Saturday, June 02, 2012
Amorcito Corazón Discussion #1-3 May 30-June 2: Semana de Estreno
I am going to assume that really we don't need a full recap. I tried to distill the first 3 chapters into a super quick run-down, but as you know with TN opening episodes, there is a montón of characters/events. I don't think I was very successful. I don't plan on making these weekly posts so long, so thanks for bearing with me this week.
The Bare Bones
Capítulos 1-3
- Isabel (Elizabeth Álvarez) isn't lucky at love. It seems there was an unfortunate bull attack at her 18th birthday and her novio got an unfortunate wound. The novio's mom did not take it well and cursed Isabel. Since that day, Isabel has never had a very good birthday. Isabel is currently dating Poncho (Miguel Ángel Biagio), who strikes me as a jerk. He seems too eager to take Isabel's virginity...and not for romantic reasons. She's a teacher at a local Catholic school.
- Fernando (Diego Olivera) is a widower and single parent to 3 lovely girls and has just moved into Isabel's building. His deceased wife was sweet and good (played by Fabiola Campomanes.) His mother-in-law, Hortensia (Marcaria) is a shrew. His sister-in-law, Manuela isn't much better (also played by Fabiola Campomanes...so Fabiola plays the dead wife and the living twin sister.) Fernando owns a construction/architectural business and there will be a contest to decide who will be in charge of the next project. He has two friends: Felipe (Alex Ibarra) and Cecilio (Ricardo Fastlicht.) He catches Isabel playing flirty skirty with an air grate and the two trade insults. Awww, isn't this how all great romances start?
- Isabel is on the outs with her father, but she could use his money to help pay for the not quite manicomio where her slightly loony mother, Sarita lives (played by Silvia Mariscal...and seriously, they have to name the loony one Sarita?) Isabel is a little behind in payments. She tries to sell some jewelry and gets caught up in a robbery. When Fernando interrupts the robbery he ends up in his underwear and duct-taped to our heroine. More insults and hi jinks.
- When Isabel is finally home from her fiasco of a day, Poncho arrives with an iPod serenade (El Gavilán Pollero by Pedro Infante.) It's cute how she thinks it's romantic and not just a ploy to get in her pants. When Fernando comes out to the balcony to complain he very accidentally knocks a flowerpot onto Poncho's head and knocks him out. The authorities get involved and Isabel's telling of the events gets Fernando an evening in jail. It also turns out Poncho is Fernando's employee. After Poncho regains consciousness he returns to the office and mentions suing the guy who threw the flower pot at him. Fernando personally writes a check.
- Isabel's best friend is Zoe (Grettell Valdez) who is married to Álvaro (Pietro Vanucci) a swell guy...at least she thinks so until she catches him in the shower with another swell guy. She gets a little drunk and announces this to the entire tennis club. Mother in law faints. Later Zoe tries to throw herself off a bridge, but Fernando's buddy Cecilio saves her and they get it on, but she sneaks out the next morning. It was an unforgettable night, but she swears off love forever.
- Willy (Daniel Arenas) is a gigolo and his latest conquest is Beba (Mariana Karr) good friend to Hortensia. Willy gets beat up one day, but Lucía (África Zavala) runs off the thugs by chucking fruit at them. Lucía is sister to Fernando and a novitiate. He is unconscious as he is taken off to the hospital. Lucía cannot go with him as she has been lectured about obedience by her superior officer nun. After he gets beat up, he breaks up with Beba. Later he runs into Lucia who hugs him. He doesn't realize she was the one who saved him. She's also in her civvies, so when he makes a bet with his friends that he can win her over he doesn't realize he's already screwed. According to Willy there are two types of women: Those who love him, and those who haven't met him.
