El Privilegio de Mandar

El Privilegio de Mandar
Starring Alfonso Villalpando
as Chente
Raquel Pankowsky
as Martita
Eduardo España
as Felipe Calderón
Germán Ortega
as Andrés Manuel
Arath de la Torre
as Roberto
Carlos Espejel
as Canti
Yekaterina Kiev
as La Jirafa
Angélica Vale
as Elba Esther
Country of origin Mexico
No. of episodes 79
Production
Executive producer(s) Carla Estrada
Running time approx. 0:25 (per episode)
Release
Original network Canal de las Estrellas
Original release October 25, 2004 (along with La Parodia)
January 3, 2005 (as an independent show) – July 9, 2006

El Privilegio de Mandar (The Privilege to Rule) was a successful Mexican political parody broadcast by Televisa on Canal de las Estrellas. It started as a sketch on another Televisa show, called La Parodia, that parodies political, social and cultural events happening in Mexico. High ratings kept the show running.

It was first broadcast on October 25, 2004, during La Parodia. Soon, the high success of the program encouraged the producers to separate it from the other show, so on January 3, 2005, it became an independent show.

Televisa broadcast what is considered the last episode of the series on July 9, 2006, just after the federal elections in Mexico. However, some of the actors who performed leading roles (such as Arath de la Torre, who played the role of presidential candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), Roberto Madrazo) stated that in a few years, when political events have advanced, they will make a return to see how things are.

History

In September 2004, La Parodia was one of the most successful shows on Mexican television. Characters presented here first would later appear on El Privilegio de Mandar, like "Chente" and "Andrés Manuel". The idea of the name "Privilegio" emerged from a skit on the famous Mexican telenovela El Privilegio de Amar (The privilege of loving), so the main title was presented with golden letters and slide images, just like a telenovela. This show was first aired as a section on La Parodia, on Monday October 25, 2004, at 10pm with its first episode, "El Informe". This quickly became such a success that from January 3, 2005 it became a show in its own right, La Parodia now being broadcast on Sundays. In September of the same year, Alter Films released a DVD containing the first ten broadcast episodes of El Privilegio de Mandar.

The show followed closely the world of the Mexican and even foreign politics, from the 2004 videoscandals and the Desafuero judges to the last 2006 Mexican general elections. During its broadcast, the show had several guest artists, like Consuelo Duval (from La Hora Pico and La Familia P.Luche). It won the 2005 TVyNovelas Award for Best Comic Program.

The show made history as the first political parody ever aired in Mexico, where every single political person was parodied. On Saturday July 8, Televisa broadcast a special programme hosted by Mexican entertainer and actor Ernesto Laguardia, in which scenes were presented from the first episodes of the show, interviews with the actors and the people parodied, as well as "behind the scenes" specials.

Televisa broadcast the last episode of what is considered the first season on July 9, 2006, just after the federal elections in Mexico.

From 2004, there have appeared around 50 different characters. The January 7, 2011 edition of NuestroDetroit.com, however, reported that a second season may soon be in production with Reynaldo Lopez taking over executive producing duties. The report went on to say that at least four actors—de la Torre, the Ortega brothers, and Vale—will return to the series.[1]

Synopsis

As a parody, it is kind of predictable knowing what will happen the next episode. The only thing the viewer has to do is follow the political news. For example, in 2004, Andrés Manuel López Obrador had problems with the law, confronting a desafuero judge, so in the show all the trouble was parodied for months.

Not all the shows are directly related to real politics, although there is usually some political context. In February 2006, Bailando Por Un Sueño (Dancing for a Dream) was highest rating show on Televisa, El Privilegio de Mandar parodied the show as Bailando Por Un Hueso (Dancing for a Bone) a double meaning because Hueso in this context is an expression for an influence, the participants were the politicians dancing, with the idea that the winner would get some political position or influence as a result.

On El Privilegio de Mandar, Mexico is parodied as "Colonia el Relaxo con x" ("Relaxo" means "mess" in Spanish. The real word is "relajo", but the "j" is changed to "x" like the one in "Mexico"), representing the bad organization of the political world in that country. The states are represented as "Manzanas" (blocks), and the president as the president of the neighbors' association. Many of the parodied names and places are word-plays in Spanish, so they wouldn't be understood by many English or other languages speakers.

Main actors

These actors were the ones who played all the roles in El Privilegio de Mandar (the number next to them indicate the number of characters each one played)

Guest artists

Main characters

Other characters

Some of these characters are also presented in "La Parodia" show

Previous characters

Some of these characters appeared on the last episode.

Characters also include non-Mexican politicians such as George Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Final episode

Episode 79: "The elections". The last episode of what's considered the first season was aired at 10pm on Sunday July 9, 2006. A special TV programme was wired presenting early scenes from "El privilegio de mandar" in 2004, interviews with some parodied politics and with the actors, their feelings and "behind the scene" specials.

Real facts

Parody
The show takes off with Andrés Manuel waiting for the IFE to open the polls at 7am on Sunday July 2, when the polls were actually opened at 8am (as a parody of the early arrive to the polls of the real Andrés Manuel). Then, are shown the Televisa studios where four journalists are waiting for the candidates to vote (they are also rarely presented characters):

Shortly after almost all characters arrive to the polls to present their votes (including characters that weren't presented anymore, like "Bejarano"). After the elections, "Ugalde" (parody to IFE's president) made an announcement on TV, saying that he couldn't give an official winner because two candidates (Felipe and Andrés Manuel) were head to head so it wasn't time to celebrate yet. The scene changes and shows Felipe celebrating with balloons and all the people supporting him:

The scene changes again, now to Andrés Manuel:

However, the scene changes once more, now to Roberto, in his house sat down and paralysed in front of the TV. Soon the door rings:

The day now changes to Thursday July 6, when the official counting was finished and declared Felipe winner of the election. However, Andrés Manuel is very angry, and calls to a demonstration:

Finally, the scene of the meeting of Andrés Manuel is presented. When he finishes talking, Canti goes up the platform and starts talking about Andres Manuel's decision and the respect of the democracy. The show ends with all the crowd cheering "México!, México!, México!", a screen showing "¿Fin?" (The End?) and all the actors thanking the viewers for their support.

Jokes on this episode

Troubles with politicians

Andrés M. López Obrador criticised the show as making fun of him personally and as a strategy of the media to attack him because he felt that the amount of time dedicated to him was excessive in relation to other politicians. However, the show continued to broadcast parodies of him. Víctor González Torres also criticized the show as making fun of his way of talking, as he has physical problems.

After 2006 elections, changes to the laws were provided to warn any television propaganda in favor or against a candidate, preventing Televisa to do another season of El Privilegio de Mandar.

Common phrases and jokes

Chente

Felipe Calderón

Andrés Manuel

Memorable phrases

Roberto

René Bejarano

Memorable phrases

DVD

In 2005, 10 early episodes from September–November 2004 were released on a double-face DVD format. This DVD edition is still available in some music stores in Mexico. These episodes include all the desafuero judge to Bejarano and the videoscandals.

Synopsis

Episode 6: "Derecho de soñar" (Right for dreaming); is about Bejarano's desafuero judge.
Two police officers ("polecias", as a parody of the ignorance of some police officers in Mexico) are waiting for Bejarano to come out of his house. The frame changes to the room of Bejarano, where he is packing his clothes. Later, in the desafuero judge, he starts avoiding the judge's questions: Part of the dialogue:

References

  1. ↑ Angelica Vale quiere regalo de 50 mil pesos, NuestroDetroit.com, January 7, 2011.

External links

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