Aquí no hay quien viva

"Aqui no hay quien viva" ("No way to live here") is a comedy series based in the everyday life of an average neighbors community in a building in an undetermined location in Spain. The best of the series is an outstanding cast of comedy actors able to manage the most absurd and hyperbolic situations in the fine way of actors highly trained in live stage, achieving solid characters the public gets very fond of.

The situations and characters created by the scriptwriters are exaggerations of real life stereotypes, as "la pija" ("posh", a young woman too busy caring for her own image and trying to distinguish herself from the common people), "los cuquis" ("the darlings", the stereotypical young married couple with children), Mr Cuesta, the president of the community who takes his charge as seriously as a real life politician with the resulting parody, the building caretaker, a survivor trying to deal with the demands of a crazy community, or the three senior ladies resembling a bit "The Golden Ladies" whose main occupation is gossiping and being in the middle of every single affair as real conductors of the life in the building.

The series has been very successful in Spain and some of the actors and actresses in it have jumped to well deserved major roles in important cinema productions, as Fernando Tejero and Malena Alterio, who form now one of the most successful and robust comic duos of Spanish cinema and have proved their talent in dramatic roles as well.

I haven't seen quite many comedy sitcoms from Spain, but to be honest I don't think there would be many better shows than this one out there. By the time I'm writing this review I'm by the end of Season 3, and though the show was very funny at first sight, the more crazy events you watch happen to these neighborhood the more you fall in love with the characters, until you reach a point where doesn't matter what they're doing, but you laugh because of HOW they're doing it or WHO does it, and after watching all these people facing highs and lows through 50 episodes of hours of pure bliss and hilarious moments, I can proudly say that this show has something than none other has: it feels almost like they were real persons, because these last months haven't been easy for me in my personal life, and during this period the only distraction I had to disconnect from my troubles was to sit on the couch, turn on the TV and watch this show with my dad and my brother. So yeah, they have been like a second family to me, and that's an unusual thing to say for a TV series, and that's why this show is so important in my life right now and it'll be until I finish it.

José Luis Moreno, executive producer of "Aquí no hay quien viva", has been known for the cheesy variety programs he used to direct for Spanish Public TV. The expectations for this comedy were therefore pretty low, but the result was eventually quite satisfying.

The greatest strength of the series relies on the outstanding cast, which assembles some of the greatest veteran actresses (Emma Penella, Gemma Cuervo) and some effective newcomers (with special mention to Fernando Tejero in his breakthrough role as the building's caretaker). The impression one gets while watching "Aqui no hay quien viva" is that the cast is so well-balanced that, if any of the members of the cast left, they would be sorely missed.

Apart from the outstanding cast, the series also boasts a bunch of young writers who manage to make the viewers laugh every week. Based greatly on catchphrases, double entendre and crazy situations, "Aquí no hay quien viva" is not precisely high comedy, but it has managed to engage wide audiences and it looks like it will be successful for many seasons to come.