- María Soledad (Renata Notni of LFDD fame) is the oldest daughter of Fernando and the new kid in Isabel's class. Maria Soledad met Juancho in Acapulco, but dad didn't approve. Her new friend Bárbara (Gaby Mellado) encourages Maria Soledad to "borrow" some money from the school graduation fund to find him. A mean girl rats her out. Fernando is called and Isabel is asked to talk to Maria Soledad and the girl confesses why she did it. She claims her father is a controlling lunatic. Isabel knows all about controlling parents since her dad was one, too. She encourages María Soledad to call Juancho. As she does Papá Fernando comes in and the and Isabel are impactados to see each other.
- I had some comprehension issues. Is it just me or are the comedies a little harder to understand? I suspect I will miss most of the conversations by the younger characters (Willy, Juancho, María Soledad and Bárbara.)
- I love the opening theme (always a good sign)
- África Zavala is going to be a cutie.
- I love how the Isabel and Fernando characters kept running into each other under ridiculous circumstances.
la maceta-flower pot
el energúmeno-lunatic (which was said three different times in cap 3 and spelled three different ways on the crazy useless CC's)
el mequetrefe: good-for-nothing
cruda-hangover (another word for hangover: resaca)
amar al prójimo- to love one's neighbor...not actually said, but I discovered it while looking up....
el prójimo-fellow man (which was said)
el tipejo/la tipeja- idiot; piece of work
rabo verde- dirty old man
Ojos vemos, corazones no sabemos: You never really know a person
So, what did you all think?
Labels: Amorcito
I'll check in with the recaps though, maybe we'll be lucky and they move to a better time?
Nice cast and I like your idea of putting this on at 7 pm, so the Refugio is just an hour. But will the Univision folks have the wisdom to listen to you? Stay tuned.
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I don't expect to have so much "recap" next week. First of all, I think it would be impossible to distill 5 days worth of stuff into a "bare bones" recap, but I do hope to have a vocab list every week.
This is really a cute show. I'm not well versed on the TN comedies, so I don't know where this one falls. The only other one I've seen is UFCS and this one strikes me as having fewer caricatures. I mean, they are there but I'm not getting the "beat them over the head with comedy vibe." I'm hoping someone with more experience with comedies chimes in.
It is odd to see Diego Olivero in a more light-hearted role. He played such a heavy in TdA. He's doing a good job, though. He's even cuter when he's being funny!
I am with you, move this to 7pm.
Rosemary Primera
I haven't watched episode 3 yet, but really enjoyed the hijinks in the first two episodes. The bull scene, the air grate, and the robbery, were all so fun and funny.
I saw the interview with Diego, Elizabeth, and Daniel on El Gordo y La Flaca right after the first episode this week. Diego said that this isn't the typical tn comedy, but more of a traditional romantic comedy. This may account for the dearth of stereotypical characters. Telenovela comedies do tend to be harder to understand because people are speaking faster and with more slang. This one is pretty low on the slang actually, so it's not too bad.
Lots of familiar faces in this. I really liked Africa in Para Volver a Amar. But she really gets to play up her cute spunkiness in this. I also enjoy seeing Gretel, who was the mouthy servant girl in CME, playing such a different role. Actually, it's nice seeing all of these folks, whom I've only seen in dramas, in a comedy.
I've only seen Gretel in Lola Érase Una Vez, which was more for the tween set, but she did whiny comedic villainess pretty well. I am really liking her in this.
Does Unisvion do *any* kind of market research? They relegated PVAA to midnight (and that TN was superior) and now this. There are a few folks in the univision forums asking for this to be moved to 7pm.
I have seen at least four novelas get moved out of prime and into daytime or late night, but never one going from daytime to prime.
I thought Daniel Arenas was knock-down, drag-out hilarious in the first 3 episodes. He was so wooden and dull in Teresa, I didn't think he had it in him. I can tell he and Africa are going to be the fun couple in this one.
Could someone explain something though: It seemed like Willy broke up with Beba because of the mugging; that they were somehow connected, but I didn't catch it. I'm also kind of thinking I missed the reason for the mugging. I think it was probably more than a random thing.
I'm always too impatient to find out what will happen next to rewind numerous times. Can anyone with better comprehension skills help me out?
