1991 in Italian television

This is a list of Italian television related events from 1991.

Events

RAI

4 May - The 36th Eurovision Song Contest is held at the Studio 15 di Cinecittà in Rome. Sweden wins the contest with the song "Fångad av en stormvind", performed by Carola.
8 August - The cargo ship Vlora, charged with almost 20,000 Albanian migrants, lands by force to the “coals quay”of the Bari port; the cameras of TGR Apulia shoot the scene. In the next days, the RAI news follow the development of events, showing to Italy the dramatic image of the refugees amassed in the Stadio della Vittoria, until the forced repatriation of most of them.

Fininvest

17 January: on Italia 1, Emilio Fede, director of Studio Aperto, beating on time RAI, announces on air the beginning of Desert Storm and follows the events with a long special edition, until 8 AM; the news program had been launched just the day before. The 29 July, TG4, the third Finivest news program, starts on Rete4, directed by Edvige Bernasconi.
1 October - Long running US animated comedy series The Simpsons begins broadcasting on television stations all across Italy for the first time. The series was premiered on Canale 5.

Debuts

Miniseries

Felipe ha gli occhi azzurri – by Gianfranco Albano and Felice Farina, with Claudio Amendola, Silvio Orlando and the eight-years old Filipino child Victor Vicente as protagonist; 2 seasons. The miniseries, also if treats challenging topics like the clandestine immigration and the exploitation of the minors, gets a huge public success, with 10 million viewiers.

Serials

I ragazzi del muretto – coming-of-age serial, set in a Rome high-school, with Francesca Antonelli and Lorenzo Diglio; 3 seasons. Unlike many similar products, it treats also serious matters as racism and drug.

Variety

Avanzi – with Serena Dandini, Corrado Guzzanti and a debuting Luciana Litizzetto; 3 seasons. It begins as a parody of the Italian television while in the two later seasons the satire is extended to the whole society. The leftovers of the title are “shows never aired, found in the RAI archives”, obviously staged by the actors.Scommettiamo che... '''' – Italian version of the German show Wetten, dass..?, hosted by Fabrizio Frizzi and Milly Carlucci, care of Michele Guardì; 10 seasons.

News and educational

Diritto di replica – semiserious talk show, hosted by Sandro Paternostro and Fabio Fazio, with controversial personalities defending themselves as guests ; 2 seasons.Turisti per caso – humorous travel show, with Patrizio Roversi and Syusy Blady; 18 seasons.

Variety

Non è la RAI – musical and game show ideated by Gianni Boncompagni and hosted by Erica Bonaccorti, Paolo Bonolis and Ambra Angiolini, with a cast composed almost entirely by female teen-agers, some of which, as Angiolini herself and Claudia Gerini, destined to a career in the show business; 4 seasons. The program becomes a cultural phenomenon, with episodes of stardom for the adolescent showgirls but is also heavily criticized for the given image of the young woman, shallow and sexually precocious.
Bellezze sulla neve – winter version of Bellezze al bagno, aired from ski resorts, hosted by Marco Columbro and Lorella Cuccarini, later by Claudio Lippi and Sabrina Salerno; 2 seasons.

International

9 September - Tiny Toon Adventures
1 October - The Simpsons
31 December - Marianne 1ère Samurai Pizza Cats Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
''The Tom & Jerry Kids Show''

Television shows

Drama

... se non avessi l’amore – biopic about Pier Giorgio Frassati, by Leandro Castellani, with Antonio Sabato jr. and Ottavia Piccolo.

Serials

Il commissario Corso – by Alberto Sironi and Gianni Lepre, with Diego Abantantuono as a Southern police superintendent in Milan; realized for the coproduction series Eurocops.

News and educational

Il portalettere – Piero Chiambretti, as an irreverent postman, delivers the Andrea Barbato’s open letters to public personalities, moreover politicians; the last one is the Republic President Francesco Cossiga,. Profondo Nord – political talk show hosted by Gad Lerner; the journalist travels among the Northern Italy towns, trying to understand the reasons of the Lega Nord’s success.

Viaggio in Italia, schegge dagli anni ’60 – montage film by Filippo Porcelli, realized exclusively with material from the RAI archives.

Drama

Fantaghirò – fantasy by Lamberto Bava, with Alessandra Martines, Mario Adorf and Kim Rossi Stuart, from an Italo Calvino’s fairy tale; in 2 episodes. The story of the warrior princess is the first Fininvest fiction to get international success and originates a long franchise.

Serial

Cristina, l’Europa siamo noi – with Cristina D’Avena, sequel of Arriva Cristina.