7 vidas

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7 Vidas
Format	Sitcom
Starring	Amparo Baró Paz Vega Gonzalo de Castro Anabel Alonso Santi Millán Blanca Portillo Carmen Machi Javier Cámara Santi Rodríguez Guillermo Toledo María Pujalte
Country of origin	Spain
No. of episodes	204
Production
Running time	1:00-1:30 (per episode)
Broadcast
Original channel	Telecinco
Original run	1999 – 2006

7 Vidas was a Spanish sitcom which aired on Telecinco from 1999 to 2006. Its title translates as "7 lives" and the symbol of the sitcom is a cat, in reference to the belief that cats have 7 lives (curiously two lives less than cats from English-speaking countries which are popularly considered to have nine lives). The series is to date 2006 the longest running show of all-time in the history of Spanish television.

It was originally inspired by the American blockbuster Friends.

To begin with, it wasn't a great audience success, but thanks to its wonderful actors, excellent script and huge critical success, the show continued and gained more and more popularity season after season, making it the most popular Spanish show of all time.

It was in 7 Vidas that the now internationally famous actress Paz Vega, and other Spanish actors first became household names in Spain..

The beginning of the sitcom told the story of a group of friends in Madrid, David (Toni Cantó) was in a coma for more than 18 years and suddenly awaked and start discovering the new world in which he lives. His neighbour, Sole (Amparo Baró) was an old woman with a penchant for slapping anyone who behaved in a way she didn't like round the back of the neck. Sole soon became one of the show's most popular characters. Other characters were Sole's sexually frustrated son, Paco (Javier Cámara), Carlota (Blanca Portillo) David's single sister and Laura (Laurita to her friends) (Paz Vega), his cousin from Seville (with her colourful Sevillian accent), initially Paco's principal love interest and then that of David.

Characters came and went, and by the end of the sitcom the only character who had appeared in the first chapter and lasted until its end was Sole. Other long-standing characters, and the two most popular, in addition to Sole, were Gonzalo (Gonzalo de Castro), a waiter who later became a main character and husband of Carlota (although they were later divorced), and Diana (Anabel Alonso), a frustated actress, and a naïve lesbian. She was the first homosexual character in Spanish television who didn't follow stereotypes.

The programme's script was well-known for poking fun at current events, politicians and celebrities and often contained a lot of risqué jokes.

Its popularity led in 2005 to a spin-off, Aída, which is still running today. It features a later popular character of the same name, known for her vulgarity and for representing a "typical" working class Spanish woman.

Often scenes of the sitcom were set in Gonzalo's café, the "Kasi Ke No" - just as many Friends scenes were set in the Central Perk café - Sole's house and Carlota's house, and many outside shots were also used.

By the end of its run, the show was totally different from Friends.

7 Vidas was also known for its multiple cameos of famous people, including Shakira, El Canto del Loco, politician Santiago Carrillo, and footballer Samuel Eto'o. Hugh Grant was pencilled in to appear in one chapter, but the actor subsequently declined the offer.

By the time the show reached its final episode 7 Vidas had clocked up 204 chapters, with a macro celebration featuring all of the 19 main characters who had appeared over the series' history, including a video from Paz Vega who was busy filming in the United States and was unable to appear in person. A live interpretation of the main theme was also performed by El Canto del Loco, a Spanish pop group. That chapter was recorded and transmitted live without interruptions, bar a few minutes for commercials, which were used to change clothes and represent the passing of the time.