Radio Rochela

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Radio Rochela
Image:Radio Rochela logo.JPG
Format Comedy, variety television series
Created by Tito Martinez Del Box
Starring N/A
Country of origin Flag of Venezuela Venezuela
Production
Running time 1 hour
Broadcast
Original channel Radio Caracas Televisión
Original airing 1961
External links
Radio Rochela Official website
IMDb profile
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Radio Rochela (or Radio Rochela Televisión) is a comedy sketch show seen on the Venezuelan television network, Radio Caracas Televisión. With more than 40 years on the air, it is one of the first comedy sketch shows to air in Venezuela and Latin America . This show has always parodied current events, politicians, artists, telenovelas, and competitions such as Venevisión's Miss Venezuela to name a few.

Contents

[edit] History

In the year 1959, a group of students at the Central University of Venezuela decided to begin a series of comedy acts at the architecture school. These students included Cayito Aponte, Charles Barry, Juan Ernesto Lopez (Pepeto), and Beto Parra, to name a few. The Argentine producer Tito Martinez Del Box, saw one of their presentations and liked so much that he invited these students to participate in the El Show de las Doce, hosted by Victor Saume. La Gran Cruzada del Buen Humor thus became one of the most popular segments on this midday show.

Finally in 1960, La Gran Cruzada del Buen Humor was separated from El Show de las Doce and was renamed Radio Rochela. The show went on the air at 8pm on RCTV.

On May, 27, 2007, RCTV went off the air after the government of Hugo Chávez refused to renew its broadcast license (Chávez had announced that his government would not renew RCTV's license on December 28, 2006).[1] On June 4, 2007, week after RCTV's shut down, there was a Radio Rochela special that aired on Globovisión during Aló Ciudadano.

On July 16, 2007, RCTV resumed broadcast on cable and satellite.

[edit] Controversies

Over the years, Radio Rochela has caused controversy for regularly featuring men dressed as women and homosexuals in several of their sketches including Miss Chocozuela, a parody of Miss Venezuela, and Gaywatch, a parody of Baywatch. [2]

On August 1, 1991, the Venezuelan government forced RCTV not to air a sketch in Radio Rochela titled "La Escuelita", due to its controversial nature. This decision was subsequently ratified by the Venezuelan Supreme Court.[3][4]

[edit] Format

Radio Rochela is a program without a fixed format and it gives the impression that it is mostly improvised, noting that this show does not have a host. The show is divided in sections (called "sketch") which do not usually receive names.

The jokes and situations in general are very local, therefore the program is not seen in other countries despite its popularity in Venezuela (the same thing happened with the telenovela Por Estas Calles, which was also seen on RCTV), although it aired for two years on the American Spanish-speaking television station Galavision, owned by Univision.

[edit] Sketches

Among the most waited for sketches are Miss Chocozuela, which is a parody of Venevisión's Miss Venezuela. Also parodied are telenovelas, political situations, and current events. In many occasions, they also parodied popular songs, linking them with current events.

Fictional sketches have also been made which, in their moment, have had a great impact on the population. Among them include:

  • Cachucha, where Elisa Parejo interprets an inefficient and clumsy secretary.
  • Angel Guardian, where Jorge Tuero interpreted an angel who always came down to earth for a mission, which always came out wrong.
  • Los Wapero, interpreteded by Emilio Lovera and "Nene" Quintana, where a pair of youngsters are surprised by a police officer (El Comejobo) for their suspicious attitudes. At the end of the sketch, they whisper something to the officer's ear and he suddenly becomes excessively cooperative, apparently because they know or are related to someone in the high government. The term "wapero" is a slang that refers to youngsters that listen to 90's house music and is derived from the Technotronic hit Pump it up.
  • Los Joldan, which saw the day by day life of a low income couple of people who are big fans of the Chicago Bulls (during the height of Michael Jordan's career).
  • Pargula, was a parody of Count Dracula that portrayed him as a repressed homosexual vampire.
  • El Maracobero, where the principal character was an eloquent cattle rancher from Zulia that tried to impress people with stories and lies.
  • Los Colombianos, which parodied traveling salesmen from Colombia.
  • Queridas Amigas, which parodied both the feminist movement and morning TV magazines. Peculiarly, this was interpreted by two men dressed as woman: Pedro Soto and Nelson Paredes.
  • El Hermano Coco, a parody of a televangelist program. The most famous line featured in this sketch was "faith moves mountains, but you have to pay".
  • Charly Mata, a sketch where the characters would mix words around. His main character is an ambiguous man dressed in a stereotypical 70's fashion, who while implied he was homosexual but he isn't anymore ("I was, but I am not") has attitudes and moans who slips some doubts about his real sexual inclinations.
  • Perolito y Escarlata, a sketch who featured a couple of homeless people who lived from picking metal cans (their names being puns with Venezuelan Spanish words for "can") and give apparently naive comments about contemporary economics and politics. Part of the humor was related with the implication that they were highly paid professionals around the 1980s and fell down since then, as evidenced by their mental schemes of prizes stuck in that age.

Other famous sketches included Focofijo, Los Portugueses, Felix Gonzalito, Rafucho el Maracucho and Asocerro.

[edit] Cast

Over the years, famous Venezuelan comedians have worked in Radio Rochela, they have included:[citation needed]

  • Cayito Aponte
  • Emilio Lovera
  • Juan Ernesto Lopez (Pepeto)
  • Charles Barry
  • Laureano Marquez
  • Elisa Parejo
  • Norah Suarez
  • Cesar "Nene" Quintana
  • Pedro Soto
  • Gladiuska Acosta (La Coconaza)
  • Lilita Pestana
  • Kiko Mendive
  • Martha Piñango
  • Nelly Pujols
  • Irma Palmieri

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061229/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/venezuela_media_1
  2. ^ Identidades translocales y orientación sexual en Caracas: (arqueología, genealogía y tecnologías de la orientación sexual). Carlos Muñoz (2003).
  3. ^ PRESENTACION 19
  4. ^ http://www.mre.gov.ve/Noticias/A2007/caso_rctv/PRESENTACIONARGUMENTACIONCASORCTV.pps
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