Welcome back to another late night listicle by your favorite writer- Randeezy. This might be my most casually written, take it as you will article. To be honest, I had a lot of fun putting this list together. Finding all these old intros took me back to my days growing up. Took me back to a time when things were much simpler, when having a doctor's appointment meant watching all your parent's favorite shows because from 7:00 AM to 2:00 PM all that was on cable was Nick Jr and The Disney Clubhouse... and if you didn't have cable all you had was Clifford the Big Red Dog... 24/7. These were the TV personalities and shows that you grew up with and watched when you were a Hispanic kid born in the 90's. Join me on a trip down memory lane.
1. Despierta America
Close your eyes, remember waking up for 4th grade? What do you see, cereal? oatmeal? If you had money you probably had Poptarts, but keep going deeper into your subconscious... do you hear that? DESPIERTA AMERICAAAAAAAAAAAA. Play the intro down here, you'll remember the rush of your mom and dad getting ready to go to work while the morning squad up there had all the need-to-know info ready to go, and they had the cutest dog-- Cosita!
2. Mujer Casos De La Vida Real
Now honestly, I know a lot of you might not remember this show, and I don't blame you; it was straight trash, man. This show had the most horrendous production, actors and story lines... BUT THEY STILL PLAY IT ON UNIVISION at 11:00 AM. I mean look at those camera angles, look at that acting! The only tragedy was that we were forced to watch this show.
3. Laura
When people want to talk about the ultimate anti-man spokesperson, they always want to throw out Paqita la del Barrio, but not you, you know better.
There is only one other person that can hate men more than her, and you just have to yell out her phrase to summon her...QUE PASE EL DESGRASIADO. When you say it with enough power, Laura will bring you a hotdog cart and let everyone in the audience beat up that person that hurt you. Laura will always be in our heart, ella siempra esta presente.
4. Caso Cerrado
In Miami there are three people you can't mess with Dwyane Wade, Dan Marino and la Doctora Ana Maria Polo...Don't you ever forget that. This lady was judge, jury and executioner. No Hispanic family ever misses an episode of this amazing courtroom drama, whether it's at 3:00 PM or 7:00 PM. I mean, who can run a TV court, save the kids and sing an epic theme song? No one but her, that's who. La Doctora Ana Maria Polo is the GOAT...Caso Cerrado.
5. Jackie Guerrido
I know ya'll remember the most beautiful woman that ever hit the Latin-American news scene, so many young men had their first crush on the lovely Jackie Guerrido. Not only was she beautiful, but she made me care about the weather. There will always be a special place in my heart for Jackie and I hope one day she'll have a special place in her heart for me... Jackie if you're reading this, please slide into my DM's.
6. Walter Mercado
Only one man held the keys to the future, the great and powerful Walter Mercado. We all remember our grandmas telling us to shut up because the great and powerful wizard Walter Mercado was on TV. His powerful fortune telling and amazing wardrobe made him a staple of Hispanic culture...con mucho mucho amor.
7. The Fake News: Guillermo Benitez
In all honesty, my dude Guillermo Benitez was the coolest news anchor ever. During the Three Kings parade in Miami, dude always rode a Harley like a boss, but unfortunetly, we really didn't take the El Noticiero 23 seriously. It was always the place holder of the local news that we all knew about because our abuelas would call our cellphones tellings us some maniac was on the loose, even if he was like 70 miles away from you. Sorry Guillermo... You gotta take this L.
8. The Real News: Jorge Ramo
Now we bring out the big guns. When you heard the announcer open up for the news you knew the most trusted man in every Hispanic household, Jorge Ramos, was about to drop some knowledge. Jorge was a calm, collected, smart dude. He interviewed presidents, dictators and powerful businessmen and never flinched for a minute. All our parents wanted us to be like him... and to be honest, we all kind of wanted to be like him too.
9. Patron Saint of Novelas: Carmen Salinas
Everyone knows this actress, you might not know her name (Carmen Salinas) but you know she is in like every telenovela, ever. We all remember losing the TV rights once 7:00 PM came, our parents had control for the next three hours because it was time to watch novelas. In the spirt of good novelas, I added a video of the best slaps in the last 7 years, hope you enjoy!
10. The Late show that proved to your mom that you were a delinquent.
You cant forget this TV host Cristina, your mom and grandma's favorite late night show. All the top Hispanic entertainers always landed on this show and gave amazing interviews... and so did every weirdo you can find, and every bad kid that was doing some made up drug. Your parents knew Cristina was the only way to save your soul. With her classic thumb wiggle, you knew you were in for a world of hurt.
11.THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND...DON FRANSISCO
Name one show on any English channel that had: beautiful models, public roasting, car give aways, paternity tests, comedy skits and the dopest trumpeter all in one show... give up? Good, because every Hispanic person in the world knows of the great Don Fransisco and Sabado Gigante. We all remember sitting down on Saturdays and being forced to watch this because our parents wouldn't change the channel no matter what, so just enjoy the bad singers being sent home, nothing says good entertainment like public humiliation.