Casados con Hijos (Married with Children) was a Colombian adaptation of the American sitcom, Married... with Children. It originally aired on Caracol from October 5, 2004 to March 24, 2006, with 127 episode spanning over 5 seasons.
It is the second MWC remake from Latin America, but the first one in Spanish.
It is currently available to watch for free on the streaming service, VIX and Amazon Prime Video (through the "VIX Gratis" service).
Background[]
Among the Latin American remakes, the Columbian version follows the original show the closest in terms of plot line, visual aesthetics and character personalities.
With the exception of the final episode (which consisted of clips from past episodes, followed by a curtain call in front of the audience as the cameras continued filming), every episode is based on a specific MWC episode from seasons 1-8 and follows at least 95% of the original story and dialogue.
When Sony Pictures Television sold the rights to Caracol Televisión, an agreement was made where they would keep the storyline, visuals, and characteristics as close to the original as possible, with minor changes made to reflect the culture.
Some of the changes include:
- Changing the characters' names to Spanish based names, with the exception of Kelly and Jefferson keeping their original names.
- Emphasizing fútbol (soccer) over American football, wrestling, and softball. Bowling is featured in the adaptations of "Alley of the Dolls" and "Peggy Turns 300".
- Using terms unique to Colombian Spanish, such as Paco calling Mateo "chino hijuemadre" (lit. "Chinese Son of a Mother", translated as "young son of a bitch" or "motherfucking boy") after playing football with him in the adaptation of "Poke High". Another example is when Willy calls Kelly "retrechera" (depending on context can mean either "charming" or "deceitful" in Colombia and nearby parts of South America) and the term "pichirilo", which is used to describe one's car, particularly an old, beat up car that its owner still appreciates.
- The Whoa Bundy! is adapted to "Los Rochas!".
- While the Rochas still have Betamax like the Bundys did in "The Harder They Fall", the neighbors have the more modern DVDs.
- Most of the food is changed to reflect Colombian/Latin American culture, such as tamales.
- Most of the American celebrities, athletes and bands/musicians who are mentioned and/or seen are changed to Colombian and Latin American celebrities, athletes, and bands/musicians. Likewise, all of the songs featured are now changed to Spanish language songs.
Specific episode changes include:
- Instead of killing Bosco the Caribbean pygmy sea turtle, Oscar ended up killing a capybara named "Pacheche".
- Unlike the other international remakes, Paco and Oscar buy a red 1965 Ford Mustang like Al and Steve did. The only difference during the dream sequence is that they are driving near a lake instead of a grass field / farmland and have a different song play instead of "Born To Be Wild".
- Instead of Weenie Tots, the product that Paco likes and Kelly tries to become a spokesmodel for is called "chocomenudencias" (Chocolate Giblets) with an image of a chicken's claw as its logo.
- Instead of Al being mistaken for football legend Red Grange, Paco is mistaken for Colombian soccer player Carlos "El Pibe" Valderrama.
- As Kelly prepares to audition for the music video, Willy introduces himself to the other girls as "Enrique Juanes Vives Iglesias", referring to Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias, and Columbian singers Juanes and Carlos Vives
- Instead of Jell-O and crown rack of lamb, Kelly and Lola have to make Natilla con canela (a type of custard with cinnamon) and Tamal Tolimenses (a type of tamale from the Tolima region of Colombia, consisting of corn dough, rice and peas, cooked egg filling, carrot, bacon, pork and chicken, lightly seasoned with salt and pepper; all of which is cooked wrapped in a banana leaf).
- "Lake Chicamocomico" is renamed to "Cienega Gangrena" (Swamp Gangrene).
- Instead of making Bonbons with Tang like Peg did in "Al Goes Deep", Lola makes empanadas with crushed kidneys.
- In the adaptation of "The Poker Game" during the group's discussion of the perfect women, Oscar mentions Colombian journalist, doña Gloria Valencia de Castaño, which gets him some disgusted looks. The group then votes Margarita Rosa for legs, but Paco rejects her, claiming her legs are too muscular. Instead, he proposes Colombian actress and model, Zharick León, which they unanimously agree with. For butt, they vote for Colombian singer, Lady Noriega, but then decide to go with Zharick León and use her for the rest of the categories. Finally, when it came to brains, they jokingly vote for Paco's co-worker, Lucas.
- In the adaptation of "Fair Exchange", instead of a French exchange student named Yvette, they receive a blonde American exchange student named Cameron and attempt to speak to her in broken English. After cashing in the check, instead of eating steak and french fries, the family (except for Kelly) feast on lechón.
- In the adaptation of "Buck Saves the Day", the kids that go on the trip is a mixed group, instead of all boys.
- In the adaptation of "Her Cups Runneth Over", instead of singing "Respect" by Aretha Franklin, Lola sings "Adiós, chico de mi barrio" (Goodbye, boy from my neighborhood) by Argentinian singer, Tormenta. Later, the women goes crazy over the male stripper and eventually force him to flee upstairs, with Willington having to step in and block them from chasing him. The bra that Lola needed is the "Wonderbra Maximum Support Plus Ultra Sensitive".
