Casi Ángeles

Casi ángeles (literal translation Almost Angels, official international title is Teen Angels) is a successful Argentine series targeted at teenagers. The show had four seasons and led its time-slot for three of those seasons, spawning over 100 licensed products, an official magazines, a tour and four successful seasons of a musical at Teatro Gran Rex. It started airing on 21 March 2007 and ended its run on 29 November 2010 on Telefe.

The TV series was created by Cris Morena, and produced by Cris Morena Group and RGB Entertainment. It had four seasons and was aired initially at 6 P.M. and, from the end of its second season on, at 7 P.M. The show mixed science fiction and themes related to teen issues.

Was starred Emilia Attias, Nicolás Vázquez, Mariano Torre, Lali Espósito, Peter Lanzani, Eugenia Suárez, Nicolas Riera y Gastón Dalmau. In 2008 Vázquez left the series due to personal reasons, and the third season included a new character, portrayed by Mariano Torre.

The show also spawned a popular musical group Teen Angels, consisting of Espósito, Suárez, Lanzani, Riera and Dalmau. In 2011 Suárez left the band and was replaced by Rocío Igarzábal. The band continued touring until 2012, two years after the end of the show. Cris Morena wrote all their lyrics but wasn't involved in their management as a band, which was under Gustavo Yankelevich's RGB Entertainment. In this fiction surguieron actors like Lali Espósito, Eugenia Suárez, Peter Lanzani, Nicolas Riera, Candela Vetrano, Rocio Igarzabal, Maria Del Cerro, Pablo Martinez, Victorio D´alessandro, Gastón Dalmau, Belen Chavanne, Paula Reca, Agustín Sierra, Stefano De Gregorio, Daniela Aita, inter alia

Plot summary

'Casi ángeles' is the story of those who believe in paradise while living in hell, for those who take their pain to build up their strength and happiness. 'Casi Ángeles' is the story about those who never abandon their dreams.

"Casi ángeles: Eudamón's Island" (season 1): A group of underprivileged kids and teenagers are being exploited and obligated to steal by the powerful Bartolomé Bedoya Agüero (Alejo García Pinto) and Justina Merarda García (Julia Calvo). However, everything changes when acrobat and dancer Cielo Mágico (Emilia Attias) and the adventurous archaeologist Nicolás Bauer (Nicolás Vázquez) enter their lives. Both of them keep important secrets that will change their lives when revealed. Cielo, through her music and love, and Nico, with his protection and dreams, will give the kids (Marianella, Thiago, Rama, Jazmín, Tacho, Lleca, Monito, Aleli and Luz) the possibility to believe in happiness again. Cielo will form a music band called Teen Angels with the teens Marianella (Lali Espósito), Thiago (Peter Lanzani), Jazmín (Eugenia Suárez), Rama (Gastón Dalmau) and Tacho(Nico Riera).

"Casi ángeles: The Man of a Thousand Faces" (season 2): Nico accomplishes Cielo's dreams and transforms the institution into "Hogar Mágico" (where the new characters arrive: Tefi, Luca, Nacho, Caridad, Simón, Valeria and Melody), a place where constant changes, rebellions, learning, colliding passions, mistakes, achievements, frustrations, insecurities and happiness surge. Everything will be full of music, dance, songs and contests but there is a mystery surrounding everyone that has to do with the secrets the portal, a huge clock located in Cielo and Nico's room, is hiding, and the relationship that everybody, kids, teenagers and grown-ups, have with it. The problem is Juan Cruz is trying to harm them all. This portal has chosen every single one of them and they all have a mission. Discovering this mission will be the meaning of their trip, (Thiago, Marianella, Tacho, Jazmín, Rama, Lleca, Valeria, Tefi, Luca, Melody, Simón, Nacho, Caridad and Justina; they are the guardians of Eudamón).

"Casi ángeles: The Little Prince" (season 3): The portal in Cielo's room sends them 22 years in the future (2030). There they discover that the world is in the middle of a huge collapse, so their mission is to save the world's peace and save Paz (Emilia Attias), the daughter of Nico and Cielo. They all live together in Mandalay School, a boarding school founded by Nico ( the old house where they used to live in the past). The abilities of the second circle: Thiago (leader and intellect; he can deduce the problem of trip in the time),

Mar (intuitive; she has premonition when they are all in danger),

Jaz (mink; she can see the future),

Tacho (instinct; he does not trust always in people),

Rama (sensitive; he can connect with people and understand them),

and Lleca (seductive; he can persuade people).

