The other night, I happened to mention the Spanish language TV show “Sabado Gigante”. You don’t have to understand Spanish to see the energy of spontaneous live TV.
The host of the show recently retired after doing the show for 57 years. Only in this CBS Sunday Morning piece did I learn he was the son of Jewish immigrants fleeing Germany.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Francisco_(television_host)
It’s quite a coincidence that you bring this up. In fact, I just mentioned it to my wife a few days ago and asked if she ever watched (no). I tried to describe the show/host and explained that even if someone didn’t understand Spanish, the show was entertaining.
I was a viewer from late 1980’s to 90’s. I resided full-time in Arizona back then, and it was broadcast on the local Spanish network affiliate (either Univision or Telemundo).
Of course, I also had to watch Xuxa in the mid 90’s… the’ hottest’ children’s show. 😉
It appears that after Univision took over production, they destroyed a lot of the original magic by overwhelming the show with electronics and more tightly controlled production
I tried watching it a few times in the mid 2000’s. The show had changed for the worse… too much ‘flash bang’ style production.
Xuxa wants to be Ellen DeGeneres when she grows up