The Martian Chronicles (TV show)

Crónicas marcianas was a midnight television program produced by Gestmusic Endemol and broadcast by the Spanish network Telecinco between 1997 and 2005. It was directed and presented by Javier Sardá and it had Miquel José and Jordi Roca, with whom Sardá had created La Ventana on Cadena SER, as deputy directors and scriptwriters.

It is the longest running and most watched midnight program in the history of Spanish television. Considered by many to be one of the greatest exponents of trash TV in Spain, he won a multitude of awards, such as an Ondas, two from the Television Academy and six TP de Oro.

History

Crónicas marcianas began broadcasting on September 8, 1997 to compete with the program presented by Pepe Navarro on Antena 3 La sonrisa del pelicano, then audience leader on the night strip In principle, Crónicas marcianas contributed less sensationalism and a softer humor, with comedians, wild beasts, videos of stumbles, falls and Martí Galindo, who carried out the duties of presenter, together with Sardà. Characters such as Cindy Crawford, Marta Sánchez, David Copperfield, Enrique Iglesias, Ricky Martin were then interviewed.

Crónicas marcianas surpassed The Pelican's Smile in audience, but when the latter program disappeared amid controversy, it became the undisputed leader of your time slot. Boris Izaguirre began to deal with the "semiotic" of the current affairs of the heart, in addition to performing drag shows and striptease. New comedians and public figures would follow one another, such as Manel Fuentes, Mariano Mariano, Paz Padilla or Rosario Pardo. For their part, Cristina Almeida, Anna Balletbó, Celia Villalobos, Begoña Ameztoy, Father Apeles, Isabel García Marcos, Loles León, Javier Nart, Enrique del Pozo, Ramoncín, Yvonne Reyes, Juan Adriansens, Empar Moliner... debated hot topics political and social news. From Tonight we crossed the Mississippi, Francisco Pérez Abellán came to deal with the crimes while Carmen Vijande carried out a sexology section.

For his part, Javier Cárdenas traveled around Spain to find different characters to interview them. Some consider that the objective of these interviews was mockery, even Cárdenas and Sardà himself were sentenced for an interview with a disabled person. Paco Porras, Leonardo Dantés, Tamara, La Pantoja from Puerto Rico, El Pozí, La Witch Lola, Carmen de Mairena, the Happy Mocito and other characters, whom he would turn to to shoot a film for Spanish screens: FBI: Frikis Buscan Incordiar. For her part, the controversial singer Tamara would lead the list of best-selling singles in the country. The program also sponsored the sale of various music compilations.

Starting in 2000, Crónicas marcianas began to exploit the phenomenon of reality TV contests, such as Big Brother and Hotel Glam, until To such an extent that many of its former contestants became regulars on the program, replacing the previous ones. Examples of this are Aída Nízar, Sonia Arenas, Jorge Berrocal, Dinio García, María José Galera, Kiko Hernández, Carlos Navarro El Yoyas, Silvia Fominaya, Marta López, Pocholo Martínez Bordiú, Noemí Ungría and Raquel Morillas among others. The discussion tables began to be occupied by Nuria Bermúdez, Borja Hernán, Erika Alonso, Mari Cielo Pajares (daughter of actor Andrés Pajares), Alessandro Lecquio (great-grandson of Alfonso XIII), Coto Matamoros, Sonia Monroy, Mayte Alonso, Mila Ximénez and other characters. The fame of some of these people was mainly due to their romantic relationships with artists or other similar celebrities. In this way, the boom of celebrities who were famous just for appearing on television and in the so-called heart press was enhanced. The topics in which the sentimental relationships of others were revealed, the accusations against each other of mistreatment, consumption or drug trafficking or the exercise of prostitution were common. In this last period, Carlos Latre, Xavier Deltell and Rocío Madrid joined Sardà as co-presenters.

In the 2004-2005 season, the audience decreased. On the other hand, programs in the same time slot, such as Buenafuente, by Andreu Buenafuente with notably different content compared to Crónicas, began to reduce viewers, until his dismissal was announced at the end of the season, being still night audience leader.

List of collaborators

Boris Izaguirre in 2006.

Coto Matamoros, in 2018.

• Juan Adriansens (1998-2001)
• Mayte Alonso (2002-2003)
• Erika Alonso (1999-2005)
• Begoña Ameztoy (2000-2005)
• Father Apeles (1997-1998 and 2004-2005)
• Jorge Berrocal (2000-2003)
• Fayna Bethencourt (2001-2003)
• Frank Blanco (2000-2002)
• Daniela Blume (2003-2005)
• Nuria Bermúdez (2003-2005)
• Javier Cárdenas (2002-2005)
• Toni Clapés (1998-2000)
• Xavier Deltell (1997-2005)
• Carlos Ferrando (1997-1998)
• Manel Fuentes (1997-2001)
• Borja Hernán (2000-2002)
• Carmen Hornillos (2000-2005)
• Boris Izaguirre (1999-2005)
• Carlos Latre (2002-2005)
• Jesus Locampos (2000-2005)
• Marta López (2001-2005)
• Alessandro Lecquio (2001-2005)
• Karmele Marchante (1997-1998)
• Mariano Mariano (1997-2002)
• Sonia Monroy (1998-2005)
• Cristina Ortiz Rodríguez, "The Poison" (2001-2003)
• Paz Padilla (1997-1999)
• Salvador Sostres, (spanish)
• Marbelys Zamora, Marta Torres and Vanessa García—Bailarinas del programa— (2001-2005)
• Rocío Madrid (2003-2005)
• Kiko Matamoros (2003-2005)
• Juan Carlos Ortega (2003-2005)
• Antonio David Flores (2003-2005)
• Martí Galindo (1997-2002)
• Kiko Hernández (2003-2005)
• Silvia Fominaya (2003-2005)
• Natacha Jaitt (2004-2005)
• Pilar Rahola (1998-2004)
• Coto Matamoros (2000-2004)
• Carlos Navarro "El Yoyas" (2001-2004)
• Carlos Pumares (2002-2004)
• Raquel Morillas (2003-2004)
• Aída Nízar (2003-2004)
• Mila Ximénez (2004)
• Pepe Calabuig (2000-2002)
• Enrique del Pozo (2000-2002)
• Rosario Pardo (2000-2002)
• Fernando Ramos (2000-2002)
• Nacho Rodríguez (2000-2002)
• Chiqui Martí (1999-2001)
• Iñigo González (2000-2001)
• Judit Sánchez (1999-2000)
• Bibiana Fernández (1998)

Evolution of audiences by seasons

International versions

The program was also adapted in other countries such as Italy, broadcast under the name Cronache marziane by Italia 1 between 2004 and 2005, and in Portugal, with the name "Noites Marcianas&# 3. 4;.