31 Minutos



31 Minutos was a Chilean TV series, which parodied the news shows format, hosted by puppets.

The whole idea behind the show was seeing how disastrous things could get on-air and off-air, with characters fighting each other, and Juanín trying to get everyone to do their things.

Among other things, the program had a couple of recurring sections, including the "Top-top-top-top-top music ranking" (where parodies of music videos where transmited) and "The adventures of Calcentin-con-rombos-man " (a parody of super-heroes, with some aesop at the end).

Unfortunately, it was Too Good to Last, only spawning 3 seasons and a movie.

Note: since this series includes a lot of significant Spanish names, please try to give them a translation to English. You can always use hot tips: name
"Tulio: "Fascinating, Juan Carlos. It's very interesting to know what happens with our doo-doo." Juan Carlos Bodoque: "Crap, Tulio. Let's call things for their name: The Crap. Also known as Ass Juice or PPPTTHHHBBHBHBHBHBHBH. It's a very interesting topic to discuss during lunchtime with the family." Tulio (visibly upset): "... Thanks, Juan Carlos.""
 * Adult Child: The whole adult cast.
 * Afraid of Needles: Tulio in 'La invasión de los Tramoyas'.
 * All in The Manual: Several stuff like the backstory of the characters or the name of some unnamed characters are only given in merchandising or interviews that the characters do in magazines, but never in the show.
 * Alliterative Name: Tulio Triviño, Juanín Juan Harry, Balón Von Bola
 * Letter Motif: All tramoyas have names that end with 'ín' and surnames that ends with 'illo' (Benjamín Listillo, Fermín Virutillo, Valentín Trujillo, etc.), save for James J. McNamara).
 * All Just a Dream
 * All Love Is Unrequited: Mario Hugo is in love with Patana.
 * Always Someone Better: Patana.
 * Amazing Technicolor Wildlife
 * Amusement Park: In the song 'Parque de diversiones'.
 * Animeland: In 'Japonés'.
 * Art Shift: The little bumpers that open and close Policarpo's Ranking Top are in 3D.
 * Ascended Meme: In 'La amenaza siluria II', the clip of the first Tulio interview is a parody of 'Super Taldo', a Chilean viral video of an old unaired news report about a boy with Tourette's Syndrome.
 * In 'El video', the last blooper shown is a parody of an infamous leaked blooper reel of the Chilean TV show 'El mundo del Profesor Rossa'.
 * Automobile Opening
 * Back to Front: The song "Severlá".
 * Big Bad: Cachirula in The Movie.
 * Big Eater: Dylan Manguera, but thanks to Juan Carlos Bodoque, he knows better and gets better.
 * Big No: In 'Enfermosis', by Calcetin con Rombos Man when his long lost brother reveals his identity, followed by a Big Yes from his part.
 * Broken Record: One song per season ("Lala", "Boing Boing Boing" and "Guácala").
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: The lawyer that talks like an idiot is a subversion to this trope.
 * Cain and Abel: Calcetin con Ramones Man wanted to kill his brother Calcetin con Rombos Man for abandoning him. Lampshaded when the first claims "Who am I, my brother's keeper?"
 * Cannot Tell a Joke: Tulio.
 * Carnivore Confusion: A hilarious example; during the first episode, Mico the Micófono's segment had him asking the "people" on the street what they thought about food. At one point, a group of pieces of meat said that they were vegetarians... and then the scene cuts to a group of vegetables chanting "Meat! Meat! Meat!".
 * Cartoon Creature: Most notably Tulio and Juanín.
 * Christmas Episode: Every cliche is used, lampshaded and crushed during it. Plus, it was made against the character's will, they had to improvise it at the last second and everyone, except for Policarpo, hated being part of it because they were missing spending the holiday with their families and relatives.
 * Christmas Miracle: Invoked at the end of the Christmas Episode): after forgiving Juan Carlos Bodoque for losing everyone's gifts at the horse racings, everyone expected to be rewarded with more free gifts. After claiming to "have learned their lesson" and asking "Hey, where are our gifts?" a few times, everyone gets crushed under a rain of gifts, which culminated with Santa Claus himself popping out from nowhere to fall over the characters.
 * Clip Show Penultimate episode of each season
 * Coca Pepsi Inc: In "Tio Horacio", in the Tio Horacio's Show, there was promoted a "Panashiva" TV.
