Al fondo hay sitio

Al fondo hay sitio (Spanish: There's Room in the Back) is a Peruvian comedy television series released in March 2009 by Efraín Aguilar. The story revolves around two very different families living in the same neighbourhood, the Gonzales (a low-class family who have just moved from Huamanga, Ayacucho) and the Maldini (a rich and powerful family with a high economic status) an. It is one of the most popular telenovelas in Peru and is now being shown in Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Al fondo hay sitio There's Room in the Back
Genre	Comedy
Created by	Efraín Aguilar Gigio Aranada
Written by	Gigio Aranda
Directed by	Toño Vega
Opening theme	Al fondo hay sitio (Tommy Portugal)
Ending theme	Al fondo hay sitio (Tommy Portugal)
Composer(s)	Tommy Portugal
Country of origin	Peru
Original language(s)	Spanish
No. of seasons	8
No. of episodes	1,583
Production
Executive producer(s)	Efraín Aguilar
Production location(s)	Lince District, Lima  Peru
Running time	42-45 minutes Monday to Friday at 20:00 PET (UTC-5)
Release
Original network	América Televisión
Picture format	(HDTV) (1080i) - (16:9) (SDTV) (480i) - (4:3) (early seasons)
Audio format	Stereophonic sound
Original release	March 30, 2009 – December 5, 2016
Chronology
Preceded by	Así es la Vida Puro Corazón
Followed by	De Vuelta Al Barrio

Plot

Season 1

One of the most exclusive areas of Lima, "Las Lomas", is shaken up by the arrival of the Gonzales family from Huamanga, Ayacucho. The family settled in a half-built house they inherited. Their peasant traditions infuriate the neighbors, especially the family living opposite them, the Maldinis. The Maldinis are the richest family in all of Las Lomas, however, they still cannot find a way to get rid of the newcomers. Amid this confrontation, the Ferrands, another neighboring family, befriend the newcomers.

Fernanda De Las Casas, daughter of the Maldinis, is enamored with one of the Gonzales, Joel, and they begin a relationship. The two families do not accept it due to their socio-economic differences. After they escape together, the family puts Joel in jail and sends Fernanda to Boston. In Boston, she falls in love with another man, Mike, who is wealthy and returns with her to Lima. Meanwhile, Grace (Joel's sister) becomes attracted to her close friend Nicolas (Fernanda's brother). However, he has a girlfriend, Cayetana Bogani, a spoiled and wealthy girl who mistreats Grace because of her lack of wealth. Meanwhile, Cayetana's brother Gianfranco is attracted to Grace and is determined to win her love. At the same time, Fernanda, Mike, Nicolás, and Cayetana try to set Mia (Fernanda's best friend) up with Gianfranco.

Miguel Ignacio De Las Casas divorces Isabella Picasso because she finds out that he is cheating on her with his secretary. During the divorce process, Isabella falls in love with her lawyer Mariano Pendeivis (the former fiancé of Francesca). However, he has a girlfriend and is shocked when he finds out that Isabella is in love with him. This leads to Isabella taking a holiday in Abu Dhabi, trying to follow in the footsteps of the Sex and the City story, and falls in love with somebody called Leonardo. She thinks he is perfect, but he is hiding a secret involving Claudia Zapata (the secretary of "Constructora De Las Casas"). Meanwhile, Miguel Ignacio refuses to sign the divorce papers, and is then fired from his position as General Manager when he is caught cheating on Isabella with his maid Gladys. Francesca (the owner of "Constructora De Las Casas") then hires Mike as General Manager. Nicolás mishears the conversation between Francesca and Peter (the butler) about the position and assumes that they are going to give the position to him. When he finds out that the position is for Mike, he is infuriated and leaves the house.

Season 2

When Peter discovers that Claudia is manipulating Mike and convinces him to leave Fernanda, Claudia kidnaps Peter, shoots him in the chest and leaves him for dead. Claudia attempts to flee the country with money embezzled from the company but is spotted by Mike at the airport, who is also leaving after his attempts to win back Fernanda fail. Having heard of Peter's plight, Mike prevents Claudia from boarding the plane and she is subsequently arrested. While Peter is recovering in the hospital, Francesca overhears Peter in his sleep and under the effects of anesthesia saying that he has always loved her.

