Sábado Gigante


Sábado Gigante is a Spanish-language television program broadcast by Spanish International Network in the United States. It was also Univision's longest-running program and the longest-running television variety series in world television history. Sábado Gigante is an eclectic and frenetic mix of various contests, human-interest stories, and live entertainment. From its start in 1962, it was hosted by Chilean TV star Mario Kreutzberger under the stage name of Don Francisco. Rolando Barral began serving as a co-host in 1986; that role was taken over by Javier Romero in 1991.
The three-hour program aired on Univision each Saturday night at 8:00 p.m.. A new episode was produced every week throughout the show's history, with no reruns and only rare pre-emptions due to special programming. On April 17, 2015, Univision announced that Sábado Gigante would end after 53 years, with its final episode airing on September 19, 2015. For the first time during the show's run, the final episode aired live in Chile, Mexico and the U.S. After the finale, Univision replaced it with a prerecorded Mexican show, Sabadazo, which premiered on October 30, 2010, on Televisa and September 2012 on Univision. It was later replaced with Crónicas de Sábado and Sal y Pimienta on Univision as Sabadazo was moved back to its original afternoon time slot.

Broadcast history

Kreutzberger originated the weekly program on August 5, 1962, airing on Canal 13 in Chile as Show Dominical. He had been inspired by television shows he had seen in the United States and Argentina but, as he explained, "My idea was mixing all the programs that I saw into one program."
The program's broadcasts were subsequently moved to Saturdays, and henceforth, was renamed Sábados Gigantes in 1963 and quickly developed a loyal following in Chile, and then throughout Latin America. In Chile, during the 1970s and 1980s, the show reached peak audiences of 80%. During this period, some episodes of the program lasted up to eight hours.
In its early years, the series was broadcast live with the exception of short segments; notable among the pre-taped segments was the travelogue, where Kreutzberger visited different locations around the world.
On April 12, 1986 Kreutzberger and the program moved to Miami, FL where it began to be produced by the Spanish International Network, now Univision. At that time, the show's title was changed to the singular Sábado Gigante, although some longtime fans in Chile still call it by the pluralized title. On June 18, 2005 the series celebrated its 1,000th episode on Univisión, and on May 20, 2006 it celebrated its 20th anniversary in the U.S. and on May 21, 2011 it celebrated its 25th anniversary on the Univision. On October 27, 2012, Sábado Gigante celebrated its 50th anniversary.
For several years, two programs were recorded each week from identical sets:
In 2000, the show was remotely broadcast from Los Angeles, California to coincide with the Mexican Independence Day celebrations. In June 2010, the final hour of the show was again remotely broadcast at the Home Depot Center in Carson to celebrate the start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
In 2011, following the Haiti earthquake, the show aired a special three-hour telethon benefiting the American Red Cross.

Regular segments

El Chacal de la Trompeta (aka "La Gran Oportunidad")

One of the show's signature segments, six contestants are given the chance to sing a song, with the bad performers being eliminated mid-song by "El Chacal", a ghost-like character who blows an old trumpet to end such acts. Unlike The Gong Show, El Chacal does not have to wait a specific amount of time before eliminating someone. Don Francisco would always get into the act, and wear silly hats and wigs to intimidate the contestant. On some occasions, the eliminated performer would be "fed" to a lion in his cave, with Don Francisco chanting "A los leones". The "Lion" character was later phased out and would be "replaced" with an Alex the Lion doll. The "surviving" performers are voted on by the audience, with the one receiving the most applause winning a prize or cash. The performer also has the chance to win an additional $1,000 by acquiring "La Córona", which would pre-qualify that performer into the "Reyes del Chacal" competition, which is held every two to four years. From 1987 to 1993, any performer who advanced also received a six-pack of Coca-Cola.
Often whenever Don Francisco sings during this segment, El Chacal would blow the trumpet mid-song, effectively insulting the host, who responds by kicking El Chacal. He would also kick the character if a bad call was made.
El Chacal's name roughly translates to "the Jackal," and his antics are more in line with such, similar to a laughing hyena. However, there is a bit darker meaning behind the character and his appearance. He actually has more similarities to an "Executioner" or a "Hooded Hatchetman", who used to kill people on the gallows or guillotine while wearing such a mask. Only in this case, he "kills off" acts of performers by playing the trumpet and not wielding an axe or guillotine.
In November 2013, Leonardo Núñez Guerrero, the man who played El Chacal for more than 20 years, was fired from the show by Don Francisco.

