What do Ira Losco, Peppi Azzopardi and Evarist Bartolo have in common?
They were all subjected to a grilling on satirical show Min Imissu. The guests laughed and took it in their stride, but it seems, some failed to see the funny side. And one day the producers pulled the plug from the weekly show on TVM claiming the censorship had gone too far.
Min Imissu, an oddball comedy variety where prominent personalities were interviewed by a team of actors interpreting comical characters will be returning on Net TV from October… and the producers have been guaranteed nobody will be deleting scenes they deemed objectionable this time round.
When, after months, the arguments became too frequent and tiring, the station started taking the liberty of editing bits out without our permission
The lives and background of guests were scoured, and the hosts of the programme would then put the guests through a public grilling, richly infused with incisively poignant satire.
Aired first in 2012, the programme was an instant success.
“People laughed and recoiled at some of the jabs and jibes. For us it was all about pushing the envelope as far as we could through voices of characters not presenters which gave the process more freedom,” co-producer Carlos Debattista told Times of Malta.
But some individuals (who have remained unnamed) failed to understand to satire or felt the jokes went too far.
“Unfortunately, we were having constant arguments with top management regarding the nature of the humour and the extent of our creative licence when using satire. This situation became far more accentuated when the satire was of a political nature.”
At first the programme was sent back for re-editing every week but the producers were not keen on cutting parts of it on grounds that in a truly democratic society free speech and satire are not only a necessity but indispensable.
“Hence many arguments and protests from our side ensued. When, after months, the arguments became too frequent and tiring, the station started taking the liberty of editing bits out without our permission. It became unbearable, especially since there was nothing extreme or hard-hitting about what was being deleted. It was simply satirical social commentary. We decided to pull the programme off air prematurely because we were constantly stressed out, and we were no longer writing freely, but rather writing with the constant pressure of what the station would approve and wouldn't,” Debattista said.
He added that one of the cardinal conditions in the team’s negotiations with Net TV was that the censors would remain at bay.
“Our humour is edgy and incisive, but by no means insulting or harmful. It is all for laughs. Of course where satire is concerned it has to be abrasive where it must, especially when satire is the only way of saying things that must be said and cannot be said in any other way.”
He insists TV audiences are not the problem.
“TV audiences want and need intelligent humour and hard-hitting satire. The problems rest elsewhere, within the institutions, that seem to safeguard the status quo."