 * "Panashiva" is a real brand of cheap and shoddy electronics sold in Chile during the early 2000's.
 * Commuting on a Bus: Carla Rubio was a reporter of the 'Ranting Club' segment in the first few episodes until it was said to had taken "vacations against her will" and was replaced by Rosario Central. She only appear briefly in two later episodes, where is clearly stated that she was fired.
 * Contest Winner Cameo: The voices of the kid version of the main characters in The Movie were the winners of a contest.
 * Continuity Nod
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive: Sr. Manguera
 * Couch Gag / Logo Joke: From season 2 onwards, a little pig-esque finger puppet named Carlitos Lechuga attemps to tell an Aesop under the Aplaplac logo after the closing credits, only for the logo or something else to hurt him badly. He gets his revenge during a (surprisingly long) Matrix-esque montage, where the Aplaplac logo transforms into a humanoid mecha, but Carlitos dodges every attack, kicks the mecha in the shins and sends him running away, crying.
 * Crazy Memory: Balón Von Bola
 * Credits Gag: In 'La gotera', the credits mimics to the ones for El Chavo del 8 and all the crew has the name of a Chespirito character as nickname.
 * Cross-Dressing Voices
 * Crossover Punchline: 'Coanimadora' with.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Bodoque
 * Deal with the Devil: The song 'Parque de diversiones' (Amusement Park) where a kid wins a whole park for himself, but then discovers he cannot invite his friends, and also cannot leave the park and he's forever locked inside... with a demon, who's chasing the kid to kill him.
 * Depraved Kids' Show Host: Tío Horacio, although he's the same on and off stage.
 * Development Gag: In 'El fin del mundo', the clip shown of how Tulio was before committing plastic surgery was actually footage of an unaired pilot.
 * Dreaming of a White Christmas: Parodied in 'Calurosa Navidad'(Hot Christmas) where a group of hot, tired and unconfortable people disguised as Santa Claus sings about the problem of celebrating Christmas during summer.
 * Early-Bird Cameo: Juanín and Balón made cameos on the background of the studio one episode before their formal appearance.
 * Ear Worm: In-Universe with Tio Horacio Theme Song, ‘Boing boing boing’ which everyone, including God himself loves dearly. Except for Tulio.
 * Edutainment Show : Played for laughs and then played straight with Juan Carlos Bodoque's segments, where he talks about ecology, the effects of pollution and the theft of Chilean's archeologic treasures.
 * Also played during Calcetín Con Rombos Man's segments, where the super-hero talks about Children's Rights after solving a crisis that involved one or two rights being trampled.
 * Eek! a Mouse!: In 'Un ratoncito duro de cazar'
 * Everything Talks: is assumed that all the objects in the show are sentient, save when the plot requires otherwise.
 * Executive Meddling: In Real Life, Patana was added to the show because in focus group made by the channel they pointed that the show needed a "permanent female character". Her name, which translates as 'she-bumpkin', reflects the initial lack of enthusiasm by the crew.
 * Faking the Dead: In  and in 'El funeral de Tulio'.
 * Flowers for Algernon Syndrome: In 'Maguito explosivo', when they want Maguito to lose his 'addiction' to explosions.
 * Fluffy Cloud Heaven: In 'Alcancía'.
 * Four-Fingered Hands
 * Fractured Fairy Tale: Their take of Pinocchio has the fairy marrying Geppetto and becoming negligent parents.
 * Fun Size: Carlitos Lechuga.
 * Funny Background Event: Anything the tramoyas do at the background of the set.
 * Fun with Acronyms: The band LLUEHHHB. The name is short for "Latidos Latinos Urbanos Emergentes Hip Hop Hermanos Brothers". Wow.
 * Furry Confusion: Mario Hugo is a dog of some kind, yet he has many dogs as mascots.
 * He confirms he's a chihuahua in one episode.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: The song called 'Doggy Style', which actually talks about a party held by Mario Hugo's pet dogs at his house. Subverted when a local newspaper warned about kids finding naughty stuff when looking for the song title on the web.
 * Done literally when Juan Carlos Bodoque presented a segment named "La Ruta de la Caca" (The Poop Road) where he explained step by step what happened with human waste, from the WC until it's processed at water treatment plants. At the end, Tulio and Juan Carlos have this conversation:

