1988 in Italian television
This is a list of Italian television related events from 1988.
Events
Rai
27 February: Massimo Ranieri wins the Sanremo Festival, hosted by Miguel Bosè and Gabriella Carlucci, with Perdere l’amore.6 May. On an episode of the magazine Telefono giallo, hosted by Corrado Augias, about the Itavia flight 870, an airman in service in Marsala on the day of the crash, phones on air and declares to have seen the radar tracks of the event, before they were hidden by the Italian Air Force.22 June: the Italy-USSR semi-final of UEFA Euro 1988 is the most watched program of the year, with 19 million viewers.20 June: RAI 2 broadcasts the last episode of Capitol, followed by a special, by film critic Claudio G. Fava, with interviews to actors, authors and Italian voice actors. The soap, abruptly interrupted due to its low ratings in America, still had an average of five million viewers in Italy.17 September: RAI broadcasts the opening ceremony of the Seoul Olympics. In the following two weeks, the state TV gives very ample space to the games. Yet, for the first time, it had to suffer competition from TMC and moreover from TV Capodistria, which for two weeks dedicates its entire programming to the event.27 December: a planned interview to Indro Montanelli on Domenica in is judged inappropriate and cancelled because the journalist is engaged in a controversy with Prime Minister Ciriaco De Mita, whom he called “a godfather". Enrico Manca hoimself, RAI president, defines the act of censorship as "a macroscopic error".Fininvest
22 February: Silvio Berlusconi stops the airing of the satirical variety Matrjoska by Antonio Ricci. The censorship is motivated by the full frontals of Moana Pozzi, by a sketch judged too vulgar, with the extraterrestrial Scrondo, and by the filming of the Communion and Liberation choir, carried out without a written consent. Antonio Ricci presents his resignation from Fininvest, fast withdrawn. The program is broadcast, in a softer version and with the title The Arab Phoenix, two months later.20 June: the De Mita government approves the decree of the Minister of Communications Oscar Mammì regulating private television. A single television operator may not own more than three national channels. The planned “zero option”, prohibiting newspaper owners from also owning televisions, is instead set aside.14 July: the Constitutional Court recognizes the right of private networks to broadcast on a national scale; at the same time, it invites the legislator to regulate the matter and declares that the duopoly between a public and a private company does not guarantee pluralism. 3 October: on Rete 4, Dentro la notizia, the first Finivest newscast, is aired; it is hosted by Rita Dalla Chiesa and Alessandro Cecchi Paone. The program can boast renowned collaborators, from Enrico Letta to Giorgio Bocca, from Enzo Bettiza to Gianni Brera, but is penalized by the lack of live broadcasting.Other private channels
18 February: birth of the syndication Cinque Stelle, presided by the Catholic priest and journalist Tommaso Mastrandea.1 May: birth of the syndication Supersix, presided by Gianni Ferrauto.21 May: birth of the national network Retemia, with seat in Lucca and owned by the financier and former telemarketer Giorgio Mendella. It dedicates 13 hours a day to teleshopping and promoting of financial investments, the rest to entertainment and information.Debuts
RAI
Variety
La tv delle ragazze – satirical variety, hosted by Serena Dandini, written, directed and interpreted exclusively by women ; 2 seasons. It launches several comic actresses, as Monica Scattini and Angela Finocchiaro.Europa Europa – variety with Farizio Frizzi and Elisabetta Gardini, aimed to propagandize the European Union; 3 seasons.Videocomic – anthology of comic sketches from the RAI archives, care of Nicoletta Leggeri, lasted till 2021.News and educational
Schegge – anthology of excerpts from the RAI archive, care of Enrico Ghezzi and Marco Giusti, lasted till 1995.Fuori orario – care of Enrico Ghezzi ; again on air. Initially it’s a cultural talk-show with an experimental formula. From the second season it becomes the night space of Rai 3 dedicated to auteur cinema ; the presentations of films by Ghezzi' become infamous, for their cryptic and abstruse language.For children
