with the legendary host Oliver Mlakar (the first four seasons were hosted by Ivan Hetrih).
The quiz was conceived in 1979 by Lazo Goluža, who was its editor and question author throughout its run. In addition to him, recognized experts and university professors also contributed to creating the questions.
The quiz’s mascot was the legendary Kvisko, an imaginatively designed wooden figure, created by academician Miroslav Šutej. According to the quiz rules, any player who scored more than seven points would win Kvisko, which doubled their points for answering a question in one of the following games. Kvisko became so popular that it entered everyday language (“I’m raising Kvisko”), and enthusiastic viewers sent the show their own handmade Kvisko figures made from a variety of materials.
Some of the most famous Kviskoteka games included: ABCD puzzles, the association game, the popular detection game, the question-and-answer general knowledge game, and more.
Brilliant contestants and winners are fondly remembered, such as Radoslav Dodig, Mirko Miočić, Robert Pauletić, and Predrag Marković—the youngest winner of Kviskoteka in the 1989 season, now a respected historian who himself creates questions for quizzes.
