Gran Cuñado (in Spanish, "Big Brother-in-law") was a segment of the Argentine TV programs ''
Videomatch
''Videomatch'' was a late-night 120-minute Argentine comedy show hosted by Marcelo Tinelli and broadcast on Telefe that first aired in March 1, 1990 in the midnight time slot.
Currently the show still airs under the name of '' Showmatch'' (changi ...
'' and ''
Showmatch'', hosted by
Marcelo Tinelli
Marcelo Hugo Tinelli (born 1 April 1960) is an Argentine television and radio host, media producer and businessman, best known as the host of the TV show '' Showmatch'' broadcast on Argentina's El Trece.
One of the most famous supporters of sp ...
. It consisted of a series of comedians characterized as Argentina's
most prominent politicians. The segment was a parody of the reality show ''
Big Brother'', with the politicians staying at a "house" where they pretended to live, and a regular nomination process through which one participant was eliminated at a time.
Overview
The imitations of politicians were made by various comedians of the program, disguised in ways that grotesquely mimicked the look of major Argentine politicians of the time. The scripts were written by cartoonist
Cristian Dzwonik
Cristian Gustavo Dzwonik (born 18 March 1971 in Buenos Aires), better known by his pseudonym Nik, is a cartoonist from Argentina, creator of Gaturro, and current cartoonist in the paper La Nación. He received the 2002 Konex Platinum Award for ...
, known as "Nik". Their dialogues and behaviors were based on clichés made from well-known events or quotes of them. For example, the imitation of former president
Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Carlos Kirchner Ostoić (; 25 February 195027 October 2010) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the president of Argentina from 2003 to 2007. A member of the Justicialist Party, he previously served as Governor of Sa ...
frequently used the phrase ''¿Qué te pasa Clarín, estás nervioso?!'' ("What's wrong Clarin, you're nervous?!"), reflecting the conflict between the Argentine government and
Grupo Clarín. The specific phrase was used several times by Kirchner during a ceremony in the town of
Tres de Febrero, shortly after his defeat in the elections at
Catamarca. Another example, one of the first commercials by
Francisco de Narváez
Francisco de Narváez Steuer (born 22 September 1953 in Bogotá), known as El Colorado or Pancho, is a Colombian-born naturalized Argentine businessman, politician who ran for governor of Buenos Aires Province on the Unión PRO ballot in the 20 ...
used the slogan ''Votame, votate'' ("Vote me, vote yourself") which prompted his imitator to use other verbs in verbal forms like, or even nonsense phrases such as "Alica, Alicate".
The imitations were developed in two main contexts, the "house" and nominations; both parodies of similar procedures performed in the reality show ''Big Brother''. The house showed politicians in a simulated environment of everyday life, where all of them would live together. There were discussions taking place, parties, jokes among politicians, etc. The house was also the place where it was announced which politicians were nominated to leave and which ones were not, which was used to show various reactions.
Groups of participants were nominated for eviction and viewer could vote by phone to decide who should "leave the house" and cease to be part of the program.
One of the drawbacks of the format of the program was that some politicians (like
Cristina Fernandez and
Macri) were played by the same comedian, which prevented both being used simultaneously. This was resolved by not nominating politicians in this situation at the same time (the composition of the groups nominated was not controllable by the public), and using an extra actor in the house without speech lines assigned.
The group of politicians elected in the beginning did not include
Gabriela Michetti
Marta Gabriela Michetti Illia (; born 28 May 1965) is an Argentine politician and was Vice President of Argentina from 2015 to 2019 during Mauricio Macri's administration. She is the second woman to serve as vice president, 40 years after Isabel ...
or
Pino Solanas, who achieved notoriety soon after. The program office decided to include the imitations of Anita Martínez and Toti Ciliberto respectively, but only for scenes in the house without incorporating them into the system of nominations. It was also included an imitation of Venezuelan President
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...
, the only non-Argentine politician parodied in the program.
Seasons
There were six editions of the show in total.
Gran Cuñado 1 (2001)
The first edition of ''Gran Cuñado'' started in 2001.
