Súper Sábado Sensacional
Súper Sábado Sensacional is a Spanish-language variety show created in Venezuela, and established on Radio Caracas Television in 1968. The show later moved to Venevisión network in 1970. Shown on a weekly basis, every Saturday from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm it is viewed internationally throughout Latin America and the United States and it is considered one of the highest rated television shows in the country.
Throughout its run, there have been five major hosts: Amador Bendayán, Gilberto Correa, Daniel Sarcos, Leonardo Villalobos and Henrys Silva.
Overview
Broadcast history
Súper Sábado Sensacional was originally established on RCTV as Sábado Espectacular in 1968. The show was later renamed Sábado Sensacional by 1970, upon its arrival to Venevision. In 1990, "Súper" was added to the title, and is how the show is currently known today. In Venezuela, Súper Sábado Sensacional is broadcast for 5 hours, while in all other countries it is broadcast for either 2 hours.In 1979, Amador Bendayan host of Sabado Sensacional was looking for an edge against Radio Caracas Television during rating sweeps. Enter International Production Coordinator Gary Mason. Mason worked with Producers Ricardo Pena, and Jorge Contreras to bring International Superstars Jerry Lewis, Herves Villachiaze, Ray Conniff, Paul Michael Glaser, R2 D2, John Travolta, The Bionic Dog, Mike Connors, Greg Morris, Farah Fawcett, Menudo with Ricky Martin and many others. Sabado Sensacional swept the ratings.
Segments
Current Segments
- Yo Si Bailo Con Los Niños
- Bailando con los Abuelos
- Demuéstrame tu Amor
- Mega Dance
- Talentum
- El Show esta en la calle
Previous Segments
- Super 4
- El Show del Dinero
- Sábados Locos
- Bailando con los mini pop
- Mega Match Sensacional/Mega Match
- Guerra de los Sexos
- El Momento de La Verdad
- Generación S
- Bailando Con Las Estrellas
- El Precipicio Reforzado/Disparatado
- Vale Todo Por Amor
- Quien Baila Mejor
- Yo Si Canto
- Los Alquilinos
- Recuerdo Sensacional
Spin-offs
- Mega Match Sensacional
- La Guerra de Los Sexos
On-air Talent
Main Host- Amador Bendayan
- Gilberto Correa
- Daniel Sarcos
- Leonardo Villalobos
- Henrys Silva
- Miriam Ochoa
- Wilmer Ramirez
- Milka Chulina
- Daniel Sarcos
- Rashel Rodriguez
- Viviana Gibelli
- Fanny Otati
- José Andrés Padrón
- Nieves Soltedo
Transitions
Bendayan to Correa (1988)
The heavy schedule of a long running variety television show took its toll on Amador Bendayan's health at the end of the 1970s and throughout the 1980s. His abuse of cigarettes and his struggle with diabetes mellitus made it sometimes impossible to please his audience, forcing him to rest down, with his absence being covered by other hosts, including model and actress Miriam Ochoa, César González, journalist and broadcaster Napoleón Bravo and Gilberto Correa, who at the time was the host of another successful Venevision show "De Fiesta Con Venevisión". Meanwhile, people were patient enough to wait for Bendayan's constant returns, welcoming him with the now memorable slogan of "Ánimo Amador!" which later became a stample of the show during the entire decade.Bendayan's wish for a better respect to artists around the country was fulfilled in 1985, when he hosted an event celebrating his idea of La Casa del Artista. But despite his efforts, Amador's health was rapidly deteriorating by this time and was forced to retire completely from the show, while the audience still watched his show and the many musical performers would sign a flipchart pleading for his return.
In late July 1989, agonizing in his deathbed, Bendayan made producer Ricardo Peña write a letter as a farewell message to Venezuela and his wish to continue producing the show with Gilberto Correa, who was in charge of reading Bendayan's last will on a special aired the day after he died, on August 4, 1989.
Amador Bendayan's death was a hard blow on everyone who worked or participated on the show, particularly on Ricardo Peña. Despite the grief, the show kept on with new host Gilberto Correa and co-host Milka Chulina, generating higher ratings and focusing even more on multitudinary events, like state fairs, the Super Bingo de la Bondad, and the Festival de la Orquidea.
Correa to Sarcos (1996-97)
Daniel Sarcos's youthful energy caught the eye of Gilberto Correa, who at the time saw his own inevitable retire that same year. Sarcos started in 1996 by covering the "Mega Match Sensacional" segment for his first year on the show, while Correa was hosting in the main studio. Sarcos later took over as permanent host during a Feria de San Sebastian edition of the show, which took place on January 18, 1997. Shortly after, the stage received a huge makeover. One of the best known segments on the show was La Guerra De Los Sexos, introduced in 2000, later becoming its own show in early 2009. The talent show segment, "El Precipicio Reforzado" was added in 2006, featuring a jury of three people dressed like Juan Gabriel, El Chacal, Alejandro Corona, Doña Gumersinda, Don Francisco, etc. This segment was renamed "El Precipicio Disparatado" in 2011. They have many other new segments covering many slots of the show's duration, generating criticism amongst its viewers. Despite this, Súper Sábado Sensacional still goes strong over 40 years on air, maintaining its place as one of the longest running variety shows in Latin America.A tribute was made to Amador Bendayan for the 20th anniversary of his death. Former host Gilberto Correa, as well as many other previous guests of Súper Sábado Sensacional all returned to participate in the tribute. The original Sábado Sensacional theme song was used for the intro of this episode.
Nearly two months after the airing of Bendayan's tribute, executive producer Ricardo Peña died in his home of natural causes. On Saturday of that week, Daniel Sarcos, along with nearly all of Venevision's employees paid tribute to Peña during that airing of Súper Sábado Sensacional. Peña served as executive producer on the show since 1977.
Sarcos to Villalobos (2010-16)
Sarcos later signed a contract with a network in Ecuador. Venevision got deeper into details with the situation, and by January 2010, Sarcos finally admitted that he has signed a contract with Ecuavisa, and was willing to still continue with Venevision, but production executives did not allow it. His contract with Venevision expired, and Sarcos left Súper Sábado Sensacional. On February 13, 2010, entertainer Leonardo Villalobos debuted as host of Súper Sábado Sensacional, following his departure from his previous show, Portada's.On August 25, 2012, Venevision would suspend production of the program due to the events related to the Amuay Tragedy. In 2013, the program would celebrate its 40th anniversary, featuring appearances from Mariángel Ruiz and Viviana Gibelli to present some of the program's specials or contests.