Peter recovers only to find out his secret love is well known by everybody and Francesca does not share the same feeling. Soon everybody finds out because Gilberto, Nelly's husband, accidentally tells her. Determined to make Francesca look bad, she tells the whole family. At the same time, Grace and the newly changed Cayetana are planning Gianfranco's (Grace's boyfriend of whom she is convinced will make her forget about Nicolas) birthday which is sought out to be huge. While Cayetana seems to have changed, she plans the party as a trap for Grace and Nicolas (who returns to being her boyfriend after learning that she "changed"). It was when dancing that she reveals Grace's love for Nicolas and proceeds to pours a large amount of mud on them, embarrassing them in front of all the high society guests at the party. Grace then breaks up with Gianfranco knowing that she can never forget about Nicolas.

Meanwhile, Mike succeeds in winning back Fernanda because she thinks it is over and decides he was the best thing that happened to her. Joel is also starting to reconstruct his love life because his co-worker Andrea is in love with him. He, on the other hand, is convinced that she is almost like a guy friend to him and that there will be nothing more. After learning that, Andrea tells him and Joel finally returns her love. Even though she really loves him, she is insecure and is afraid that Joel will go running back to Fernanda.

One day Claudia calls Mike, and makes him believe that she had a mental breakdown which led her to commit her crime. At first, Mike does not believe in her, but at the end he starts visiting her. Unfortunately it is all a trap because somebody that Claudia knows takes a picture of Mike and Claudia kissing. Then Claudia sends that picture to Fernanda and Francesca causing the breakup of Mike's relationship with Fernanda for the second time and after that Mike leaves Lima. Meanwhile, Miguel Ignacio, falls in love with Gladys and they start a project by selling juanes. With a lot of effort they are able to open a restaurant called "¡Ay, La Gladys!" (Lit. Oh Gladys!). But he has to face a problem: Regaining the love of his children who are ashamed of their father. After finding out that his father is poor and is working in a market with Gladys, Nicolas learns to accept it. Fernanda, however, does not. After regaining the love of his daughter, Miguel Ignacio's restaurant is burned down and he loses everything. Later, viewers learn that the fire was caused by Claudia's friend from prison. After losing the restaurant Miguel Ignacio, overwhelmed by the debts, decides to escape by leaving Gladys.

While Miguel Ignacio is trying to escape, he receives a call from Claudia and finds out that she was the one who orchestrated the destruction of his restaurant. After realizing that he is helpless Miguel Ignacio decides to join Claudia. After his bold decision, Claudia tells him how to accomplish what he wants more than anything in the world - to get back at Francesca. She tells him a secret and Miguel Ignacio uses it to blackmail Francesca into giving him back his old job as General Manager. Meanwhile, Luciana, Raul and Susu's daughter return for Raul and Charo's wedding. Grace feels threatened because Nicolas and Luciana used to be a couple. When a rumor is spread by Isabella and Susu that Nicolas and Luciana are back as a couple, Grace furiously tells Nicolas everything she feels for him. After days without talking, Nicolas realizes that he loves Grace and that they should not be friends, but should date instead. After sharing a kiss with Grace, he leaves for her mother's wedding. On his way there, he almost crashes into a truck.

Charo marries Raul in Las Lomas, and Isabella does the same with Leonardo in a hotel in Paracas. He dedicates a song to Isabella, to which they dance. When everything is over he reads a message that Claudia gave him and throws it into the water, revealing he is the brother of Claudia. Back at Las Lomas, everything seems to go well until an unexpected guest (Lucho Gonzales) arrives at the Gonzales' house, leaving everyone in shock and making Charo faint.

Francesca, overwhelmed by the blackmailing of Miguel Ignacio, leaves the hotel with Peter following. When they are in the car, she starts to cry and reveals her secret to Peter: Isabella is not her daughter.

Season 3

The first episode describes how Charo and Lucho's marriage was like 22 years ago, and what happens afterwards. Miguel Ignacio gains back his original post at the construction management office and calls Gladys, rekindling their relationship.

Days later, Charo decides to board a plane with Raul for a getaway, but she ends up deserting him and heads back home, as she feels that she is abandoning her children. Later, she finds Raul and tells him that she wants to leave with him, but he rejects her as he felt hurt after she had deserted him. They both get divorced, as conflicting relationships arise with Lucho's presence. Later, Raul meets Renata Newman, whom he starts a relationship with to forget about Charo. Charo, in return, goes back to being Lucho's wife, without knowing that he hides a secret from her.

