From when Kiko found refuge in Venezuela

Each episode was a display of clean humor that delighted children and many adults alike. Well-defined and acted characters, recurring expressions, and humorous situations overcame the modest production, transforming... The boy of 8 in a series that transcended Mexican borders, causing a great impact in Latin America and Brazil, without aging in front of different generations.

The behind-the-scenes story, however, was less romantic. The first chapter of heartbreak featured Carlos Villagrán, who, after seven years, decided to leave the show, in which he played Quico. The breakup wasn't traumatic. He asked Roberto Gómez Bolaños, the creator of the television character, for permission to put on his own show. He received it.

Everything changed when Gómez Bolaños discovered that Villagrán was claiming credit for creating the character. Backstabbing ensued. And the creator of the story blocked the project his former colleague was developing with Televisa executives, asserting his intellectual property rights.

Popular wisdom says that when one door closes, another opens. In this case, the opportunity materialized in Venezuela, where Villagrán found refuge. The first step, to avoid any legal problems, was to change the spelling of Quico to Kiko. Obvious: they sound the same, but are spelled differently.

Federico's wink

Carlos Villagrán's departure from The boy of 8 It materialized in 1978. Three years later, he landed in Caracas to star in his first series on Bárcenas' channel. Paper boy It consisted of 49 episodes, which he co-wrote with Pompeyo Izquierdo. The cast included: Elisa Parejo, Honorio Torrealba Jr., Julio Jung, Lourdes Valera, Lucía Sanoja, Romelia Agüero, and Simón García.

then came FedericoIn a nod to the original name of the character created by Gómez Bolaños, Emilio Ramos joined the writing team. This production had a larger budget and a bigger cast, including Ramón Valdés, the popular Don Ramón, who had left the original show for the second time and was already facing health problems.

A year later, in 1983, came the premiere of The new adventures of FedericoThere was a change of scriptwriter (Nelson Bolívar) and figures such as Emilio Lovera, Honorio Torrealba, Maribel Ponte, Martha Piñango, Nancy Soto, Roberto Hernández, Romelia Agüero, Simón García and Virgilia Galindo repeated.

Forty years ago, on July 27, 1986, the first episode of the last series filmed by Villagrán in Venezuela appeared on screen: Kiko buttonswhich aired on Fridays at seven in the evening. Emilio Lovera was in charge of writing the scripts for that show. The final episode aired on December 1st.

Doubt

The reason for the differences between Roberto Gómez Bolaños and Carlos Villagrán is unclear. On one occasion, the actor who played Quico stated that he had been the victim of jealousy due to Villagrán's popularity.

However, Edgar Vivar, who played Señor Barriga, said that Villagrán was given the best dialogues, precisely because of his success.

Regarding the other point of contention—the creation of the character—the psychological traits and clothing were established by the author, while the actor contributed the distinctive feature of the puffed-out cheeks and the way he cried. Something similar happened with María Antonieta de las Nieves and La Chilindrina. But that's another story.