Famous TV Shows Mentioning Our Country (And What They Got Wrong)

Hint? There's a lot of it.

0:00 Prague in Movies & TV
0:22 Breaking Bad
1:29 Stephen Colbert
2:44 Snoop Dogg & Martha Stewart
3:55 Gilmore Girls
5:16 SurfsharkVPN (ad)
6:31 Family Guy
8:01 How I Met Your Mother
10:46 American Pie
11:37 Friends
12:40 Home Alone
13:52 The Big Bang Theory
15:54 Czech Word

Thank you for your support!
Janek Rubeš & Honza Mikulka, Prague based journalists
#HonestGuide

[MicrOvce]

I think many English speaking people would find the Czech title of Breaking Bad funny, because it was introduced here as "Gingerbread Dad". The caveat is that Czech word for gingerbread, "perník", is a slang term for methamphetamine. It originates from WWII German brand name for meth Pervitin, which was used in the war by Third Reich soldiers.

[TheRealSpeedWolf]

This is for those who don't know: the reason why the Czech Republic is mentioned many times in Hollywood media is that it serves as a cost-effective location for shooting exteriors and interiors of other famous European landmarks and cities, such as Paris, for years.

[hejdy]

You forgot Radek Zelenka from Stargate Atlantis. There is a few scenes where he swears in Czech in the original version.

[anambitiouswimp]

As a czech person I was always really happy about the way they were talking about the Czech Republic in Gilmore girls! I have yet to know any other tv show that seems to have such nice, educated knowledge of our culture and the dialogue about the czech topics was always so dignified, it really seemed to me like the writers like our country and actually know stuff about it. I especially loved the talk about Havel, Kafka, Kundera and so on!

[zagarna]

What they say about the hostel in Prague offering a cell in which Vaclav Have was held is actually true. The key thing, though, is that he was only held there short-term for interrogation before being either released or jailed/imprisoned. The building where he had been held, which btw has an amazing history itself, was repurposed into a hostel after the fall of the iron curtain. The hostel kept a couple former basement cell rooms to rent in mostly original condition and eventually evolved into a very nice and highly rated "Unitas Hotel". I happen to know all this cause I worked there for some years and I gotta say I sometimes kinda miss the eerie feeling I used to get thinking of all the stories that building could tell...

[jindrich]

The English name Czechia (pronounced 'Che-ki-ya' btw) is completely fine and logical, because in many languages, our country has been well-known by its short-form name for some time already. E.g. Tsjekkia, Tsjechië, Tschechien, Tjeckien, Tchéquie, Çekya, Češka... So, why should it be a problem in English? 🤷‍♂️

[KMarik]

The 420 is actually supposed to be 4:20 PM. This was the code used by some California high schoolers in the 70’s to set up a time to go to smoke pot. Over a period of time this spread throughout California, and the entire US of A then followed. When you say ‘four twenty’ you are usually talking about time but it could also be April 20 which is considered to be kind of a holiday for potheads.

[guyr.]

Great video Janek! You forgot to mention the movie EuroTrip that was supposed to be following the cast in London, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam and more, yet was shot completely in Prague! 🤯
Would you consider making a video showing us the filming locations?

[joshualieberman]

Janek : 5% of Czechs are on meth is not true….meanwhile Honza : “tight, tight, tight” behind the camera.

[donutdude]

While traveling in a totally different country, I had a taxi driver who kept referring to your country as "Czechoslovenia." I tried to correct him a few times, but he wouldn't listen.

[MsDoubleTeam]

Next you should show places in Prague that were featured in movies, like from The Gray Man

[gabemacdonell]

Just a quick note - we didn't rename the country, Czech Republic is still its official name, Czechia is just a shorter version that was introduced way later. It's normal for countries to have two versions of their names, you wouldn't say 'The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland', you'd say the UK. You also wouldn't call Germany the Federal Republic of Germany, because it's too long.
TL:DR - both the Czech Republic and Czechia are still the names of our country and you can refer to it as both! The one name that you SHOULDN'T use however is "Czech" since that is an adjective and not a name of a country xD
I am in Czechia 👍
I am in the Czech Republic 👍
I am in Czech 🙅‍♀️
Hope that helps!

[travellingsebi]

Ahoj Kluci, I sent you guys a tweet which was also left unanswered 😜about well, Montreal being used to pretend to be Prague in the Netflix tv shows called The Recruit.
So, it could be fun for you to do a video about how cities or countries are being used to show Prague instead of Prague and the Czech Rep themselves.

[ThatsJustGinaRose]

One of my favorite films off all time was shot mostly in Prague, and that film is Amadeus. I first saw that film when I was a teenager, and I remember watching the behind-the-scenes video on the DVD and in that they explained why they chose Prague and how amazing it was to shoot the film there. And that was what inspired my want to visit Prague (and the Czech Republic in general). I still haven’t gone yet, but some day! 🎥🎬🖤

[cruisingfromtheozarks]

You should look up what 420 is code for in the US. Some debate on the history of how it started, but it makes perfect sense that Snoop would know it.

[marathimanus]

I'm an Indian and one of our film industries made a movie named Prague. It wasn't a good one or hit in my knowledge, but nevertheless, I think it's a cool fact. :)

[en--ev]

Naoki Urasawa's Monster spends many chapters of its story in the Czech Republic, some specifically in Prague, with the most important backstory taking place in former Czechoslovakia. It's also just one of the greatest and most well written pieces of fiction ever created with *the* greatest and most well written antagonist ever created. You should give it a watch and/or read!

[LilKrobik]

I loved the constant mentions of Czechoslovakia in Monster. Kinda sad you did not mention it, even tho it is not as well known as those other shows.

[uninterestingone]

also in HIMYM in 4th season episode 13, when lilly didnt bring marshall any beer from her trip, a different girl shows up with a sixpack of starobrno beer

[rebeccabarnes]

I was so confused when I first heard about the new Czech name. I had literally just moved back to the U.K after living in Prague for a year (where everyone I met-Czech and tourist alike- had called it the Czech Republic), went on holiday to Costa Rica and had an American correct me and say "it's not the Czech Republic. That's offensive to call them. The country's name is Czechia" and I had literally only been away from the Czech Republic for like a month. I was so confused 😅. But I've since googled it and asked the people I knew and it seems like both names exist simultaneously, neither replacing the other.