Sai de Baixo

"Sai de Baixo" (a slang sentence in Brazilian Portuguese that can be translated as "get out of the/my way") was a Brazilian sitcom on Rede Globo.

It followed the lives of the members of a dysfunctional family, their maid and the doorman of the apartment building in which they lived.

It ran for 7 seasons, from 1996 to 2002, on Sunday nights after the newsmagazine Fantastico. That means that it always aired after 10 o'clock p.m., which was necessary given the show's heavy language and sexual innuendos. In 2000, however, the premiere of a new reality show shifted the program to the 11:30 p.m. slot, which lasted for about four months. After that the timeslot varied almost monthly, which started to hurt ratings. At one time, the show was airing around 12:30 a.m., which is considered the beginning of the "wasteland" of late night programming in Brazilian television, with fewer viewers and, therefore, fewer sponsors.

The show was hailed as a "breath of fresh air" in Brazilian TV comedy, given its innovative format and funny, smart stories. It was also considered the "lifeline" of Sunday night programming in Brazilian network television. This status did not last until the very end though. The show is considered to have jumped the shark around its 5th season, and was supposedly kept on the air only because Globo Tv had nothing to replace it with. Towards the end, ratings had plummeted and the show had slid to what was called a "vulgar version" of its original, groundbreaking style.

Although some of the characters hailed from the poorer layers of society (such as the maid and the doorman), as well as the richer (albeit impoverished, such as the former socialite), the program derived most of its humor from an acid criticism of the Brazilian middle class, its prejudices and views of the rest of the country and the world. This precept justified the sometimes harsh jokes involving racism, sexism and other politically incorrect notions.

Format

The show was shot before a live audience, but instead of using a studio scenario, the producers decided to use a theatre in São Paulo, the Procópio Ferreira Theater. The program was shot there every Tuesday afternoon, but the theater was still receiving regular plays and spectacles, and the set had to be disassembled at the end of every shooting and then reassembled the following week, for the next shooting. The people involved in the show called it "the marathon of continuity", since every item of the family's apartment had to be in the exact same place that it was in the previous episodes.The show was never shot on location, and it had only one set: the living room of an apartment in São Paulo, in the neighborhood called Largo do Arouche. From the living room, the characters could exit through various doors or passages, supposedly leading to the building's hallway, a bathroom, the kitchen, a bedroom (Cassandra's), and an imaginary vestibule (never seen) with access to two other bedrooms (Vavá's and Caco's and Magda's), but there were no sets for those places, and all the action took place in the living room alone. The producers attempted to inject new life on the show by changing this set once. In 2000, eight episodes were shot that took place in a fictional family-owned cafe, the "Arouche's Place", but the change was not well-received by the audiences, and poor ratings forced the return of the apartment set. This was done in such a hurry that one of the episodes that took place in the Cafe was dropped and left unaired. Upon the return to the apartment, the writers decided that the Cafe had exploded in unclear circumstances, probably as part of an insurance fraud scheme.

The atmosphere of the show was very different from the usual U.S. sitcoms in the sense that it was extremely informal. The actors often acknowledged the presence of the audience, sometimes even interacting with them. It was also relatively common for the actors to stall a scene because they were having difficulties remembering their lines or because they started laughing with the situations being portrayed. Only the longer, or more "complicated" mistakes were edited off the show, but most of the little things (as above described) were left in. So even though the show was taped, it had a "live feel" to it. For the second half of the show's run, the mistakes that had been edited out started being shown in a special feature that followed the end of each episode (curse words were beeped out).Only one episode of the show was actually broadcast live: it was the premiere of the third season, in 1998. Since there would be no way to edit out mistakes and exaggerations, the actors were asked to keep improvisation to a minimum, and avoid at all costs curse words. It was treated as a gala event by the network, who invited a VIP audience to it. The story of the episode was created so that the actors could be dressed up during the performance (the characters were to attend a formal event). At the beginning of each segment, the network had reporters interview cast members and VIP guests at a red-carpet-like area in the theater.

In a further acknowledgment of its surroundings, every episode of the program ended with curtains down, just like a play. Then, the curtains would rise again and the cast would return to center stage and accept a standing ovation from the audience (as it would be done in a play). All that was kept in the taped episodes.

The show had many Brazilian special guests appear, such as actors Danielle Winits, José Wilker and Dercy Gonçalves, singers Rita Lee and Elba Ramalho and entertainer Angélica, among others.

Characters

Carlos Augusto "Caco" Antibes

(played by Miguel Falabella)

A snotty husband to Magda, he was embarrassed by his wife's stupidity. He was also characterized as profoundly hating the poor, lazy, indulgent, corrupt and even abusive.

