Sto Para Pente
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| Sto Para Pente (Στο παρά 5) | |
|---|---|
 Promotional photograph |
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| Genre | Comedy, Mystery, Adventure ,Drama |
| Creator(s) | Giorgos Kapoutzidis Antonis Aggelopoulos |
| Starring | See Cast and characters below |
| Country of origin | Greece |
| No. of episodes | 42 (as of March 19, 2007) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 42–58 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Mega Channel |
| Original run | September 27, 2005 – present |
| Links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
Sto Para Pente (original title "Στο παρά 5", as the number 5 is pronounced pente in Greek), is a Greek sitcom aired on Mega Channel every Monday evening. The script is written by Giorgos Kapoutzidis, who also wrote another Greek TV series Savvatogenimenes that aired in the 2003-2004 season. The director is Antonis Aggelopoulos. Being an instant critical and popular success, Sto Para Pente was the biggest television hit of the 2005-2006 season and it is already regarded as one of the most famed and successful shows in Greek television history. The series was originally supposed to have only one season (26 episodes, each lasting approximately 45 mins) but its immense popularity resulted to a second season. The first episode of Season 2 aired on October 2, 2006. Despite early, widespread calls for the creation of a third season, Kapoutzidis stated in a recent interview that no matter how much fans beg him or how high the demand is, the second one will be the last season of the show.[citation needed] So far, the show is on top of the Nielsen-AGB ratings for the 2006-2007 season as well.
The story is about five seemingly unrelated people who happen to be present at the death of a former minister in a malfunctioning elevator of a luxurious hotel in central Athens. The dying minister begs them in his final words to find out who did this to him by researching a forgotten crime that took place decades before in Thessaloniki. The five of them soon discover that the minister was actually poisoned. Without a clue on what course of action to follow, they decide to team up, which leads them to a long series of incredible adventures. What they are unaware of at the beginning, however, is that they are dealing with some of the most organised criminals of Greece. What is more, after a short while an alarming number of outstanding coincidences makes them realize that nothing has happened as randomly as it seemed to do at the beginning.
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[edit] Title
Para Pente means literary 'five to [hour]'. In Greek Sto para pente is an expression that means "In the nick of time". The title is significant in that the protagonists are five, fighting a team of five villains, and the heroes always manage to escape from their predicaments at the last moment.
[edit] Season 1 (2005-2006)
Thirty years before the events of the series take place, a mysterious group (which, as we later find out, is comprised of five men who went on to become wealthy and powerful) murdered a young woman in Thessaloniki. The murderers managed to get away with it by manipulating events so that a scapegoat was imprisoned instead. They went on to eliminate anyone who tried to uncover the truth in the case. One of these people was former Minister Evaggelos Stavrianidis, who is eventually murdered after attending a reception at a luxurious hotel.
The goal was to murder Stavrianidis by a slow-acting poison whose effects resemble that of a heart attack, so that Stavrianidis would die alone in his house . This plan is foiled when Stavrianidis dies inside the broken down elevator of the hotel, with five unrelated people bearing witness to his final words.
These five people soon get to know each other and they decide to go after the people that murdered Stavrianidis and solve the case, because all lost once someone close to them and believe that bringing justice on this murder will help avenge their loved ones' deaths. However, they soon discover that they all lost the people close to them in the same aircraft disaster, 14 years ago.
Later on, the five discover that the late Minister was, in his youth, the prosecutor in the trial of the man falsely accused of the young woman's murder. After the man's conviction, Stavrianidis came to realise the prisoner's innocence and set out to undo his false judgement. Not being able to expose the crime to the authorities (30 years had since passed and no one would pay attention), Stavrianidis attempted to capture the real culprits by exposing an economic scandal regarding an off-shore company that the murderers used for money laundering.
The leader of the bad guys, who seems to be a powerful and influential figure, is soon on to the five. Though he doesn't know their identities or motives, he feels he is in danger of being exposed. Even more frustrated is one of the assassins employed to eliminate them (who is simply known as "the bad guy" or "the guy in black"). The five always manage to escape his traps in the nick of time (a reference to the show's title) in a way that he never seems to be able to predict.
The first episode begins with the five tied to the railroad tracks trying to escape just as soon as a train comes hurling down the tracks and towards them. Just after the opening credits in this episode, the story begins and we are informed that the whole story takes place 12 months before the train scene.
At the end of the first season, the leader of the bad guys is revealed to the viewers to be the leader of a major (fictional) political party that has narrowly won parliamentary elections, making him the prime minister.
[edit] Season 2 (2006-2007)
The five move from clue to clue, with the man in black constantly on their heels. A trip to Mykonos directs them to a reporter that covered the murder case and had expressed his doubts on the court's ruling. Unfortunately, the man in black has him abducted and an imposter lures the five into a trap. Three of them are captured and the other two manage to rescue their friends when they happen to capture themselves the man in black's assistant. The journalist goes into hiding, but not before divulging them the identity of one of the five murderers: a mogul in charge of a successful media network, Dimosthenis Politis. More evidence lead to the mastermind behind the entire case: the new prime minister of Greece, Aris Pavrinos. After the five finally confront Politis and more overwhelming evidence comes to light (from Politis's father) Politis dies of a heart attack in Dalia's penthouse.
