| El Hormiguero | |
|---|---|
El Hormiguero logo |
|
| Genre | Talk show Comedy |
| Presented by | Pablo Motos |
| Country of origin | Spain |
| Language(s) | Spanish |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Gestmusic (2006-2008) Siete y Acción (2008-present) |
| Location(s) | Madrid, Spain |
| Running time | 120 minutes (2006-2007) 50 minutes (2007-present) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Cuatro (2006-2011) Antena 3 (2011-present) |
| Original run | September 24, 2006 – Present |
| External links | |
| Website | |
El Hormiguero (Spanish for "The Anthill") is a Spanish television program with a live audience focusing on comedy, science, and politics running since September 2006. It is hosted and produced by screenwriter Pablo Motos and aired on Cuatro, a Spanish television station, until June 11, 2011 but since September 5, 2011 is showed in another channel, Antena 3.[1] Recurring guests on the show include Luis Piedrahita, Raquel Martos, Flipi (the scientist), and puppet ants Trancas and Barrancas (names taken from the Spanish expression "a trancas y barrancas" what means "in fits and starts"). It has proved a ratings success, and has expanded from a weekly 120-minute show to a daily 40-minute show in its third season, which began on September 17, 2007.[2][3][4] The show won the Entertainment prize at the 2009 Rose d'Or ceremony.[5]
Contents |
The show is based on an earlier radio program, broadcasted on M80 Radio, called No Somos Nadie ("We Are Noone"). This show continued until June 2007, when Pablo Motos announced that he would be leaving the program to allow the daily production of El Hormiguero.[6] No Somos Nadie returned in September 2007 with new on-air talent, since most of the old show's talent were part of the television show.[7]
Segments on the show include science experiments with Flipi, which have included a car running on vegetable oil, hangover cures, a superconductivity demonstration, and various chemical reaction demonstrations. Each episode features a satirical rap, commentary on current events, and humorous phrases as spoken by children. Other segments include pitches for viewers to plant trees and "El Kiosco," a section of magazine reviews. The show also airs parodies of other media, which have included Back to the Future, Pop Idol, House, and Mission: Impossible. Many episodes have featured special celebrity guests, including Boris Izaguirre, David Bisbal,[8] Alejandro Sanz,[9] Paulina Rubio, and numerous international celebrities such as Miley Cyrus, Ashley Tisdale or Hugh Jackman. Special guests on the show are sometimes involved throughout the episode, including taking part in the various stunts and science experiments. A number of changes to the show, including new segments such as a webcam call-in portion from viewers, were planned for the upcoming format change in the third season, however this segment and some others like training of wild monkeys were removed, the first one due to the amount of time needed and the second one due to low popularity among the audience.
A very popular segment that was later introduced is Extreme Survival, that features "El maestro empanao" (which roughly translates as "Master Dumbass") Marron and the host Pablo Motos testing out tips and hints on how to survive extreme situations or conditions (such as how to survive being overrun by a car, trapped in a falling lift, attacked by a pack of wolves, etc.). Another popular segment includes Trancas and Barrancas making fun of the day's news.[10] A satirical news show in which puppets read the news, Las noticias del guiñol, formerly aired on Cuatro.
The show first received international attention in 2006 for having people walk across a swimming pool filled with a non-Newtonian fluid, a suspension of cornstarch and water called oobleck, that was mixed in a cement truck.[11] This experiment was performed in an October 2006 episode of the show and was repeated with a new batch of oobleck on the Christmas Eve special episode due to its popularity.[12] In 2007, Cuatro signed an agreement with YouTube that allows clips from Cuatro programs, including El Hormiguero, to be showcased on the site.[13] In 2009, El Hormiguero was awarded as the best entertainment program in the international Rose d'Or awards.[14] The win was the fourth time a Spanish program has received the award, the first since 1994.[15]
Since 2008, the show has received a large number of appearances from international celebrities including professional wrestlers Batista and Rey Mysterio from WWE, the actors Hugh Jackman,[16] Adam Sandler, Matt Dallas, Sylvester Stallone; Lost stars Matthew Fox and Jorge Garcia; Tokio Hotel; The Jonas Brothers,[17] The Backstreet Boys,[18] Will Smith, Kylie Minogue, Shakira, Jaden Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jackie Chan, Hugh Grant, Rob Schneider, Michael C. Hall, Jean Reno, Emma Stone, Ke$ha, Ashley Tisdale, the young actresses Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus, Justin Timberlake, and comedian Sacha Baron Cohen.
In 2009, Siete y Acción licensed the show's format to an Italian production company to produce a local version of the show.[19] Also in 2009, a Chilean and a Brazilian versions were produced only to meet bad reviews in both countries.
After Jesse Eisenberg spoke negatively about his experience as guest on El Hormiguero, in an interview with Conan O'Brien on TBS's Conan[20], Pablo Motos gave a humorous retort to the actor and the American talk-show host from the Spanish program.[21]
In 2011, El Hormiguero was nominated to an International Emmy Award in the Non-scripted entertainment category.