Graduados () is a 2012 Argentine telenovela that was broadcast by Telefe from March 12 to December 19. The plot concerns a group of people who graduated from high school in 1989 and reunite twenty years later. The main character, Andrés Goddzer (Daniel Hendler), discovers that María Laura Falsini (Nancy Dupláa) was pregnant in 1989 and married Pablo Catáneo (Luciano Cáceres), who thought that he was the child's father. The resulting parental dispute, the love triangle of the main characters and 1980s nostalgia are frequent plot elements, and story arcs related to school bullying and LGBT rights are also featured. The frequent flashbacks of the characters to their high-school days use the same actors, playing teenagers.
The series, written by Sebastián Ortega, was produced by Endemol and Underground producciones. Although Andy Kusnetzoff was offered the lead-character role, Hendler was cast when Kusnetzoff turned it down (the latter joined the cast several months later as another character). The telenovela featured cameos and guest appearances by Argentine rock musicians and other celebrities. Graduados was widely successful, prevailing in the ratings over the blockbuster competitive dance program Showmatch and the telenovela Sos mi hombre. Although it received the 2012 Golden Martín Fierro award, seven other Martín Fierro Awards and ten Tato Awards (including Program of the Year), plans for theatrical and film adaptions were abandoned. The telenovela's proposed second season was renamed Viudas e hijos del Rock and Roll, with most of the cast and similar storylines. Local versions of the series have been made in Chile, Colombia, Greece and Serbia.
Plot A group of high-school students graduate in 1989. María Laura Falsini (Nancy Dupláa) is the girlfriend of Pablo Catáneo (Luciano Cáceres), the school bully. When María Laura sees Pablo having sex in the bathroom with another girl during the graduation party, she leaves the party. Andrés Goddzer (Daniel Hendler) accompanies her, and they have sex in his car. María Laura becomes pregnant and her father, Clemente Falsini (Juan Leyrado), owner of Mac Can, a successful dog-food company, orders her to marry Pablo—unaware of her encounter with Andrés.
The first episode then makes an ellipsis from 1989 to 2012. Pablo works for Clemente's company, and Andrés is a slacker without a stable job who works as dog walker. María Laura hires Andrés by chance, and remembers their 1989 encounter; a DNA test confirms that Andrés (not Pablo) is the father of her son, Martín. These events give the series its basic plot: Andrés tries to adjust to his newly discovered paternity, Pablo resents his intrusion, Martín tries to stay on good terms with both of them and María Laura begins a romance with Andrés. Pablo cheats on her with Patricia Longo (Isabel Macedo), Clemente's wife and secretary. She becomes pregnant by Pablo, but claims that Clemente is her son's father.
Andrés' family is Jewish. His parents are Elías (Roberto Carnaghi) and Dana (Mirta Busnelli), and his sister Gabriela (Violeta Urtizberea) works at MAC CAN, and has been unlucky in love. Andrés maintains his friendship with two high-school classmates: Benjamín "Tuca" Pardo (Mex Urtizberea) and Verónica Diorio (Julieta Ortega), who runs a radio station which plays 1980s Argentine rock music. María Laura keeps in touch with her best friend in high school: psychiatrist Victoria Lauría (Paola Barrientos), a single woman looking for a partner with whom to have a surrogate child. Guillermo Almada (Juan Gil Navarro), another classmate, takes a job at Mac Can and comes out during a meeting of the graduates. Clemente's wife Patricia is, unknown to everybody else, another classmate. Obese at school, she lost weight and changed her face and name.
Patricia's secret is slowly revealed to the other characters. Pablo learns her true identity in the series finale, and they stay together. Andrés and Maria Laura leave the city; Victoria has a son with Tuca; Elías and Dana open a knish shop and Gabriela marries her neighbor, Marito (Alan Sabbagh). The series ends with a party hosted by the school for the 1989 graduates, similar to the graduation party in the first episode.
Cast
Actor Character Description Daniel Hendler Andrés Goddzer The main character, Andrés is a dog walker and a fan of 1980s Argentine rock music. With Tuca and Vero, he refuses to take a steady job and tries to keep his teenage rebelliousness alive. Nancy Dupláa María Laura Falsini Known as Loli, she has sex with Andrés on their graduation night in 1989. Eighteen years later, she realizes that Andrés (not her husband, Pablo) is Martín's father. Luciano Cáceres Pablo Catáneo The school bully, he married his girlfriend Loli after graduation when he was apparently responsible for her pregnancy. Isabel Macedo Patricia Longo An obese girl who was bullied at school, she lost weight and changed her name from Jimena Benitez to Patricia Longo. Julieta Ortega Verónica Diorio Vero is a tomboy who has remained friends with Andy and Tuca since high school. She operates a pirate radio station, which plays 1980s music. Mex Urtizberea Benjamín "Tuca" Pardo Tuca is a millionaire who hosts parties and does not take anything seriously. Paola Barrientos Victoria Lauría A psychologist who has been María Laura's best friend since high school. Gastón Soffritti Martín Catáneo The son of Loli, he discovered that his true father is Andy and not Pablo. Violeta Urtizberea Gabriela Goddzer Andrés' sister tries to attend university and keep a job. Juan Leyrado Clemente Falsini Owner of the McCan company and Loli's father Mirta Busnelli Dana Blatt de Goddzer Andrés' mother Roberto Carnaghi Elías Goddzer Andrés' father, who owns a clothing shop Juan Gil Navarro Guillermo Almada A gay man, who comes out at a class reunion Marco Antonio Caponi Augusto Giribone Pablo's brother, confidant and ally
Production
Graduados refers frequently to the 1980s (the decade in which the main characters attended high school), using 1980s Argentine slang and flashbacks to evoke nostalgia. The series uses 1980s musicin particular, Argentine rockand several Argentine musicians made cameo appearances. Graduados was part of a trend in 2012 Argentine television toward nostalgia. According to Argentine consumer-trends consultant Ximena Díaz Alarcón, "The 80s are nowadays far enough to be idealized and close enough to laugh about the earlier versions of oneself". Psychologist and consumer-trends consultant Mariela Mociulsky also suggested that the show's structure invited viewers to compare their lives with the plans they made when they were younger.
