Rumores (partially found Mexican sitcom; 2001-2002)

Status: Partially Found

Rumores was a Mexican sitcom that ran from 2001 to the fall of 2002. The show was broadcasted in the city of Monterrey and was an - unusual for its time - local attempt to produce a scripted show.

Plot

According to an IMDb page synopsis, the show was about two friends who used to work together at a newspaper stand but then they were fired. Now they are trying to find a way to survive while at the same time making everyone else's life a mess. This 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).

From the little footage found to be available from the show on YouTube, it is likely that the show took place within the offices of a namesake tabloid newspaper called Rumores! whose slogan was La verdad, periódicamente. (In English: The truth, periodically).

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). ^[1]

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^[1], 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 homegrown programming that tried to break the mold, the show has remained mostly buried in the collective memory of Monterrey's television history.

Up until November 7, 2018, no visual media of the show was thought to exist on the Internet. However, it was later found that the actress who portrayed Lola, Elka Rodríguez (who also has had minor roles in American sitcoms such as Modern Family), has uploaded five videos (said uploads dating back to mid-2015) with samples of her acting in Rumores to YouTube, both independently and as part of her acting demo reel, giving a glimpse of what this sitcom had to offer. For it being produced and only aired in Monterrey, it seems that its production values were closer to Televisa and TV Azteca's nationally-broadcasted scripted shows.