They succeed in saving Paz but they have to deal with the Government Corporation (Corporacion Nueva Era Virtual) that has a part in what the world has become. In the season finale the Government Corporation complete the protocol: "El Principito" ("The Little Prince") by throwing a gas bomb in the hotel where the pupils of Mandalay are on a trip.

"Casi Ángeles: The Resistance" (Season 4): the Government Corporation plans on creating a new world by brain washing the people that were caught in the gas bombs. Some were caught but some succeeded in escaping. Those who were caught were brain washed by the Chief of Ministers who is actually Cielo's sister, Luz (Mercedes Funes). The people who escaped know the truth and want to get back their friends that were brain washed but they have to cross a big wall that surrounds the new world. Eventually Esperanza as she prefers her name in English that means Hope(Jimena Baron), daughter of Nico and Malvina awakes and gets back her old memories. She discovers a tunnel that leads to the other side of the wall where the ones who know the truth are. She and the ones of the other side tell the truth to the brainwashed and they eventually start to awake like Esperanza did. Behind all of this is a man known as Mr. Jay. Later is revealed that Mr. Jay is Simón (Pablo Martínez) one of the people who traveled 22 years in the future. A professor who after is revealed to be Thiago (Peter Lanzani) reveals that when they go back to their time (2010) Simón is going to become Mr. Jay. Thiago's plan is to hide Simón in 2068 so he never becomes Jay. Thiago and Simón succeed in their plan. Now that they saved Paz and prevented Simón not to become Jay the world's peace is saved and their mission is completed. Everyone goes back to their time except for Simón and Valeria who go to 2068 so Simón doesn't become Jay.

Creation and reception

Logo creation

In Season 1, the logo had two angel wings united by a safety pin, which also represented the A for Ángeles. The wings were covered in patches to represent the fact they were poor and had affection holes in their hearts. This explanation was given by Cris Morena during an interview for Produ.tv.

In Season 2, the patches disappeared from the logo. In this season, the characters were not poor anymore and had a loving family.

In Season 3, there was not a safety pin uniting the two wings anymore. The font of Casi Ángeles changed slightly. The logo background image had a mandala, which is one important symbol this season, for example, the school they attend is called Mandalay. For a brief period of the Season 3, the logo went dark to represent the fact Camilo Estrella, Mariano Torre's character, had been possessed by the evil Juan Cruz and tragedy would ensue.

In the third season finale, the fourth season logo was revealed. It is orange and black and it has a different font. There's also a peace sign with two wings coming out of it. The I and V from the title resemble the Roman number for 4, IV.

Reception

Although the show had a good critical reception, Casi Ángeles was received with lukewarm ratings. The fans of Cris Morena criticized the show for being too repetitive, with scenes exactly like some of her previous hits such as Rebelde Way, Floricienta, Chiquititas and Alma Pirata. In the beginning, the show did not have a specific audience, it was targeted to kids and teenagers with some story lines skewing too young while others too old. The ratings were dropping and the highly promoted Patito Feo debuted on Canal 13 at the same time slot, and easily beat Casi Ángeles ratings. While repercussion and sales of Patito Feo products were astronomic and ratings were soaring, Casi Ángeles rating numbers were struggling which prompted Telefe to hurriedly change the show to an earlier time slot.

Also some changes were made in Casi Ángeles. The show concentrated on teenagers and started distancing from previous shows of Cris Morena, adding mystery and suspense elements. The changes had an effect and the audience started to grow. After a few weeks in the earlier time slot, the show returned to its original 6 P.M. slot, again confronting Patito Feo and this time it had similar rating numbers. In the end, the show had an average of 12 points according to Ibope, only 0.2 points lower than Patito Feo. The Season 1 finale reached 15 points, a series high and 1 point higher than Patito Feo's finale.

Although the show was struggling on television, the 2007 musical with the entire cast of the show in Teatro Gran Rex was the highest-grossing live event of the year. As usual, Cris Morena invested millions of dollars in a high-tech concert full of expensive effects and production. It sold over 120,000 tickets. The first-season soundtrack album, with all songs sung by the cast, ranked 12th on the best-selling albums of 2007 list compiled by CAPIF, much lower than Patito Feo's soundtrack which was number one. It also ranked lower than some of the previous Cris Morena production soundtracks (Chiquititas 2006 was sixth on the annual list in 2006, Floricienta 2 was first in 2005, Floricienta 1 was 3rd in 2004 and 10th in 2005, Erreway's Señales was 3rd in 2002 and 7th in 2003) although it did achieve Platinum certification. During the summer hiatus, the cast of the show played concerts in Córdoba, Rosario and Punta del Este.

