Rumores (partially found Mexican sitcom; 2001-2002)

Status: Lost

Original programming produced in the TV stations that broadcast from the city of Monterrey - Mexico's 3rd largest city - mostly comprises live variety shows and sports roundtables. That being said, there have been attempts at producing scripted shows, which are rare due to lower budgets Mexican TV stations, even commercial ones, can allocate. 'Rumores', a sitcom that ran from 2001 to the fall of 2002, was one notable attempt.

Plot

According to IMDb, the plot, is as follows:

Two not very intelligent, not very clever friends who used to work together at a newspaper have been fired. Now they are trying to find a way to survive while making everyone else's life a constant misunderstood chaos.

The plot synopsis points to a comedic take on the press and news media, not unlike American sitcoms that came out years prior (Such as NewsRadio or The Naked Truth). It very well could have been an attempt to recreate an American sitcom style (Slower paced and subtle, in contrast to Mexican sitcoms such as Cero en conducta or La Familia P.Luche which are more exaggerated and frantic) under a lower budget.

Cast and crew

The main characters were known as Simón and Orejas, portrayed by Gregory Duke (who was also one of the show's main writers) and Paco Segovia, respectively. Supporting cast consisted of characters known as Sara (played by Minerva Cavazos), Lola (played by Elka Rodríguez), Diego (played by José Enrique Matar) and Edipo (played by Ignacio "Nacho" Llantada, who would later gain notoriety as the frontman of Mexican pop rock group Los Claxons).

The show was directed by Marcelo González (Whose later work includes the direction and writing of a 2015 romantic comedy titled Estar o no estar) and Roberto Martínez Treviño is credited by IMDb as the show's creator and co-writer alongside Gregory Duke.

Production

Rumores was originally produced for TV Azteca's local affiliate, Azteca Noreste (Locally known as Canal 7), where it drew poor ratings due to lack of interest by audiences not accustomed to locally-produced scripted shows that drew more on American sitcom stylings than usual Mexican ones.

However, it drew interest from rival station Televisa Monterrey (Which owned local channels 2 and 34), who picked up the show for a second season, airing in the fall of 2002. Despite the faith Televisa Monterrey executives had in the project, once again low ratings were drawn and the show was quietly cancelled.

Availability

Because of the aforementioned low ratings, lack of interest and/or unfamiliarity of local audiences with American sitcoms (Not to mention that the low budget may had put audiences off) the show has remained mostly buried - remembered by a very select few - in the collective memory of Monterrey's television history. No visual media of the show - whether video footage or production stills - exists on the Internet. We could assume that any footage of the show remains in the Televisa Monterrey/TV Azteca archives or most likely, under the posession of the parties involved with the show's production.