Graduados had scripts written by Ernesto Korovsky, Silvina Frejdkes and Alejandro Quesada. Although it was primarily a comedy, it also had a dramatic approach to LGBT rights and school bullying. In Clarín, Adriana Schettini praised its transitions from dramatic to comic scenes, its acting and scripts and its faithfulness to the characters' profiles.
Creation and cast Graduados was created by Sebastián Ortega with the working title of El paseaperros (), a planned miniseries about a character and his group of friends. The writers gradually expanded the storyline, incorporating more characters and story arcs. Although Andy Kusnetzoff turned down a starring role in the show because of his work at Radio Metro, he made cameo appearances in six episodes and later became a regular character. Mike Amigorena was offered the lead-protagonist and lead-antagonist roles, but declined both. Relative unknown Daniel Hendler was finally selected to play Andrés; he had already been cast as the secondary character Tuca, who was played by Mex Urtizberea after Hendler was recast as Andrés. The character of Verónica Diorio was initially written for actress Verónica Lozano, who turned down the role. Julieta Ortega, initially cast as Victoria Lauría, replaced Lozano and Victoria was played by stage actress Paola Barrientos. Érica Rivas and Ludovico Di Santo also turned down roles in the series and their characters were played by Nancy Dupláa and Marco Antonio Caponi, respectively.
Juan Leyrado played a grandfather for the first time in his career. Unlike the usual telenovela grandfather (a secondary character), his character has a prominent role and his own story arcs. Leyrado, who was 60 years old when the series was made, said that he was still active in his personal life and played the character according to his own experiences. Korean-Argentine Chang Kim Sung, who played Walter Mao, said he was proud that his character did not conform to stereotypes of Asian people.
Although Mex and Violeta Urtizberea are father and daughter, Violeta accepted a role in the series without knowing that her father was also part of the cast and asked him to respect her space. Although they played characters of similar ages, they rarely have joint scenes. Julieta Ortega said that she has nothing in common with her character in the series. Juan Gil Navarro, who appeared in the television drama La Dueña at the same time, said that although he does not normally appear in comedies he followed his wife's suggestion.
Isabel Macedo had played several villains, including in Floricienta, and took the Patricia Longo-Jimena Benitez role because it was something she had not done before. Although Patricia's past identity as Jimena was intended to be a secret for only ten episodes, Macedo insisted that the mystery should be maintained for a longer time. She read about victims of school bullying to inform her character and declined other work during the year to stay focused on the series, becoming emotionally attached to her character.
Recurring elements
Drama The series includes a homosexual character, Guillermo Almada (Juan Gil Navarro), who came out in the early episodes and later married his partner in a ceremony featuring guest appearances by Evangelina Salazar and Luis Brandoni. This was the first fictional same-sex marriage on Argentine television since it was legalized in 2010, reflected the growing acceptance of sexual freedom in Argentina. Another character, Patricia Longo, was an obese girl who was a victim of school bullying. Isabel Macedo had to be heavily made up to appear obese for the flashbacks. Patricia was initially the telenovela's villain, with the bullying her motivation for inflicting revenge on her former classmates. The episode in which she reveals her true identity was well received.
Flashbacks
The high-school years of the main characters are depicted in flashbacks, a recurring element. For comic effect, the flashbacks were filmed with the actors who played the adult characters instead of younger actors. One episode includes a reenactment of the 1980s game show Feliz domingo para la juventud, with an appearance by host Silvio Soldán. This episode also features a guest appearance by Andy Kusnetzoff, who later joined the regular cast. Another episode has a flashback set in Italpark, an Argentine theme park which closed in 1990. Since the Italpark rides are now in Luján, the production moved there to shoot those scenes.
One episode includes a flashback to San Carlos de Bariloche, the location of the graduation trip (an Argentine prom tradition). Pablo Echarri made a guest appearance as the trip's coordinator, and fans of the show were selected in an internet competition to join the trip to Bariloche as extras. Another flashback features the Pumper Nic fast-food restaurant and a guest appearance by sportswriter Juan Pablo Varsky. Not all flashbacks are focused on the 1980s or high school; some are events from a character's adolescence, such as the shotgun wedding of María Laura and Pablo or her 15th birthday.
Music