In June 1983, my family and I moved from the Chicago area to Saddle River, New Jersey, a New York City suburb (I was then 21, and about to begin my sophomore year at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck). One Saturday afternoon in July, after we had settled in, I was watching TV and perusing the channels when I came across "El Gran Circo" on WNJU-TV, Channel 47 in Linden/Newark.
Just for kicks, I checked this show out (I understand Spanish a little bit). It was rather funny to watch, and somehow it seemed to evoke fond memories of shows of this same genre my younger sister and I used to watch when we were youngsters living in Warren, Michigan in the 60's (e.g. "Bozo the Clown," "Oopsy"). And for some reason, I always thought the song heard over the opening credits was funny, especially while watching the kids in the audience rocking back and forth in their seats singing along!
One episode of "El Gran Circo" I remember watching on WNJU featured one of the clowns, Fofito, playing the song "People" (from the musical "Funny Girl") on his clavinet in one segment (a clavinet is an instrument that resembles a mini-keyboard; you blow into it, and it sounds a little like a harmonica). I don't remember the comedy sketches in that particular episode, however.
A few months ago, I checked You Tube to see if any episodes of "El Gran Circo" were posted. Sure enough, there *were* - but *not* the one I saw in New Jersey in the summer of 1983 (one of those You Tube videos of "El Gran Circo" featured a literal remake of a "Honeymooners" sketch, and another featured a medley of songs from "Mary Poppins," naturally sung in Spanish). Still, just seeing those few episodes again made me long for my college days.
I recently submitted this show to TV Shows on DVD.com; to date, it received only *2* (!) paltry votes, one from myself and another from somebody else who also remembers this show.
I appeal to anyone else who remembers "El Gran Circo" and would like to see it rereleased on DVD - *please* - go to TV Shows on DVD.com and vote for it. If it gets more than 100 votes, it might attract an American DVD label's attention, and maybe the original Spanish producers could arrange to have it issued here in the States. (And to said producers - do you think you could also include English subtitles? After all, it seems no less ridiculous when you consider many movies and TV shows on DVD are either dubbed into another language on a separate audio track or have subtitles in said language that can be selected from the DVD menu. Indeed, "El Gran Circo" can be enjoyed by *all* ages.)
So *don't* wait - vote for "El Gran Circo" at TV Shows on DVD.com *now!*
