Minga y Petraca

Minga y Petraca

Minga y Petraca (later known as Minga y Tomasa) was a television show produced in Puerto Rico by Antonio "El Gangster" Sanchez since 1992 up until early 2005 on Telemundo Puerto Rico, channel 2.

Sanchez and actor Johnny Ray played Minga and Petraca (respectively), two middle aged, mustached "ladies" who dedicate themselves to reading such magazines as Vea, Teve Guia and other popular Puerto Rican gossip magazines. They comment on the stories published by each magazine, making fun of their articles. After reading each magazine, they would proceed by getting into comic situations, with their friends, husbands and families. Their husbands have never actually been shown on the show, only their voices are heard. Minga and Petraca are from the Santurce area of San Juan.

Minga y Petraca reached such popularity in Puerto Rico that there was even a CD released with the two characters as main stars. The song Estoy Escriquillá!! (loosely translated into I'm tired) was a big hit during Christmas of 1993 on Puerto Rico's radio.

Recently, Ray moved to the continental United States and with that, he took his character of Petraca. Sanchez decided that "the show must go on", and changed the show's name to Minga y Tomasa. He hired a new actor, Alex Soto, to play Minga's new friend, Tomasa. Ray flies to Puerto Rico on and off to tape shows, and his character Petraca is now a visitor from the continental United States to Minga.

As of March 2005, the show was cancelled because Telemundo Puerto Rico wanted to open a new telenovela spot at 9:00pm, making all the sitcoms and programs at this spot to be axed, only leaving Sanchez's No Te Duermas, as a daily show.

In January 2008, the Minga character got new life as part of a weekly No Te Duermas segment, Minga's Tokchou (Minga's Talk Show in Spanglish). In her segment, male guests dress as females while female guests dress as males. In addition, the Tokchou features messed up things such as a "plasma television" that Minga has to bang on in order to work or bugs in her sugar for coffee.

On February 27, 2011, was re-encounter aired on Telemundo Puerto Rico.

See also