Comedy Central is Coming To Brazil, How Will American Humor Translate?
August 4, 2011 Leave a comment
Comedy Central Set To Air In Brazil in January 2012!
I was very excited to read this New York Times article about Comedy Central coming to Brazil. It will be interesting to see what shows will do well there, since they seem set on importing a lot of the American shows, at least at first, to the brand new Brazilian network. This interview briefly questions differences between Brazilian and American humor, but seems to avoid going too deep into that subject. Will people in Brazil with no knowledge of American culture watch and enjoy South Park? Can’t wait to see! Here’s the article…
Q. and A.: What’s So Funny in Brazil?
The Brazilian comedian Rafinha Bastos, recently named the most influential person in the Twitter universe, is spearheading a comedy explosion in his home country. He is part of “a new generation of humorists out there who are acid, vibrant and clever,” said Álvaro Paes de Barros, the general manager for Viacom in Brazil, who is supervising the opening of Comedy Central there.
From its beginnings in the United States, Comedy Central has expanded to become a global presence, with channels in countries ranging from Britain and Poland to Israel and New Zealand. But Brazil will be the largest overseas market (200 million people) it has entered and the network’s first venture in Latin America.
Mr. Paes de Barros, 39, spoke with The New York Times about the new generation of comedians that Mr. Bastos leads and cultural gulfs in humor and how to overcome them. Here are excerpts from that conversation:
Q.
Do American styles of humor automatically translate to a society like Brazil?
A.I don’t think so. That’s why this channel is going to have a mix, with American and other international product, but also a lot of locally made programming. I can’t say yet what the percentage will be, but it’s clear that we are a country that, while it looks to the U.S. a lot, is also proud of its own culture. So we have to find a balance between the two.
Q.
MTV Brasil has been very successful, but what made Viacom think that it made sense to bring the Comedy Central brand to Brazil?
A.Well, there’s a real boom in humor going on here. It’s very fashionable, and there’s a new generation of comedians who are very sharp and savvy. Plus, the economy is booming, and the market for cable TV is also growing vigorously. So when you add all of that up, and look at our portfolio, we decided that it made good sense to launch Comedy Central here. It’s an idea whose time has come.
Q.How would you characterize this new crop of Brazilian comedians?
A.They’re a very irreverent group, and fearless. They’re not afraid to do social criticism and commentary. Really, they are quite gutsy. And they’re very politicized, with their antennae out for the way politics is done here in Brazil, the idiosyncrasies of our particular system. Politics is like a high-octane fuel for comedy. The other thing about this group is that they don’t do humor in the traditional way, with sketches or stock phrases. They’re focused on stand-up, which is something new for Brazil, and are always dealing with current themes, easily identifiable by the audience.
And here’s the Portuguese article from VEJA…
Canal Comedy Central Estreia no Brasil em 2012
A Viacom Networks Brasil anunciou esta tarde que o canal americano Comedy Central terá uma versão própria para os países da América Latina a partir do dia 1º de janeiro de 2012, com uma programação 24 horas, que será disponibilizada em versão padrão e HD, bem como via online e mobile.
Voltada para o público alvo dos anunciantes, ou seja, a faixa etária entre 18 e 49 anos, o canal disponibilizará em sua programação várias séries e shows que estão em exibição no canal americano, além de produções originais como shows de stand-up comedians. O Comedy Central Latino será disponibilizado com áudio em espanhol e português.
Atualmente, entre as séries exibidas pelo canal americano estão “Futurama“, com novos episódios encomendados pelo Comedy Central, “South Park”, “Workaholic“, “Big Lake” e “Ugly Americans“.
Portuguese Blog 