- In the adaptation of "All Night Security Dude", Paco plays a futbol match with his former rival. When the match is over, instead of collapsing from exhaustion like Al and "Spare Tire" Dixon did, Paco and his rival congratulate each other, but then Paco says something that leads to his rival becoming upset and using the old trophy to beat Paco as he pleads for him to stop.
- In the adaptation of "Al Loses His Cherry", when Willy finds the wedding invitation, Kelly appears to be disgusted, as she points out that it has a picture of "two gays hugging each other". Lola then points out that the invitation is for the wedding of their aunt, Severinda. Kelly then comments on the person with a horrible mustaches before Lola points out that the person with the mustache is aunt Severinda. Unlike the original, the kids appear to be ok with going to the wedding, with Lola then letting the kids out to prepare for the wedding, with Lola warning Kelly about no piercings after what happened last time (with Kelly looking down with a mischievous smile, indicating that she may have gotten a genital piercing). Later, when Paco meets the Florez sisters, one of them brings an atmospheric control device from the plane. Lucas then introduces Paco as "Paco 'El Duro' Rocha".
- In the adaptation of "Alley of the Dolls", Lola's rival has 3 nerdy looking sons and a normal looking husband, while in the originally Mimi Stoatz had two sons and a masculine looking daughter, along with a nerdy looking husband. Additionally, instead of Al's thumb warmer, Paco uses a large hand warming glove. Finally, instead losing due to Al overwarming his thumb, Paco loses after Oscar gave him a high five to celebrate how close the team was to winning, which was hard enough to injure his wrist.
- In the adaptation of "The Razor's Edge", instead of a stunned Steve following Marcy home after seeing her in lingerie, Oscar begins to stutter, while Paco yells at him to remember his honor and dignity and to not give in. Despite this, seeing Amapro in lingerie causes him tell Paco that is he simply a man with no honor nor dignity before following her out the door.
- In the adaptation of "Earth Angel", after Paco has sex with Lola, the next morning as she asks Nataly to say, she calls him "mi pambele", referring to Colombian boxer Antonio "Kid Pambele" Cervantes. When Oscar looks at Nataly's art books, one of them is changed from Amedeo Modigliani to Rembrandt. Then when he and Nataly start to talk about art, she mentions that specifically likes Latin American artists, and they discuss Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, Colombian painter Alejandro Obregón, and Ecuadorian painter Oswaldo Guayasamín. Later unlike the American version, when Amapro looks at Nataly's art, the drawings are shown to the camera, with what appears to be a poorly drawn nude male figure and still life of fruit on a table. Amapro then suggests that Nataly go to Paris.
- In the adaptation of "Requiem for a Dead Barber", instead of Peggy's line "You look like a fruit, Al" after he comes home with a perm, Lola jokes that Paco looks divine for the next drag queen show, while Willy jokes that Paco looks like he can work on a television news program to talk about entertainment news.
- In the adaptation of "The Harder They Fall", the Rochas still have the outdated Betamax like the Bundys and Lola brings home Heidi la nina de la pradera (the Spanish name [1] for the 1970s anime series, Heidi, Girl of the Alps). When Oscar explains about the drive that cut them off, instead of references to San Quentin Prison, he tells the Rochas that the sticker was written in English and read "I Love Osama", believing that the driver was a terrorist. When Amapro arrives, the DVDs that she brought include Pandillas de New York, El último samurái and colegialas indisciplinada(Undisciplined Schoolgirls). At the end, the driver reveals that Osama was not a reference to the terrorist, but the initials of an organization called "organizacion super simpatica de amigos muy amigables" (Super nice organization of very friendly friends). He then indicates the he is gay and begins to flirt with Oscar as he escorts him out of the house.
- In the adaptation of "976-SHOE", instead of the sheriff coming over to take Peggy's credit cards, the officer accuses Lola of stealing milk from the supermarket. She tries to claim that she is poor and raising kids, before the officer points out that she also took an adult magazine, which she tries to justify by claiming that 16 years of marriage made her need it. He then offers her a chance to pay him in cash for the items or be arrested. During the commercial, Paco is dress in medical scrubs and instead of Muffy, he uses Kelly to play the role of the caller. Then instead of Steve slipping into a catatonic state before Marcy scolds him, Oscar is shown rocking back and forth on the couch while clutching a pillow and sobbing while saying "Dios Mio" (My God) over and over again. In the last of the ads, Paco is shown crying and desperately begging viewers to call him.
- In the adaptation of "Rock and Roll Girl" the band that Kelly auditioned for is called "Los fabulosos del Geriátrico" (The Fabulous Ones from the Retirement Home). Instead of "rock slut", the girls are simply referred to as chicas lindas (pretty girls). Instead of Al being put into an exploding car, the music video reveals that Paco was dressed up like a rock star and chained to a fence like Kelly, but then a hand moves a switch on a box that causes Paco to be violently electrocuted.