In many episodes, the character would produce fake dialogues designed to express how pathetic the lifestyle of the poor is. He would also praise that of the rich. He would often make remarks on his "blonde-self", describing himself as beautiful and sophisticated, like a "Danish prince". He resented the fact that he was himself poor, since it is understood in the show that, although he learned to love his wife over time, he married for money and was surprised by the sudden impoverishment of his wife's mother, on whom he picked regularly, often making up stories of her being drunk and naked on the building's rooftop while singing the refrain of "Cara Caramba, Sou Camaleão", a song by the Axé music band Chiclete com Banana.

The character also had a heightened sexual side to him. A famous aspect of the show was a sexual position that he and his wife had invented, which they called the "one-legged Kangaroo". This was never shown or explained, since the intention was to leave it to the imagination of the audience what the position would look like.

Finally, a usual improvisation from Falabella (which varied in its content from show to show) consisted in his speaking phoney English. Sometimes he pronounced made up words, or crazy sentence structures, but even if he used real words or sentences (as when he quoted a real-life person), the comedy came mostly from his exaggerated, fabricated accent, when he tried to emulate a native speaker. Luís Gustavo, who played Vavá, could never resist one sentence without starting to laugh, and this was usually kept in the final cut for broadcast.

Catchphrases: "Cala a boca, Magda !" (Shut up, Magda!) / "Eu tenho horror a pobre!" (I hate poor people!) / "I'm almost a Danish prince!" / "Vamos fazer o Canguru Perneta!" (let's do the "one-legged Kangaroo"!) / "Sai fora, cabeção dos infernos!!" (Get outta here, giant head from hell! — spoken to Cassandra whenever he was fed up with her)

Magda Salão Antibes

(Played by Marisa Orth)

The "intellectually challenged" but sexy wife of Caco.

The character was marked by an abysmal ignorance and complete lack of connection with reality. In that sense, she was a sidekick (along with Ribamar, the doorman) to the rest of the cast. In most episodes, she would reinforce her ignorance by misquoting people, popular sayings or completely misinterpreting events or what others had said to her.

In 1998, during the third season, Marisa Orth got pregnant, and the producers decided that the pregnancy would be written in the show. The character got pregnant accidentally. When Orth had the baby, and during her maternity leave, Magda was said to have gone to a clinic in order to have the baby away from the craziness of the family.

Catchphrase: "Num tô intendendu..." (I don't get it — mispoken).

Caco Jr.

(played by Lucas Hornos)

Magda and Caco's son. This character was created out of necessity, due to actress Marisa Orth's (Magda) real-life pregnancy. After the birth of the child and Orth's return to the set, the producers were faced with the challenge of what to do with the child, which was not part of the original scheme of characters. The writers felt that Magda should have her child included, especially since the pregnancy had been included in the story line. The child was to be kept, and it was to be a boy and be called Caco Jr.. They decided to innovate and, in the 4th season, in 1999, they had a plastic doll be used as the newborn (Falabella would often cease this situation and make improvised jokes during the program, sometimes shaking the "child" and yelling that it was just a doll, or saying that his child was "battery operated"). The idea worked, but legal issues with the company that held the copyrights to the doll forced the network to remove the plastic character.

The writers, once again faced with the problem of what to do with the child character, decided to be again bold: the character was to be played by a real child of around 11 years of age. The change was implemented as of the later episodes of the 4th season, in 1999, and the actor chosen to play the role was Lucas Hornos.

The timeline of the show was not changed, and it remained in the present, instead of leaping 10 years into the future (which would justify the newborn suddenly becoming a 10-year-old child). No explanation was given to the sudden growth of Caco Jr., which was also a source of jokes for Falabella and the cast.

The new child character, however, created trouble with the Brazilian Child Protection Justice, which thought that the heavy, sexually charged dialogue of the show was not suited for a child to participate, since the boy would have to participate at the "level" of the others. Finally, a judge ruled that the child could not participate in the program (which was consistent with the ban established by the network itself that kept children from being in the audience). The producers made a radical decision: the character was eliminated after only a few episodes, with the excuse of being sent to a boarding school, from whence he never returned, nor was ever mentioned again. It was as if the child (and the pregnancy) had never existed. This was done given the succession of problems in order to integrate the new, unexpected character to the cast, which all had failed for one reason or another.

The doll and Hornos combined gave Caco Jr. a run of a little over one full season.

