Simplemente Rita



"Simplemente Rita" (Simply Rita) was a very unusual combination of a telenovela (Latin American Soap Opera) and a cartoon show. A scathing parody of Telenovela clichés (as well as of the life of immigrants in the United States), it was produced by a Colombian animation company for the International Telemundo network from 2001 to 2003. It was in Spanish and ran for 30 episodes. It still reruns on some Telemundo affiliates.

The story was about a young woman named Rita who goes to New York City to try to achieve her dream of becoming a famous singer. She falls in love with a clueless former rich brat named José Gabriel who is also an immigrant, and her musical career is manipulated by Pete Duke, a candidate for city mayor who is desperately trying to earn the votes of the Hispanic community. Hilarity Ensues.

You can watch it online (in Spanish) here.

Tropes in Simplemente Rita:

 * American Dream
 * An Immigrants Tale: Most of the cast.
 * Big Applesauce
 * Bilingual Bonus: Many jokes (spoken and written) are in English.
 * Bratty Half Pint: Duke's adopted son, who sides with Rita.
 * Cartoon Physics
 * Deus Ex Machina: All the major problems are resolved in the last episode, in a parody of the Happily Ever After endings of telenovelas.
 * Eagle Land: Mixed Flavor.
 * Fan Service: Rita, and a few other female characters.
 * Four Fingered Hands
 * Gonk: The Narrator, in an intentional contrast to his Wicked Cultured personality (he's broadcasting from a booth while wearing an undershirt and smoking a cigar.)
 * Subverted in that he had surgery to look handsome for the woman he loved, only to discover she was ugly too.
 * Jerk With a Heart of Gold: José Gabriel.
 * Just a Stupid Accent: Every character speaks in an exaggerated version of his national accent (including the American characters). This is a Take That to many actual Telenovelas where the actors don't bother to adapt their accents to the setting.
 * Limited Animation
 * Medium Awareness: The characters occasionally mention the fact that they are on a TV show.
 * Mistaken for Cheating: Both Rita and José.
 * Radio Drama: This is what the show is implied to be; we see the narrator broadcasting from a booth. He claims the events actually happened, but he's not exactly trustworthy.
 * Rich Suitor Poor Suitor
 * Serious Business: Latin food, drink and songs. To ridiculous levels.
 * Not to mention their votes, which Duke is willing to do anything to get, including murder!
 * Shout Out: Several, to both Hispanic and American pop cultures. Most notably, Rita sings at the "Mala Vista Social Club", a reference to the famous Buena Vista Social Club. (Buena Vista meaning Good Sight, Mala Vista meaning Bad Sight.)
 * Star Crossed Lovers
 * Super Senses: José Gabriel has a superhuman sense of taste; it's his only employable skill.
 * Smug Snake: Pete Duke.
 * Tsundere: Rita, especially with José Gabriel.
 * Upperclass Twit: What José Gabriel used to be. Now he's a lower class twit.
 * X Meets Y: Soapy TV show meets wacky cartoon.
 * Zany Scheme: Several, by both the good and the bad guys.