The politicians parodied were:
Gran Cuñado 2 (2001)
In 2001, the second edition of the segment was held.
The politicians parodied were:
Gran Cuñado 2002
The third edition started in 2002.
The politicians parodied were:
Gran Cuñado 2005
Gran Cuñado 2009
The fifth edition of ''Gran Cuñado'' had 19 participants, and began broadcasting on 11 May 2009 with a 31.9 rating and a peak of 46 points. The triumph belonged to the imitation of
Francisco de Narváez
Francisco de Narváez Steuer (born 22 September 1953 in Bogotá), known as El Colorado or Pancho, is a Colombian-born naturalized Argentine businessman, politician who ran for governor of Buenos Aires Province on the Unión PRO ballot in the 20 ...
, by Roberto Peña.
This edition was broadcast for much of the electoral campaign for the
legislative elections in Argentina in 2009, and given its huge success, several media suggested that it influenced to some degree its development. Several of the parodied figures made statements on the program, and some even visited it in person.
The politicians parodied were:
Gran Cuñado 2016
The latest edition of ''Gran Cuñado'', which started airing on May 31, 2016. However, it was canceled.
The politicians parodied were:
Political opinions
"Gran Cuñado" generated a stir in the real political world, and several leaders expressed positive or negative opinions about the program. Minister
Anibal Fernandez criticized the parody of President Cristina Fernandez, arguing that "In some ways I think there were excesses, should be regulated because it is the President, and other things, was very successful: we must be fair to those things". Shortly after he recanted on the use of the word "regulate", but insisted that the presidential parody should be removed from the program. The Vice President,
Julio Cobos
Julio César “Cleto” Cobos (; born 30 April 1955) is an Argentine politician who was the Vice President of Argentina in the administration of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner from 2007 to 2011. He started his political career as mem ...
, was also uncomfortable with his respective parody, considering that it portrays him as indecisive or hesitant. Néstor Kirchner had no opinion on the program, arguing that he never saw it.
[Los dirigentes se divirtieron con las imitaciones de los cómicos](_blank)
For his part, opposition leaders De Narvaez, Elisa Carrio and Macri took the program with humor.
Other criticisms leveled against the program did not target the program itself but its impact on society, criticizing that in an election campaign imitations in Gran Cuñado were an issue of debate more discussed than the political projects of candidates.
La sátira que desnuda un vacío de ideas
Invited politicians
In the early days of the start of the show, Francisco de Narváez met his imitator on the show "Intrusos". The success of the encounter led to a new segment being added to the ''Gran Cuñado'': ''Derecho a réplica'' ("Right of Reply"), in which politicians wishing to do so could be invited to attend and interact with their imitators or imitations of the other politicians.
The first politician to appear on the agenda was, again, de Narvaez, on June 4. He was followed four days later by the rural leader Alfredo de Angeli
Alfredo Luis de Angeli (born 16 February 1957) is an Argentine politician, current National Senator for Entre Ríos Province and former rural leader of the Federación Agraria Argentina of Entre Ríos. He became well known during Argentina's lo ...
, along with his brother. On 11 and 15 June were presented Kirchner politicians Sergio Massa and Daniel Scioli
Daniel Osvaldo Scioli ( , ; born 13 January 1957) is an Argentine politician, businessman and former sportsman. He currently serves as the Secretary of Tourism, Environment and Sports since January 2024. He was Vice President of Argentina from ...
. On 16, 18 and 22 was the turn of politicians Felipe Solá, Gabriela Michetti and Mauricio Macri, who played a Queen
Queen most commonly refers to:
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen (band), a British rock band
Queen or QUEEN may also refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Q ...
song. The last one was Carlos Alberto Reutemann on 23 June. Until the electoral ban began at midnight June 25, it was speculated that Néstor Kirchner would perform in the program, but there was only a phone call.
There were no appearances of politicians after the election, but telephone contact. De Narváez, Macri and Solá were contacted on 29 June after his victory, and the last day of the show.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gran Cunado
Argentine political satire
Political satirical television series
Reality television series parodies
2009 Argentine television series debuts
2009 Argentine television series endings
es:Gran Cuñado