''Villa Alegre'' (, ''Happy Village'') is a

children's television Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

show and the first national bilingual (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

) program in the United States.Danini, Carmina. "Rivas-Estrella was part of the first national bilingual TV show," '' San Antonio Express-News'', 25 January 2006, State & Metro, p.4B. It was produced by Bilingual Children's Television as its inaugural project on the company's founding in 1970.''Villa Alegre''
at Retroland.com. Retrieved July 15, 2007. ''Villa Alegre'' debuted on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)

public television Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

in 1973 and ran there until funding disputes ended the project in 1981. The show was also seen in

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

on commercial stations in some markets, on at least a weekly basis. ''Villa Alegre'' was the creation of Dr. Rene Cardenas, who served as president of Bilingual Children's Television and Executive Producer.''Villa Alegre''
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

. Retrieved July 15, 2007. Other producers included

Moctesuma Esparza Moctesuma Esparza (born March 12, 1949) is an American producer, entertainment executive, entrepreneur and community activist. Moctesuma Esparza is well known for his contributions to the movie industry and commitment to creating opportunities ...

, who worked on only the first season, and David Ochoa."Militant found career in films", ''Rocky Mountain News'' (Colorado), 21 May 1994, Local section, special feature "La Gente", p.74A. The show won a Peabody Award among other honors.Payan, Victor
"Interview with Moctesuma Esparza: From the L.A. High School walkouts to 'Selena' and 'The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca'
''In Motion Magazine''. May 21, 1998. Retrieved July 15, 2007.

Description

''Villa Alegre'' centered on life in a whimsical bilingual (Spanish and English) village. The program had an upbeat, catchy salsa-flavored

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

, which ended with adults and kids shouting " ¡Villa Alegre!" The educational series was designed to teach English to Latino kids and Spanish to Anglo children. It featured various educational subjects (such as mathematics and science) and life lessons, in addition to

Hispanic culture The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

. The executive producer was Claudio Guzman and the head writer was Barbara Chain. Her son Michael Chain was a staff writerMichael Chain
at the Internet Movie Database who also composed much of the specialty music for the episodes.

Performers

Kenia Hernandez Cueto played the child actress/singer Maria. Actress Carmen Zapata starred in the program for nine seasons in the role of Doña Luz, the mayor of Villa Alegre,Kilmer, Lowe. "Celebrities" (column), ''

Watertown Daily Times The ''Watertown Daily Times'' is a newspaper published six days a week, Tuesday through Sunday, in Watertown, New York. It provides coverage of Jefferson County, Lewis County, St. Lawrence County and Oswego County. It was founded in 1861 and ...

'' (New York), 7 October 2003, Lifestyles & Leisure section, p.B2. Mexican-American singer-actress

Marisela Marisela Hernandez (born April 24, 1966 as Marisela Esqueda), commonly known as Marisela, is a Mexican-American singer. In 1984, she recorded her first album at the age of 18, and continued to release albums into the 1990s. Her cover version of ...

appeared on the show in her youth.Arroyo, Blanca. "Ahora 'sin él', pero lista para volver - La cantante confiesa que a los 15 años tuvo un tórrido romance con Marco Antonio Solís y que le 'encantaría' trabajar otra vez con 'El Buki Mayor,'" El Buki Mayor'"], ''La Opinión'' (Los Angeles, California), May 6, 2001, Espectáculos section. (in Spanish) Actress Linda Dangcil played Elena on the show. The show was directed by Argentines, Argentine actor and director

Alejandro Rey Alejandro Rey (February 8, 1930 – May 21, 1987) was an Argentine-American actor and television director. Career Early work Rey was born in Buenos Aires and studied acting under Hedwig Schlichter and Milagros de la Vega. He became known a ...

(who co-starred with Dangcil on ''

The Flying Nun ''The Flying Nun'' is an American sitcom about a community of nuns which included one who could fly when the wind caught her cornette. It was produced by Screen Gems for ABC based on the 1965 book '' The Fifteenth Pelican,'' written by Tere ...

''). Nono Arsu played FelipeEthnic Groups: Hispanic/ Latino: R–Z: "Villa Alegre"
at TVAcres.com, 5 February 2013; archived in the first and second seasons. Steve Franken and Hal Smith were regulars also.

Darryl Henriques Darryl Henriques is an author, satirist, stand-up comedian, and actor on stage and radio, and in TV and film. Career Henriques, a Cheese Board Collective worker, coined the phrase '' Gourmet Ghetto''. Darryl Henriques joined the '' San Francis ...

played Mimo in the first and second seasons.

Notes

External links

*
Villa Alegre on Facebook

Villa Alegre at Big Cartel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Villa Alegre (TV Series) PBS original programming American television shows featuring puppetry Spanish-language television programming in the United States Spanish-language education television programming 1970s American children's television series 1980s American children's television series 1973 American television series debuts 1980 American television series endings American children's education television series