Wanderley "Vavá" Mathias

(Played by Luís Gustavo)

The owner of the apartment and a business man who had his own travel agency (in the final season, his company changed in every episode). His life changes when his sister, Cassandra, his niece, Magda and her husband, Caco, move in with him.

He was forced to take the family in because his sister reveals that the deed to the apartment, which had been inherited by Vavá, was actually splitting the property 50% with her.

For most of the show, he owned a travel agency called "Vavá Tour", which he operated from a desk in his living room (given the show's limited set area). The problem was that the agency was always bordering bankruptcy, since Vavá could only book trips to the Brazilian Pantanal Matogrossense, a wetland in the Mid-West of the country.

The character was also known for being a fan of the São Paulo FC. For a period of time, whenever he entered the stage, the first lines of an instrumental version of the club's anthem were played.

The actor Luís Gustavo had a very special place in the show. Although he was not a writer for the program, he was the author of the original idea for the show. He and Aracy Balabanian (Cassandra) were the only cast members to have appeared in every episode of the show.

Catchphrase: "Aqui, Farroupilha!" (a made-up insult, could be translated as "no way, Jose").

Cassandra Matias Salão

(Played by Aracy Balabanian)

The Mother of Magda and sister of Vavá. She was forced to move in with her younger brother when she found out that her recently deceased husband had left her no pension.

She hated her son-in-law, Caco, but was as resentful as he when it came to her present financial situation, being capable of reproachable actions if it meant that she could make some money out of it.

The actress's particular hairdo inspired a recurrent joke about the amounts of Lacquer that her character would use. Falabella constantly teased her about it, saying that her hair was as good as a helmet, among other jokes. Furthermore, as of the third season Balabanian made a personal fashion choice to wear only monochromatic dresses. This prompted Falabella to nickname her on an episode-to-episode basis, always after an object that was the same color as the dress she happened to be wearing.

Catchphrase: "Já pra cozinha!" (To the kitchen, now! — spoken to the maid whenever she got angry at her, usually followed by the name of the maid, which varied throughout the show)

Ribamar

(played by Tom Cavalcante)

The pesky doorman. Portrayed by Cavalcante as a borderline case of mental retardation, he was, along with the Magda character, a sidekick to the rest of the cast.

In the first season, the character was dating the family's maid, Edileuza (played by Claudia Jimenez), which gave Caco Antibes goosebumps, since he deplored the idea of "poor people procreating". Cavalcante had a joke about the two future children of the couple, whose names would be a combination of those of Ribamar and Edileuza: a boy named "Edileumar" and a girl named "Ribaleuza".

In 1999, in the midst of fights with the writers and other members of the cast, Tom Cavalcante left the show in mid-season, and the position of doorman of the apartment building was occupied by a recently introduced new character, Ataíde, which had been created for other purposes but had become quite popular.

Catchphrases: "É ripa na chulipa!" (a common Brazilian phrase, meaning something like "it's on!") / "Magoei..." (something like "My feeling are hurt", said when someone scolded him , and usually followed by a sad face expression commonly known in Brazil as "beicinho")

Pereira

(played by Ary Fontoura)The character was introduced in 2000, during the attempt to inject new life in the show. When the setting was transferred to the Cafe, he was the owner of the place. He also became infatuated with Cassandra Salão and was to date her. When the decision was made to return to the apartment, the writers felt that the character should be brought along, so they sped up his relationship with Cassandra and had the two marry.

The character had only a mild acceptance from the public, and was dropped without any explanations at the end of the 5th season (his only season).

Ataíde

(played by Luiz Carlos Tourinho)

The character was introduced in 2000, for the 5th season. He too was part of the Cafe set. He was an employee of the Cafe and a major fawner of the Cafe owner, Pereira.

The producers of the show expected that they would not have to replace Ribamar as the doorman of the building, since the set was to be a Cafe from then on, but when ratings forced the show to return to the apartment after only seven episodes, Ataíde was made the doorman of the building, which would give him an occupation and an excuse to be around always.

Although he was no longer working for Pereira, he continued to fawn over him, "out of habit". The character stayed on until the end of the show.

"The Maids"

The maids were a chapter aside in the history of the show. The original idea called for there to be one maid working at the apartment. This concept was never abandoned by the writers, who, despite all the problems, insisted on having a maid as part of the ensemble.

In Brazil, it is common for middle class families to be able to afford the help of a maid full time. This employee will sometimes even sleep at the job, and that was the excuse of the maid of the show to be present in the apartment at all times. The presence of this character was in keeping with Brazilian social structures. Furthermore, all of the characters received names that would be considered "typical of a maid" in the Brazilian middle class imaginary. This could be considered as a certain bias in the show, but it was fully acceptable because its bulk material came from an acid criticism of the Brazilian middle class culture (and how this segment of Brazilian society views the rest of the country and the world).

