Feb
9
“Saturday Night Live” españolizado
Spanish TV has a monster hit on its hands and it was made in America.
Saturday Night Live, that sketch comedy staple of U.S. television, has been imported and reworked into Spanish, to which I have only one question: Why?
The U.S.-version has been on the air since 1975 and was the launching pad to Hollywood fame and fortune for plenty of comedians, like Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Mike Meyers, Chris Rock and Ben Stiller, just to name a few. Most recently, during the fall of 2008, the show entered a brief revival when former SNL castmember Tina Fey struck comedy gold with her staggeringly dead-on impersonations of Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah “I can see Russia from my house” Palin. Despite its comedic pedigree (the Blues Brothers, Coneheads, Wayne’s World, etc,) SNL is extremely long in the tooth and, Tina Fey not withstanding, is not that good. The sketches go on for way too long and, after 33 years, the show has a kind of plodding predictability about it.
That’s why it’s funny (as in funny, weird, not funny, ha-ha) to see a Spanish television network buy the rights to reproduce the show in Spain. Why not just create their own sketch comedy show? Why does it have to be a Spanish version of a show already made in America? That’s what I don’t get. Adding to my confusion is that the Spanish show airs on Thursday nights and is recorded. So the name “Saturday Night Live” really doesn’t make sense. I guess seeing those English words in Spain are like the equivalent of what it’s like in America seeing Japanese kanji. Looks very cool but is totally meaningless, if you don’t know Japanese.
In any case, the Spanish SNL premiered last week to a huge audience. In fact, the 2.5 million viewers and 14% share of the viewing audience was the highest-rated program EVER in the history of Spain’s Cuatro channel. The high ratings were better than those posted by a Spanish soccer (fútbol) game as well as showings of “The Mentalist” and “Prison Break,” two other American tee-vee shows. (Is there any original programming on the boob tube in Spain???)
Anyway, I watched a few of the Spanish SNL skits and, like the U.S. version, many of the sketches consisted of a single joke that ran way too long. An almost seven-minute sketch about a Japanese game show generated maybe three laughs from the audience. Seven minutes in comedy is an e-ter-ni-ty.
Maybe it’s cultural or maybe, as I suspect, the skits just weren’t all that funny, regardless of the language, just like the U.S. version. Whatever the cause, the Spanish studio audience was rather subdued. I didn’t hear that many people busting a gut laughing. Maybe the show needs to add a laugh track? In any case, below is the one sketch that was pretty humorous and didn’t go on for forever. It was funny to see the Italian stereotype portrayed by Spaniards.
February 9th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
I agree with Saturday Night Live, but why can’t we import American television shows? Most shows here are American, simply because they have a budget we can’t afford in the Netherlands (too small audience). You don’t have to forget Spain has some strong shows as well. Think of Buenafuente and Sé lo que hicisteis, which are only two of the many.
February 11th, 2009 at 12:48 am
Hi Ramses,
I’m not against the general export/import of American tv shows and American films. I’m against how dominant a presence they have become in other cultures. Just so much homogenization going on in pop culture. Globalization at work. Too bad Bollywood doesn’t have the same impact as Hollywood does in Europe. That would be fun!
When Woody Allen got a subsidy to make Vicky, Cristina Barcelona, Catalan filmmakers were ticked off. I agree with them. Why should a successful, famous director be receiving government money to film in one of the world’s most attractive cities? Why isn’t more govt. money spent to develop local homegrown talent? If Woody’s name had been Joan or Josep he probably wouldn’t have gotten a cent or just a fraction of one.
February 11th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
I saw this sketch on the American version. You raise some great points here Eleena. I often want to watch Hispanic movies or TV and end up finding nothing but dubbed American shows.
February 11th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
I can’t believe they call it “Saturday Night Live” and I can’t believe it’s shown “todos los Jueves”.
I thought conventional wisdom says that American TV and movies suck, are too “commercial”, and promote evil American globalization?
February 11th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
@Carl;
.
Never heard that one here in the Netherlands. Because we’re a country of only 16 million people, we can’t afford it to make many big shows outselves (or at least good ones). So we import and just enjoy them without whining
February 11th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
@Ryan: Reruns of “Walker Texas Ranger” dubbed into Spanish seem to be a favorite in some markets.
@Carl: Yep, that is the conventional wisdom, but boy oh boy they sure can’t get enough of it, like little kids gorging themselves on Halloween candy. A few months ago there was a big STAR WARS exhibit in Madrid and just this afternoon I heard a commercial for an ice skating version of “Buscando a Nemo” coming to Madrid later this month. What cracks me up is when my young Spanish students, who don’t know any better, ask me if we have these characters and these movies in the U.S. They think that these shows/movies are made in Spain!!
I think if the U.S. govt really wanted to invade a country and capture the “hearts and minds” of another country’s citizens, forget about putting more boots on the ground or increasing military spending. Nah, there’s a much easier way. All it needs to do is invest money in Hollywood studios to produce more TV shows for export. Then it will be a done deed. The citizenry of the invaded country will be brainwashed much faster that way with zero bloodshed. The French know this. That’s why they do (or at least they used to) limit the amount of “foreign cultural content” that could be broadcast on their airwaves.
February 11th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Ramses,
With the smaller population countries, no one can blame them for importing so much foreign content. But with the size of the global Spanish-speaking market, I find it curious that a comparable filmmaking industry as huge and robust as the telenovela one hasn’t emerged in some Spanish-speaking country to create quality dramas and sitcoms. Or is it that original programming in that vein doesn’t do well in those markets unless it has a “Made in Hollywood” seal on it? (Rhetorical question.)