Daddy's Daughters

Daddy's Daughters (Russian: Папины дочки, romanized: Papiny Dochki) is a Russian TV series that aired for 20 seasons from September 3, 2007 to April 30, 2013. Made by "Kinokonstanta" (episodes 1 to 60), "Kostafilm" (episodes 61 to 370) and "Yellow, Black and White" (since episode 371) film companies, the show revolves around psychotherapist Sergey Vasnetsov (Andrei Leonov) and his five daughters who were all left by their mother after she fled to Canada with a hockey player. The series has very high television ratings and has won multiple awards (received four "TEFI"^[1][2]). Unlike many other Russian sitcoms of those years, this is an original series,^[3] and is not an adaptation of a foreign show.

Daddy's Daughters
Genre	Sitcom
Written by	Alex Trotsyuk, Vitaly Shlyappo, Vyacheslav Dusmukhametov, Leonid Kuprido
Directed by	Alexander Zhigalkin Sergei Aldonin
Country of origin	Russia
Original language	Russian
No. of seasons	20
No. of episodes	410
Production
Producers	Vyacheslav Murugov Alexander Rodnyansky Constantine Kikichev
Running time	24 minutes
Original release
Network	STS
Release	3 September 2007 (2007-09-03) – 30 April 2013 (2013-04-30)

Plot

Protagonist Sergei Vasnetsov (Andrei Leonov), a family therapist from a small private clinic, was in a deplorable situation. His wife, Lyudmila Vasnetsova (Nonna Grishayeva), left him for a hockey player. To make matters worse, his practice is all but collapsing, as all of his patients have left. His wife's departure leaves their five daughters (Miroslava Karpovich, Anastasia Sivayeva, Darya Melnikova, Elizaveta Arzamasova, Ekaterina Starshova) in his care.

Cast

• Andrei Leonov as Sergei Alekseyevich Vasnetsov
• Nonna Grishayeva as Lyudmila Sergeyevna Vasnetsova
• Miroslava Karpovich as Maria Vasnetsova
• Anastasia Sivayeva as Darya Vasnetsova (Vasilyeva after marriage)
• Darya Melnikova as Eugenia Vasnetsova
• Elizaveta Arzamasova as Galina Sergeyevna Vasnetsova
• Ekaterina Starshova as Polina Vasnetsova ("Pugovka")
• Olga Volkova as Antonina Semyonovna Gordienko (Lyudmila Vasnetsova's mother)
• Aleksandr Samoylenko as Andrei Antonov (the friend of Sergey Vasnetsov)
• Angelina Varganova† as Olga Antonova
• Tatyana Orlova as Tamara Kozhemyatko (Sergey Vasnetsov's secretary)
• Alexander Oleshko as Vasily Fedotov (oligarch)
• Maria Syomkina as Oksana Fedotova
• Mikhail Kazakow as Ilya Polezhaykin (Galina Sergeevna's boyfriend)
• Philip Blednyi as Veniamin Vasilyev (Daria's boyfriend, then her husband)
• Nina Persiyaninova as Taisiya Kirillovna (headmistress of school, chemistry teacher)
• Anna Dimova as Lyudmila Mikhailovna (teacher of Russian language and literature)

Trivia

• Shooting the series began July 13, 2007.^[4] Creators and arrangers of the title song "Daddy's Daughters" are brothers Kristovskiy (group «Uma2rman»).^[5]
• At first only 60 episodes were planned. However, because of the huge ratings "Daddy's daughters" was continued. In 2008-2009, the project was a leader among Russian sitcoms. So, in 2008, the average share of premiere episodes in the audience of "all 6-54" was phenomenal — at the level of 19.9% (rating 5.0%).^[6]
• "Daddy's Daughters" is the first Russian TV series to get adapted by a foreign channel. German channel Das Vierte began shooting a German remake called "Ein Haus voller Töchter" in spring 2009^[7] and started broadcasting it in August 2010. However, "Ein Haus voller Töchter" received very poor ratings and very poor critical reception. It was panned for its poor and clichéd writing and its overuse of canned laughter. Jan Schlüter of Quotenmeter.de concluded that "television could hardly get worse".^[8]
• Angelina Varganova who played Olga Antonova died on January 4, 2013, from pneumonia at the age of 41, before she could finish the storyline of the character.^[9]

Awards

• TEFI 2008 — in the nomination "Sitcom"^[1]
• TEFI 2008 — in the nomination "Producer of a television feature series" (received by Vyacheslav Murugov, Alexander Rodnyansky, Constantine Kikichev)^[1]
• The award in the field of audiovisual arts for children and youth "Star Bridge" (2008) — in the nomination "TV series for children and youth"^[10]
• People's Award of Ukraine "TV Star" (2009) — in the nomination "Favorite actor" (received by Andrei Leonov)^[11]
• In 2008, Andrei Leonov was nominated for the TEFI award in the category Best Actor of TV Movie/Series for his role in Daddy’s Daughters.^[12]
• TEFI 2009 — in the nomination "Sitcom"^[2]
• TEFI 2009 — in the nomination "Screenwriter of a television feature series" (received by Alexey Trotsyuk and Vitaly Shlyappo)^[2]
• In 2010, the series received two nominations at the Golden Eagle Awards. Nonna Grishayeva was nominated in the category Best Television Actress, and Vyacheslav Murugov, Sergey Aldonin, and Aleksandr Zhigalkin were nominated in the category Best Television Series (Over 10 Episodes).^[13]
• People's Award of Ukraine "TV Star" (2010) — in the nomination "Favorite TV series"^[14]
• People's Award of Ukraine "TV Star" (2011) — in the nomination "Favorite actress" (received by Nonna Grishayeva)^[15]

Spin-off

A spin-off "Daddy's daughters. New" ("Папины дочки. Новые") was released in 2023.^[16][17]