Os Trapalhões

"Os Trapalhões" (The Tramps) has to be some of the most bizarre Comedy sketch TV show ever made. Think of what you mix "Monty Python", "Cheech and Chong" and "Benny Hill show" and this is what you get.

There are a foursome of guys just like "Monty Python". There is Didi (whom makes a HORRIBLE crossdresser! unlike Mussum), Dedei, Mussum and Zacarias. And like Benny Hill and Monty Python, there are comedy sketches that revolve around strange topics (such as fairy tale spoofs and neighbors of Brasil) and like Cheech and Chong, sometimes, it gets to be quite mature, but at least not as shocking as, oh, let's say South Park (ugh!).

But I kinda like the earlier stuff from the 1960-1970-1980 and early 1990's myself.

As a kid in the 80's, I got to see the final years of the original Trapalhoes series on TV. Ok, I kinda enjoyed it sometimes, specially when Renato Aragão (Didi) breaked character and began asking why the props didn't work - but it was mostly crap, actually. The jokes are sometimes too naive even for small children, and most of them just fall flat (sometimes it takes 10+ minutes for the punchline to appear at a sketch). If you were a kid ages 5-10 during the 70's and 80's, you would probably enjoy it, but it seems dated and unfunny now.

As a Brazilian and aware that "Os trapalhões" was part of every Brazilian's childhood, I would like to make a few comments on the inaccurate information and review given by IMDb concerning this series.

First of all, IMDb makes a mistake when it lists the 1965 series cast. "Os adoráveis trapalhões" (that's the correct name) had the actors Wanderley Cardoso, Ivon Cury, Ted Boy Marino and Renato Aragão forming a group of four guys who were always involved in funny and/or dangerous situations. Each of them had an specific personality trait: Cardoso was Mr "prince charming", Cury, the diplomatic one, Marino was good at heart but also amusingly bad-tempered, and Mr Aragão was the funny guy. Many other actors, actresses and singers made guest appearances in their weekly program, which was broadcast by Excelsior TV and lasted until 1966.

It was only in 1974 on Tupi TV, and later on, in 1976, on Globo TV, that the group had its formation changed and became an immediate hit all over Brazil. Didi (Renato Aragão), Dedé (Manfried Sant'anna), Mussum, (Antônio Carlos Bernardes Gomes) and Zacarias (Mauro Faccio Gonçalves) portrayed the four funny guys, using the same formula of the extinct "Os adoráveis trapalhões".

I would not describe the sketches as "bizarre". It does not do justice to these four artists' performance and to their huge contribution to the Brazilian film and TV industry. Not to mention that the specific term is rather disrespectful.

One must admit that some of the sketches that composed the one-hour program were extremely naïve and lacked the necessary visual aids, such as scenario and guest actors' performances. But the essence of these men's work is what remains intact and eternal in Brazilians' hearts. Nowadays children might find it uninteresting, but this is not about now, this is about a past when Brazilian TV was starting to grow.