31 Minutos

31 minutos
Logo of 31 Minutos
Created by	Álvaro Díaz Pedro Peirano
Starring	Álvaro Díaz Pedro Peirano Rodrigo Salinas Daniel Castro Patricio Díaz Alejandra Dueñas Francisco Schultz Fernando Solis
Country of origin	Chile
Original language(s)	Spanish
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	68
Production
Running time	0:31
Broadcast
Original channel	TVN (Chile) (2003-2005) (2014-present)
Original airing	March 15, 2003 March 27, 2008 and October 2, 2014
External links
(Official Spanish Site) Website

31 minutos (Spanish for 31 minutes) is a Chilean television show which takes the form of a mock news broadcast, and is fronted by puppets who present various items. The program was devised by Álvaro Díaz and Pedro Peirano and is produced by their own company, APLAPLAC. It was first aired in March 2003 on the TVN channel in Chile.

31 minutos has achieved considerable success in Chilean television, captivating adult viewers as well as children. The sarcastic and carefree humor along with the producers' reputation in Chile of being the essential part of the extinct cult show Plan Z (aired about a decade before) earned the series immediate acceptance among the public (specially among Plan Z's wide and loyal fan base) and helped boost its popularity, being considered a spiritual successor of sorts of that earlier show. When the first season had its debut, it occupied the morning time slot on Saturdays. But its orientation toward children was somewhat questioned because of the enthusiastic response from adult audiences; therefore the second season was moved to the time slot after the night time news at 10:00 pm on Fridays. Its almost explosive commercial success is reflected in the range and quantity of products spawned by the show, including an audio CD with the songs from its first season. In 2004, Nickelodeon started airing the first season across Latin America, being particularly popular in Brazil and Argentina, and a second CD was released with music from the second season. In 2005, a third album was released, with the third season's music and some extras.

Part of the show's success with more adult audiences is due to its use of double entendres and parody. The puppets are ironic imitations of famous television personalities and there are many references to incidents or television events which characterized Chile in the 1980s and 90s.

A movie version entitled 31 minutos, la película, that was shot in Santiago and Rio de Janeiro, premiered in Chilean theatres on March 27, 2008.

On October 2, 2014 the first episode of the fourth season was aired on TVN (Chile), 8 years after their last episode featuring not only the same characters from the previous seasons, but also a 1080p HD image format. 12 episodes were part of this season which was mainly focused on the kids that grew up with the series, but still has the educative point for the newer generations. The sections like the "Green Note" by Juan Carlos Bodoque and the "TOP ranking" by Policarpo Avendaño are being kept on each episode, and included are new sections such as Patana's reality show "Patana's Fridge".

Characters

• Tulio Triviño (leader, parody of Bernardo de la Maza)
• Juan Carlos Bodoque (journalist, probably a parody of both Rafael Cavada and Santiago Pavlović)
• Juanín Juan Harry (producer)
• Policarpo Avendaño (entertainment commentator, parody of Italo Passalacqua)
• Patricia Ana Patana Tufillo (Tulio's niece; Reporter)
• Mario Hugo (reporter)
• Guaripolo (the ambiguously self-proclaimed "31 minutos's children's favourite character")
• Mico el Micófono (reporter)
• Huachimingo (reporter)
• Balón von Bola (sports commentator, parody of Sergio Livingstone and Julio Martínez)
• Raúl Guantecillo (sports commentator, parody of Pedro Carcuro)
• Tenison Salinas (sports reporter)
• Dante Torobolino (explosive magician, parody of El Mago Oli, Gerardo Parra)
• Jackson Aceituno (war correspondent, parody of Amaro Gómez-Pablos)
• Calcetín con Rombos Man (Argyle Sock Man, superhero, parody of Gekko Kamen)
• Eusebio Manguera (owner of the channel)
• Cossimo Gianni (image consultant, parody of Jordi Castell)
• Tío Pelado (fraudster)
• Bongo Stingo (journalist, parody of Carlos Pinto)
• Tío Horacio (elderly children's entertainer, parody of El Tío Memo, Domingo Sandoval)

Songs

Most of the songs were composed by Pablo Ilabaca and Felipe Ilabaca of Chancho en Piedra and group collaboration in the series.

Season 1

Note: The names of the directors are parodied in the series by members of the program output (in parentheses are the real names and their names parodied).

Season 2

Note: The names of the characters of the program directors are either not refer to anyone in particular (Objeción denegada and Papá te quiero). Exceptions are Ms. Interesting, that parodies a member of the production of the program and severla, which is "Director" backwards.

Season 3

Note: The names of the directors are parodies of the members of the program output (La regla primordial, Mr. Guantecillo) real people (Guácala and Parque de diversiones), characters from the show (Ríe and Ratoncitos) or do referring to anyone in particular (Mi castillo de blanca arena con vista al mar).

Season 4

See also

• Spitting Image - A British satirical puppet show.
• 31 Minutos - A CD with the music of the first season.
• 31 Canciones de Amor y una Canción de Guaripolo (Spanish for "31 Love Songs and 1 Guaripolo's Song") - A CD with the music of the second season.
• Los Ratoncitos (Spanish for "The Little Mice") - A CD with the music of the third season.
• Yo Nunca vi Televisión (Spanish for "I never See Television") - a tribute CD of 31 minutos songs.

External links

• Official site (in Spanish)
• Fan site (in Spanish)
• 31 minutos at the Internet Movie Database