This paper examines how theatrical practices and staff affected the development of Soviet television entertainment during the late 1950s - early 1960s, focusing on the show KVN [Club of the Merry and Quick-Witted]. Drawing on previously underutilised archival materials and memoirs, I analyse how television's institutional instability in the 1950s enabled theatre professionals to influence programming from within the medium. The paper traces this influence through three critical disruptions: first, the influx of theatre-trained professionals into Central Television's uncertain organisational structure during the late 1950s; second, the failed experiment of Vecher veselykh voprosov [Evening of Merry Questions (1957)] and its theoretical reinterpretation by critic Vladimir Sappak; and finally, KVN's successful transformation of uncontrolled spontaneity into "structured improvisation." Using the 1964 vyezdnoi konkurs [away contest] as a case study, I demonstrate how KVN's creators synthesised theatrical techniques with Sappak's concept of televised "immediacy" to develop new forms of controlled audience participation. This evolution, from chaotic to structured spontaneity, not only shaped Soviet entertainment programming but also reflected broader cultural negotiations of the “Thaw” period. The paper contributes to understanding how institutional disruptions in Soviet television created spaces for innovation within official constraints.