Pepe, Tito, and Joel go to Rio de Janeiro, due to a website they joined. Later, Fernanda (out of jealousy towards the relationship that Joel has with another girl named Andrea) makes a blown-up picture of Joel making out with a girl he met in Rio. Consequently, Andrea breaks up with him. Claudia Zapata is released from prison, with every intention to make the people who hurt her pay.

In an act of vengeance, Isabella, along with Francesca and Peter, smothers Doña Nelly with paint. In retaliation, Nelly says that Isabella is not Francesca's real daughter in front of her, giving Francesca a panic attack, most of all because Isabella calls up her mysterious sister, Rafaella, to tell her the truth. Rafaella tells Isabella that she is neither the daughter of Francesca Maldini nor of Bruno Picasso, but they both love her as if she were their real daughter.

Claudia makes friends with Grace Gonzales, but later Grace realizes that Claudia was only trying to manipulate her. Peter, the Maldini's butler, later sees Claudia and Leonardo, Isabella's new husband, talking. This is something that makes him suspicious. Peter then leaves the Maldini house to go live in the Gonzales' due to "Madam" (his name for Francesca) and her mistrust of him. He then returns to his old post because Tito's mother, Maria Juana Smith, was harassing him, and because he knew that Francesca wouldn't really pay any attention to him.

Fernanda gets back together with Joel, a fact that infuriates Andrea and Lucas, Fernanda's ex-boyfriend, and both Andrea and Lucas wish to get revenge on Joel. Margarita, Grace's best friend, takes advantage of the whole situation and attempts to seduce Lucas, and they later become a couple.

Later in the series, Lucho's secret is revealed. On the day of the wedding in which he remarries Charo, three uninvited guests, a woman and her children, show up. The woman is revealed to be Lucho's lover, Reyna Pachas (Tatiana Astengo), whom Lucho met at a bar. Her children are twenty-year-old Shirley, a cute but superficial girl with a mean personality, and sixteen-year-old Jhonny, a kind and hard-working boy with a disciplined lifestyle. Everyone is completely shocked at the news, and the surprise eventually turns into rage, as the whole family is furious upon finding out that the reason why Lucho was gone for so long was because he was spending time with his "other" family. The wedding soon turns into a nightmare for everyone. It sparks much jealousy between the two families, especially in Grace and Shirley, as Grace and Shirley were both fully convinced that they were "daddy's little princess". When Shirley begins to sob about her father loving her other sister more, Lucho assures Shirley that she is the daughter most dear to him, a fact that Grace overhears, breaking her heart.

When Shirley and Jhonny are kicked out momentarily from the house while everyone inside fights, Nicolas catches Shirley's eye, and she falls madly in love with him. She has no idea that Nicolas was Grace's ex-boyfriend, but when she does find out, she doesn't let that stop her. She does everything she can to make him love her back, without noticing that Nicolas is uncomfortable with her smothering affection for him. Like daughter, like mother, Reyna also tries to seduce Miguel Ignacio, who has gotten back with Gladys and is expecting a baby boy. Gladys, feeling that she is unable to compete with Reyna, becomes jealous and resentful. When Gladys starts to accuse Miguel Ignacio that something is going on between him and Reyna, he fires Reyna's son Jhonny who was working for him as a janitor. When Reyna gets the news she tries to seduce Miguel into giving the job back to her son. She brings him a plate of sopa seca (a coastal dish popular in Ica, where Reyna hails from) but when she comes clear the table she breaks down and starts to cry. She tells Miguel that she does not know what she is going to do because of what Lucho did to her.

Miguel Ignacio, not knowing what to do, tells her that he will give her son his job back plus a rise and promotion. When she heard this she jumps up and hugs him resulting in Reyna giving Miguel Ignacio a kiss.

Season 3 closes at the day where Mariano Pendavis and Teresa are about to get married and Francesca appears in the middle of the wedding and flees with Mariano, leaving Teresa in despair after having her wedding ruined and the Gonzales family furious. Joel and Fernanda get secretly married. A mysterious man from province (which is later is known to be Isabella's biological father) asks himself how his precious 'wawita' is. Miguel Ignacio leaves a business meeting to witness the birth of his son Otto, which Claudia appears at the last second to make her next move.

