El Chavo del Ocho (partially lost Mexican sitcom TV series; 1973-1979)
"Las trampas de la Chilindrina"
Status: Partially Lost
El Chavo del Ocho (1973-1975), later known as just El Chavo (1975-1980), is a Mexican sitcom based on characters by comedian Roberto Gómez Bolaños, best known as "Chespirito" (a nickname meaning "Little Shakespeare"). It focuses on the titular character "El Chavo," an orphan 8-year old child whose life is split between pestering his adult neighbors and getting in trouble with the other kids on the vecindad. The show has experimented public acclaim in Latin America, with a notably large portion of its fanbase being comprised of viewers in Brazil.
On July 31st 2020, Televisa's rights to explore and sell productions featuring Chespirito's characters were lifted due to legal issues between the Mexican company and the comedian's heir - Roberto Gómez Fernández. According to actor Edgar Vivar - best known for his role as vecindad owner Señor Barriga - this was the result of failed negotiations regarding a deal in which the company was originally allowed to use the characters for 50 years. As the parties failed to reach an agreement and this contract was not renewed, the rights were ultimately returned to Chespirito's representative, effectively forcing Televisa to cease distribution of all productions it owns the copyright for. Although this means that the entirety of said productions is no longer legally available for viewing and acquisition, none of this material is considered lost and thus is not covered on this article.
From over 250 episodes of El Chavo [del Ocho] originally broadcasted between February 1973 and January 1980, 39 were absent from Televisa's most recent distribution package. It's impossible to pinpoint the exact moment when these episodes were shelved, but it's believed that some - if not all - were still distributed until the late 80's, as evidenced by a pack sent to Brazilian network SBT in 1987, which included several now discontinued episodes. Unsurprisingly, many episodes from El Chavo del Ocho's sister series El Chapulín Colorado suffered the same fate.
Reasons and Fan Theories
One of the biggest obstacles to the finding of reasons behind the removal of these episodes is that official, reliable information by Televisa is virtually non-existent. The group refuses to acknowledge the existence of the missing episodes, stating to customers that their current pack is composed by every episode ever produced, even though fans, through several external sources, had already debunked their speech.
Two episodes of Chespirito's standalone works – El Chavo del Ocho's "El robachicos" and El Chapulín Colorado's "Las bromas del tío Ramón", both from 1973 – are believed to have once being taken out of the regular distro package (regaining their 'common' status after a new package was issued by Televisa in 2006) due to both were previously out of rotation by Costa Rican network Repretel. Although there is no confirmation of their absence being reflected in other countries' airings at the time, this is often considered a precedent for possible episode recoveries by Televisa.
Florinda Meza, a prominent cast member and widow of Chespirito, has already expressed interest in the 'disappearance' of the episodes, contacting Televisa on occasions to report airings of discontinued episodes in foreign countries in hopes of getting them back to distribution. Televisa, however, showed no signs of interest in looking into it.
In the face of a lack of official info, there are many rumours and theories about the actual reason behind the removal of these episodes. These include:
- Damaged tapes: the most accepted reason, where poor conservation of the master tapes eventually caused video and/or audio damage. This is evidenced by the massive cuts done to the currently distributed episodes, as well as scene replacements done to hide video imperfections.
- Erased tapes: it's theorized that many early episodes from Chespirito's works had their master tapes wiped to make room for newer shows and other episodes, as Televisa executives did not expect that there would be demand for such material decades later. This theory was supported by cast member Rubén Aguirre during an interview for Brazilian fan-site Fórum Chaves.
- Censorship: Televisa executives or Chespirito's relatives picked by hand episodes that shouldn't be distributed. As an example, the 1976 episode "Festival de la Buena Vecindad - parte 2" includes a song that was supposedly registered by Carlos Villagrán after his departure from the cast, possibly causing the cancellation of the episode's distribution due to internal conflicts between Chespirito and Villagrán. This theory is also supported by the fact that all versions of Chapulín Colorado's "La bella durmiente era un señor muy feo - parte 1", including a remake from the '80s Chespirito era, are out of the current distribution package.
- Natural disasters: a violent earthquake hit Mexico City in 1985, causing severe damage to the region and, among numerous casualties, affecting Televisa's main station. Although the only archive that was reportedly affected was the sports archive, some people, mostly misinformed, still believe that this is a plausible reason for the apparent loss of episodes. This is proven untrue by the aforementioned pack sent to SBT around 1987.
Episode List
Below is a complete list of all lost episodes whose existence is proven through information collected by fans. According to Lista CH, in addition to the 32 episodes listed, seven more completely unknown episodes went undistributed by Televisa.
Key:
Green - Found episodes available in Spanish.
Gold - Found episodes not available in Spanish.
Orange - Partially available episodes/excerpts.
Red - Completely lost episodes.
Note: the episode titles used in here are not official, given that unlike El Chapulín Colorado, El Chavo del Ocho episodes did not feature narrated titles during the intro sequence. Original airdates are either taken from Tele-Guía magazines or determined through deduction.
