Gato Fedorento

Gato Fedorento (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈɡatu fduˈɾẽtu] "Smelly Cat") is a Portuguese group of comic actors, who previously worked on SIC and RTP; they are currently signed to the Portugal Telecom group, with whom they have a contract of unspecified duration. The group is composed of the four actors José Diogo Quintela, Miguel Góis, Ricardo Araújo Pereira and Tiago Dores. After a short but noteworthy career, they are currently living off the image rights from a series of advertisements they produced for the aforementioned PT group.^{[citation needed]}

Gato Fedorento has had nine seasons so far. The Fonseca Series, the Meireles Series and the Barbosa Series were broadcast on SIC Radical. The fourth season, named Lopes da Silva, was the first broadcast on RTP. Season names are meant to represent typical Portuguese last names and when chosen for a season, the name is used as a last name for every single character on the show. The fifth series, titled Diz Que É Uma Espécie de Magazine, signified a change in the show's format, that now spoofs current events instead of relying on generic gags. The sixth and seventh series (second and third seasons of Diz Que É Uma Espécie de Magazine) were the last shows made by Gato Fedorento on RTP. After returning to SIC, the comedians kept the new format and made their 8th series, Zé Carlos. Their ninth and last series, Gato Fedorento Esmiúça Os Sufrágios, was constituted by 30 shows, transmitted live from Monday to Friday, covering the Portuguese elections of 2009.

Gato Fedorento is known for using Portuguese idiomatic expressions - like the phrase "ah e tal", which doesn't really mean anything in concrete but is used, especially in reported speech, to indicate that the person speaking is saying something of lesser consequence - as well as fictional city names that sound like realistic traditional villages, such as "São Jorge da Morrunhanha" and the new "Vila Nova da Rabona" (rabona being a synonym for "big ass").

In Diz Que É Uma Espécie De Magazine, Portuguese politicians and personalities are mostly played by Ricardo Araújo Pereira, with the most spoofed being José Sócrates, Valentim Loureiro, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Paulo Bento.

History

The four authors of the program met at the Portuguese comedy company Produções Fictícias ("Fictitious Productions") and worked with comedians like Herman José (in HermanSIC) and later with Maria Rueff (in O Programa da Maria).

The history of Gato Fedorento itself started in April 2003, when the four authors got together again to create a weblog (still available, but now updated on an irregular basis). When they were deciding how to name it, they chose to do so after the song "Smelly Cat", from the soundtrack of Friends, which translates as "Gato Fedorento" in Portuguese (Zé Diogo Quintela, one of the authors, once jokingly said that he thought that "Smelly Cat" meant "Cadeira Rançosa", Portuguese for "Rancid Chair")^{[citation needed]}.

After some time, Ricardo Araújo Pereira and Zé Diogo Quintela were invited to make some gags for the show O Perfeito Anormal (The Perfect Dork). Their success in that role led the then director of SIC Radical, Francisco Penim, to invite them to create their own show. They were joined with Tiago Dores and Miguel Góis and started the show.

The group has released a DVD with the "Fonseca" season and performed live all over Portugal, with great huge success. In late 2005 they released another DVD with the "Meireles" season. The first three seasons still air on SIC Radical, as reruns. However, the group is no longer affiliated with this TV station, due to a contractual disagreement with SIC.

In an interview for a foreign media magazine^{[citation needed]}, Gato Fedorento member Zé Diogo Quintela admitted that the ultimate reason for starting the show was the authors' expectations of having sex with the attractive female extras that frequently perform supporting roles. He also added that the group has not been particularly successful in this regard.

Months later the fourth season, "Lopes da Silva", premiered 24 March 2006 on RTP with moderate success.^[1]

Since 29 October 2006, the group started Diz que é uma Espécie de Magazine (lit. They Say It's Some Kind of Talk-Show), a talkshow-like program with live audience where they show sketches which mock the hot topics of the week. They invite a different musical artist every week to perform a song markedly different from the artist's regular musical style.

The four authors also usually write for and star in commercials for PT Comunicações, and made comedy sketches for RTP's 50th birthday party, where they are shown introducing RTP studios and being insulted by some famous people of the channel.

The first season of Diz que é uma Espécie de Magazine ended in 3 June 2007 and the authors of Gato Fedorento have announced that they would return with a new season in September of the same year. The series ended with the "37th Gala of Depressive Little Treasures" (Depressive Little Treasures are videoclips making fun of unedited bloopers, mistakes or shows with a specific theme in Portuguese television, with lack of dignity).

The second season lasted from September to December 2007 and their most famous sketches are from this season (for example, the Scolari imitations). The season ended with an unusual episode: usually there is only one "Depressive Treasure", but in this episode there were three, two of them showing the depressive moments of Gato Fedorento; the third Treasure featured (for the first time) unbroadcast taped sequences (the Bloopers), of an RTP Journalist named José Ladeiras and the author of those bloopers actually came to the set. Gato Fedorento usually invites singers who perform songs written by the show authors themselves, but this time the singers were the four authors, dressed as a lookalike of Sporting Portugal coach Paulo Bento, and performing a song satirizing his way of talking.

After the former RTP program director Nuno Santos left RTP, he replaced Francisco Penim in SIC, and one of Nuno Santos first decisions as new program director in SIC was to re-negotiate a return of Gato Fedorento to SIC. Ironically it was Nuno Santos who first contracted Gato Fedorento to RTP when the quartet left SIC due to a contractual disagreement.

Return to SIC

After two years in RTP, the quartet formed by Ricardo Araújo Pereira, Tiago Dores, Miguel Góis and Zé Diogo Quintela returned to SIC this October. The terms of the contract, format and duration of the show were not revealed at the presentation of the new line up.

SIC director even welcomed back the group of humorists, José Diogo Quintela considered the return "natural". Since Ricardo Araújo Pereira assured Gato Fedorento would go "where Nuno Santos goes.", "It could be the Parliament channel, but they are already tired of comedy.", he joked.)^{[citation needed]}

At SIC, the crew's first show was named Zé Carlos.

After a few months of Zé Carlos , the crew took a vacation only to return the following year with a mock-news show called "Esmiúça os Sufrágios", where they actually invite and discuss with famous people from Portugal, like José Socrates or Manuela Ferreira Leite. Since its debut on 14 September 2009, it is one of the most viewed shows on Portuguese television. The show changed format again, now it looks like a sort of news studio, with people around the comedians (in live) with Ricardo Araújo Pereira as the presenter, and the rest of the group as commentators.

They left the station in 2010, after The Daily Show based, "Gato Fedorento Esmiúça os Sufrágios", ended.

"Fora da Box("Out of the box")

They are recording a series called "Fora da Box", transmitted on the 54 channel of the Meo (Portugal) iptv operator. Days of the first episodes:

- 1st episode: 10th of May 2011
- 2nd episode ("Não tropeces no coiso"/"Don't strike your foot against the thing"): 27th of June 2011
- 3rd episode: 28th of August 2011

See also

• Smelly Cat
• Kunami

References

1. ^ Marktest (in Portuguese)

External links

• Gato Fedorento Blog (in Portuguese)
• Gato Fedorento Site