Four different actresses had the job throughout the show, due to several problems and complications. What follows is a list of them all, in chronological order of participation.

Edileuza

(played by Cláudia Jimenez) She was the first maid on the show. Her participation was restricted to the first season only. In 1997, after a huge fight with Cláudio Paiva, the chief writer of the show, Jimenez left the show, which was left without a maid for a while. No explanation was given for Edileuza's departure.

After leaving, Jimenez made bitter accusations against the producers of the show, whom she called "dictatorial", and even against the cast, when she implied that a war of egos would be going on backstage.

The character was sassy, often speaking her mind freely to her direct employer, Vavá, and telling the others to their faces how much she disliked them. Whenever she got fired by one of the family members (which was rather frequent), she would respond that they could not fire her, since Vavá was the one who paid her salary and thus had the authority to dismiss her. There would be no repercussions to those "dismissal attempts", which many argue to have been possible because of the show's little commitment to reality.

Although the character dated the doorman Ribamar, Jimenez had a strong chemistry with Falabella, who played Caco, and funny, sexual innuendos between the two were common, as well as the exchange of insults between the characters, as Edileuza would rebuke Caco for his dishonesty and he would tease her for being poor and a maid.

Catchphrase: "Ah, meu Pai!" (Oh my God! — spoken with dismay and often at the telephone, with the audience having no idea of what she would be hearing from the other side)

Lucinete

(played by Ilana Kaplan)

Kaplan was chosen to play the maid Lucinete and replace Edileuza after Jimenez's departure in 1997. She shot 4 episodes, but the character was so out of sync with the rest of the cast that the decision was made to discard her only two days after the first episode she had shot had aired. The other three episodes were reshot using her replacement, Márcia Cabrita, and the character's departure was never explained (as it was common when radical changes were made in the show).

Neide Aparecida

(played by Márcia Cabrita)

She was chosen to replace Kaplan as the maid in 1997. She was criticized at first, but the audience soon learned to like her incarnation of the Brazilian maid.

Instead of having the character date another cast member, as did Edileuza, the writers gave Neide a fiancé that was only mentioned, but was never seen onscreen. He was supposed to be an Army sergeant who was nicknamed "Manga Larga" (something like "long sleeve", yet another sexual innuendo) and described as a typical macho.

In October 2000, it was announced that Cabrita was pregnant and that her character would be temporarily replaced. The producers, remembering the problems that ensued after they integrated Marisa Orth's pregnancy in the story line, decided that it was best that the maid did not become pregnant as well. Cabrita stayed on for as long as her condition could be disguised, and then went out on maternity leave, with the promise to return after she had the child. In a decision that caused much criticism, as well as some discomfort amidst the cast, the promise made to Cabrita was broken by the network, who thought that the actress that had been called to replace her temporarily, Cláudia Rodrigues, was doing a better job at it and should be kept on the show. Again, no explanation was given to Neide's disappearance.

Cirene

(played by Cláudia Rodrigues)

The fourth and final maid of the show, Rodrigues's performance is said to be one of the best in the role (she did not take any criticism herself for replacing Cabrita, since the decision had nothing to do with her).

Cirene was portrayed as a spitfire, which was made more comical by the fact that Rodrigues is particularly short. The writers also decided to rescue an aspect of the early dynamics of the show, by having Cirene date the new doorman, Ataíde.

Every time she entered, song typical of the brazilian northeast would play, stopping only when ordered by Cirene herself. A running gag in those occasions was the brief repetition of the music when Cirene started to walk (frequently making her scold the sound operator).

Hiatus and cancellation

In 2001, the show returned for a sixth season reportedly because of a petition drive by fans, who gathered signatures and managed to avoid cancellation. Ratings, however, were unstable at best, and Globo Tv was facing fierce competition from a reality show produced by the second largest network in the country and its principal competitor, SBT. Palliative measures, such as the remodelling of the family's apartment, which became more modern and with more vibrant colors, were insufficient to rekindle the public's interest in the show.

The general understanding was that the formula had been worn out and that the show was out of new ideas and had been for sometime. Most believed that it should have been cancelled in 2000, after the end of its fifth season, which had been considered rather faulty.

In September 2001 the show was put on hiatus for two months, while a reality show was broadcast in its timeslot. The sixth season was wrapped then, and speculations had it that the show would not return. In late December, however, the network decided to produce a final, shorter seventh season, which ran from late December until April 2002 (the last episode aired on April 1).

External links

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