Season 1 (1973)
| Episode No. | Unofficial Title | Original Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | "Tratando de bañar al Chavo" | March 5th, 1973 |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[1] Includes a Los Caquitos sketch. | ||
| 3 | "El Chavo del Ocho rompe el romance" | March 12th, 1973 |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[2] Includes a Los Caquitos sketch. A remake, produced in 1975, is also missing. | ||
| 8 | Compilation #4 | April 16th, 1973 |
| The fourth of eight sketch compilations from the 1972 Chespirito era, conceived due to an on-set accident that resulted in an 8-week break for Chespirito. Its contents are unknown, but it's believed that it includes the 1972 El Chavo del Ocho sketch "La Independencia", along with a Los Caquitos sketch and another El Chavo del Ocho sketch. | ||
| 22 | "La caja de madera" | July 23th, 1973 |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[3] Includes a Los Caquitos sketch. | ||
| 29 | "Los novilleros" | September 10th, 1973 |
| Found through a VHS tape recording from 1991. Only available in Brazilian Portuguese, rendering the original audio missing. A three-episode remake, whose first part is missing, was produced in 1976. | ||
| 32 | "Jugando con las cosas de don Ramón" | October 1st, 1973 |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía. | ||
| 34 | "El perrito callejero" | October 15th, 1973 |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[4] | ||
| 36 | "Goteras en casa de Don Ramón" | October 29th, 1973 |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[5] | ||
| 40 | "El zapatero - parte 2" | November 26th, 1973 |
| Announced by don Ramón in the end of "El zapatero - parte 1." A synopsis from Tele-Guía provides further evidence of its existence.[6] | ||
Season 2 (1974)
| Episode No. | Unofficial Title | Original Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 55 | "El vendedor de globos" | March 11th, 1974 |
| Discovered through synopses from Tele-Guía.[7][8] | ||
| 69 | "Los cuernos del profesor" | June 17th, 1974 |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[9] | ||
| 70 | "Corto circuito" | June 24th, 1974 |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[10] | ||
| 73 | "La carpinteria - parte 2" | July 15th, 1974 |
| Found in 2012 when it first aired on Brazilian TV. Only available in Brazilian Portuguese, rendering the original audio missing. | ||
| 81 | "Profesor Jirafales enamorado" | September 2nd, 1974 |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[11] | ||
| 82 | "Inflando globos" | September 9th, 1974 |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[12] | ||
| 87 | "La locura" | October 14th, 1974 |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía. Includes a parody of My Fair Lady. Brazilian TV network SBT supposedly owns a copy of this episode, as an El Chavo del Ocho tape containing this airdate was spotted on one of the network's 30th anniversary specials in 2011. | ||
Season 3 (1975)
| Episode No. | Unofficial Title | Original Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 91 | "Los regalos de los tres Reyes Magos" | January 6th, 1975 |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía. | ||
| 99 | "Confusión de cartas" | March 3rd, 1975 |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[13] Remake of the 1973 episode "Los pensamientos del profesor", which is also missing. | ||
| 100 | "El perico" | March 10th, 1975 |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[14] | ||
| 128 | "La chirimoya" | October 27th, 1975 |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía. | ||
Season 4 (1976)
| Episode No. | Unofficial Title | Original Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 131 | "Los niños faltan a clases" | January 5th, 1976 |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[15] | ||
| 135 | "La nueva profesión - parte 1" | February 2nd, 1976 |
| Aired regularly through Brazilian network SBT. Only available in Brazilian Portuguese, rendering the original audio missing. | ||
| 139 | "Don Ramón enamorado" | March 1st, 1976 |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[16] | ||
| 144 | "Los novilleros - parte 1" | April 5th, 1976 |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía. First episode of a three-episode arc. Partially a remake of the 1973 episode "Los novilleros", which is also discontinued by Televisa. | ||
| 147 | "Jugando a la escuelita" | April 26th, 1976 |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[17] | ||
| 150 | "Exámenes - parte 1" | June 21st, 1976 |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía. First episode of a three-episode arc. | ||
| 167 | "Festival de la Buena Vecindad - parte 2" | October 18th, 1976 |
| Aired regularly through Brazilian network SBT. Only available in Brazilian Portuguese, rendering the original audio missing. Second episode of a four-episode arc. | ||
| 176 | "Fiesta navideña - parte 2" | December 20th, 1976 |
| Announced in the end of "Fiesta navideña - parte 1." | ||
Seasons 5-7 (1977-1980)
| Episode No. | Unofficial Title | Original Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 178 | "Los niños asisten a la escuela" | January 31st, 1977 |
| Discovered through a Tele-Guía synopsis.[18] | ||
| 182 | "En esta vecindad están prohibidos los animales - parte 2" | February 28th, 1977 |
| Found through a VHS tape recording from 1991. Only available in Brazilian Portuguese, rendering the original audio missing. Second episode of a three-episode arc. | ||
| 185 | "El juego de béisbol" | March 21st 1977 |
| Footage of this episode was featured in a Venezuelan vinyl ad from early 90's, as well as in a 1994 interview with Edgar Vivar. A 2-minute except was discovered in September 2024, sourced from a 1981 interview with Carlos Villagrán on Venezuelan network RCTV. | ||
| 238 | "El portazo en la cara al Chavo" | June 19th, 1978 |
| Footage of this episode was featured in a 1989 anniversary promo by Guatemalan network Televisiete. The episode's plot is currently unknown. | ||
| 242 | "Las trampas de la Chilindrina" | July 17th, 1978 |
| Originally discovered through a Tele-Guía synopsis, 19 minutes of this episode were found in late September 2023 through a VHS recording of Peruvian network América Televisión, dated around 1993, by Chespirito fan Shambler Casper via tape acquired from Armando Guillén. | ||
| 253 | "El amor llegó a la vecindad - parte 1" | October 2nd, 1978 |
| Aired regularly through Brazilian network SBT. Only available in Brazilian Portuguese, rendering the original audio missing. First episode of a four-episode arc. | ||
| 272 | "El actor Héctor Bonilla - parte 1" | March 26th, 1979 |
| Found through a 90's VHS tape recording by Chespirito.org webmaster Reniet Ramirez. Before this, the only available footage was used in the summary present in the beginning of "El actor Héctor Bonilla - parte 2". | ||
Videos
Note: as of March 2020, Televisa is actively blocking videos featuring footage of its properties, and even of material they own no rights over. Some of the videos in this section may be marked as not available for viewing in multiple countries, but this does not mean the episodes themselves are considered lost.
