The first Vzglyad programs were anything but controversial. In one a young man from an orphanage read his own poetry. In another a presenter told the audience how to distinguish real Levi’s from fakes, or gave advice on how to open a small private business—a total novelty in a country where making a profit was a crime. The episodes were divided from one another by musical numbers. But every program tested and pushed the limits, discussing things that allegedly did not exist in the USSR: homosexuality, drugs, AIDS, corruption.