Big – segmented show with cartoons, games and magazines, included a news program for the youngest ones; 7 seasons.Mediaset
Serials
Casa Vianello – sitcom with Raimondo Vianello and Sandra Mondaini; 16 seasons. The two actors play themselves, as two aged spouses, deeply united despite their perennial quarrels and his amorous adventures.Don Tonino – detective comedy with Gigi e Andrea as a funny couple of investigators ; 2 seasons.Variety
Striscia la notizia – satirical news program, ideated by Antonio Ricci and again on air; irreverent comical sketches, played in studio by two fake news readers, alternate with more serious reportages about social issues. The show gets, for decades, the greatest audience in the Italian television and has got by the critics praises, but also charges of demagogy and sexism, for the intensive use of girls in sexy suits. Among the many hosts of the program, the most successful had been the couple Ezio Greggio-Enzo Iachetti, while its most popular reporter is the puppet Gabibbo.Dibattito! – parodistic talk-show, hosted by Gianni Ippoliti, whose guests are, willingly, average people without any competence about the matters debated, 2 seasons.Il gioco dei nove – game show, Italian version of Holywood Squares, hosted by Raimondo Vianello, later by Gerry Scotti; 5 seasons.International
- March - The Green Hornet
- 2 March - BraveStarr
- September - Bobobobs
- 17 September - Jake and the Fatman Wisdom of the Gnomes Calimero Kissyfur Beauty and the Beast My Little Pony L.A. Law Laverne & Shirley Perfect Strangers Maho no Mako-chan Lady Lovely Locks C.A.T.S. Eyes Meatballs & Spaghetti Matlock
- /// The Littles Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles BraveStarr Down and Out in Beverly Hills Moncchichis Beverly Hills Teens The Flintstone Kids ALF
- ''MacGyver''
Television shows
RAI
Drama and comedy
- Lenin... the train – by Damiano Damiani, with Ben Kingsley, Leslie Caron and Dominique Sanda, script by Enzo Bettiza; in 2 episodes. Reconstruction of the Lenin’s trip on the sealed train.La coscienza di Zeno – by Sandro Bolchi, from the Italo Svevo’s novel, script by Tullio Kezich, with Johnny Dorelli and Ottavia Piccolo; in 2 episodes.Piazza Navona – cycle of 6 comedy TV-movies, realized by 6 debuting directors and produced and supervised by Ettore Scola; every episode takes place in the Roman square over the course of a day and includes a cameo of Marcello Mastroianni as himself.… e non se ne vogliono andare – family comedy by Giorgio Capitani, with Turi Ferro and Virna Lisi as an aged couple with three sons, adult but clingy to the family. The movie gets grat public success and a sequel.L’altro enigma by Vittorio Gassmann and Carlo Tuzii, from Pier Paolo Pasolini’s piece Affabulazione, about the Oedipus complex, with Vittorio and Alessandro Gassmann.
Miniseries
The secret of the Sahara – by Alberto Negrin, with Andie MacDowell and Michael York, music by Ennio Morricone; 4 episodes. European coproduction inspired by Emilio Salgari and Pierre Benoit’s Atlantida.La piovra 4 – by Luigi Perelli, with Michele Placido, Patricia Millardet and Remo Girone; 6 episodes. The final chapter, where the hero of the series, the superintendent Corrado Cattani, is killed by the Mafia, gets 17 million viewers.Variety
Fantastico 9 – with Enrico Montesano and Anna Oxa. After the controversial edition with Celentano, the RAI autumn show returns to a more sober and traditional form. Complimenti per la trasmissione – game show with Piero Chiambretti. A RAI troupe breaks live in the house of an average family and subjects it to various tests; however, the games are just a pretext to show the reactions of the ordinary people to the TV cameras.- Troppo forti –variety about the Italians’ dreams and desires, with Mara Venier and Claudio Sorrentino.
- Trasmissione forzata – satirical variety with Dario Fo and Franca Rame, sided by Enzo Jannacci.
- Io confesso – reality show directed by Paolo Pietrangeli and hosted by Enza Sampò; an anonymous person, the face hidden by a Plexiglas window, reveals his most private secrets.