The Evening Sun

The Evening Sun
Created by	Dániel Sándor Máđen Gulseth
Directed by	Phil Mathre
Starring	Máđen Gulseth Hector Pomeroy Ápmot Speaidna Jonathan Lystad Ester Erstad Gáddjá Sárra Ellen Kaila
Narrated by	Béla Hadjú
Music by	Tímea Gáspar Viktor Nagy
Country of origin	Entropan
Original language(s)	Šebukel
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	13
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	Retroactivity
Release
Original network	FMS En
Original release	11 February 1994 (1994-02-11) – 26 May 1998 (1998-05-26)
Chronology
Related shows	The World at One On the Edge

The Evening Sun (Šebukel: A Esti Nap) is an Entropanian public horror-comedy television show that parodies television news and current affairs programs, broadcast in two series, with an additional special episode broadcast unexpectedly in the second. It gained notoriety in Entropan for its extreme parodies of sensationalist news broadcasting, eliciting significant controversy throughout its run. The series was co-created by Dániel Sándor, and Máđen Gulseth, and is usually composed of half-hour episodes usually covering two or three stories, with the exception of the final three episodes of the second series.

The first series of the show was broadcast on FMS En from 11 February to 18 March 1994, and the second series began on 10 February 1995, but due to media backlash over the special episode The Big Report, aired after the suicide of Katalin Budai, the show was pulled from air, with the final three episodes being eventually aired three years later from 1 to 15 May 1998.

Format

Each episode is presented as a mock live news bulletin, with each episode revolving around a few fictitious live news stories which the team would respond to with a quick moving on-the-ground crew. Much of the programme's humour derives from its bombastic and sensationalist style of reporting, which often sees the news crew deliberately inflame situations to make them more fit for reporting. Most episodes have elements of public horror, including seriously presented interruptions to the program such as a mysterious mist, studio shootings, and coups.

Each episode is brought to an interrupted ending with just enough time to quickly overview the following day's newspapers, printed with absurd headlines such as "Fire safety 'decapitated', warns Paleocacherian minister", or "Bombed dog bills spider plea", and a final video previewing the next programme on the network, which is usually a humourous spoof of Entropanian shows such as Call Me or Detached. Each episode ends in a familiar style for news reports, with the camera panning out as the studio lights dim on Ánte, who, instead of shuffling his papers in a clichéd newsreader style, collapses onto the floor in varying manners.

