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Our Folks (Bizimkiler)

Our Folks (Bizimkiler) (translated)

TV Series · 1989–2002 · 23 people

Seven households share one Istanbul apartment block in Bizimkiler (“Our Folks”), a Turkish sitcom whose characters run from the building's manager down to its janitor. Umur Bugay created it, carrying over the world of the feature Kapıcılar Kralı, which he had also scripted. Bugay Film and Ar Ajans produced the show; it opened on TRT 1 in 1989 and later moved to Star TV.

Its running engine is the daily friction between Sabri, a manager determined to supervise everyone, and Cafer, a janitor busy turning the job into a side income. Around them turn the working and marital troubles of Şükrü's middle-class family, seamstress Sevim and her beer-hiding husband Cemil, the tough-guy neighbor nicknamed Katil Yavuz who arbitrates the building's quarrels, a returnee family headed by Davut with his German wife, the poet Cenap, and Nazif, a teacher driving a taxi at night. Erdal Özyağcılar, Savaş Dinçel, Ercan Yazgan, Engin Şenkan, Salih Kalyon and Meral Çetinkaya were among the players.

Unbroken across thirteen years and fifteen seasons, roughly four hundred and sixty episodes in all, it reached a huge audience at a time when viewers had few channels to choose from, took a Golden Butterfly award for best series, and stands as the second Turkish series with the most seasons.

Production companyBugay Film, Ar Ajans
NetworkTRT 1, Star TV
Our Folks (Bizimkiler)

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Through different eyes

AI-assisted editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives. They are not reader reviews; those are below.

Yeşilçam Nostalgic A viewer raised on the classics, looking for warm storytelling and strong acting.

Bizimkiler is a warm comedy that brings an era's culture of neighbourliness to the screen through seven families sharing one apartment building. The endless feud between Sabri, the building manager, and Cafer, the doorman, and types like Sevim the seamstress, the poet Cenap and Nazif, the teacher who drives a taxi at night, recall the endearing human panoramas of our neighborhood films. Its greatest virtue is getting laughs from situation comedy without resorting to crude humor. The natural rapport of seasoned actors like Erdal Özyağcılar, Savaş Dinçel and Ercan Yazgan explains how it stayed a guest in our homes for thirteen years. The Golden Butterfly award was a well-earned honor.

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humor and heart.

Bizimkiler is an apartment-building comedy everyone from grandparents to grandchildren can watch together. No violence, clean language, and humor drawn from everyday life: the manager and the doorman bickering, neighbors quarrelling, family worries. Kids laugh at the colorful characters while grown-ups recognize their own neighbors. With so many episodes, you can start anywhere and take breaks whenever you like.

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

Bizimkiler turns an idea born from Kapıcılar Kralı, the feature film Umur Bugay wrote, into a long-running situation comedy. One building, a unity of place and seven families: that limited space offers the kind of staging in which character comedy works best. The power struggle between Sabri and Cafer forms the show's dramatic engine. But fifteen seasons and roughly four hundred and sixty episodes is a longer journey than any structure can carry; past a certain point the types start repeating their own patterns and the jokes become predictable. It should also be remembered that an era with few channels made that run possible. Its well-written early seasons are the solid example of Turkish TV comedy, and a newcomer can reasonably stop there.

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