El Chapulín Colorado (partially lost Mexican sitcom TV series; 1973-1979)
From The Lost Media Wiki
"Aventuras en Venus", one of the show's undistributed episodes.
Status: Partially Lost
El Chapulín Colorado is one of the most successful Mexican sitcoms of its generation. First conceived by Roberto "Chespirito" Bolaños in 1970 as part of his solo effort Los Supergenios de la Mesa Cuadrada, "El Chapulín Colorado" - often considered one of the most familiar symbols of Mexican culture - is a response to the usual American superhero: he is clever as expected, but not without overcoming his own silliness first. Despite this, "El Chapulín" is always willing to help his summoners no matter the situation, even if this means helping his enemies.
As an independent series, around 280 episodes of El Chapulín Colorado were aired between 1973 and 1979, from which about 40 are absent from Televisa's current distribution pack for the same reason as many episodes of its sister series, El Chavo del Ocho.
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, eight more completely unknown episodes are currently 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 since the actual titles are unknown due to the episodes' lost nature. Titles from previous/later versions of the episodes are used instead (e.g. the lost 1973 episode "Las caricaturas me hacen llorar" is named after its common 1976 remake). Original airdates are either taken from Tele-Guía magazines or determined through deduction.
Season 1 (1973)
| Unofficial Title | Original Airdate | |
|---|---|---|
| "R.S.E." | March 7, 1973 | |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[1] Includes a Doctor Chapatín sketch. A remake, made in 1975, is also missing. | ||
| "Las caricaturas me hacen llorar" | June 27, 1973 | |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía. Includes a Doctor Chapatín sketch. | ||
| "Aventuras en Venus" | July 11, 1973 | |
| Found through a VHS tape recording from the early 90's. Only available in Brazilian Portuguese, rendering the original audio missing. | ||
| "Cuento de brujas" | August 24, 1973 | |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[2] | ||
| "En las guerras médicas, la bayoneta se llamaba bisturí" | September 14, 1973 | |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía. | ||
Season 2 (1974)
| Unofficial Title | Original Airdate | |
|---|---|---|
| "La bella durmiente era un señor muy feo - parte 1" | January 18, 1974 | |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[3] First episode of a two-episode arc. Remade in 1976 as a three-episode arc, whose first episode is also missing. Interestingly enough, another remake - made in 1982 as part of Programa Chespirito - is also missing its first episode. | ||
| "Más vale cien fantasmas volando que uno en la mano" | February 15, 1974 | |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[4] | ||
| "Los muertos son obedientes" | March 22, 1974 | |
| Footage of this episode is used on "Conferencia sobre un Chapulín", an episode that served the purpose of introducing the series to the viewers of Televisa's Canal 2 after it moved from Canal 8 in 1974. Its airdate was discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[5] | ||
| "Más vale una mujer joven, rica y bonita que una vieja, pobre y fea" | April 5, 1974 | |
| Footage of this episode is used on "Conferencia sobre un Chapulín". | ||
| "El bandido del hospital" | April 12, 1974 | |
| Footage of this episode is used on "Conferencia sobre un Chapulín". A vague Tele-Guía synopsis is believed to refer to this episode.[6] | ||
| "Los valientes mueren pandeados" | May 10, 1974 | |
| Footage of this episode is used on "Conferencia sobre un Chapulín". Its airdate was discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[7] | ||
| "Colección de rateros" | May 17, 1974 | |
| Footage of this episode is used on "Conferencia sobre un Chapulín". | ||
| "Aristócratas vemos, rateros no sabemos" | June 29, 1974 | |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[8] The official website of the 2012 event América Celebra a Chespirito mistakenly attributed this airdate to the common 1978 remake, aiding on its identification process. | ||
| "El vampiro" | September 28, 1974 | |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía. Photographic evidence of this episode's existence exists. | ||
Season 3 (1975)
| Unofficial Title | Original Airdate | |
|---|---|---|
| "La mansión de los fantasmas" | January 16, 1975 | |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[9] | ||
| "El encuentro del siglo" | March 13, 1975 | |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[10] Remake of a 1973 episode, which is also missing. | ||
| "Los antiguos piratas del Caribe sólo de vez en cuando desviaban a Cuba - parte 3" | April 10, 1975 | |
| Announced by Florinda in the end of "Los antiguos piratas del Caribe sólo de vez en cuando desviaban a Cuba - parte 2". Final episode of a three-episode arc. For reasons unknown, the closing credits of the second episode have been altered from its original cut, suggesting that the currently used sequence is taken from the lost third episode. | ||
| "Los bandidos se pueden regenerar" | April 24, 1975 | |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[11] | ||
| "R.S.E." | July 24, 1975 | |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[12] Remake of a 1973 episode, which is also missing. | ||
| "Cómo convertirse en héroe en cuatro fáciles lecciones" | August 14, 1975 | |
| Existence suggested by photographic evidence. | ||
Season 4 (1976-77)
| Unofficial Title | Original Airdate | |
|---|---|---|
