"Cuéntame" (2001) TV series 2001-????

Creator:

Miguel Ángel Bernardeau

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11

Release Date:

13 September 2001 (Spain)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Family | Romance

Awards:

54 wins & 70 nominations

Cast

Imanol Arias	...	Antonio Alcántara Barbadillo / ... (190 episodes, 2001-2009)
Ana Duato	...	Mercedes Fernández López / ... (190 episodes, 2001-2009)
Ricardo Gómez	...	Carlos Alcántara Fernández / ... (187 episodes, 2001-2009)
Carlos Hipólito	...	Carlos adulto / ... (187 episodes, 2001-2009)
María Galiana	...	Herminia López / ... (186 episodes, 2001-2009)
Pablo Rivero	...	Toni Alcántara Fernández / ... (186 episodes, 2001-2009)
Alicia Hermida	...	Valentina Rojas / ... (184 episodes, 2001-2009)
Roberto Cairo	...	Desi / ... (184 episodes, 2001-2009)
Tony Leblanc	...	Cervan / ... (178 episodes, 2001-2008)
José Sancho	...	Don Pablo Ramírez Sañudo (176 episodes, 2001-2008)
Lluvia Rojo	...	Pili / ... (168 episodes, 2001-2009)
Santiago Crespo	...	Josete / ... (167 episodes, 2001-2009)
Enrique San Francisco	...	Tinín / ... (158 episodes, 2001-2008)
Manuel Dios	...	Luis / ... (136 episodes, 2001-2009)
Pere Ponce	...	Eugenio / ... (134 episodes, 2001-2008)
Manolo Cal	...	Ramón / ... (131 episodes, 2001-2009)
Irene Visedo	...	Inés Alcántara Fernández / ... (127 episodes, 2001-2007)
Ana Arias	...	Paquita / ... (104 episodes, 2004-2009)
Silvia Espigado	...	Clara / ... (103 episodes, 2001-2009)
Rosario Pardo	...	Nieves / ... (89 episodes, 2001-2005)
Germán Marina	...	Abel (88 episodes, 2001-2009)

Also Known As:

Cuéntame cómo pasó (Spain) (new title)

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish | English | Swedish

Color:

Black and White | Color

Certification:

Spain:T

Filming Locations:

Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain

Company:

Grupo Ganga Producciones S.L.

Soundtrack:

Cuéntame

time and family

There's no accounting for tastes of course ... but I would give a opposite review to the one you've just read. I don't live in Spain so I don't know what the Spanish think of this show, but to me it fills a big question mark in my mind. I grew up studying Spanish and all through highschool, college, and graduate school I heard stories of Spain under Franco, but didn't really understand what it was like. "Cuéntame", as the other review mentioned, is set in the last decade of Franco's rule. If it's accurate, this show gives the "taste" of a very particular and very important period that has a lot to do with the way Spain is now (even though there is in many ways very little resemblance).

The show can be a little too earnest sometimes, and sometimes it's obvious that they are trying to touch (even though lightly) on all the major issues of the day and come out on the right side in each of them. But I think there is also an interesting balance between the outrage of the kids who are just realising what's going on in their society and the parents & grandmother who have seen it all and are cautious about getting involved in politics. And lots of arguing about things that matter, the kind of getting-things-out-in-the-open that I would expect from the Spanish families I know. Not a kind of arguing that tears families apart, but one that is a natural part of living together and getting to understand what makes the other person tick. And even if you never understand them, they're still Family. That's the other nice part of this show, apart from the "historical" value: there's lots of qualities in the Alcántara family that reminds you of the best in Spanish family life.