Did you expect a happy photo?
Casados con hijos is the Argentine version of the American series Married... with Children. It is about the misfortunes of Pepe Argento, a former Racing Club player who now sells women shoes, he is married to Moni (who always wants to have sex), and they have two kids, Paola (who dates every man that walks) and Coqui (a loser even worse than him). And to complete it all, his neighbour is María Elena Fuseneco, who always tries to defeat and humilliate him.The adaption ran for two seasons, and it was played by the most important comedy actors of Argentina, Guillermo Francella and Florencia Peña. The writers made an important work in removing all American stuff from the series and fill it with Argentinian culture, from the names of the characters to their backgrounds and several plots. Thus, it is not seen in Argentina as the local version of a foreign series, but as a series on its own right.
Casados con hijos includes examples of:
- The Ace: Pepe before he married Moni, therefore quitting his football career.
- The Alcoholic: Played for Laughs with Maria Elena.
- All Just a Dream: The house of some obscure tango singer is about to be demolished, by a firm (represented by María Elena) that wants to build a shopping center in the area. Pepe jails himself to the house in protest, to prevent the demolition. During an argument with María Elena, the great Carlos Gardel himself appears to support Pepe and sing a tango together. It was just an hallucination caused by a gas leak, which convinced the firm to build the shopping center elsewhere.
- All Women Are Lustful: Paola is the most decided, as she's young, pretty and without a stable boyfriend. But Moni and María Elena are not exactly prudes, either... in fact, they love to have sex with their husbands, or to see handsome males when they are not around.
- Alpha Couple: Moni and Pepe.
- Artistic License – History: An archeologist appears at the Argento house, declaring that the lost treasure taken by Rafael de Sobremonte during the 1806 British invasion of Buenos Aires was buried in their patio. The Fuseneco tried to take it for themselves, and it was finally all a scam. However, the fate of the treasure of Sobremonte is well known: he escaped from Buenos Aires during the invasion, taking all the money of the city with him to prevent it from being taken (no cowardice, it's what the laws instructed in the case of a foreign attack like that), but the British intercepted him at Luján, got the money, and sent it to London, where it was paraded and kept. Buenos Aires was liberated afterwards by Santiago de Liniers, but the money was already in London. There's no mystery, much less a chance of finding it anywhere in South America.
- Beta Couple: The Fuseneco to Pepe and Moni.
- Catchphrase:
- Pepe;
- Si son Dardo y María Elena pasen; ("If you're Dardo or Maria Elena, come in...")
- Mirá, carita de (Nombre de algún elemento circular) ("Look, you —Insert name of some circular element here— face")
- ¡Callate, boludo!: ("Shut up, you idiot")
- Moni
- ¡Callate, Mierda! ("Shut up, you turd")
- ¡Cafecito! ("Who wants cofee?")
- Paola
- ¡Fea la actitud! (ugly attitude!)
- Coqui
- Mamucha/Papucho (Mommy/Daddy)
- Pepe;
- Character Celebrity Endorsement: Arcor hired Francella and Lopilato in 2021 for an advertising, reprising their roles as Pepe and Coqui.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Played for laughs. Pepe Argento is visited by The Grim Reaper, who wants to take him. First, they try to settle things playing Truco (an argentine card game), and get to a tie. Then, they improvise a net and decide things by soccer penalty kicks. The Grim Reaper is about to win... and then Coki gets into the house, confuses him with a common burglar, and attacks him. The Grim Reaper missed the penalty kick, so he lost.
- Even the Guys Want Him: Coqui's looks have been emphasized by many male characters thoughtout the series.
- Jackass Genie: Pepe is always complaining "I want to die!", "I want to die!", so The Grim Reaper came to grant his wish... even if he refuses.
- She Who Must Not Be Seen: Coqui won a chance to meet Cristina Fernandez De Kirchner, the current president of Argentina, but who was just the First Lady of president Nestor Kirchner (2003-2007) during the airing of the show (it may feel awkward to see the episode now, but all makes sense in context). Of course, he never got the chance, as his family wasted the money. Neither Cristina nor a parody of her actually appeared on screen, and it all stayed in a mere mention.
- Perpetual Poverty: The Argento are always lacking, but they have a nice house with two stories, basement and patio, and the TV is never cut.
- Pretty Freeloaders: The entire Argento family!
- Sickening "Crunch!": Poor Fatiga. In one episode, he ended up with her bones crushed by Moni's fat mom when she accidentally sat on the dog while the latter was resting on the sofa. His yelps of pain didn't help either. And it was Played for Laughs... Yep.
- Screen-to-Stage Adaptation: The show is getting one for January 2023. It was supposed to be released in 2021, but it got cancelled due to COVID-19.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: After it has been reported that Erica Rivas, actress who played Maria Elena, won't return in the stage adaptation, it has been announced that Jorgelina Aruzzi has joined the cast to play Azucena, Dardo's new wife.
- Standardized Sitcom Housing
- The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: While Pepe is not exactly ugly, some characters found it confusing to see him, and later look at his daughter Paola, played by Luisana
◊ Lopilato◊. - This Is Unforgivable!: Pepe's reaction to Moni's reveal that she wasn't pregnant of Paola when he was playing in Racing. Eventually, he does forgive her.
