El Chavo del Ocho (1980-1992)

"If we compared with a chess. Take him (Don Ramón) like a chess piece. Doña Florinda stayed with no son and no one to fight with. La Bruja del 71 without your reason for staying in the neighborhood, which was Don Ramón. El Chavo's protector. La Chilindrina became an orphan. So, when you take off Don Ramón, the show is over."

- Carlos Villagrán

El Chavo del 8 is a Mexican sketch series aired from 1980 to 1992 on the television program "Chespirito". It's a continuation of the series El Chavo del Ocho.

Why It Was Sin Querer Queriendo

 * 1) After Carlos Villagrán and Ramón Valdés, who played Quico and Don Ramón respectively, left the show, the show went downhill and didn't have the same humor that it had in the previous seasons. Villagran left the cast permanently between late 1978 and early 1979 due to a legal battle with Chespirito over the rights of Villagran's character, Quico. Valdes left the cast in the mid 1979 because he was contracted to work in a circus and he would later participate in some other films in the next two years. He returned in 1981, and for just one episode in 1982, called "Que Bonita Vecindad!", which marked Ramon Valdes' final appearance in the show before leaving permanently, and going to work with Villagrán in South America.
 * 2) The sketches are remakes of previous episodes, which makes the show more boring and unoriginal, however this element had already occurred in previous seasons before the 1973-1980 era.
 * 3) The laugh tracks were removed since 1982, which was one of El Chavo del Ocho iconic elements. Sure, excessive laugh tracks in a sitcom can be very annoying, but still.
 * 4) The humor is boring and repetitive, which is so unforgivable, since the show is famous for the incredible and simple humor.
 * 5) The actors/actresses already look old to be portraying children, especially Chespirito and Horacio Gomez, who is Chespirito's brother.
 * 6) The Brazilian dub is very bad, while La Chilindrina, Doña Florinda, Professor Jirafales, Popis, Doña Clotilde and Doña Nieves still have the original voice actors from the previous seasons and they still do a fantastic job, and Señor Barriga and Jaimito's new voices are decent as well, the new voices for Godinez, Ñoño and especially El Chavo himself are terrible and sound absolutely nothing like the original voices.
 * 7) As mentioned above, due to the departure of Ramón Valdés and Carlos Villagrán, both of their characters were replaced by other characters, which doesn't bring the same charisma and charm that Don Ramón and Quico had. (This has been since mid-1979)
 * 8) * Don Ramón was replaced by Jaimito el Cartero and Doña Nieves, which the former tries way too hard to be the next Don Ramón but fails miserably, and Doña Nieves is already a bland character when she was introduced in the series, so it was very unnecessary for her to still be part of the main cast.
 * 9) * Quico was replaced by Ñoño, La Popis, and Godinez, who had previously appeared on the independent series as recurring characters.
 * 10) The show didn't bring a decent conclusion for the show. The "last episode" was "Clases de inglés", which was recorded in 1992. It was just a generic episode of El Chavo and his friends in the Professor Jirafales' classroom.
 * 11) Some characters, such as Godinez, Chilindrina, and Popis, are a bit unlikable at times.
 * 12) It has a few mean-spirited moments, mainly towards Chavo, even when does things that are right at times.
 * 13) In Don Ramon's final episode, "Que Bonita Vecindad!", there is a scene where Doña Florinda shouts at Don Ramon IN HIS EARS, while he is covering them! And worst of all, this was the very last time the two characters interacted in the show! This is such a TERRIBLE way to end such a beloved character!
 * 14) Characters such as Popis and Chilindrina, treated Chavo like trash, and shouted at him, while he was doing NOTHING wrong! And furthermore, the two NEVER say sorry or even get their comeuppance for their actions!
 * 15) In a 1982 episode called "El Ratero de La Vecindad", in one scene, Chavo was picking up Chilindrina's album of stamps, and suddenly, Chilindrina snatches it out of Chavo's hands, and called him a  thief ! He was just picking up the album just to give it to her, not stealing it! And of course, Chilindrina gets off scot-free and receives no punishment.
 * 16) In the episode "El Dinero Perdido" of 1984, in one scene, Popis started shouting at Chavo's face all because he was asking her why she was twitching so awkwardly (it was because Jaimito spilled coffee on her back). She told Chavo to shut up 7 times in that one scene, making Chavo so angry that he leaves. To make matters worse, Popis didn't even apologize!
 * 17) If you pay close attention at the personalities of the characters beginning in 1982, you may notice that they are more mean-spirited, selfish, and rude. This was because of the real-life problems the actors were having, as the character's personalities were based on the attitudes of the actors, as they weren't getting along well and started to become enemies.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) Ramón Valdés did return in 1981 on the episode "El Regreso de Don Ramón", although unfortunately he only appeared in 24 episodes, after that, he left the show again but permanently, because he was having problems with Florinda Meza and he would be diagnosed with stomach cancer by 1985, He passed away on August 9, 1988, in Mexico City at age 64.
 * 2) Chavo, Señor Barriga, Godinez (depending on your view), Doña Clotilde, Professor Jirafales and surprisingly Doña Florinda are likable characters, with the latter being much more likable than in the original series, as crazy as that sounds.
 * 3) It gives much more development and screen time to secondary characters like La Popis and Godinez, even if the execution wasn't good.
 * 4) Some scenes at least give some laugh and give emotionality.
 * 5) *The episodes of 1980 and 1981, are even much funny.
 * 6) Minor characters such as Godinez, Ñoño, and even Popis can still be funny and make comical quotes, even if Quico or Don Ramon were never present.
 * 7) Some viewers consider this show decent compared to El Chavo Animado (seasons 3-7) and Historias del Ocho.
 * 8) There is a song called "El Ruido" (The Noise), which is a very catchy song, which came out in the episode "El Cumpleaños de Don Ramon" (Don Ramon's Birthday) of 1981.
 * 9) The camera and audio quality improved a lot from 1981, although this does not take away from the fact that the humor and acting were bad.