Main characters

• Ansealbma Ánte (Máđen Gulseth) - the newsreader. He is confrontational and aggressive, an overzealous and sensationalist newsreader who gleefully sparks conflict and advises other members of the news team on how to further escalate situations. He is shown as an entirely amoral character, who goes to any lengths to form good news stories.
• Ánderijá Tobejas (Ápmot Speaidna) - live reporter. Head of the show's fast-moving on-the-ground news team in series one, Tobejas is an underqualified and aggressive reporter who often exaggerates and sensationalises stories he covers. He appears in every episode, with episodes cutting to him at intermittent points to provide updates on a developing situation that serves as a single thread running through each episode. Tobejas often directly escalated situations himself; examples include him having detailed knowledge about how a fire at a concert held by fictional band Splithar (a band which Tobejas openly expresses personal resentment towards) right after the fire starts, and convincing the head of a far-right political party to launch a coup. In episode 6 of series one, Tobejas has a psychotic break, being convinced that the domestic news team were planning to kill him. In response to this perceived threat, he takes the on-the-ground team hostage, and provides updates on the situation throughout the episode, leading to his apparent suicide.
• Áttan Ello (Ápmot Speaidna) - live reporter. Played by the same actor as Ánderijá Tobejas, Ello heads the show's on-the-ground news team in series two. Throughout the series, it becomes apparent that Ello may be Tobejas, up to mannerisms in speech and personality, although this possibility is never elaborated on.
• Ivett Balázs (Ester Erstad) - political correspondent. Balázs is a middle-class urban New Liberal who displays significant bias towards the ruling government, downplaying scandals through use of meaningless political terminology and diverting focus towards unrelated, highly negatively framed, and less severe stories of opposition political parties, in a satire of the purported bias of publicly funded channels towards the ruling administration at the time. Balázs is permanently stationed outside the National Assembly, and often chases down MPs to frame them in political scandals.
• Zita Vincze (Ellen Kaila) - business correspondent. As satire of the incomprehensible nature of business news to the layperson, Vincze talks nonsensically about the world of business, padding out her reports with meaningless jargon ("Exchange remained adequate until trading won"). She employs odd syntaxes, reciting strangely arranged sentences in a semi-robotic deadpan fashion (often smirking at arbitrary points in the monologue), and frequently mentions other members of the team at seemingly random points during her reports. During her reports, a news ticker scrolls across the bottom, displaying meaningless symbols. After Ellen Kaila's death during the filming of the sixth episode of series one, the character was retired.
• Jean-Charles Lecocq (Hector Pomeroy) - correspondent in Quebecshire. Speaking with an exaggerated Quebecshirite accent, Lecocq is part of the on-the-ground news team reporting on seemingly fabricated stories detailing extreme caricatures of Quebecshirite culture and politics. All of his reports make use of convoluted puns, fake Quebecshirite phrases (e.g "L'insalubrité du document"), and immoral acts performed in pursuit of on-the-ground news stories, taking advantage of his authoritative tone to amplify misconceptions about Quebecshirite culture to excuse them. Examples include shooting Quebecshirite Grandmaster André Bellerose after reporting on a failed assassination attempt and reassuring viewers that "it is a great dishonour in Quebecshirite culture to be shot but not killed", and mistranslating an interview with fictional pop singer Cyrille Delisle to make it appear that he was planning on opening an oil refinery.
• Álet Bloom (Gáddjá Sárra) - environmental correspondent. Bloom presents the Miljømatikk (Enviromatic) slot, which intercuts the program at inappropriate times to present various disconnected news stories vaguely relating to the environment. Her stories include a large hand slowly emerging from the South Pole, a disease covering seagulls in spaghetti, and an ancient subterranean civilisation being scheduled for demolition by the Ándréjad Federate Rural Council due to complaints by local residents.
• Edvin Eggebraaten (Jonathan Lystad) - economics correspondent. Eggebraaten has no understanding of economics, and often relays explicitly false claims, but does so in an authoritative manner, giving those claims legitimacy. He overcomplicates simple stories, with meaningless graphs such as the "Trade Scale" and the "International Flow of Money", often with the intent of making interviewees look incompetent. Examples of his reporting include an elaborate false claim that a Paleocacherian firm lied about the number of workers employed at its largest factory, and an effort to convince the finance minister of Monsilva that the country was on the verge of defaulting on its debt.

Cast and crew

Cast

• Máđen Gulseth as Ansealbma Ánte, George Oddvarsson, Beaivi Ártne, other roles
• Ápmot Speaidna as Ánderijá Tobejas, Áttan Ello, Villiam Luoma, and Viktor Kelemen, other roles
• Ester Erstad as Ivett Balázs, Yvette Soyer, Rachel Marks, Julie Tremblay, Margaret Sandahl, other roles
• Ellen Kaila as Zita Vincze, Mia Saether, Gealá Ásllat, other roles
• Jonathan Lystad as Edvin Eggebraaten, Bavvál Rásmos, other roles
• Hector Pomeroy as Jean-Charles Lecoq, Bogdan Simeonescu, Ferenc Gál, Levente Sípos, other roles
• Gáddjá Sárra as Álet Bloom, Annamária Barnier, Lydia Scott, other roles

The Evening Sun also features appearances by show co-creator Dániel Sándor, and by members of the crew.

Crew

• Máđen Gulseth - writing, production
• Dániel Sándor - writing, production
• Élise Duclos - writing, production
• Véronique Ponce - writing
• Jesper Blix - additional material
• Arild Smestad - additional material
• Vivi Heinsohn - additional material
• Lajos Kis - additional material
• Tímea Gáspar - music, additional material
• Viktor Nagy - music
• Phil Mathre - production

Episodes

Series 1 (1994)