Miss Colita

A parody of beauty pageants, six women compete in swimsuits or other revealing attire for the title of Miss Colita. It is similar to the Brazilian contest "Miss Bumbum". The contest is usually held the Saturday before the Miss Venezuela, Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, although it – or variants of the segment – are frequently held every two to four weeks. A Christmas-themed version, Miss Santita, is held the Saturday before Christmas. Another version, "Miss Colita Petite", features mainly smaller women. From 2003 to 2005, it was succeeded by a similar contest, "Miss Curvilinea", which focused more on the body type and form. The final Miss Colita contest took place on August 22, 2015, the same night as the Miss Teen USA 2015 pageant.
It is also well known for the song "Mueve la colita", where the idea of the contest was conceived from; it has been an unofficial "hymn" of Sábado Gigante. Don Francisco had stated that the popularity of the song saved the program from an early cancellation in 1987, although this was not publicly revealed until 2012, during the show's 50th anniversary celebration.
This segment has been criticized by several former Miss Universe delegates, due to the main focus of the contest being the buttocks. This led to the creation of Miss Curvilinea, among other similar contests.

Miss Chiquitita

This contest featured girls competing for the title of Miss Chiquitita. The contest was held between 1994 and 1996, and was held in a two-month period; it was revived on July 2012 after a 16-year hiatus. The structure was similar to Miss America, sans the swimsuit and evening gown rounds.

Live entertainment

Every hour of the show, recording artists and bands perform songs live in front of the audience. Notable non-Spanish language artists/groups that performed in Sábado Gigante have included Pitbull, SkyBlu, No Mercy, Eden's Crush, i5, Dream, Kiley Dean, Tony Bennett and Psy.
In addition to musical talent, other acts such as magicians, world record holders among others also perform their talents during the show.

El Detector De Mentiras

Whenever someone is accused of infidelity, Don Francisco puts that person to a lie detector test, conducted by retired police officer Joe Harper. While this is a serious segment, there is some humor, whenever Harper mispronounces the words in the questions since he is not fluent in Spanish, only to be criticized by Don Francisco.
There has been one instance where infidelity was not involved in this segment, when a woman believed to had an encounter with extraterrestrial life in Battle Ground, Washington.

Póngale Ritmo

This segment is a dance competition. The first round has contestants perform a freestyle dance before a panel of judges. Only three are selected for the final rounds of the contest.

La Cuatro

At some point during the show, Don Francisco gets interrupted by "La Cuatro". She has a semi-romantic interest in Don Francisco, but would frequently pester him, including the use of bad jokes and bothering the audience. If La Cuatro pokes fun at various celebrities, Don Francisco warns her to not mess with them.

Comedy segments

There have been numerous comedic segments throughout the show's run. They were best known for helping launch the career of the Argentine model/vedette/actress Nanci Guerrero, who starred in a majority of these sketches. Most have included:
There have been contests involving animals, usually pets. One of them, La gracias de mi mascota, features pets performing certain talents. Another variant, Igualito a mí mascota, features pets looking like their owners. Ron Magill, from the Metro Zoo in Miami, is a guest on the show whenever these contests are held. Another game, Los huevos de Ron Magill, has audience members attempt to replicate an animal's sound which, if one is performed successfully, then that person can reach their hand in an oversized egg for a chance to win up to US$1500. The name of this contest is sometimes mocked by Don Francisco, who would intentionally use the more vulgar term of the word "huevos", much to Magill's chagrin.

Don Francisco's relationship with Magill

It is noted that Magill had also been frequently criticized by Don Francisco, as well as made fun of by the audience due to his poor Spanish-speaking ability. However, Magill has stated that he re-learned the language through his tenure on Sábado Gigante. During an interview, Magill stated that if he was fluent in Spanish, he would have not been allowed to participate in the show. Another running gag during these segments had Don Francisco constantly annoy Magill while holding certain animals by constantly asking questions about the animal held.
These gags would later carry over on Don Francisco's later programs after the cancellation of Sábado Gigante, whenever Magill is a guest on them.