Calcetín Con Rombos Man is initially flattered and happy to see an old foe reforming, until he discovers that his products are being manufacturated by children. Slave children, forced to work on inhuman conditions, being fed just once a week and forced to drink alcohol to keep them quiet and obedient. He promptly releases the children and takes them to an Orphanage of Love. "Guaripolo: "No more trucks, no more whales, no more revolving doors, no more batucadas, no more forests, no more carpets, no more remote controls, no more school vans and no more scholars.""
 * God In Puppet Form: And a very ugly one, with a terrible taste on music.
 * Gratuitous English: "They Cut Wrong my Hair"
 * Green Aesop: On the 'Nota verde' segments
 * Half-Hour Comedy
 * Hand Puppet: Taken to its Logical Extreme: using socks (or whatever object) without even putting a minimal effort to convert them into sock puppets. This was particularly noted in the earlier episodes.
 * Handsome Lech: Bodoque
 * Hates the Job, Loves the Limelight: Bodoque, as he's forced to do ecological reports while actually wanting to be the anchor man of the show.
 * He Also Did: Few people is aware that Rodrigo Salinas, who plays Ratoncito and El Dostor on El club de la comedia, also voiced Juanín and Mario Hugo in this show.
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: Sr. Manguera, the owner of the channel, is voiced by Fernando Solís, who serves as announcer in several Latin American commercials and radio and TV channels.
 * High-Pressure Blood
 * Hilarious Outtakes: Fake ones are shown in 'El Video' and in reports about the channel telenovela. Actual ones appear on DVD.
 * Hypocritical Humor : The show ran on this.
 * Instrumental Theme Tune: A version With Lyrics called 'Yo nunca vi televisión' is used in-show.
 * Kaiju: The Sasquatch.
 * Keeping Secrets Sucks
 * Lampshade Hanging: At the beginning 'Maguito Explosivo' Tulio is worried because at any moment he's going to be interrupted, like in all previous episodes.
 * Laugh Track: Parodied in the episode 'Risotrón' (Laugh-a-Tron), with a device that makes everything funnier by laughing.
 * Played straight in 'Patana' during a spoof of an skit of the Chilean sketch show Jappening con Ja.
 * Last of His Kind: Juanín in The Movie.
 * Huachimingo was believed to be this until said movie.
 * Lemony Narrator / Interactive Narrator: On Calcetín con Rombos Man segments
 * Limited Wardrobe: The whole cast most of the time, but averted with Tulio.
 * Loony Fan: Calcetín con Hongos Man.
 * Lost Him in a Card Game
 * Long-Lost Relative:  mom in 'La mamá'.
 * Lying Creator: Word of God explicity stated in an sneak peek featurette of the second season that they weren't going to make any gimmick like "Space Adventures". Then at the Season Finale...
 * Made of Explodium: Maguito
 * Mind Screw: Parodied with the Japanese “News segment” in ‘Japonés’ which consists of people dancing in slow motion, while some sad music and a lot of japanese words (including some random stats) fly through the screen. After the segment is over, we get to see Tulio staring at the camera, as if what he he just saw had fried his brain.
 * Mooks: Cachirula's dolls in The Movie.
 * Mood Whiplash: In one episode, Calcetín Con Rombos Man discovers that some products with his image are being sold without his consent (and at very expensive prices, to boot) so he decides to track the source and discovers they are being manufacturated on a ship anchored on international waters, by one of the show's recurrent villains, who claims to have reformed and decided to make hero merchandise out of admiration for the man who showed him the light.
 * Done In-Universe in the episode '¡Qué lástima!', where the image consultant of the show want to keep it as pitiful as possible in order to raise the TV rating, yet the characters can't stop doing "funny" stuff instead.
 * Mundane Made Awesome: Several songs featured in the show. The best example probably is "Mi equilibrio espiritual" ("My spiritual balance") by Freddy Turbina, a song about how awesome and admired he has become since he finally learned to ride a bike without training wheels.
 * Musical Episode: Last episode of each season, although they are actually clip shows of all the music videos of the season, and usually a new song.
 * News Parody: Faux News variation
 * No Celebrities Were Harmed: Several characters share traits with analogous Chilean media personalities, although the creators denies they were intended as parodies.
 * No Ending: 'Mugre' does have an ending, but it was so ambiguous and short that much people don't get it. The fact that it was simply removed in syndication by no seemingly reason doesn't help.
 * Non-Indicative Name: The song 'Papá, te quiero' literally translates as 'Dad, I love you', but in the lyrics is told in the sense of "Dad, I want you [to do me favors]".
 * No Title: The episodes were officially untitled until they were released to DVD.
 * Ascended Fanon: The titles of the first two seasons were taken from a fan website.
 * Once Per Episode: "¿Qué te pasa, Policarpo?", which translates to "What's happening to you, Policarpo?".
 * One-Hit Wonder: In-Universe, all songs featured on the 'Ranking Top' are this.
 * Overly Long Gag: In 'El secreto', about one minute of the characters astounded staring silent after discovering Policarpo's secret. (He's bald, his hair is actually a wig)
 * Pals With God
 * Painting the Fourth Wall: Every mention of Calcetí­n Con Rombos Man is followed by everyone turning to the camera while a snippet from Calcetín con Rombos Man's Leitmotif is played. In one episode his leimotiff is played so many times that Calcetín Con Rombos Man yells at the musics to stop playing it, and the musics themselves grab their instruments and walk away, offended.
 * Paper-Thin Disguise: Lulo Serrucho in his episode.
 * Parental Bonus
 * Photo Montage: The credits of 'No te vayas, Juanín', with photos of a party at Juanín's house.
 * Pie in the Face
 * Piggy Bank: Patana tries to break one until the piggy bank start running.
 * Present Day
 * Product Placement: Parodied in 'Cebollas'.
 * Protest Song: Parodied with Guaripolo's 'Mala'.

