Videomatch was a late-night 120-minute Argentine comedy show hosted by Marcelo Tinelli and broadcast on Telefe that first aired in March 1, 1990 in the midnight time slot.
The show changed its name to Showmatch in 2005 after moving to Canal 9.
Videomatch began as a sports show. Since its second year, sports were replaced with bloopers, and then comedy sketches, increasing its success to a large extent. According to Tinelli:
In this way, Tinelli got a second show, Ritmo de la noche, comprising the same cast of Videomatch but airing Sundays on primetime.
Videomatch continued on Telefe until 2004, with excellent ratings, being the most-watched show in all its years and becoming a "classic"; until an argument between Marcelo Tinelli and Claudio Villaruel (Director of Programming for Telefe) led to Tinelli leaving the channel. The show then switched to Channel 9, changing its name to Showmatch.
The program was broadcast by Telefe for more than 15 years, and was composed of a team that was changed over the years, starting with sports commentators Gonzalo Bonadeo, Osvaldo PrÃÂncipi, Felipe Mc Gough, Henry de Ridder, Daniel Jacubovich, Marcelo "Teto" Medina, Ricardo "Lanchita" Bissio, Alejandro Coccia and others. And then it switched to comedians such as Leo Rosenwasser, Hugo Varela, Pablo Granados, Pachu Peña, Freddy Villareal, José MarÃÂa Listorti, Campi, Naim Sibara (El Turco Naim), Miguel ÃÂngel RodrÃÂguez, Diego Korol, Marcelo De Bellis, Larry de Clay, Rodrigo RodrÃÂguez, Roberto Peña, Sergio Gonal, Waldo (ÃÂlvaro Navia), Yayo (José Carlos Guridi), Toti Ciliberto, Sebastián Almada and Pichu (Fernando Straneo).
Among its best remembered sketches are:
Among the most remembered opening themes are songs like "Twist and Shout" (by The Beatles), 19-2000 (by Gorillaz), "Vicio" (by Los Ratones Paranoicos), Pink (by Aerosmith) and more.
Walter Carzon created a comic strip based on El Oso Arturo, a mascot character who frequently appeared in VideoMatch.
Marcelo Tinelli received the Golden MartÃÂn Fierro Award in 1998, and his show won more than 20 statuettes since.