Mario Netas
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Mario Netas is an internet animated cartoon by Pacasso airing weekly in the online website of the Mexican newspaper Reforma.[1] The cartoon depicts a talk show hosted by a wooden dummy named Mario inviting Mexican and foreign newsmakers to explain current news. It was first aired on March 16, 2005. On April 14th, 2010 a new voice of Mario Netas was broadcast producing outrage of his followers.
Starting July 4, 2006 the show airs on Tuesdays (rather than Wednesdays).
The name of the show is a play on words. Mario is the name of the host of the show, and Netas is a Mexican Spanish slang for truth, so roughly translated the show's name would be "Mario's truths". However, Marionetas is also the Spanish word for marionettes. Pacasso and Berenice Loaeza were the producers of the show.
Characters
Mario Netas
Mario Netas is a wooden dummy and host of the show. He often brags in a humorous way about sleeping with a large number of women, especially at the beginning of the show. He usually makes fun of guests and criticizes anything on the show he doesn't like (e.g. "Cartas a Marito" section). He hates being called Marito (Little Mario), but this doesn't keep some guests like Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Marta Sahagún, from calling him that.
El Buen Bob
"Good" Bob is the puppeteer who controls Mario. He is somewhat fat, wears a green mask and only rarely moves or speaks. He never replies back whenever he's asked his opinion by Mario, creating an awkward silence which leads Mario to roll his eyes and coldly say "se" ("yeah, right"). Bob is said to have a fan club, and is the target of many girls' affection.
Don Polo
Don Polo is an old worker in the set of the show. Although he usually works as the only cabin crew member, he has sometimes covered for Mario as the host when the latter has been out on vacation. He has shown good skills on the use of the sound censorship button when a guest begins to say profanities, skill that was put to test when Cuauhtémoc Blanco and, more recently, Ana Guevara were interviewed. In an attempt to imitate Mario and Bob's routine, he made up a puppet of his own named "Polito" (Little Polo). However, his abilities as a ventriloquist were nowhere to be seen.
Nicanor
Nicanor was first introduced in the Marta Sahagún episode, as a "ropavejero" (a rag and bones man), a low-class Mexican clothes "expert." His first appearance was so popular that he became a recurring character. Apparently, Nicanor spends most of his time in the studio as a handyman, for he is randomly introduced in every episode. He once hosted a section of his own named "Cartas a Marito" (Letters to Marito), in which fans would send letters mail to express their opinion on the show and its characters. He suffered a mysterious accident just before the beginning of a show which left him in a coma. He later reappeared again, but his section was canceled. He speaks with a common Mexico City accent. Like Don Polo (whose bombed jokes simply did not appeal to the producer of the show), he hosted the show while Mario and Bob were on vacation. He has managed to interview a couple of guests when Mario and Bob are not around, like Saddam Hussein. On that same episode we got to meet his aunt, the psychic Madame Wendolyn (her real name is Anastasia). Another relative that has also appeared on the show is Cyber-Carlos, Nicanor's cousin. He is supposed to be the electronic voice that reads out loud the news from Reforma.
Sections of the Show
The Spicy Comment
While the curtain raises Mario tells Bob something related to an adventure with women. There is always a sex pun hidden in the story. Suddenly he notices that the curtain is raised and he breaks to welcome the viewers to the show. On August 12, 2008, the spicy comment was replaced with a message from Mario Netas staff repudiating crime in Mexico where Good Bob says "Ya Basta!" (Enough!) for the shock of all the staff (and of the audience).
The Interview
The interview is the section on the show when the politicians or other invited characters appear. It is often the longest part of the show, but some interviews are really short.
The Picture of the Week
A picture is shown and Mario makes fun of it in some way.
The Movie Section
This is a section where Mario reviews a movie chosen by him based on the "Muvimetre", a scale that goes from Terrible to Excellent.
Cartas a Marito (September 12, 2006 - November 28, 2006)
A fan mail section once hosted by Nicanor. Beginning with the episode of October 31, 2006 the letters were displayed on a "manta". Mario hated this section, because in most letters fans preferred other characters better than him. The section was canceled after Nicanor fell down from a stair while writing it. The last letter was read by Mario.