SuperXclusivo
La Comay, the character
La Comay, the character, is a life-sized puppet created and puppeteered by Antulio "Kobbo" Santarrossa, a professional ventriloquist. La Comay is meant to represent a society matron who recounts rumors, gossip, and comments on social and political news. She was joined by Cuban soap opera actor Héctor Travieso by her side until March 2019; radio personality and public figure Roque Gallart replaced Travieso as of April 2019. On December 13, 2012, La Comay was interviewed by Wyatt Cenac in his final story for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Boycott and cancellation
On December 4, 2012, Santarrosa, through his puppeteering of La Comay, commented on the allegations that the recent murder of a local public relations agent was related to a promiscuous homosexual lifestyle.[1] The comments sparked a backlash, particularly on social media, and started a movement to boycott the show[2] led by LGBT activist Pedro Julio Serrano. The movement crowd-sourced requests for sponsors to drop support for the show, and within a week, sixteen sponsors had removed their commercials from the show's timeslot, including dental hygiene products, telecommunication companies, health care providers and supermarket chains.[3][4][5]
On January 8, 2013, after being asked to pre-record the show rather than present it live, Santarrosa abruptly left WAPA-TV approximately an hour before the show was slated to air; the episode that aired that day was a re-run of the previous day. The next day, January 9, 2013, Santarrosa presented his resignation in person at WAPA-TV, and the regularly-scheduled program was substituted by a movie; later that night, the TV station confirmed Santarrosa's resignation.[6]
Aftermath
February 2013: Timeslot replacement
In February 2013, Santarrosa's timeslot in WAPA-TV was replaced by a new live gossip show titled Lo Sé Todo (I Know It All) starring Frankie Jay, Roque Gallart, Sylvia Hernández, Jessica Serrano, and radio producer, Carlos "Topy" Mamery. Jay, Serrano and Hernández, who previously worked as field reporters for Santarrosa in the final years of SuperXclusivo's run, continued their work as field reporters on Lo Sé Todo[7][8][9] until Gallart, Serrano and Hernández eventually left the program, the latter two for Dando Candela, the show's main competitor; Mamery died in December 2014. Gossip journalist Pedro Juan Figueroa joined the show in March, after leaving Dando Candela,[10][11] which led to improved ratings.[12] He left the program, months after a hiatus during the aftermath of Hurricane Maria's impact in Puerto Rico and returned months later.
January 2014: Travieso's transition to Dando Candela
Over a year after the cancellation of SuperXclusivo, Héctor Travieso accepted a contract Dando Candela on Telemundo.[13][14] Travieso reportedly called Santarrosa before accepting, and Santarrosa encouraged him to take the position.[15] Travieso joined Dando Candela in January 2014; however, he quit in May, after less than four months at the show.[16] Rumors stated that Travieso's resignation was related to management concerns about a possible return to TV with Santarrosa.[17][18]
September 2014: La Comay: Aparente y Alegadamente
In September 2014, Manolo Travieso-Hurst, son of Héctor Travieso, announced the release of a documentary he was co-producing based on La Comay. The documentary, La Comay: Aparente y Alegadamente, had a theatrical release in November 2014 and was told via interviews conducted by former Univision reporter Liza Lugo, a constant target of La Comay. Among those interviewed, included public figures who were either involved or affected by La Comay, such as journalist Carmen Jovet, analyst Rubén Sánchez, former mayor of San Juan Jorge Santini, radio host Jorge Seijo, LGBT activist Pedro Julio Serrano, and others. Kobbo Santarosa himself was also interviewed in his home in Orlando.[19][20]
References
- ^ Berríos, Nelson G. (December 7, 2012). "El Quinto Poder vs. La Comay". El Nuevo Día. Archived from the original on January 11, 2013.
- ^ Voxxi (7 December 2012). "Boycott Against 'La Comay': Puerto Rico's Social Media Movement Scores Important Victory". Retrieved 16 August 2018 – via Huff Post.
- ^ Rosario, Frances (December 5, 2012). "Retiran auspicios a SuperXclusivo ante boicot de pueblo". Primera Hora.
- ^ "Walmart cancela anuncios en SuperXclusivo". Primera Hora. December 6, 2012.
- ^ "Kia y Sprint dejan de pautar anuncios en SuperXclusivo". Primera Hora. December 14, 2012.
- ^ Vargas, Patricia (January 9, 2012). "Kobbo se fue de WAPA". El Nuevo Día.
- ^ "Lo sé todo: tiene mucho que aprender". primerahora.com. 12 February 2013.
- ^ Ramos, Zuania (11 February 2013). "WAPA TV's New Gossip Show 'Lo Sé Todo' To Replace La Comay's 'SuperXclusivo'" – via Huff Post.
- ^ "Puerto Rico's WAPA Network Debuts 'SuperXclusivo' Replacement - Fushion.net". fusion.net. Archived from the original on 2014-01-10.
- ^ "(none)". (none).
- ^ "Pedro Juan Figueroa deja "Dando Candela" y da el salto a "Lo sé todo"". primerahora.com. 10 March 2013.
- ^ "Pedro Juan Figueroa mueve a las televidentes a "Lo sé todo"". primerahora.com. 12 March 2013.
- ^ "Héctor Travieso se une a Dando Candela". primerahora.com. 7 January 2014.
- ^ "Héctor Travieso se une a "Dando Candela"". El Nuevo Dia.
- ^ "Travieso llamó a Kobbo antes de dar el salto a Dando Candela". Metro.
- ^ "Renuncia Héctor Travieso a "Dando Candela"". elnuevodia.com. 3 May 2014.
- ^ "Héctor Travieso asegura que hubo resistencia a él en Dando Candela". primerahora.com. 5 May 2014.
- ^ "Héctor Travieso renuncia a Dando Candela - El Vocero.com". elvocero.com. Archived from the original on 2014-08-06.
- ^ "La Comay resurgirá en noviembre". Metro.
- ^ López, Rita Portela (23 September 2014). "'La Comay' llegará al cine". noticel.com.