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ariel-seagull-wings · 1 year

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TOP 10 BEST CHARACTERS FROM 31 MINUTOS

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Every one has a show that they love, who hasn’t nearly enough people talking about it... so we take as our duty to obsess over it and scream about it to the four corners of the world until someone gets annoyed.

In my case, this obsession is the chilean puppet comedy show 31 Minutos (31 Minutes in english): the show explores the lives of a group of characters from the fictional city of Titirilquén, who work in the title show’s morning news, both showing their presentations of the different segments and the internal backstage drama that goes in the production.

With each episode being a self contained story, you can watch in any order and understant the general formula of the series and the characters personalities. Its strenght lies mainly in two things: the handmaid quality charm of the puppets, who rather than all being perfectly crafted animals, humanoid or monsters can vary from a literal socker ball with a mustache and glasses to the basic sock puppet, without ever looking lazy, and the caotic humour born out of the many, many flaws of the characters, who are still pretty likable.

Sometimes we laugh WITH them.

Sometimes we laugh AT them.

One thing is sure: you will rarely be bored with this colorfull cast of characters, and now I shall present the ranking of top 10 best of them.

What is the criterion that makes them the best? Only the most important criterion: my personal preferences.

10º Mico, el Micófono.

A microfone with plastic eyes and Mickey Mouse like high pitch voice that is a field reporter. An idea so silly that it must be a stroke of genius. Mico is the reporter who opens the morning show with the survey sections, asking people the most random question like “What is your nickname”, “What are you afrayed of?” and “What is the ugliest world that you know?”.

Are the surveys usefull for something? Not really. But the citizens of Titirilquén sure find flattering that someone is asking them their opinions on SOMETHING. Overall, Mico is very polite and sweet. However, he is no innocent: if you dare to make him angry, he will stop at nothing to get his revenge.

The mascot of 31 Minutos shows that you shall never underestimate the little person... and that is why i love him so much.

09º Jackson Aceituno.

A racoon with huge black eyes that resemble giant olives (hence his surname Aceituno, wich is spanish for olive), originally he was a field reporter that covered the events in the city of Titirilquén, before receiving the ungratefull promotion of war correspondent, covering the conflict between the warring nations of Salsacia and Conservia, whose inhabitants are literary made of metal cans. During those years, his face was hurt so bad that he has been hiding it under a white and red scarf ever since, wich becamed the characters definitive look.

Far from malicious, hard working and resilient, no matter that he doesn’t know the languages of the warring nations to be helpfull at diplomacy, and how much times he receives lost bullets and is made a hostage: he will always be ready to keep audiences informed of what is happening in the war torn lands.

That suicidal level of professionalism is a rarity in 31 Minutos, and so its really worthy of admiration.

08º Mario Hugo.

Full name: Ernesto Felipe Mario Hugo.

Originally, this white chihuahua was only a field reporter whose only real quirk was being slightly stiff and having a ridiculously long list of pet dogs he'd say hello to. However, around the start of season two, he started gaining a lot more screen time and even got his own section in the show called La Dimensión Hermosa y Desconocida (The Beautifull and Unknown Dimension), where he talks about the things that surprise and bewilder him in nature and in people, gaining a more phylosophical personality.

Combine this with his unrequited crush on fellow field reporter Patana, and you will have in Mario Hugo the figure of a quixotesque misguided romantic, who you can’t help but pity and want to give a hug.

The melancolic dreamer is a character type that I always find fascinating, and Mario Hugo is one of its greatest representatives, wich is why he becamed one of my favorite characters in the show.

And since i talked about Mario Hugo’s crush on his colleague...

07º Patana.

Full birth name Patricia Ana Tufillo Triviño, this green lady bird is the niece of 31 Minutos anchor Tulio Triviño. Sent to Titirilquén by her mother to get a job in the news show, originally her uncle abhored her due to her initial trend to scheme pranks, giving her jobs like cleaning the floor and serving coffee. Seeing that her uncle wouldn’t give her a good job, Patana decides to take things in her own hands, going into the dangerous scenario of a house robbery to show she can be a competent field reporter. And she did, not only informing audiences of what was happening in real time, but managing to make the robber and the house’s owner befriend each other and stop the crime!

Talk about being a badass!

This made her colleagues and the boss impressed, so she becamed a field reporter in the show, dashingly going into adventurous scenarios, and also coming up with creative sections like the reality show Patana’s Refrigerator, where several food itens compete to stay longer in the titular refrigerator.

Speaking of impressing the boss...

06º Eusebio Manguera.

This black rolled up hose tube in a suit is the owner of the channel where 31 Minutos is transmited. A dangerous greedy milionary mobster who can fire and rehire on a whim, everyone who works on the show knows that he is a monster, and fear let him pissed of. And what makes him specially intimidating is his voice: he has a very, very deep voice that he doesn’t need to raise to convey his anger when things don’t go his way.