No. overall	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	1	"Series 1 – Episode 1"	Máđen Gulseth	Máđen Gulseth & Dániel Sándor	11 February 1994 (1994-02-11)
Features reports on government-subsidised courses on queuing etiquette, the Monsilvan debt crisis, library cults, and an interview with famous Quebecshirite pop musician Cyrille Delisle. Ánderijá Tobejas reports throughout the episode on an ongoing hostage situation in Maledonian Central Station by a group he seems too familiar with, and Ivett Balázs reports on Antal Szilveszter eating a bacon sandwich inappropriately.
2	2	"Series 1 – Episode 2"	Máđen Gulseth	Máđen Gulseth, Dániel Sándor & Élise Duclos	18 February 1994 (1994-02-18)
Features reports on a standoff between police and a man with an excessive amount of garden gnomes, a government program of "daylight savings rationing" to conserve energy, a moose cult in northern Quebecshire, the government's new "community listening" initiative, and torturous charity game show The Chamber. Ánderijá Tobejas reports throughout the episode on an upcoming major infrastructural collapse in outer Sáefi.
3	3	"Series 1 – Episode 3"	Máđen Gulseth	Máđen Gulseth, Dániel Sándor, Véronique Ponce, & Élise Duclos	25 February 1994 (1994-02-25)
Features reports on the National Assembly's new "MP of the Month" programme, an emergency referendum on the colour of Benno Tanne's tie, an entirely blank exhibit at the Modern Art Museum, and near-death experiences. Ánderijá Tobejas reports throughout the episode on a fire at a concert held by the band Splithar, and Ivett Balázs reports on a gas leak in the Foreign Affairs Committee.
4	4	"Series 1 – Episode 4"	Máđen Gulseth	Máđen Gulseth, Dániel Sándor & Véronique Ponce	4 March 1994 (1994-03-04)
Features reports on suspicions that Entropanian police officers are eating their suspects, the widespread use of psychadelics in the Ministry of Social Affairs, and a new government initiative to make available "tap your own phone" kits to improve governmental transparency. Edvin Eggebraaten reports on an economic crisis at a Maledonian library, and Ánderijá Tobejas reports throughout the episode on an ongoing coup that he seemed to have initiated, which spills into the studio as it is overtaken by the party responsible.
5	5	"Series 1 – Episode 5"	Máđen Gulseth	Máđen Gulseth, Dániel Sándor, Élise Duclos & Véronique Ponce	11 March 1994 (1994-03-11)
Features reports on a department of the Ministry of Telecommunications firing more workers than it has, a roundup of international news, the opening of a high-speed railway to nowhere in particular, and Cooperative Wholesale selling "invisible produce"; a conceptual food that is sold by weight but can't actually be seen. Ánderijá Tobejas reports throughout the episode on the 'worst blizzard in history', and Ivatt Bálazs reports on everything but fraud allegations against the Minister of Social Affairs.
6	6	"Series 1 – Episode 6"	Máđen Gulseth	Máđen Gulseth, Dániel Sándor, Élise Duclos & Véronique Ponce	18 March 1994 (1994-03-18)
Features reports on the temporary closure of the 'Flesh Pit National Park', the Minister of Citizenship's resignation, and Ivett Balázs' slow news day. The primary plot of the episode revolves around Ánderijá Tobejas, who, while reporting on a car accident in Holan, suffers a psychotic break and holds the rest of the crew hostage, eventually resulting in his own suicide.

Series 2 (1995)

No. overall	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	1	"Series 2 – Episode 1"	Máđen Gulseth	Máđen Gulseth & Dániel Sándor	10 February 1995 (1995-02-10)
Features reports on controversies at a Paleocacherian factory, Benno Tanne signing a trade agreement with a fictional nation, and the rollout of a new winter hibernation scheme for Uryha elderly to save on social care costs. Ivett Balázs reports on parliamentary musical chairs, and Áttan Ello gets trapped in a train with pagan commuters.
2	2	"Series 2 – Episode 2"	Máđen Gulseth	Máđen Gulseth, Dániel Sándor & Élise Duclos	17 February 1995 (1995-02-17)
Features reports on silent discos, dangerously comfortable pillows, and the new parliamentary mascot. Áttan Ello reports throughout the episode on the upcoming rapture, Jean-Charles Lecocq offers a special view into the religious beliefs of the High Council of Quebecshire, and Ivett Balázs reports from inside the National Assembly about its new status as a special economic zone.
3	3	"Series 2 – Episode 3"	Máđen Gulseth	Máđen Gulseth, Dániel Sándor, Véronique Ponce, & Élise Duclos	24 February 1995 (1995-02-24)
Features reports on a revolutionary surface-only submarine, prison reforms based on escape room principles, and the use of delayed buses by the Minister of Transport as a performance art piece. Jean-Charles Lecocq reports on freak weather events in Franconia, and Áttan Ello reports in increasingly distressed tones on a mysterious mist emerging from the Museum of Maledonia.
4	X	"The Big Report"	Máđen Gulseth	Máđen Gulseth	1 March 1995 (1995-03-01)
Special episode written, filmed, and produced entirely in 10 days, due to reports in major newspapers about the suicide of Katalin Budai being due to reports produced on the show. Focuses on one running storyline about Ágnes Fazekas, a 16-year-old whose suicide Áttan Ello captured on live television, who the show holds 'in memory' by campaigning against The Agency, the media inspiration which 'caused' her suicide. The episode satirises the media's depiction of mental health, and the resultant media backlash caused the remaining three episodes of the show to be banned from airing by FMS until 1998.
5	4	"Newsbang"	Máđen Gulseth	Máđen Gulseth, Dániel Sándor, Élise Duclos & Véronique Ponce	1 May 1998 (1998-05-01)
The Evening Sun returns! Featuring reports about armed election workers, anti-Catholic prejudice, and Benno Tanne being carried away by ants, among others, with special reports by Jean-Charles Lecocq on the assassination of André Bellerose, by Áttan Ello on a hidden Tumanitun temple in rural Uryha, and by Ivett Balázs on corporate donors.
6	5	"Newsatrolysis"	Máđen Gulseth	Máđen Gulseth, Dániel Sándor, Élise Duclos & Véronique Ponce	8 May 1998 (1998-05-08)
Features reports about pilot strikes at Maledonian Airport, reverse libraries, and indoor volcanoes, among others, with special reports by Áttan Ello in Giovanni on developing scenes of global apocalypse, and by Ivett Balázs on the replacement of all currency with a single National Gift Card, among others.
7	6	"Meganews"	Máđen Gulseth	Máđen Gulseth, Dániel Sándor, Élise Duclos & Véronique Ponce	15 May 1998 (1998-05-15)
Features reports about the Ministry of Defence's research into weaponising weather, Prime Minister Mátyas Papp declaring himself immortal, and the National Queueing Corps, among others, with special reports by Ivett Balázs on competitive election rigging, by Jean-Charles Lecocq on the decline of television in Quebecshire, and by Áttan Ello on public floggings.

