Pé na Cova

Pé na Cova is a Brazilian television series produced by TV Globo. It was shown from 24 January 2013 to 7 April 2016, with 71 episodes and 5 seasons.

Created and written by Miguel Falabella, with scripts by Alessandra Poggi, Antonia Pellegrino, Artur Xexéo, Flávio Marinho and Luiz Carlos Góes, collaboration by Ana Quintana, final script by Miguel Falabella and Flávio Marinho, under the direction of Cris D'Amato, Hsu Chien and Cininha de Paula, general direction by Cininha de Paula and core direction by Roberto Talma.

It featured Miguel Falabella, Marília Pêra, Lorena Comparato, Daniel Torres, Luma Costa, Mart'nália, Karin Hils, and Karina Marthin in the main roles.

Production Although the apparent backdrop of the series is death, Miguel Falabella said that, in fact, its backdrop "is the great tragedy of national education." Cininha Paula noted that "death surrounds, but does not star in the series" and Falabella concluded that "in Brazil, death has a very morbid footprint and I imagined that it would be banal to make a comedy with the theme" and that is why he would try to seek a "lightness".

The author said that although the plot deals with controversial issues, the text "borders on ‘nonsense’." Cininha de Paula, the general director, described the series as a realistic comedy. The "crazy realism", as the director calls it, has diverse inspirations, ranging from the Cohen brothers to Cuban and Portuguese films. Falabella said that "Pé na Cova" is a reflective program and not just about the relationship with death, but at the same time, it is very "light".

About the central family, the author commented that they "have no money, no education, are completely crazy", as well as having "an unusual characteristic": they are "a group of people who are eccentric to the limit, who border on the absurd and survive over death", but which, according to him, does exist. Falabella also said that he thought of them as an "Addams Family from Irajá."

As the series is set in the Irajá neighborhood, Cininha de Paula went there to find the necessary references, where she acquired information about funeral services, sets, and costumes. For the latter, she also used "things from Portuguese films, because of the great influence of the Lusitanian colonies."

In the third season, which began on 8 April 2014, Marília Pêra left the series due to a health problem. On 11 June, she returned to recording the series. During the airing of the fourth season, the actress, who played the character Darlene, died on 5 December 2015. Rede Globo met with the actress's family and the cast and kept the series going even after the actress's death until the end of the last season on 7 April 2016. Despite the actress's death, she had already left one more season recorded.

Casting The choice of Mart'nália was made by Falabella himself, who adapted the lines considering her difficulty speaking and her debut as an actress. Luma Costa, for her part, had to take tests in order to play Odete Roitman. When she heard that the series needed a blonde, light-eyed actress, she signed up for the selection, which she won. Luma also took pole dancing classes to prepare for her role, which included wearing lingerie as part of her costume.

The role of Juscelino, the funerary driver, was originally going to be played by Ney Latorraca, who, however, had health problems and was hospitalized. He was then replaced by Alexandre Zacchia. However, the author has said that when the actor is fully recovered, he will be able to play another character, Doctor Zoltan, an unreliable doctor who works as a psychiatrist and surgeon. In June 2013, Ney Latorraca communicated with Falabella and decided not to join the cast, citing his intention to take more time before returning to acting, passing the character on to Diogo Vilela, who had already worked with the author on Toma Lá Dá Cá.

Actress Marília Pêra, who played the character Darlene, died on 5 December 2015. However, the series continued to be shown, because she had already left one more season recorded. Miguel Falabella contacted the actress's family so that her image could be used in the last recorded season of the series, in 2016.

Plot Set in Irajá, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro, the plot focuses on the Pereira family, headed by Gedivan Pereira, better known as Ruço (Miguel Falabella), who is dating Abigail (Lorena Comparato), an orphan girl who is thirty years younger than him, and is the owner of F.U.I. - Funerária Unidos do Irajá -, a company that is almost bankrupt due to past mismanagement and which doesn't make enough money to support everyone in the house. To help out at home, Ruço's daughter Odete (Luma Costa) works producing adult content on internet sites for subscribers and is also the girlfriend of transsexual mechanic Tamanco (Mart'nália). The patriarch's youngest son, Alessanderson (Daniel Torres), doesn't care about working and wants a career in politics, being a braggart who manages to manipulate people in the neighborhood with false promises for the future. The family is completed by Darlene (Marília Pêra), Ruço's ex-wife, who struggles with alcohol dependence, and his best friend and confidant, who works as a make-up artist for a funeral home.

The house is also home to Bá (Niana Machado), Ruço's former nanny, who struggles with memory loss, which occasionally leads to challenging situations for the family, and Adenóide (Sabrina Korgut), a maid who always has a story of tragedy and poverty to tell. The funeral home is run by the gloomy handyman Juscelino (Alexandre Zacchia), a terrible driver who regularly ends up losing a body, and is the brother of the schizophrenic Luz Divina (Eliana Rocha), a woman who resorts to schemes to obtain money for her medication. The neighborhood is also home to the mechanic Marco (Maurício Xavier), Tamanco's brother who performs as a drag queen at night, Floriano (Rubens de Araújo), a grouchy and paranoid neighbor, and the barista twins Soninja (Karin Hils) and Giussandra (Karina Marthin), who are absolutely different and run a snack cart with creative names inspired by the funeral home, such as X-túmulo (X-tomb) and caixão-quente (hot-coffin).