Excerpts
- "El juego de béisbol" (1977) - extracted from a vinyl ad;
- "El juego de béisbol" (1977) - interview with Edgar Vivar featuring excerpts from the episode;
- "El juego de béisbol" (1977)
- "El portazo en la cara al Chavo" (1978) - extracted from a promo by Guatemalan network Televisiete.
Missing Original Audio
The following episodes are only available in Brazilian Portuguese:
- "Los novilleros" (1973)
- "La carpinteria - parte 2" (1974)
- "La nueva profesión - parte 1" (1976)
- "Festival de la Buena Vecindad - parte 2" (1976)
- "En esta vecindad están prohibidos los animales - parte 2" (1977)
- "El amor llegó a la vecindad - parte 1" (1978)
Found Episode
External Links
- Episode guides to Chespirito's works, idealized by Thomas Henrique (in memoriam) and maintained by James Revolti (in Portuguese and Spanish).
- Discussion on the topic of 'Lost episodes' from Chespirito's works (in Portuguese).
References
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1073: “Todos los inquilinos de la vecindad deciden bañar a cubetazos al "Chavo del Ocho" ya que éste lleva varios meses sin tocar el agua. Entremés de "Los Caquitos".”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1075: “"El Chavo del Ocho" rompe el romance que sostiene el profesor Jirafales y la mama de Kiko. Entremés: "Los Caquitos"”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1160: “"El Chavo del Ocho" juega a las escondidillas mientras "La Bruja del 72" [sic] convierte a Kiko en una bicicleta. Entremés con "Los Caquitos", "El Chómpiras" y "Peterete".”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1105: “"El Chavo del Ocho" ha sido mordido por un perro. Todos en la vecindad están muy preocupados.”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1107: “"El Chavo del Ocho" ayuda a don Ramón a sacar el agua de su casa, inundada a causa de innumerables goteras.”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1111: “Don Ramón enseña el oficio de zapatero remendón a "El Chavo del Ocho".”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1126: “"El Chavo del Ocho" confunde al señor Barriga con un globo.”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #11??: “"El Chavo del Ocho" juega el avión y aprovecha para destruir los globos de Kiko.”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1140: “"El Chavo del Ocho" se quiere comer los cuernitos de nuez que doña Florinda preparó especialmente para Girafales.”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1141: “"El Chavo del Ocho" está muy entusiasmado por ver los juegos del Mundial y se va a la casa de don Ramón, pero, cuando están más divertidos, llegan a cortar la luz por falta de pago.”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1151: “"El Chavo del Ocho" y Kiko le hacen la vida pesada al profesor Jirafales que está perdidamente enamorado de la "bruja".”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1152: “"El Chavo del Ocho" y "Kiko" se dedican a inflar globos hasta reventarlos, causando gran escándalo en toda la vecindad.”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1177: “'El Chavo del Ocho' provoca un tremendo pleito entre don Ramón y el profesor Jirafales.”
- ↑ #Tele-Guía #1178: “Todos los niños de la vecindad creen que la bruja de 71 ha convertido en perico a "El Chavo del Ocho".”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1221: “"El Chavo" y "Kiko" planean irse de "pinta".”
- ↑ #Tele-Guía #1229: “El Chavo ayuda a Don Ramón a conquistar a la Bruja del 71.”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1238: “"El Chavo" y Kiko juegan a la escuelita en el patio de la vecindad y utilizan como pizarrón la ventana de la habitación de don Ramón.”
- ↑ #Tele-Guía #1277: “El Chavo, la Chilindrina y Quico asisten a la escuela.”