Reception

The first series of The Evening Sun opened to positive reviews by critics. While it was described by A Reporter as "achingly funny", and by A Herolden as "fresh, fun, and uncompromisingly blunt", it started to receive criticism from many publications for blurring the lines between satire and news. Ali Erichsen of A Lemez criticised the show in a review of episode four of the first series, calling it a "dangerous and childish exercise which neglects the audience in pursuit of controversy and shock value above all else", and Tid i Tid columnist Tay Haugan, while admitting that she enjoyed watching the program, called it "a bit irresponsible and not exactly hilarious at times". The sixth episode drew mixed reactions from publications, with A Idek calling it "infantile shock content seemingly designed to prey upon what respect we do have for our print media", and Imperia reviewer Thorleif Tuft describing it as "fittingly shallow", and "depressingly unfunny", but with Digital Arkitektur calling it Tobejas' descent a "distressingly poignant look into the modern culture of the media", and A Herolden calling the episode "spectacular", and "perhaps the best TV event of the year".

The second series was met by initial praise from critics, with A Idek believing that the "tone shift from explosive and controversial reporting to more quiet but similarly poignant stories [...] [is] certainly a welcome change", and TID calling it "frequently overwhelming, but certainly entertaining". The immediate response to the special episode The Big Report was so severely negative that the remaining episodes were cancelled, with many newspapers, including A Lemez and A Herolden, calling for Máđen Gulseth to be blacklisted from television production altogether. Over 4,000 complaints were made to FMS' complaints department, and the FMS' offices in Maledonia were evacuated for the following week following bomb threats.

The final three episodes, when they aired in 1998, received overwhelming praise from critics. A Sentinel reported that the show was "back on top form", believing that the show's temporary cancellation "allowed the lost material of what could've been to ferment in Gulseth's mind like a fine wine". A Herolden, while apologising for its involvement in the media backlash against The Big Report, noted that it "may have indeed resulted in the creation of a masterpiece", calling the new episodes "some of the most hilarious pieces of television in years".

Controversies

Suicide of Katalin Budai

Main article: Katalin Budai

On 13 February 1995, Katalin Budai, a 17-year-old student at the University of Maledonia, committed suicide. While her death went unreported for weeks, A Lemez received a letter on 16 February from Budai's mother, who cited the first episode as the reason for her suicide, noting that she "acted strangely after the bit about the people stuck on a train", with their headline the following day reading "'THE EVENING SUN KILLED MY DAUGHTER'". Despite the lack of firm evidence for the episode being the sole reason behind her suicide, with the Association of Psychologists condemning the reporting, calling for a "measured and considered approach to understanding and responding to every death by suicide", the story grew, resulting in large protests outside FMS' headquarters in Maledonia calling for the removal of the show from air.