In the third season, Dr. Zóltan (Diogo Vilela), a plastic surgeon with OCD, joins the cast, while in the fourth, Luiziane, Odete's stripper co-worker who gets involved with Alessanderson, and Men Fu (Chao Chen), a Chinese man who has an affair with Odete but falls in love with Adenóide.

Cast

Main roles Actor Character Season 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Miguel Falabella Gedivan Pereira (Ruço) colspan="5" Marília Pêra Darlene dos Santos colspan="2" colspan="1" colspan="2" Lorena Comparato Abigail de Jesus colspan="5" Daniel Torres Alessanderson Pereira dos Santos colspan="5" Luma Costa Odete Roitman Pereira dos Santos colspan="5" Mart'nália Cristiane Oliveira (Tamanco) colspan="5" Juscelino Jardim da Mata colspan="5" Luz Divina Jardim da Mata colspan="5" Sabrina Korgut Adenóide Cidreira Cipó colspan="5" Karin Hils Soninja Torres Sampaio colspan="3" colspan="1" colspan="1" Karina Marthin Giussandra Torres Sampaio Maurício Xavier Marco Antônio (Marcão / Markassa) colspan="5" Niana Machado Isaura Silvino (Bá) colspan="5" Floriano colspan="5" Helady Araújo Dircéia colspan="4" Gabriel Lima Sermancino dos Santos Pereira colspan="1" colspan="4" Clécio Pereira colspan="1" colspan="4" Legislator Arlindo Sebonetti colspan="2" colspan="3" Dr. Zóltan Davidson de Jesus colspan="2" colspan="3" Laura Keller Luiziane da Silva colspan="2" colspan="2"

Recurrent role Intérprete Personagem Temporadas 1ª 2ª 3ª 4ª 5ª Prínces colspan="4" Márcia Regina Sebonetti colspan="3" colspan="2" Amauri Oliveira Falsa Soninja colspan="3" colspan="1" Maria Gladys Drª. Elisabete Tazcanha colspan="4"

Special guests Intérprete PersonagemAnna LuzDircéia (young) Viétia Zangrandi Maria de Lourdes (Lurdinha) Laura Cardoso Mozica Pereira Vera Lúcia Pereira Nivalda Júlio Rocha Marcinho Azeitona Andrea Dantas Veridiana Horácio Pimenteira Webson Jurandir Lourival Conan Julinho Varejeira Alessandra Maestrini Hérnia Lopes Delfino / Rénner Detective Samir Nabucha Jandira Zezeh Barbosa Paulina Bia Nunnes Maria Isabel Haroldinho Mariozinho Eliseu Carvalho Zanata Giovanna Antonelli Her self / Priscila Márcia Cabrita Felícia Ilvio Amaral Legislator Mr Coisinha Garnizé Amarula Alejandro Claveaux Pablo Ladislau Souza Zaíra Elisinha/Jurema Mrs Aracy Rosalro Alcides Osvaldo Romano Capitain Rodrigo Romilda Doralice Quarentona Toda Boa (Sexy Old Lady) Soninja (After Liposuction) Pastora Jurema Chico Diaz Damasceno Patrícia Swanson Lumi Kin Heleninha Wu (adult) Rômulo Simões Neymã (adult) Rivalda Solange / Lange Wilson Jacira Camila Amado Ivonete Rosa Mário Theresa Amayo Ruço's client Ruço's client Mrs. Lady

Seasons Season Episodes Original Exhibition Overall averageAudiência referente a Grande São Paulo, onde cada ponto equivale a 65 mil domicílios. Season premiere Season finale 1 22 24 January 2013 20 June 2013 14 2 11The season ended with 11 episodes, because on 19 November, a friendly match of the Brazilian national team was shown instead of the show. 1 October 2013 17 December 2013 16 3 14 8 April 2014 8 July 2014 15 4 12 29 September 2015 29 December 2015 14 512 21 January 2016 7 April 2016 14

Spin-off On the program's official website, there was a web series called Lembranças do Irajá (Memories of Irajá), where the main focus was on showing the past of the central characters.

Rebroadcast From 10 January 2019, to 19 March 2020, It was rebroadcast on Canal Viva.

Reception

Audience The series premiered with an average of 17 points in São Paulo.

Critical evaluation Columnist Nilson Xavier of the UOL website praised the show, saying: "There's nothing like black humor to play with death and prejudice by taking a debauched and amusing look at human tragedy."

Awards and nominations YearAwardCategorieNominationResult2014Best Comedy2013Best ComedyBest Costume DesignBest Make-UpMost Promising ActressMart'nália

Soundtrack "Pé na Cova" - Mart'nália (Opening theme) "Canto Para a Minha Morte" - Raul Seixas (General) "Mon Amour Meu Bem Ma Famme" - Reginaldo Rossi (Abigail's theme) "Eu Te Amo Meu Brasil" - "Lábio que Beijei" - Orlando Silva "The Green Leaves Of Summer" - The Brothers Four

Notes

Pé na Cova

Bron en licentie