El secretario


El secretario is a Colombian telenovela produced and broadcast by Caracol Televisión from August 22, 2011 to March 30, 2012.

Plot

30-year-old Emilio Romero was living in New York City working as a pizza delivery guy, despite his background in finances. He finds out through a Facebook-like social network that he has a 6-year-old daughter in Bogotá, and decides to come back to Colombia, but he is broke. One of his clients, who turns out to be a Gangster, pays his plane tickets with the condition of taking a suitcase full of clothes. When arriving to Bogotá, customs police find the suitcase has a double bottom packed with thousands of dollars. Romero co-operates with justice and is released under parole. He meets his daughter Valentina, who lives with her mother and Emilio's ex-girlfriend Lorena and her stepfather Franklin Sotomayor.
With no money in his pockets, Emilio managed to find a place to live: an apartment whose former tenant is to be evicted. There he meets Gertrudis Dudis Buenahora, his new neighbour. Emilio also accepts a job as a secretary at Industrias Copito, a toilet paper company. His immediate bosses are Mario Segura, the operations manager and the owner's half-brother, and Antonia Fontalvo, the workaholic commercial manager and fiancée of Félix Segura, the company's owner. Félix has a clandestine affaire with Paola Zorrilla, Antonia's best friend.
As the only male secretary of the company, Emilio is mocked by the other secretaries and his male coworkers. Mario hates him because Antonia hired a male secretary in order to keep Mario's sexual instincts away from his former secretary, Yensi. Though loyal, optimistic, kind, and efficient, Emilio is clumsy and gets easily into trouble, specially with Félix; nevertheless, Antonia constantly defends him and stands by his side.

Cast

The theme song is Solo tú, by in-house composers Fabo Romero and Jimmy Pulido López; the latter performs the song. Music by Afro-Colombian electronica band Systema Solar is featured in many episodes. In episode 12, most secretaries and the administrative area humiliate Emilio by performing a choreography with Daniela Romo's 1983 hit Pobre secretaria, which Emilio and Antonia sing in karaoke in episode 52. In episode 45, many Copito employees perform a choreography with Bomba Estéreo's 2008 hit Fuego. Vallenato singer Pipe Peláez appears on episode 72 singing a cappella Cuando quieras quiero; in the same episode Mario dances Kool and the Gang's Ladies Night. In episode 98, Tú by Stephanie Cayo is featured. Other songs already used by Caracol TV in other telenovelas, such as Ensamble's Otra vez, Adriana Bottina's Ya mi soledad and Lucas Troo's Sin tu fe, are also featured.

Reception

After watching the first episode, television critic Javier Santamaría stated that the telenovela is similar to other Caracol TV series such as Nuevo rico nuevo pobre and Clase ejecutiva and that it does not have anything "special;" he criticizes Argentine actor Martín Karpan but praises Espinosa for his "commitment and energy." Days later, his perception of the telenovela improved, praising its incidental music and stating that, since it is a comedy, it is "unavoidable" to see "caricatured characters."
Ómar Rincón, writing for El Tiempo, slams Karpan, Mendoza, and López calling their characters "un-bear-able," and says that at Industrias Copito "no one works, everyone yells." Rincón praises the plot, "it sounds plausible, it's sweet and creates empathy ," and actors Espinosa and Cayo.
At gossip website lafiscalia.com, pinksauce praises its opening sequence, its scenes taped in New York, and the visual effects, but found some inconsistencies from the legal point of view on Emilio's return to Colombia, and criticizes Espinosa, Mendoza, Karpan, and Cayo, as well as the costume design and the make-up. Diana C., from telenovela portal todotnv.com, claims that the love story with unresolved sexual tension between Emilio and Antonia is "weak," though praises the "cuteness" brought by Emilio's daughter, and the fact that Cayo and Karpan don't hide their native accents ; she praises most main actors, except López.
Ratings improved during its first week and, after having started in fifth place among the programmes broadcast in prime time, it finished third after the fourth episode. On 22 September 2011, it climbed to second place and became the most watched telenovela in Colombia that day.

Awards and nominations

India Catalina Awards

Source:; the event is part of the Cartagena Film Festival
YearCategoryNomineeResult
2012Best telenovelaEl secretarioNominated
2012Best telenovela actressStephanie CayoWon
2012Best telenovela actorJuan Pablo EspinosaWon
2012Best telenovela soundtrackSolo tú, by Jimmy Pulido López and Fabo RomeroWon
2012Best telenovela editingJuan Pablo SernaNominated
2012Best telenovela cinematographyRafael Puentes and Freddy CastroNominated
2012Best telenovela or series antagonistic actressAndrea LópezNominated
2012Best telenovela or series antagonistic actorMartín KarpanNominated
2012Best telenovela supporting actressMargalida CastroWon
2012Best telenovela supporting actressValentina LizcanoNominated
2012Best supporting telenovela actorFabián MendozaWon
2012Best original telenovela screenplay and storyJörg Hiller, Claudia Sánchez, and Catalina CoyWon
2012Best telenovela directorJuan Camilo Pinzón, Unai AmuchasteguiNominated
2012Best telenovela art directionModularioNominated

TVyNovelas Awards

Source:
YearCategoryNomineeResult
2012Favourite telenovelaEl secretarioWon
2012Favourite telenovela starring actressStephanie CayoWon
2012Favourite telenovela starring actorJuan Pablo EspinosaWon
2012Favourite telenovela supporting actorFernando SolórzanoNominated
2012Favourite telenovela supporting actorFreddy OrdóñezWon
2012Favourite telenovela supporting actressValentina LizcanoNominated
2012Favourite telenovela supporting actressMargalida CastroWon
2012Favourite telenovela female villainAndrea LópezNominated
2012Favourite telenovela female villainAlexandra SerranoNominated
2012Favourite telenovela male villainFabián MendozaWon
2012Favourite telenovela male villainMartín KarpanNominated
2012Favourite song themeSolo tú by Jimmy Pulido López and Fabo RomeroWon
2012Favourite screenwriterJörg Hiller, Claudia Sánchez, Catalina CoyWon
2012Favourite telenovela or series directorJuan Camilo Pinzón, Unai Amuchástegui, Víctor CantilloWon

International broadcast

On October 2011, El secretario premiered on Telesistema 11 in Dominican Republic. WAPA-TV broadcasts the telenovela in Puerto Rico since December 2011. El secretario premiered 9 January 2012 on Repretel in Costa Rica, and 13 February 2012 on Chilean network La Red. In Ecuador it premiered 11 June 2012 on TC Televisión.
In Malaysia, it premieres on 8 October 2012, via Astro Bella and Astro Mustika HD at 4:00pm. While the Mexican remake, Porque el amor manda, airing on Canal de las estrellas also premieres on the same date.