The Best TV Shows on Central Television USSR

Every Central Television USSR Show Ranked From Best To Worst

Check out the most acclaimed shows on Central Television USSR, with a catalog of over 20 series updated for June 2025. For top-tier entertainment, Central Television USSR delivered KVN and Фитиль (киножурнал) in 1961 and 1962. Central Television USSR has delivered an expansive roster of over 20 shows, dating from 1961 all the way to 1990.

  • Оба-на!
    Оба-на! (1990)9.0

  • What? Where? When?
    What? Where? When? (1975)8.3

    What? Where? When? is an intellectual game show well known in Russian-language media and other CIS states since mid-1970s. Today it is produced for television by TV Igra on the Russian Channel One and also exists as a competitive game played in clubs organized by the World Association of Clubs. Over 17 000 teams worldwide play sport version of game, based on the TV show.

  • More Than Life At Stake
    More Than Life At Stake (1968)8.1

    Stawka większa niż życie is a series about the adventures of a Polish secret agent, Hans Kloss, who acts as a double agent in the Abwehr during Second World War in occupied Poland.

  • Nu, pogodi!
    Nu, pogodi! (1969)8.0

    Follows the comical adventures of a mischievous yet artistic wolf [Volk], trying to catch a hare [Zayats]. The series has additional characters that usually either help the hare or interfere with the wolf's plans.

  • Adventures of Captain Vrungel
    Adventures of Captain Vrungel (1980)7.9

    An old sea captain and his student decide to take part in the international regatta. At the same time an amateur thief steals a statue of Aphrodite from Louvre and boards their yacht by mistake. A long, fun adventure is ahead.

  • The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson
    The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson (1980)7.8

    The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson is a series of five films produced by Lenfilm for the Soviet Central Television, split into eleven episodes, starring Vasily Livanov as Sherlock Holmes and Vitaly Solomin as Dr. Watson. They were directed by Igor Maslennikov and filmed in Russia (the then Soviet Union) between 1979 and 1986, and the series was one of the most successful in the history of Russian television.

  • Seventeen Moments of Spring
    Seventeen Moments of Spring (1973)7.7

    A Soviet spy is tasked with disrupting the negotiations between Karl Wolff and Allen Dulles taking place in Switzerland, aimed at forging a separate peace between Germany and the Western Allies.

  • In Search of Captain Grant
    In Search of Captain Grant (1985)7.7

    Lord and Lady Glenarvan found a bottle in the ocean. This bottle contained a letter from Captain Grant that he and two of his sailors had survived a disaster at sea and need help. Unfortunately, the letter was damaged by water, and the latitude is known (37 degrees), but not the longitude. The Glenarvans decide to find Captain Grant.

  • Фитиль (киножурнал)
    Фитиль (киножурнал) (1962)7.5

  • Investigation Held by ZnaToKi
    Investigation Held by ZnaToKi (1971)7.1

  • День за днём
    День за днём (1971)7.0

  • Вокруг смеха
    Вокруг смеха (1978)7.0

  • V.I.Lenin. Pages of Life
    V.I.Lenin. Pages of Life (1983)7.0

  • Yeralash
    Yeralash (1974)6.6

    The children's humorous film magazine "Yeralash" is a one-of-a-kind work of cinematography that ironically approaches the solution of everyday problems, focusing on the views and needs of modern society, allowing different generations to achieve mutual understanding.

  • KVN
    KVN (1961)6.5

    KVN is a Russian humour TV show and competition where teams compete by giving funny answers to questions and showing prepared sketches. The programme was first aired by the First Soviet Channel on November 8, 1961. Eleven years later, in 1972, when few programmes were being broadcast live, Soviet censors found the students' impromptu jokes offensive and anti-Soviet and banned KVN. The show was revived fourteen years later during the Perestroika era in 1986, with Alexander Maslyakov as its host. It is one of the longest-running TV programmes on Russian Television. It also has its own holiday on November 8, the birthday of the game, which KVN players celebrate every year since it was announced and widely celebrated for the first time in 2001.

  • State Border
    State Border (1980)6.4

  • Born of Revolution
    Born of Revolution (1974)6.3

  • The Life of Klim Samgin
    The Life of Klim Samgin (1988)6.3

  • Press Center
    Press Center (1988)5.5

  • Time
    Time (1968)3.5