Gato Fedorento

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Gato Fedorento (pron. IPA: ['gatu fɨdu'ɾẽtu]; Port. Smelly Cat) is a Portuguese comedy program formerly broadcasted on SIC Radical and RTP that is now on a hiatus but with a signed arrangement with SIC. This show is composed of gags acted by the four authors, comedians José Diogo Quintela, Miguel Góis, Ricardo Araújo Pereira and Tiago Dores. Its success comes from the authors' use of an intelligent and clean humour rejecting the vulgarity of most of the comedy scene. It is quite inspired by Monty Python, Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David and Big Train.^{[citation needed]}

Gato Fedorento has had five 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, while the fifth series, titled Diz que é uma Espécie de Magazine, signified a change in the show's format, now spoofing current events instead of relying on generic gags. 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 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 synonim for "big ass").

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

1 History
2 SIC Return
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] 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, thought that "Smelly Cat" meant "Cadeira Rançosa", Portuguese for "Rancy 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 extend them an invitation to create their own show. They were joined by Tiago Dores and Miguel Góis, thus starting the show.

The group has released a DVD with the "Fonseca" season and performed live all over Portugal, making a 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, 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 created to mock the hottest news of the week. They invite a different musical artist every week to perform a song markedly distinct 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 last from September to December 2007, with their most famous sketches being in 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) tapings who weren't actually seen on TV (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 to talk.

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 quited SIC due to a contractual disagreement.

[edit] SIC Return

After two years in RTP, the quartet formed by Ricardo Pereira Araujo, Tiago Dores, Miguel Góis and Zé Diogo Quintela will return to SIC in October. The value of the contract, format and duration of the program were not revealed in the presentation of the new program.

SIC director even welcomed back the group of humorists, Jose Diogo Quintela considered the return "natural". Since Ricardo Araujo Pereira assured Gato Fedorento go "where Nuno Santos go." "It could be to the channel of Parliament, but they are already tired of comedy.", joked.