Máđen Gulseth recalled in 2019 that he "immediately felt disgusted at the media simplifying what is an incredibly complicated subject into a single cause", and that a few days after the controversy started he "began writing constantly to slot a new special directly addressing this in in the remaining running order". The special, The Big Report, aired on 1 March 1995, as a satire of the coverage of mental health in the Entropanian media. It opened to severe media backlash, with a tabloid campaign launched against the creative team behind the show, and large scale protests alongside political intervention resulting in FMS announcing the show's cancellation.

Death of Ellen Kaila

Main article: Ellen Kaila

Ellen Kaila, who played business correspondent Zita Vincze, died during the filming of the sixth episode of the first series. The segment being filmed was one showcasing a 'revolutionary' money-counting machine, a custom-built prop built by Holan Electricals and intended to look sleek and futuristic, and intended to spit out money while flashing gaudy neon lights and playing triumphant jingles. Unbeknownst to the crew, the machine's internal components had not been properly tested. The prop was powered by a makeshift engine designed to simulate high-tech machinery, but the engine was poorly ventilated and used an improvised heating element to power the light effects. During filming, the overheating of the engine caused the machine to release carbon monoxide, creating a toxic buildup in the immediate vicinity of the machine and causing Kaila to collapse on set.

FMS initially prompted an internal investigation, which revealed that the prop had not undergone proper safety checks by Holan Electricals, and that the faulty design of the machine, coupled with the use of inappropriate materials, led to the carbon monoxide leak. A lawsuit was filed by Kaila's family claiming wrongful death, gross negligence and a breach of safety standards in the production process against Holan Electricals and members of the prop team at The Evening Sun, with FMS offering to fund any legal fees. The case became a highly publicised legal battle, with widespread media coverage and new regulations introduced for film productions involving complex mechanical devices.

Máđen Gulseth obituary

The fourth episode of the first series of The Evening Sun features a fake coup d'état as its climax. Ánderijá Tobejas is shown early in the episode subtly encouraging the fictional 'Social United National Democratic Party' to overthrow the Entropanian government. As the episode progresses, the party becomes more convinced that they should follow through with that plan, with Tobejas following as the party acquires weaponry, and storms into what they believe is the National Assembly building, which turns out to be the studio of The Evening Sun, which they take over, seemingly killing Ansealbma Ánte and announcing the dissolution of the government and formation of the 'State of Entropan'.

Following the episode, an obituary for was Máđen Gulseth was published in satirical magazine Nyetene Ma, whose monthly edition was published the day after the episode aired. Later the same day, Nyetene Ma columnist Julia Enberg asked Deputy Leader of the Progressive Socialist Party Silje Salberg, who had previously praised the program, for his thoughts on Gulseth's passing, to which Salberg expressed remorse, describing it as a "tragedy". Despite the fact that Gulseth had not died, several newspapers, including A Herolden and A Idek, reported on Gulseth's passing with an obituary in their next daily edition. Once it was found that Gulseth had not passed, A Lemez ran the headline "SICK", in reference to the incident, calling for more restrictions by FMS on its broadcasting content.

Mangled corpse DVD easter egg

On 17 January 2020, 31-year-old accountant Ulf Tharaldson found an easter egg in the language menu of the 2002 second release of the DVD. Whilst trying to switch the language from Šebukel to Rockr, he accidentally inputted a series of numbers that played a video of a hooded man talking about and showing a decomposed corpse to the camera, claiming to have killed him and eaten his leg. The following investigation by the National Policing Unit found the hooded man to be Niklas Oien, an intern at FMS who had killed himself the previous year, butw no identification was found of the corpse shown in the video.

In a press release, FMS denied all knowledge about the easter egg, and officially recalled all 2002 releases of the DVD, offering to replace them with the newest edition the 2019 re-release.

DVD bonus material

There was one release of The Evening Sun on DVD, containing both series. The DVD features extensive bonus material, including short mini-episodes featuring original material which were broadcast the night before the original broadcast of each episode, the original pilot, and the unaired versions of episodes four, five, and six of series two.

The DVD also includes several "easter eggs", including a special report by Ánte of the world being revealed by scientists to be a 'wonky dodecahedron'; a discussion between Ánte and Ánderijá Tobejas about the environment; a reunion of Ánte, Áttan Ello, Ivett Balázs, Jean-Charles Lecocq and Edvin Eggebraaten; and several audio sketches. The extended scenes menu includes several radio interviews conducted about the show, and the 2019 re-release includes the EMS documentaries The Big Report, a documentary about the controversy invoked by the special episode of the second series, and Newsflash, a documentary about the death of Ellen Kaila, among other extra scenes. The recalled 2002 release of the DVD also, infamously, features an easter egg of a mangled corpse.