In the second season, the show got a total makeover. It became much more oriented to teenagers, with the Teen Angels receiving more screen time and Nico and Cielo's relationship less. It also introduced a new format for a daily fiction: episodes had titles and ended in monologues, following the model of U.S. shows such as Grey's Anatomy, Sex and the City and Desperate Housewives. In the same vein as Lost, the mystery elements became very important. The changes were well received and the show's rating exploded. It easily beat Patito Feo's Season 2 number; while the Canal 13 show had a 9 points average, 3 points lower than previous season, Casi Ángeles Season 2 averaged 14 points, 2 points higher. The second soundtrack album was also a strong seller, achieving double platinum and ending the year as the third-best-selling album in the annual ranking.

The Teen Angels popularity skyrocketed with the cast appearing on the cover of several magazines and attracting huge hysteria wherever they went. In Unicenter, a store was opened to sell exclusive Casi Ángeles merchandising, Fans Store. The 2008 live musical in Teatro Gran Rex broke records with 220,000 tickets sold, the second highest attendance ever in the theater's 81 years of history and doubling the number of the previous season^[1] After the season of concerts in Buenos Aires, the Teen Angels toured extensively in Argentina, selling out arenas everywhere. They also played a sold-out concert for 40,000 in Montevideo, Uruguay. After the second season finale, the cast played six additional concerts in Buenos Aires, and, during the summer hiatus, the Teen Angels were chosen as the spokespersons for Coca-Cola. They recorded the song "Hoy Quiero" which became the official Coke Summer Anthem. Also during the summer, they played two sold-out concerts in Mar del Plata and opened the official Coca Cola stand in Pinamar, attracting over 2500 people to the event.

In January, Disney Channel started airing the show to Latin America, in a highly edited version cutting all the sexual and violent elements. To promote the show and their CD, the Teen Angels traveled to Mexico City for a showcase and interviews. The third season finally debuted in Argentina in April, six months after production began. Without no substantial competition, after Patito Feo was canceled due to season 2's disastrous number, ratings went through the roof. The third season average is, up to August, 15 points, two points higher than 2008. The third CD is also the best-selling album of the year until the moment. However, the live musical could not top the first two seasons' attendance numbers due to the swine flu epidemic which caused panic in Buenos Aires in July, during the Winter vacations. In August, sales were normalized and the concerts started to sell out fast as usual. However, all the canceled shows in July meant 2009 musical would not top previous years' numbers. In the end, it sold 100,000 tickets, which was less than the two previous seasons.

In late 2008, after the debut of the second season, Casi Ángeles became a gigantic hit in Israel. Peter Lanzani and Lali Espósito visited the country to promote the show and caused hysteria. The complete cast visited Tel Aviv in October 2009 for a series of sold-out concerts which had over 80,000 tickets sold. Peter and Mariana were also chosen as spokespeople for the Keff shampoo.

The third season ended on 5 December 2009. It reached 16.6 points and didn't exceed the season 2 season finale or the season 3 debut (both achieved 18.4 points). Season 3 averaged 14 points, the same as season 2. However, there was a drop in the ratings from the middle of the season.

In November, the Teen Angels did a promotional tour across Latin America. In December, they'll visit Spain and Italy.

The show was renewed for a fourth season and will return to Telefe in 2010. The Teen Angels will star in Coca Cola Argentina's Christmas promotional campaign and will be featured on Coke's cans.

Licensing

Casi Ángeles spawned a series of merchandising. During the Season 1, the products were targeted to children with toys, apparel, bicycle, cosmetics among others targeting mostly young girls. With the second season became teenage-oriented and the licensing program also started to skew older beginning. Stationery items, posters, postcards, furniture, clothing line, perfumes among other products were released to accompany the second and the third season. An official store, Fans Store, is located at Unicenter shopping mall in Buenos Aires.

The show also spawned an official monthly magazine, four sticker albums by Panini, three soundtrack albums, two live album, among other products. The program has tie-ins with several brands. Lingerie line Sweet Victorian and label 47 Street are sponsors of the show and also responsible for the wardrobe of most female characters. Shoe brand Jaguar is also a sponsor and their products are advertised on the show and used by the characters. Jaguar also has a Casi Angeles shoe line available. Coca-Cola and Movistar also have ties with the program.