Speaking of the break-up: I loved how quickly the pill Hortensia gave her took affect. I need some of those!
I just love Mariana Karr.
I really like this TN and have from the start. As many of you have noted, its not as over the top as most comedies. And it does definitely have a rom-com feel to it; thanks for the comment about the show Vivi. And yes Audrey those shows and movie are vibes we feel in this TN.
Blue Lass - ITA w/you about Daniel Arenas. The previews had him being so unlike his "Teresa" character and so funny I had to see how he and Diego would perform.
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I really like him in the opening credits, too! He is definitely having fun with this role. It cracks me up to see Beba sighing over him and crying about "mi Willy." I find it even funnier because of the English connotations...on purpose or not? What do you all think?
I'm glad everyone enjoyed this. I hate to see this show fall between the cracks. I feel like, through no one's fault, we all missed a gem with PVAA because of Univision's scheduling decision. While AC is a different kind of show, I don't want to end up kicking myself like I did with PVAA.
I wasn't planning to start watching another telenovela, but I was home sick and...it's really good! I love it. I wish they would move it to evening; they really need a comedy in prime time and NOT two hours of a single show.
I missed the first episode, so a few things didn't make sense. Now they do. Beba talking about "mi Willy" really confused me for awhile there.
The duct tape scene was so funny. A little saucy for afternoon, maybe.
Sigh...now I have to keep watching another show. It's too fun, and has too many of my favorite actors in it. At least el tal Talismán is ending soon.
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How right you are, Julia!! I don't understand why, but I can handle watching two or three different shows at one hour each....one two hour show is too much for me.
Madeline-
squeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!! omigoshomigoshomigosh!!!!!!!! I am so excited. I just set my DVR to record. Ok, so now that's Abismo, AC and PVAA. THank goodness I'm done with school soon!!
I can't believe that they gave us a Juancho, a Pancho, a Poncho, and a Moncho, though. I guess that's meant to be funny, too, but I know it's going to wreak havoc on my listening skills.
I do wish this were our 7 pm show. I like it & it has a good cast. I always like the comedies best. Thanks Sara for this recap & a forum to share.
Güera
This TN has a huge cast, hence lots of familiar faces with some of my all-time favorites. And of course the blog favorite, Mariana Karr.
The clothes-off-taped-together scene was rather predictable, yet utterly hilarious. The two leads seem to have nice chemistry.
I guess I agree with everyone that I wish they would air this show at 7:00, sigh.
Thanks Sara! I am watching episode #3 right now and I thoroughly enjoyed the first two. You are totally cool for posting the header AND vocab too.
Güera
Julia, I'm glad to hear that the slang is repetitive. It's kind of what I'm hoping for. If stuff gets repeated it's easier for me to learn/remember.
Blue Lass-you're already hearing better than I...I didn't even pick up on Moncho. Who the heck was that? Nor am I sure I can remember who Pancho is....
I get so caught up in trying to understand I missed half the jokes! William Guillermo...LOL!
My old high school Cassell's translates "mequetrefe" as "coxscomb; jackanapes." Think I need a more current dictionary? :)
Sorry for the vocab repeat!
I feel better knowing that it wasn't just me that had trouble comprehending some of the Spanish in this.
Anyway, I think the premise is cute and our main couple is adorable and have some good chemistry. It's so nice to see Diego Olivera in something light and funny. I loved him as Padre Hottie in Triunfo del Amor but he was always crying! LOL. And there are a lot of other familiar faces in this one too. I think I'm going to enjoy it. So now I'm up to three telenovelas now: LQNPA, Abismo, and this! Yikes!
They all seem to be playing off Eva Luna and El Talisman, except that this one *is* actually located in Florida. Even our buddy Angel from El Tal has moved over to CA.
The only story line I'm really digging is Carlos Guillermo Haydon (check him out on Google), who plays the handy-dandy pool boy, and the young wife of an obsessive, cruel embezzler. (They just happened to have crash landed on an abandoned island for a month and our now dealing with the "consequences.")
