''La Bola de Cristal'' ( en, The

Crystal Ball A crystal ball, also known as an orbuculum or crystal sphere, is a crystal or glass ball and common fortune-telling object. It is generally associated with the performance of clairvoyance and scrying in particular. In more recent times, the cry ...

) was a Spanish

television show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

that was broadcast on La Primera Cadena of

Televisión Española Televisión Española (acronym TVE, branded tve, "Spanish Television") is Spain's national state-owned public television broadcaster and the oldest regular television service in the country. It was also the first regular television service in ...

from 1984 to 1988. The show was the brainchild of Spanish writer Dolores Rico Oliver (better known for her artistic name, Lolo Rico) and was hosted by pop singer

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. The program went beyond the norm set by the children's programs of its time and other more current ones, and bet on treating children as adults, which earned it recognition of different sectors of society. The show, which was ostensibly targeted at a young audience, reflected the spirit of the times, that of the post-

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...

Spanish transition and of the cultural and musical movement known as

la movida LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

. In contrast to previous shows, with a very childish use of language, it had continuous puns related to electronics: the ''Electroduendes'' ("Electro

goblin A goblin is a small, grotesque, monstrous creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearances depending on t ...

s") puppets included ''Maese Cámara'', ''Hada Vídeo'' and ''Bruja Avería'' (the Breakdown Witch) as regular characters. In one of its sections, they used to introduce an episode of classic American series. The first season included ''

The Little Rascals ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', the second season, ''

The Munsters ''The Munsters'' is an American sitcom depicting the home life of a family of benign monsters. The series starred Fred Gwynne as Frankenstein's monsterEpisodes referring to the fact that Herman is Frankenstein's monster include #55, "Just Anoth ...

'', and the third season, ''

Bewitched ''Bewitched'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typic ...

''. ''La Bola de Cristal'' also included slogans against authority and

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...

, with political satires that led the show to its cancellation in 1988. Before the cancellation order, at least one new season of ''La Bola de Cristal'' was planned, with Sonia Martínez as new presenter.

El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...

, February 12, 1987 Although it was never released on VHS video, in 2003 selected excerpts of the series were released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

. These DVDs did not feature episodes from ''The Munsters'' and ''Bewitched'' since they were copyrighted by their owners, but included episodes from ''The Little Rascals''.

References

External links

Official page
at

RTVE The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española, S.A. (; ), known as Radiotelevisión Española or RTVE, is the state-owned public corporation that assumed in 2007 the indirect management of the Spanish public radio and television service know ...

.es * Spanish children's television series RTVE shows {{spain-tv-prog-stub