Romance-themed contests

Throughout the show's run, there have been competitions involving romantic themes, often rotated weekly. The contests have included the following:
Throughout the show's run on Univision, a disclaimer said by either Don Francisco, Javier Romero or one of the co-presenters precedes the car games by stating: "Neither Sábado Gigante or Univision ask for money in exchange for prizes, if you receive a call asking for money in exchange for a prize , please call the corresponding authorities." while the same disclaimer is shown on-screen at the end of the program. A similar disclaimer is also used for the Chilean version of Gigante hosted by Don Francisco's daughter, Vivi. Contestants must be 18 and older to compete for the car. It has been revealed that the winning contestants have to wait 30 days for their cars to be delivered to them and that the actual car varied from the one shown in the program.
Cars given away in the US program have included those from Ford Motor Company, Toyota, General Motors Honda, Daewoo, Hyundai and Kia Motors. In Chile, some cars given away include Volkswagen, Lada, Renault-Samsung, Arica-Mini, and Subaru. During the show's early years in the U.S. and during the final episode, the cars were provided by Miami-based dealership Gus Machado Ford.
While the car prizes in the program were usually either compact and/or mid-size cars, larger cars such as pickup trucks and SUVs were also used as car prizes.
In the Chilean version, cars may be used as one of the regular prizes during some of the games.
In 2000 and from 2005-2009, another car prize was offered at the end of the first hour of the show.
Prior to the revamping in 2008, the games played for the car were similar to the pricing games seen on The Price Is Right, but were based on luck rather than having the contestant guess the actual price of the car. These have included a game with a staircase of buttons in any of these three colors with the contestant selecting two rows and trying to avoid a "broken" button to win. A similar version was played in Chile and in some occasions on the Univision version, where Don Francisco uses a pistol and the contestant would lose if the pistol fired. The concept is loosely based on The Price Is Rights "Ten Chances" pricing game, albeit largely unrelated. It was also the only game where the host also played a participation role.
This game is similar to The Price Is Rights "Any Number" pricing game. Contestants can call out digits one at a time, revealing them in the retail prices of four prizes on the gameboard, and wins the first prize whose price is completely revealed. A gameboard contains spaces representing five digits in the price of a car, four digits in the price of a trip anywhere in the world, four digits representing an amount of money that is valued at more than $1,000, and three digits in the price of a smaller prize. The first digit in the price of the car is revealed at the beginning of the game.
Another game involved 10 keys with the contestant having to choose the key that opens the large "vault" containing the car inside. In 1995, the "vault" changed color from gold to blue. In 1999, a relaunch of the game had all the finalists choose one key each and was expanded to 16 keys, whilst the 2006 relaunch returned to the old format, but with a makeover. From 1993 to 1995, a giant die rolled from the bleachers determine the number of keys to pick. If the vault opens in which they pick the winning key number, a siren went off and the contestant wins the car. Otherwise, the buzzer will sound if the vault does not open in which the contestant picks the wrong key number. There have been multiple occasions where contestants won the car on the first/only key. This game was considered the most popular car game of the show and is the first car game played. This game now appears occasionally, with all finalists each picking the key they believe opens the car door. And if the car door opens, they will win a new car. During gameplay, whenever contestants are on their sole/final key, Don Francisco would offer a cash prize in exchange for their key. The final episode in September 2015 had a guaranteed winner of a car, as five members of the audience were allowed to pick a key from a bowl and try it in the door lock. The third contestant was successful.
There are games similar to The Price Is Rights "3 Strikes" pricing game, but gameplay varied depending on that game's concept. Each wheel adds $1,000 to the player's score, and if the contestant successfully finds all 4 wheels, the contestant wins $4,000 and a brand new car and the prizes they have accumulated. A variant of this game uses people holding large cards containing El Chacal, the Wheel and the Sábado Gigante logo. This version appears only in special episodes of the show and wherever the show is broadcast remotely outside Miami. Notable participants have included Nuestra Belleza Latina/Miss Venezuela contestants, Sábado Gigante characters, Miss Colita contestants among others.
Since 2008, the number of panels is determined by the number of players competing during the show. One of them has the word "Auto" in it, while the others have El Chacal. The player who finds the Auto panel, moves on to the car game.
There was one game where contestants are given a survey question and must correctly guess five responses related to the question.
The new car games introduced in 2008, which are essentially updated and digitalized versions of older games, have included:

La Cámara Viajera

La Cámara Viajera is the show's travelogue segment – which only appears occasionally – where Don Francisco visits a selected country where he mainly talks about the culture and its attractions. The segment has taken him to over 185 countries worldwide, many of them more than once. It was also known for its long-term sponsorship with American Airlines on the Univision program, which precedes the segment by advertising daily flights from Miami to the location of that week's segment.

Talent Competitions

There also have been numerous talent competitions throughout the program's run. They have included:
Throughout the show's run, product placement has been a vital part of Sabado Gigante. Whenever a certain product is advertised during the show, Don Francisco, along with the audience, would sing that product's jingle. Otherwise, he will describe the product. Most products, such as Cookie Crisp and Chex cereals, would often alternate weekly or monthly. Other products advertised on Sabado Gigante have included AC Delco, Allstate, American Airlines, AutoZone, Cap'n Crunch, Coca-Cola, Colgate, Dog Chow, Domino's Pizza, Downy, Dr. Pepper, Ferrero Rocher, Gatorade, M&M's, Mazola, McDonald's, Miller, Nabisco, Pampers, Payless ShoeSource, Pedigree, Pepto-Bismol, Pert Plus, Polaroid, Quaker Instant Oatmeal, Secret Deodorant, Sprint, Tide and State Farm.

Adonis Losada's arrest, conviction and prison life

In September 2009, comedian Adonis Losada, who played Doña Concha on the show, was arrested and subsequently charged with 30 counts of possession of child pornography after detectives in Boynton Beach, Florida alleged that he uploaded one of the images to a social networking site. Police found 18 images of child pornography on a hard drive in his home. Following the arrest, the Doña Concha character was scrapped from Sábado Gigante. On July 7, 2016 Losada was found guilty and sentenced to 153 years in prison.