- In the adaptation of "Rites of Passage", the entire bar, including the strippers and waitresses, get involved with the bar brawl, with Paco and Willie ending up at the bottom of the dog pile. Upon arriving home, they are confronted by a drunken Lola, who had crashed on the couch and left the living room in disarray.
- In the adaptation of "Oldies But Young 'Uns", the song that Paco looks for is the 1985 love song "Manantial de corazón" (Spring of the Heart) by Italian-born Venezuelan singer, Yordano. At the end, instead of kissing the seller after Paco buys it, Lola is forced to return home dressed as a clown. Also, instead of Garfield, Kelly's date brings her Condorito de Oro, a cartoon strip/comic book series from Chile.
Near the end of the third season, the young child actor who played Willy was replaced with a taller, thinner, teenage actor (though the original actor's picture still appears in the opening credits for the remainder of the series). The change takes place in the adaptation of "We'll Follow the Sun" where the family plays dumb as to why Willy suddenly looks noticeably different and is now aged up to 16 years old. Kelly also changes her hair in this episode to a lighter shade of brown.
Additionally, due to Oscar staying on for most the third season, his character is included in the episode where Steve Rhoades had already left (but prior to Jefferson D'Arcy's arrival), such as the adaptations of "The Dance Show", "Wabbit Season", "Do Ya' Think I'm Sexy", "We'll Follow the Sun" and "Peggy Turns 300", which meant some adjustments to the storyline were necessary. Similarly, Lola appears in episodes where Peggy was originally absent such as "God's Shoes" and "If I Could See Me Now", as there was no reason to include a pregnancy into the story. Episodes that prominently featured Seven such as "It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This" do not include him in the adapted version, as his character was not carried over.
Synopsis[]
The series focuses on the life of the Rocha family, who are a typical family from Bogotá. Paco and Lola have been married for 16 years and have two children: Kelly and Willington. They are also accompanied by Fénix, the family's dog who is a silent witness to the crazy situations that are experienced inside the home. Paco and Lola have already fallen out of love and live together out of habit and are too lazy to separate. And because they somehow enjoy being insulted, belittled, and picking fights at all times, it also gives them a reason to live.
Paco and Lola were married when she noticed that she did not get her period and with a quick home pregnancy test, she discovered that she was expecting a baby. Their honeymoon was spent in the national park, eating late-night sancocho, before they ended up at the police station after they were discovered "doing things" behind a bush.
Perhaps it was Kelly's birth that marked the death of this idyllic and youthful love, and turned it into resignation, typical of modern couples, where dependency is so strong and the jarring effects of moving out are so great, that there is no other choice but to continue living together.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
| Actor | Role | Original |
|---|---|---|
| Santiago Rodríguez | Francisco Elías "Paco" Rocha | Al Bundy |
| Lorna Cepeda | Dolores "Lola" Pinilla Rocha | Peggy Bundy |
| Lina Luna | Kelly Rocha | Kelly Bundy |
| Iván González | Willington "Willy" Rocha (Seasons 1-3) | Bud Bundy |
| Miguel González | Willington "Willy" Rocha (Seasons 3-7) | Bud Bundy |
| María Isabel Henao | Amparo Restrepo de Pachón | Marcy Rhoades |
| Carlos Humberto Camacho | Óscar Pachón | Steve Rhoades |
| Jorge Marín | Jefferson | Jefferson D'Arcy |
Recurring Cast[]
| Actor | Role | Original |
|---|---|---|
| Jimmy Vásquez | Lucas Ventura | Luke Ventura |
Episodes[]
- Main article: Casados con Hijos (Colombia)/Episodes
Theme Song[]
Unlike the other Spanish language MWC remakes, the Colombian version (as well as the Chilean version) features an opening theme song with lyrics called "Difícil de entender" (Its Difficult to Understand) by JOX. The opening credits typically show the various characters doing something, before it freezes and redraws them in a different scenario, such as Kelly stuffing her bra before transforming into "Miss Teen" and Lola coming out in her lingerie while Paco looks disinterested, before they are redrawn as a dominatrix and monk.
Lyrics[]
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Difícil de entender | Its difficult to understand |
| Difícil de mantener | Its difficult to maintain |
| Difícil, es verdad | Its difficult, its true |
| Pero, no hay cómo mi hogar | But, there's no place like my home |
| Pues, somos la familia ideal | Since, we are the ideal family |
| ¿Para qué, no hay otra igual? | Why are there no other ones like us? |
| No hay otra igual | There are no others like us |
| No hay otra igual | There are no others like us |
| No, No | No, No |
| No | No |
External Links[]
| International Remakes | ||
| Germany • United Kingdom • Brazil • Turkey • Colombia • Argentina • Russia • Chile • Spain • Hungary • Croatia • Bulgaria • Israel • Armenia • Mexico | ||