Anita
So Marisol's new friend is a cliff diver (clavadista de la quebrada)? Maybe we'll get to see some hunky diving in Acapulco. If they ever make it. Do we think he's on the level or is he some sort of con dude?
I don't trust him, but it's a comedy, so we probably won't see anything *too* terrible happen to her. I'm more worried about our society ladies down in the barrio!
I just love this little show.
Maybe I'll ask the Telemundo bloggers what they do. They only post once a week too.
Sara, you are heading this up so I think you should come up with the ground rules. Think about it and let us know what you suggest. I'll bet you are up to your ears in end of school stuff so don't feel you have to answer right away.
I will think about how we can do this. Once my summer starts (June 12)I can post a discussion header with brief synopsis every day if that's ok. Unfortunately, once school starts back up it will have to be once a week again. When that happens, how 'bout I post a "week that was" summary on Sunday and we can comment on new episodes throughout the week.
So what do ya'll think?
Daily updates up until August 13 then Sunday post once a week to be used as commentary for current events in the show.
OR
Just start the Sunday post June 10 and stick to that til this puppy ends in 200+ episodes.
http://www.stefanruiz.com/index.php?/projects/the-factory-of-dreams/
I'm sure we can all agree that bare bones will be fine. I feel like enough folks are watching that together we can all help each other out ;-)
I was only planning bare bones daily posts any way...that is if daily is what we all decide.
Wow, cool book!! Telenovelas are big business. A friend of mine went to a communications trade show in Vegas and she told me the president of Televisa was there giving a seminar on the rising importance and influence of telenovelas in the U.S.
Bare bones posts are perfect. We don't need much to get us going.
I was just popping in to say I am a ninny. I have the perfect solution. I will post a recap for the Monday episode each week and we can comment all week from there. DUH! How does that sound to everyone.
Of course, I'm already behind so what I will do is post something Saturday and then Monday evening.
Thoughts? Opinions?
I'm fully supportive of however we decide to do these feeds for Amorcito Corazon. The weekly post for Telemundo works well. It's easy for any of us to jump in and give bullet points of what happened to start the discussion, so that Sara doesn't feel like she's the only one with the responsibility of recapping. Whatever works best for Sara and the group.
I also like how all the characters seem connected, but I wonder if I missed something: If Isa, Zoe and Lucia have known each other since the were girls, why are Fernando and Isa strangers to each other?
I loved that Willy and Barbara were siblings and that Juancho turned out to be the cousin. And finally! Someone acknowledges that the DF is huge and that the idea of finding someone without any information is far fetched. Of course Juancho and Marisol will indeed find each other, but at least someone admitted out loud how crazy it is.
I was pretty frustrated by all the near misses, though.
And you could have knocked me over with a feather when Isabel ACTUALLY LOOKED THROUGH THE PEEPHOLE ON HER DOOR. We have arrived in the 20th century at last!
I'm looking forward to watching #6 tonight.
Yes, I know; I'm being waaaay too logical.
I'm guessing Fernando is supposed to be in his 40s-- at least ten years older than Isa. If Isa, Zoe and Lucia became friends when they were about 8, Fernando would have already been 18 and off to England to study and always living far away after that.
I was glad Marisol was safe after her misadventures, but she learned a big lesson. It was sweet how Fer was all set to scold and punish her, but then totally melted when he saw her tear filled eyes in the police station. Then he broke into tears and hugged her tight. I think Isa fell a bit more in love with him at that moment.
Vivi, I continue to be amazed at how you keep the plot lines and relationships all sorted out. I was baffled by episode two. I just enjoy the ride and hope it will all begin to make sense.
Like you, I also wondered why Bárbara didn't put 2 + 2 together. Marisol may not have mentioned Juancho's name, but he definitely mentioned hers. (Oh, and I love it that F's daughters are named Marisol, Marilú, and Marifer. I knew a guy in Spain who had 9 sisters, all named María.)
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