As the five try to find clues that will reveal the identity of the remaining two murderers, they get help from an old familiar face, who tells them that the person they are looking for is powerful lawyer, Yiannis Delikaris. They get Aggela to pose as a law graduate, looking for work experience in order to get access to Delikaris's office. However, Delikaris, knowing their identities and intentions, sets up his own trap.
[edit] Cast and Characters
- Smaragda Karidi as Dalia
- Elissavet Konstandinidi as Zoumboulia
- Giorgos Kapoutzidis as Spyros
- Argiris Aggelou as Fotis
- Aggeliki Labri as Aggela
- Zeta Makripoulia as Amalia (and narrator)
- Efi Papatheodorou as Theopoula
- Irene Koumarianou as Sophia
- Dimitris Petropoulos as the evil prime minister
[edit] The "Five"
Midway through the first season, it becomes apparent that the five have all lost loved ones on a fatal plane crash. This brings the revelation that the five may be tied together by a higher force trying to make things right. They were also together in an old newspaper photograph at the airport after the tragedy.
- Dalia Hatzialexandrou (Smaragda Karidi): The only heiress of an extremely rich family, she lost her chauffeur and lover at the plane disaster. This resulted in her suffering from depression and she ended up living for many years at her isolated mansion in Ekali, one of Athens' wealthiest suburbs, watching telenovelas and soap operas. Her long-time isolation has cut her off the outside world and has rendered her totally incapable of comprehending basic aspects of everyday life (such as colloquial expressions and the mere value of money.) The only positive outcome of this is that she thinks of their mission as a fun game, rather than a danger that can even cost them their own lives.
- Zoumboulia "Zoumbi" Abatzidou (Elissavet Konstandinidi): Coming from a village in Northern Greece, the widow Zoumboulia lost her husband, Charalambos, at the disaster. Her daughter got married to the son of a wealthy and snob Athenian, Marilena Dorkofiki ( Zoumboulia cannot pronounce her name ; she calls her Marinela which refers to the famous Greek singer ) and Zoumboulia moved to Athens to take care of her baby grandson, since her daughter and son in-law have temporarily moved to Boston. She often gets into serious confrontations with Marilena, who feels anything but delighted with Zoumboulia's presence. Her weird name is a cause of many misunderstandings and makes other people call her simply "Lia" or "Zoumbie". When in danger, she often resorts to religion.
- Spyros Deloglou (Giorgos Kapoutzidis): A college student (accounting) who still struggles with some problems in his personal life. He lost his parents at the disaster and ever since lives with his grandmother Sophia. Sophia has become best friends with Theopoula, their wacky and extremely weird neighbour. Theopoula and Sophia share the same passion for adventure and new experiences (including learning to play the drums and wanting to attend a bungee jumping contest). All this madness drives Spyros' (already almost - neurotic) mind crazy.
- Fotis Voulinos (Argyris Aggelou): The son of a TV - station owner. He works at the minor family TV station,TileVOAS (a parody of real smaller greek TV channels). He lost his mother and sister at the disaster and along with his long time rival, his cousin Fridda, presents pretty much all of the channel's shows. He styles himself as the McGyver of the group. He has a distinctive hairstyle similar to that of Tintin.
- Angeliki "Aggela" Ioakimidou (Aggeliki Labri): An open minded country girl who lost her father at the disaster, Aggela came to Athens in search of a job. She is the bravest of the five and the most likely to get into a fight with, let's say, an unknown pedestrian on the street. She has a kind heart, but her attitude and tendency to speak her mind has a side-effect: she can never keep friends or jobs for a period of time. Many times, her first day on the job was also her last. When not hunting down bad guys (her favorite activity), she brings out her artistic nature attending acting classes at a downtown theatre, with controversial results.
[edit] Style of the series
The series is based on a "punchline quotes" structure. While the main plot is unveiled, the characters tend to say funny and original quotes that each one characterises the person's personality. At the beginning, the series was mostly comedic in mood but in the latter episodes it became increasingly dramatic, adventurous and mysterious while daring to express some philosophies about many aspects of life such as friendship, variety of characters etc. Most episodes end in dramatic cliffhangers.
The series is the first Greek series in history to present characteristics of cult television shows: An enormous and dedicated fanbase of youngs and adults alike have created fan sites and forums discussing the mysteries and spectacular plot twists of the show.
[edit] Awards and nominations
At the Greek television awards for season 2005-2006 the show was nominated for 14 categories and it won 7 awards.
| Awards |
|---|
| Most popular Comedy series 2006 |
| Best Comedy series 2006 |
| Best writing for a Comedy series 2006 |
| Best Leading Actress (Smaragda Karidi) |
| Best Secondary Actress (Efi Papatheodorou) |
| Best Actor for Greek television series 2006 |
| Best Actress for Greek television series 2006 |
| Nominations |
|---|
| Best directing |
| Best Visual montage |
| Best Leading Actor (Giorgos Kapoutzidis) |
| Best Production |
| Best Leading Actress (Elisavet Konstandinidou) |
| Best Supporting Actress (Zeta Makripoulia) |
| Best Costumary |
[edit] Commercials
The characters of the show appeared in many commercials, most popular those of TIM and Carrefour.The "5" appeared in two major TIM commercials. The two grannies Theopoula and Sofia appeared in a couple of Carrefour commercials as well as Smaragda Karidi's character Dalia along with her two maidservants Martha and Ritsa. Smaragda Karidi also appeared in a few Hellenic Seaways spots not as Dalia (although there are references to her popular character) but as Herself.
