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Leonardo Padrón says that as a child he did not miss any chapter of El Chavo del 8. He was, he recalls, a deep fanatic and, decades later, he was moved to see that his children were also enjoying the series, suspended on July 31st worldwide by disagreements between Televisa, owner of the rights to the program, and Grupo Chespirito, owner of the exploitation rights of Roberto Gómez Bolaños’ characters.
“Even as an adult, if I stumble across it on television, I watch it and laugh exactly like every time. Its power to seduce so many audiences is impressive. There are jokes that are recurrent, formulas made, but they still produce the same effect on you. Quico was my favorite character. The actor Carlos Villagrán gave him some extraordinary gesture gags, ”says the Venezuelan writer.
Until now, neither Emilio Azcárraga Jean, president of the Televisa Board of Directors, nor Roberto Gómez Fernández, Roberto Gómez Bolaños’ eldest son, have said the reason for the suspension.
Gómez Fernández only tweeted that he and his family hope that soon Chespirito will be back on the world’s screens. “We will continue to insist, and I am sure we will succeed,” he said.
The clearest explanation for the moment has been that of Edgar Vivar, interpreter of Ñoño and Mr. Barriga, who indicated that Gómez Bolaños had signed a contract with Televisa in which the usufruct of the rights of the characters and their literary creation was agreed until July 30 of this year. “Almost six years after his death and those rights were not renewed, the Televisa company did not want to pay,” he said. Thanks to this, the actor said, the rights to the series returned to Chespirito’s heirs.
The first stage of El Chavo del 8 in Venezuela it was between 1976-1979 and 1989-1993 on RCTV. Then she moved to Venevisión in 1994 and stayed until 2015. And before her sudden suspension, it was broadcast on Televen, Monday through Friday, at 4:00 pm.
Its success has been such that 47 years after the first broadcast, the actors continue to generate news and the program a lot of money. In 2012 the magazine Forbes He published that since the end of the recordings, Televisa had had profits of about 1.7 billion dollars for the retransmissions.
For Padrón, the power of El Chavo del 8 reaching millions of audiences falls on characteristics such as the creation of characters who embody cultural archetypes that define the Latin American or the moving aspect of Chavo, who represents the orphanhood and hunger that the street child of Latin America has historically suffered. “But the great strength is in humor, timeless, universal, and of such tremendous effectiveness that it has crossed several generations,” he underlines.
Film critic Luis Bond thinks of his childhood when he talks about El Chavo del 8. Many, he explains, grew up watching the program as different generations did with the cartoons of the Looney Tunes, The Flintstones, Mazinger Z and Dragon Ball. “The kid It is not only the childhood of a generation but that of many generations. Sure, perhaps in the lens of modernity many jokes can be considered silly because they have changed values and society. But without a doubt it is an important testimony of the childhood of many and of Latin American television, ”he explains.
Also, he points out, it must be taken into account that the Latin American presence for children born after 70 was El Chavo del 8 and El Chapulín Colorado, as well as, he stresses, a generation of parents and grandparents grew up watching Tin Tan or Cantinflas. “It was interesting to see some kind of comedy show that spoke in our codes, where we could see things with our own particular humor. We see the Latin American vividness in The kid and The chapulin. In addition, both often had somewhat moralizing endings. In all, they left a good message for the children ”.
The cultural journalist Gonzalo Jiménez, who writes for the website CNET in Spanish, defines as a transgenerational phenomenon El Chavo del 8 already El Chapulín Colorado, an achievement, he emphasizes, that can be attributed icons such as Star Wars: “Few cultural products can be credited with such an honor. There are several generations of people who have become fans of The kid and The chapulin. I think they are the best example that exists in Latin America of this phenomenon: they began to be transmitted in the 70s and because of the issue of rights and royalties of transmission that obtained with Televisa reached the entire region. They have been on the air for more than 40 years, which is why it is so dramatic in a way that they stop airing ”.
Jiménez considers that some of the elements that explain the success of the series are the simplicity of the stories, a humor that resorts to gags (the cakes in the face or the blows and falls) and that at the same time express a certain familiarity because each episode of The kid and The chapulin they have the same structure. “There is always the same type of outcome for humor,” he highlights. Other characteristics are phrases that became popular and that are repeated over and over again such as “chaffles”, “I was sparked”, “it was unintentionally wanting” or “follow me the good guys.”
“In the end, The kid He has a very hard social background: he is an abandoned child who lives in a barrel, a man like Don Ramón who never manages to pay the rent, the courtship of Doña Florinda and Professor Jirafales that never ends. That is to say, there are certain elements, that hardness, that background, hard and sad that there is in the series, and yet there is always an element of hope, of smile and coexistence that is what makes the series endearing and that is why one sees it and again. I think they are difficult elements to replicate, they are not easy to reproduce ”, Jiménez explains.
However, the journalist adds that another reason that can justify the cultural phenomenon of The kid and The chapulin It is found in the relationship between Latin America and Mexico, which, he says, has been the great sentimental school in the region. “Today it is less noticeable. But, for example, those who grew up in the 60s and 70s can attest that Mexican cinema first reached theaters, but then remained on television with great popularity with artists such as Pedro Infante, Tin Tan, Canfinflas, María Félix ; and then all the toughs or ranchers of the 60s like Luis Aguilar or Piporro. All that legacy of sentimental training, rancheras, film and television, which also includes soap operas, has made us have a great bond with Mexico. “
The writer and film critic Aglaia Berlutti highlights that Gómez Bolaños’ characters have been a reflection of the image of Latin Americans. For example, Dr. Chapatín, he explains, represents the private doctors of the region. “The same is Chapulín Colorado, who is really the Latin superhero. Now as an adult I understand the irony: a precarious superhero, full of problems, but who at that time gave me a feeling that I did not have with the Marvel or DC comics, of which I was very fanatic. With the Chapulín I had the impression that anyone can be a superhero because, in fact, the screaming chipote was anything “.
Berlutti, who confesses that she is not a fan of Chespirito, also highlights the innocent aspects of the programs and the sensitivity that Gómez Bolaños permeated them. “El Chavo and his entire gang, Bolaños’ characters, are part of an imaginary that includes The Fox, which was part of those afternoons. All these characters were part of an unrepeatable moment that could not have been done before because they would have been totally untimely. Right now they are even perceived with a certain anachronism, but at that time they were perfect for dialoguing with a type of sensitivity that right now seems very strange to us, “said the critic, who also recognizes that currently certain aspects of The kid as well as the behaviors of Don Ramón or Professor Jirafales could be seen as extremely macho or classist but, he adds, in the end they are a portrait of an era described in a very innocent way.
In Venezuela, Berlutti believes, Gómez Bolaños’ characters are the reflection of a childhood and a naivety that have been lost in the country. “I think one of Bolaños’ unnamed achievements was educating a generation to be empathetic. Although it seems super racist to us now, I remember that his characters were very human, kind. In Venezuela, where we are so vests, even aggressive in verb, this type of humor softer, more delicate, super sensitive, in some way is a reference of a television part that was exploited very little at that time. They were the times, he emphasizes, before the crisis and that can be seen with pleasure. Chespirito’s characters, the writer affirms, are part of a childhood and a moment in the life of the Venezuelan that will not return.
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