Cast and characters

Main characters

• Emilia Attias as Cielo "Sky" Mágico / Ángeles Inchausti / Linda Barba (seasons 1,2) and Paz Bauer (season 3)
• Nicolás Vázquez as Nicolás "Nico" Bauer (seasons 1,2,4)
• Mariano Torre Juan Cruz York (season 2) and Camilo Estrella (season 3)
• Peter Lanzani "Thiago" Bedoya Agüero (seasons 1,2,3,4)
• Lali Espósito as Marianella "Mar" Rinaldi (seasons 1,2,3,4)
• María Eugenia Suárez as Jazmín "Jaz" Romero (seasons 1,2,3,4)
• Gastón Dalmau as Ramiro "Rama" Ordóñez (seasons 1,2,3,4)
• Nicolás Riera as Juan "Tacho" Morales (seasons 1,2,3,4)
• Julia Calvo as Justina Merrarda"Tina" García (seasons 1,2,3) and Felicitas "Feli" García(season 2)
• Mercedes Funes as Chief Ministers / Luz Inchausti (adult) (seasons 3,4)
• Alejo García Pintos as Bartolome "Barto" Bedoya Agüero (seasons 1,2)
• Jimena Baron as Esperanza "Hope" Bauer (seasons 3,4)
• Pablo Martínez as Simón Arechavaleta / Mr. Jay (adult Simon) (seasons 2,3,4)
• Rocío Igarzabal Valeria Gutiérrez (seasons 2,3,4)
• Victorio D'Alessandro as Luca Francini (seasons 2,3,4)
• Candela Vetrano as Estefania "Tefi" Rinaldi Elordi (seasons 1,2,3,4)
• María del Cerro as Melody Paz (seasons 2,3,4)
• Agustín Sierra as Ignacio "Nacho" Perez Alzamendi and Nerdito Perez Alzamendi (seasons 1,2,3,4)
• Stefano de Gregorio as León "Lleca" Benitez (seasons 1,2,3,4)

Minor characters

Other releases

Team Angels

Team Angels is a five-minute segment usually aired at the end of each episode with backstage, interviews, among other extra content.^[2] This segment was introduced in the Season 2.^[2] Luli Fernández and Jaime Domínguez hosted the show in 2008; in 2009 they were replaced with Carolina Ibarra and Gastón Vietto.^[2] The format changed for the fourth season, changing the segment to Bonus Track where most of the content is put online through YouTube Casi Ángeles channel. In the fourth season they took out the name Team Angels and named it Bonus Track. The aired content includes backstage videos from the concerts and the shooting of Casi Ángeles; Teen Angels music videos; Real Cam, when a member of the cast use a handheld camero to document his day and life; interviews; Q&A, when the actors reply the question posted by Casi Ángeles fans via its official website, etc.^[2] In 2009 Team Angels added the Fans Store, so fans can leave their messages for the cast; some of these messages are aired during the show.^[2] In some occasions, Team Angels have special exhibitions, named Casual Team.^[2]

Soundtracks albums

DVDs

The Books

"La isla de Eudamon" In 1 Julyº, 2010; publish the book "Resiste"- clave para encontrar tu llave. This book is Best Seller in Argentina. The book reveals secrets that were not in the TV series. "Resiste" was produced by Cris Morena Group and RGB Entertainment with inclusion Editorial Planeta.

In December 2011, publish the book "El hombre de las mil caras". This book is of second season.

Edition

Broadcasting

Country	Broadcaster	Premiered
Macedonia	A1 Television Sitel (TV channel)	2007/2013
Argentina (country of origin)	Telefe Jetix	2007
Israel	Nickelodeon Arutz HaYeladim	2007 2008
Chile	Jetix	2007
Uruguay	Jetix Monte Carlo TV	2007
Bolivia	Jetix	2007
Paraguay	Jetix	2007
Peru	Jetix	2007
Brazil	Band	2010
Dominican Republic	Tele Antillas Disney Channel	2009
Spain	Nickelodeon FDF Telecinco[3]	2007 2009
Mexico	Disney Channel	2009
Venezuela	Disney Channel	2009
Colombia	Disney Channel	2009
Ecuador	Disney Channel	2009
El Salvador	Disney Channel	2009
Guatemala	Disney Channel	2009
Honduras	Disney Channel	2009
Costa Rica	Disney Channel	2009
Nicaragua	Disney Channel	2009
Belize	Disney Channel	2009
Panama	Disney Channel TVO	2009
Italy	Cartoon Network Boing Telefe Internazionale	2009
Russia	Nickelodeon	2009
Portugal	Nickelodeon	2009
Australia	Telefe Internacional	2008
United States	Telefe Internacional	2008
World	Telefe Internacional	2008

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Official Website
• Casi Ángeles at the Internet Movie Database