And while he is a dangerous criminal, he also has standards of quality, demanding dignity, eficiency and competence of the staff to produce a good TV morning news show.

While his right to call out anyones moral’s is really questionable, its interesting to see the token evil character assume a leadership position and how much he cares about doing a good job, so you can’t help find this hateable boss fascinating to watch.

05º Policarpo Avendaño.

The wig wearer, cylindrical, energetic and renowned music critic and cultural producer, host of the "Ranking Top" section of 31 Minutos, where he lists the Top 3 current best songs. Usually called to host major-scale events like the Top Top Awards.

A shameless oportunist, Policarpo always flatters those with power and chooses to side with them when he feels this can benefit him, while secretly resenting them and letting his friends be screwed alone.

His nepotism to judge the Top 3 current best songs is also a recurring joke, because the winners are always “The godchild of the cousin of my neighbour”, or something alike. But the fact that he always returns to embrace his friends, clearly sounds passionate about the topic of music and gives such a joyfull presentation of his section makes impossible to hate him.

He is simply great fun to be around, and that is why he is one of my favorite characters.

04º César Quintanilla/Calcetín Con Rombos Man.

His nickname literary means Sock With Holes Man.

The superhero of the universe of 31 Minutos. An orphan sock with diamond patterns who is also a superhero for Ciudad Comoda (Nightstand City). Originally treated as the fictional character of an in universe superhero show that is exhibited as one of the segments of 31 Minutos, soon he was shown interacting with the shows crew, changing his status from fictional hero to an in universe real character who is a known public figure in Titirilquén, where the characters look after him for moral guidance, specially because rather than using violence, he will rather solve problems trough the use of dialogue, teaching the characters and the audience about UNICEF’s Convention of the Rights of The Child to help people in need.

In a show where a mobster is a powerfull media mogul and several characters act out of greed and selfishness, the sock with sweeming glasses superhero is a nice reminder that is still worthy to be genuinelly good, wich keeps a balance of perspective and helps the show to avoid falling into edgy cynicism.

That’s why he wins a place as one of my favorite characters.

03º Tulio Triviño.

The main character for most episodes, the puppet of unknown species Tulio Triviño Tufillo is the anchorman and host of 31 Minutos. He started out as the straight every person, a bit naive, but still generous, and caring of making a good job. After the series got a better production value and a larger cast, the writing of Tulio evolved to make him more flawed: while well articulated in his way of talking and concerned to keep the order in the studio, he is also greedy, selfish, self absorbed, with a tendency of overspending his salary with superfluous expensive things and pretends to be more inteligent than he actually is.

So watching the karma bite him in the ass after he screws up is always great to watch, while he is nicely humanized by ocasionally seeing the error of his ways and reluctantly apologizing

He can understand the difference of right and wrong and since he is basically a subordinate of actual dangerous mobster Eusebio Manguera, you understand that Tulio is not really the problem, but rather someone who lashes at others bellow him because he is trapped under an actual evil power.

Mix to this his charisma as a host, and you end up enjoying the character of Tulio.

02º Juanín Juan Harry.

The last of a species known as the Juaníns, Juanín Juan Harry is the producer and organizer of 31 Minutos, who, while extremely passive and an easy target of peer pressure to mess up, is decently competent and the most innocent, gentle and responsable member of the crew, always concerned in keeping the studio organized and remembering what the hosts and reporters have to say.

Whereas someone like Calcetín Con Rombs Man is the idealized powerfull good guy who always wins against the villains, Juanín represents the goodness in the little person who, while in a situation where they are submissive to mean people in the work place, still keep being his pure and kind self, wich we all know sometimes can be an even greater battle.

And my Number One favorite character from 31 Minutos is...

01º Juan Carlos Bodoque.

A red rabbit, and a reporter with a strong reputation in and out of the show, Juan Carlos delivers the "Nota Verde" ("Green Note"), ecological and historical report initially about Chilean ecology and culture, but eventually branching out to cover more general topics mostly relating to environmentalism and animal preservation.

Bodoque is a deadpan snarker cynic, agressive, quick to anger, and full of debts due to his gambling adiction. However, he still cares in making the ecological reports and also started to work on the census section and make reports about the quarantine.

Being a wildlife and enviromentalist reporter, he has a strong set of morals and is quick to correct himself upon learning new information, all the while not punishing himself with an exagerated guilt complex nor acting like a holier than thou preacher to the other characters or the audience (at worst he only sighs with a “I am surrounded by idiots” mood).

He always treats the subjects he reports as a nice and light hearted, if sometimes melancholic, conversation.

Bodoque is the great example of an Anti Nihilist character: he shows that while life can be bad and meaningless and we are usually a mess, we still can do the best that we can to do good and save this shitty little world, because is the only one that we have, so its better to value it.

This complexity free of pretense is why Bodoque has become the break out character of 31 Minutos, and my personal favorite.

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