In the Press

What happens when the same project holds an interesting and amusing story, a cast selected according to the unique features of each character, a virtuous direction team that works for the development and rhythm of the story and a concrete plot? The answer not necessarily needs to be a rating "success", but that mixture results in an innovative proposal which is interesting to follow daily, as only a few times has happened on the small screen. That was the sensation viewers were left with after Date Blind's first episodes, the new fiction Channel 7 released last Tuesday (Tuesday to Friday at 11 p.m.). The program is part of an innovation line in the genre, motivated by production companies that call for creativity to alleviate their lack of resources. TV fiction, always risky and scarce, has a promising future thanks to projects such as Date Blind.

Produced by Rosstoc (Todos contra Juan) and Dori Media Contenidos (LaLola), Date Blind is the adaptation of a story that was born in a blog under the same name. Carolina Aguirre live-blogged her own story during seven months and a half. It is a daily comedy and it is far from the typical costumbrist story of the last decades. This proposal clearly has Juan Taratuto's mark (No sos vos, soy yo, Un novio para mi mujer), the movie maker who formed the basis of a period of time that cares more about making a solid proposal than about the ratings and TV formulas. This basic idea has been few times considered in TV by those producers and programmers who cannot stop thinking for a moment in terms of business.

Lucía González (played by Muriel Santa Ana) is 31 years old, lives alone and is in charge of writing the horoscope at a newspaper for a meager salary. She is neither slim nor fat. She does not stand out as regards her looks, since she never wears colorful clothes. Eighty percent of her clothes are black and the remaining 20 is in the shades of gray. She does not smart herself up: make-up is out of her life, just as tidiness is out of her apartment. Nevertheless, Lucía likes her life and she does not suffer from any existential crisis. Or at least that is what she thinks until, one day, she hears her mom and her younger sister who is getting married betting that Lucía is going to attend the wedding "alone, fat and sad". Lucia's whole world suddenly collapses. Mad because of the bet, she sets her mind to show her mother (Georgina Barbarrosa) that she can find a boyfriend. She has 258 days ahead of her, as well as many dates, phobias, encounters, suitors and failures which put this atypical comedy in motion.

The search for a boyfriend is riddled with obstacles. The first one is Lucía herself: she keeps herself to herself and she only seems to be interested in food and in watching TV. Nevertheless, after her pride is hurt with the bet, she has to surpass another obstacle: Manucha, an unbearable mother who is obsessive, energetic, and ready to get what she wants: her two daughters marrying and living happily ever after. Along the search for her better half, Lucía will see a possible suitor on every man that crosses her way. That will lead her to force situations in a way that she will always end up humiliated.

Leaving aside the plot -which has hilarious dialogues but which are not deliriously absurd as in many other comedies- Date Blind is probably one of the most coherent Argentinean fictions in recent times. Nothing has been left to chance and it seems that this program has managed to make all areas work harmoniously. Thanks to the soundtrack, the direction (many travelling shots and less short shots than usual) and a proper musicalization that highlights the breaking points of each scene, Date Blind gives local fiction an unprecedented tone. Without losing verisimilitude, it escapes costumbrism and the typical Newyorkian frivolousness of Sex and the city.

A good part of the reason why Date Blind is a complete series lies in the adaptation Marta Betoldi (Socias) has made of the blog. Each post did not last more than a minute at the beginning, but she completed it with dialogues and situations which gave the plot complexity and grace and which made a dynamic story out of what used to be a story narrated by Lucía. The other aspect that helps make the plot more natural is the performance of all the cast members. First of all, there is Santa Ana's sober performance as the protagonist. Then, Barbarossa as the insufferable mother, in a role that seems to have been made to measure. The performances of the antihero Rafael Ferro, the perfect sister -María Abadi- and Fabián Arenillas -the co-worker and a know it all- are outstanding. The cast also holds Osvaldo Santoro, Boy Olmi, Lidia Catalano, Silvia Montanari and Luis Ziembrowski (plus a very suitable performance by Sebastián Wainraich as the structured accountant who sees life through statistics).

In the first episodes, Date Blind proved to be an impeccable comedy, with no excesses or dead ends. The only aspect that attempts on the program is the late time (11 p.m.) Channel 7 has decided to broadcast it. It is a place on the schedule that, though it does not affect the final product (for the time being) it does deprive many people of the possibility of enjoying one of the best series in recent times. It is a comedy for the whole family but, for a reason only programmers understand, only a few people can watch it.

Emanuel Respighi
Translated from Spanish
© Página 12 (Argentina) 2009