“Top Lista Nadrealista” (TLN) is likely the most popular show ever produced in the former Yugoslavia. This comedic series, airing from 1984 to 1991, featured sketches mostly satirizing politics and society, achieving viewership levels nearly equal to the dominant news program, Dnevnik. The Nadrealisti humorously remarked that people turned on the TV to watch TLN and ‘incidentally’ saw the news.
The story of TLN began with a 15-minute comedic radio segment as part of the “Primus” show, which promoted young acting talents on Radio Sarajevo’s second program. On May 9, 1981, Nenad Janković (also known as Dr. Nele Karaljić), Zenit Đozić, Zlatko Arslanagić, Boris Šiber, and Dražen Ričl performed a sketch about a fictional attempt to take over the radio station, reading their manifesto along with a list of demands.
Over the following months, the group’s popularity skyrocketed, and they quickly became legends in Sarajevo. Three years later, the first season of “Top Lista Nadrealista” was launched, inspired by the legendary Monty Python, with the team including Branko Đurić, Elvis J. Kurtović, Davor Dujmović, Dražen Janković, Darko Ostojić, Davor Sučić, and Dado Džihan.
Their popularity was such that some of their phrases and words became part of the public’s jargon, like “hrkljuš,” “ma zdraavo,” “eno Šahbaza, mog’o nas je žžžik,” “u Švedskoj nemiri zzdravoo,” and “đe ba zapelo.” The cult TV series “Top Lista Nadrealista” aired three times during 1984, 1989, and 1991, with the special episode for New Year 1992 being the last one they filmed together.