| "El caso de dos hombres que eran tán parecidos, que eran idénticos, sobretodo uno de ellos" | April 22, 1976 | |
| Footage of this episode was featured in a news report in Latin American TV. However, it has yet to be resurfaced, with only a still serving as evidence of its existence. | ||
| "Bebé de carne sin hueso" | June 24, 1976 | |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[13] | ||
| "El robot" | August 12, 1976 | |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[14] | ||
| "El bandido del hospital" | September 16, 1976 | |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[15] | ||
| "La bella durmiente era un señor muy feo - parte 1" | September 25, 1976 | |
| A brief summary of this episode is present in the beginning of "La bella durmiente era un señor muy feo - parte 2". First episode of a three-episode arc. Remake of a two-episode arc from 1973, whose first episode is also missing. | ||
| "El hombre invisible es tan antipático que nadie lo puede ver" | December 11, 1976 | |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[16] | ||
| "Los muertos son obedientes" | December 18, 1976 | |
| Footage of this episode was used by Chilean TV network TVN during an interview with Chespirito in 2008. Includes a Doctor Chapatín sketch. | ||
| Unknown Episode | January 1, 1977 | |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[17] Not much is known about this episode, but its synopsis suggests that it may follow the same concept as the 1974 episode "Conferencia sobre un Chapulín", featuring excerpts of episodes from the 1976 season. | ||
Seasons 5-7 (1977-1979)
| Unofficial Title | Original Airdate | |
|---|---|---|
| "A pistola regalada no le mires agujero - parte 1" | February 19, 1977 | |
| A brief summary of this episode is present in the beginning of "A pistola regalada no le mires agujero - parte 2". | ||
| "Todo sube, hasta los aviones - parte 2" | September 14, 1977 | |
| Announced in the end of "Todo sube, hasta los aviones - parte 1". | ||
| "Los fantasmas del Viejo Oeste" | November 16, 1977 | |
| Discovered through a synopsis from Tele-Guía.[18] Re-aired in 1979.[19] | ||
| "Las pulgas" | May 31, 1978 | |
| Aired regularly through Brazilian network SBT. Only available in Brazilian Portuguese, rendering the original audio missing. Includes the Doctor Chapatín sketch "El contrabando". | ||
Videos
Excerpts
Missing Audio
The following episodes are only available in Brazilian Portuguese:
External Links
- Lista CH - Episode guides to Chespirito's works, idealized by Thomas Henrique (in memoriam) and maintained by James Revolti. (in Portuguese and Spanish)
- Guia de episódios e esquetes mundialmente perdidos - Discussion on the topic of 'Lost episodes' from Chespirito's works. (in Portuguese)
References
Special thanks to Cássio Ferreira, Guilherme Leão and several other members of Fórum Chaves (a complete name list is available on the "Guia de episódios..." link below), for their priceless contributions on the finding of synopses related to missing episodes.
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1073: “"El Chapulín Colorado" se enfrenta a un poderoso ratón que utiliza la última novedad en armas secretas. Entremés de "El Doctor Chapatín".”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1098: “"El Chapulin Colorado" tiene que enfrentarse a una bruja que se dedica a convertir a las personas en rana, árboles, cosas etc.”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1119: “"El Chapulín Colorado" se enfrenta al hombre de las cavernas que ha permanecido 20.000 años bajo de la nieve.”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1123: “"El Chapulín Colorado" asiste a un teatro y se enfrenta a una serie de fantasmas.”
- ↑ Tele-Guía (unknown #): “"El Chapulín Colorado" tiene que localizar a un "difunto" que desapareció del depósito de cadáveres.”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1131: “Un Chapulín Anémico.”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1135: “Tema: El Bueno, el Malo y el Feo.”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1142: “"El Chapulín Colorado" se reduce de tamaño para perseguir a un hábil bandido.”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1170: “"El Chapulín Colorado" en la casa de los espantos.”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1218: “"El Chapulín Colorado" combate en la II Guerra Mundial contra Hitler, utilizando su muy personal estrategia.”
- ↑ Tele-Guía (unknown #): “"El Chapulín Colorado" se ve amenazado por unos malosos vaqueros, que tratan de ahorcarlo.”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1276: “'El Chapulin Colorado' ayuda a un cientifico a localizar un importante ratón.”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1246: “"El Chapulín Colorado" trabaja como niñera.”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1253: “"El Chapulín Colorado" tiene que ayudar a un científico que se ve amenazado por un robot.”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1258: “El Chapulin Colorado tiene que salvar a un hombre que está amenazado de muerte por un delincuente que se disfraza de cualquier cosa.”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1270: “"El Chapulín Colorado" combate al "Hombre Invisible" que se dedica a desaparecer objetos.”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1273: “Resumen de los mejores programas de "El Chapulín Colorado" en 1976.”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1318: “"El Chapulín Colorado" se hace chiquito para detener a un peligroso delincuente.”
- ↑ Tele-Guía #1382: “Los Fantasmas. Un pueblo del Oeste está habitado por fantasmas.”