Casper & Mandrilaftalen

Casper & Mandrilaftalen, also known as Mandrilaftalen or Mandrillen, is a Danish dadaist and satirical cult television sketch show that originally aired on DR2 from March 1st, 1999, to November 19th, 1999, across two seasons, comprising a total of 67 episodes. The Mandrilaftalen troupe consisted of Danish comedians Casper Christensen, Lasse Rimmer, Lars Hjortshøj and Frank Hvam. Heavily inspired by British humor, the show became known for its eccentric characters and absurd sketches, leading to multiple TV critics comparing it To Monty Python's Flying Circus. The show is of a talk show format and is hosted by the character Casper, who is a fictionalization of and is played by the program's creator, Christensen. As the star of the show, Casper usually sits at his desk while satirizing the Danish media industry and interviewing fictional guests. Surreal nonsense is a recurrent characteristic of the show, an example being the character Broder Salsa, who folds carpets to resemble great state leaders and sorts capital cities by muesli. In the show, Casper also holds talent shows with fictional participants, presents episodes of fictional TV series and displays advertisements for fictional products. Rimmer, Hjortshøj and Hvam plays an array of various characters, and the show saw guest appearances from other Danish comedians, the British Monty Python member John Cleese, the Danish actress Susse Wold, the rapper Al Agami, among others. More than 250 different named fictional characters appear in the show, with Broder Salsa, Svenne O'Lotta and Gentleman Finn being the most popular characters according to Christensen.

Casper & Mandrilaftalen
Logo of the show Design: Kristof Kuncewicz
Also known as	Mandrilaften Mandrillen
Genre	Surreal humor, satire, sketch comedy
Created by	Casper Christensen
Written by	Casper Christensen Lasse Rimmer Frank Hvam Lars Hjortshøj
Starring	Casper Christensen Lasse Rimmer Frank Hvam Lars Hjortshøj Anders Matthesen Uffe Holm Jan Gintberg Sebastian Dorset Al Agami Anders Lund Madsen Anette Toftgård John Cleese Mick Øgendahl Pelle Møller Thomas Milton
Opening theme	Komm Wieder by Andreas Dorau
Ending theme	En TV-baron by Jan Glæsel
Composer	Jan Glæsel
Country of origin	Denmark
Original language	Danish
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	67 (1999) + a special episode (2003)
Production
Producers	Jens Svalgaard Niels Severin
Running time	Approx. 30 minutes (per episode)
Production company	Metronome Productions A/S
Budget	<100,000 DKK (per episode)
Release
Original network	DR
Picture format	4:3 standard
First shown in	Denmark
Original release	March 1 (1999-03-01) – November 19, 1999 (1999-11-19)
Chronology
Related shows	Casper & Drengene fra Brasilien (1999) Fisso (2003) Zulu Royal (2003-2006)
External links
Production website

The broadcasts were produced on a tiny budget in a garage on Amager, Copenhagen. Every episode lasts about half an hour and was written, recorded, edited and broadcast in approximately 14 hours. The manuscript for a broadcast was written in the morning, whereafter the broadcast was recorded and edited in four hours at most in the afternoon and finally driven to DR by taxi, from where it was broadcast at 11:30 pm. All sketches were recorded chronologically and edited together along the way. The show was a counterreaction to contemporary television programs, which the troupe considered to be monotonous and poor entertainment. The show had very low viewing figures, which was attributed to its undesirable airing time at 11:30 pm on weekdays as well as DR2's limited national coverage. However, the show received universal acclaim from Danish TV critics and won the prize for Best Entertainment at the Danish TV Prisen in 2000. The show quickly grew a cult following, which led to the launch of multiple fansites and fan clubs as well as bestselling DVD and VHS releases between 2002 and 2004. In the months after the end of the show, the troupe toured the country with eight sold-out live shows based on the broadcasts. They also recorded the spin-off Christmas calendar Casper & Drengene fra Brasilien in less than two days in November 1999. DR2 has since rerun Mandrilaftalen many times, and the show has been referred to as one of the absolute peaks of Danish satire. In 2008, all episodes of the show were digitalized and released on DR's archive website, DR Bonanza, where they can be watched free of charge from anywhere around the world.