"Tulio: "That was the worst thing that had happened in my life. I even had a nose!""
 * Punny Name: Joe Pino. His name is pronounced the same way as "yo opino" ("I think that..."), and he's the guy who's always opining on anything.
 * Puppet Permutation / Humanity Ensues: Naturally inverted in 'La amenaza Siluria III" where the main crew are turned briefly into their voice actors.

"Cirilo Pila: "The only way to avoid the colission would be we make explode the asteroid." Jackson Aceituno: "And how do you know it?" Cirilo Pila: "Because I saw it in a movie once...""
 * Really Seven Hundred Years Old: Huachimingo says to have been hidden for 1.500 years.
 * Running Time in the Title
 * Saving the World: In 'Maguito explosivo' and the 'La Amenaza Siluria' Story Arc.
 * Saw It in a Movie Once: In 'Maguito explosivo':

"Monstruo Chupachupa: I will not let them go because I'm [she-]evil!
 * Screams Like a Little Girl: Everyone in Tulio's family yawns this way.
 * Self-Promotion Disguised as News: In-Universe with the coverage of the soup-opera of the channel, as noted above.
 * Self-Titled Album: The soundtrack for the first season, unintentionally also a case of Running Time in the Title.
 * Shout-Out: And how!
 * Snap Back: Several episodes end with the cast fired or working at something completely different.
 * Soap Within a Show: The mock-soap opera Los Títeres (The Puppets) announced by Policarpo during the earlier episodes.
 * Aluminum Christmas Trees: Los Titeres was the name of an actual Chilean soap-opera from the 80's, where the main theme was that fate controlled everyone's actions, like a puppet's strings. They even use the same theme song.
 * Something Person: Calcetín Con Rombos Man (Argyle Sock Man). Oddly, he's an actual sock and not a man.
 * One-shot examples are 'Hombre de plumavit' (Styrofoam man) and '1/2 Hombre' (Half-man).
 * Species Surname: Raul Guantecillo. Tenison Salinas has a given name and Balón Von Bola has both.
 * Don't forget Mico el Micófono!
 * Spot the Imposter: In 'Lulo Serrucho'.
 * Snowlems: Hielito
 * Straw Fan / Meta Guy: In 'Un ratoncito duro de cazar', Ratón del water makes fun of this troper's a fan website that had a section with a list full of the show inconsistencies.
 * Strictly Formula: Calcetín Con Rombos Man segments, although they loosen up a bit on the ones with an Story Arc.
 * Stylistic Suck: 'Guaripolo And Sopapiglobo versus Vampire Chaplin'
 * Superhero Episode
 * Taken for Granite
 * Talking to Himself
 * Television Geography: Although The Movie don't mention being located at a specific setting, the single city displayed is made-out of different cities both in Chile and Brazil.
 * The Collector of the Strange: Huachimingo collecting fluffs.
 * The Ditz: Tulio.
 * The End of the World as We Know It: In 'El fin del mundo', 'Maguito Explosivo' and the three-part 'La amenaza siluria".
 * The Movie
 * The Smurfette Principle: Besides 2 female chars in the first few episodes, Patana is the only female character in the main cast.
 * Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo: In 'Japonés'.
 * This Looks Like a Job For Aquaman: In 'Maguito explosivo'.
 * Throw It In: At the end of 'Monstruo Chupachupa' due to a Spanish Gender Vocabulary Slip:

Tulio: Oh, now you're a woman!

Monstruo Chupachupa: (nervously) …I'm a [she-]vacuum, you don't get it?

Tulio: Ah, well, yes…"

"Bodoque: "I said ‘Run the tape’, and the tape ran away!""
 * Traumatic Haircut: The song 'Me cortaron mal el pelo'.
 * Two for One Show
 * Vacation Episode: 'Vacaciones', which behaves like an ordinary episode but showing Busman's Holiday clips of the characters instead of news.
 * Verbal Tic: Policarpo’s “Top Top Top…”.
 * Villain Song: Cachirula attems to sign one in The Movie, but can’t because her flying chair malfunctions. The complete version was done later for an advertisement.
 * Visual Pun


 * Vocal Evolution
 * Vox Pops: The “Encuesta” segment.
 * Welcome Titles
 * Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Tulio's fear of whales. Justified in The Movie.
 * Wicked Witch: Bruja González.
 * Widget Series: Parodied in 'Japonés'.
 * The Workaholic: Juanín Juan Harry hates vacations. His friends take advantage of this and overload him with their own to-do things when the cast goes on vacation, and Juanin actually thanks them for it.
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Invoked in episode 1; in it, the "Ranting Club" segment was about a kid (a real kid rather than a puppet) who wanted to dye his hair blue.
 * Your Princess Is in Another Castle