Season 4

In the first episode, the Gonzales household is devastated as the wedding between Mariano and Teresa has been frustrated by the appearance of Francesca. Peter is devastated by hearing this from Gilberto. In a church, Joel and Fernanda get secretly married in order to prevent being separated by the Maldini family. Meanwhile, in the hospital, Miguel Ignacio and Gladys are happy as their son Otto was born, which Claudia kidnaps him afterwards and is given as ransom for 1 million soles ($286204.92). Miguel Ignacio and Raul head to the location where Otto is 'apparently' being held, only to watch the place explodes. Claudia successfully managed to trick Miguel Ignacio and Gladys and flees from the hospital, leaving the baby safe.

At the Gonzales household, Reina Pachas and their family claims 'by right' a place in the house, which started a long-lasting confrontation between Charo and Reina, and Shirley and Grace. Nelly heads to the Maldini household to explain the truth about Isabella.

Isabella Picasso is revealed to have been kidnapped as an infant and taken away from her biological family called the "Pampanuapas". Nelly reveals the secret to many people including Isabella. Francesca and Bruno were jealous they didn't have a child of their own, so Francesca faked a pregnancy and took a baby from the hospital. The real parents of Isabella arrive in the seventh episode and the mother, Chabela, serves as a maid to the Maldini family. She is told of the secret by Francesca's husband, Chabela cries of the bad news. She then informs Emiliano, the father of Isabella, of the discovery and they decide to report it to the police.

In the Gonzalez household, they are millionaires for the first time and buy all sorts of highly expensive items, since Pepe received partial ownership of the Construction management office. Joel and Fernanda are kidnapped by armed hitmen paid by Claudia Zapata, the Gonzalez and Maldini comforted each other of their potential impending execution. Joel and Fernanda escape with the help of Mike Miller and an anonymous text by Leonardo of the location of where they were kidnapped. Due to Pepe losing the job, they lose their fortune while doing a Christmas parade to give people free money. The bank then sends a truck and people to take everything from the house, even the chihuahua that Nelly owned. Francesca and Isabella are seen celebrating on their porch.

The Pampanuapas enter the house of the Maldini family and accuse Francesca for kidnapping. They then brought two police officers to take Francesca to jail. Meanwhile, in a lawyer office, Mariano Pendeivis, the husband of Francesca finds out that Leonardo is the son of Fernando Llanos and the brother of the criminal Claudia Zapata. Knowing that Francesca is in mortal danger, he calls Peter to stay with her at all times as he will tell them of what he just found out. He walks quickly to an elevator, he enters and when the elevator doors opened, he sees Claudia Zapata. Claudia enters the elevator and presses the close door button, after the doors are closed, Claudia murders Mariano with two gunshots. After the murder, security cameras catch Claudia shooting Pendeivis and a police officer intercepts her attempting to escape. She is charged with murder and illegal possession of a gun. Francesca is escorted to a police station where her mugshot is taken and transported to a jail cell, she meets her longtime enemy Claudia Zapata. A terrified Francesca asks why she is there, Claudia tells her that they captured her like Francesca. Francesca says she will be out soon because Mariano will help her, Claudia reveals to her that her husband will not arrive because the reason she is in jail is because she murdered him. Francesca cries on the revelation. Tito and Teresa have a secret affair and accidentally drank beer and slept together. Charo finds her ex-boyfriend Carlos Cabrera at a Christmas party dressed as Santa Claus. At the end scene, Grace buys a pregnancy test and is tested out positive for pregnancy.

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7

Final Season

Cast

The Gonzales Household

• Gustavo Bueno as Gilberto Collazos Chipana (Nelly's second husband)
• Irma Maury as Nelly Camacho Morote de Collazos (Gilberto's wife)
• David Almandoz as José Visitación "Pepe" Gonzales Camacho (Nelly's son from a first marriage)
• Magdyel Ugaz as Teresa "Tere" Collazos Camacho or "Teresita" (Gilberto and Nelly's daughter)
• Mónica Sánchez as Rosario "Charo" Flores Rojas De Gonzales (Gilberto and Nelly's daughter-in-law)
• Erick Elera as Joel Gonzales Flores (Lucho and Charo's first son)
• Mayra Couto as Graciela "Grace" Gonzales Flores (Lucho and Charo's daughter)
• Bruno Odar as Luis "Lucho" Gonzales Camacho (Nelly's second son, from a first marriage Charo's first husband)
• Tatiana Astengo as Reyna Pachas Montero (Lucho's second wife)
• László Kovács as Alberto "Tito" Lara Smith (Pepe's best friend and roommate)
• Joaquin Escobar as Juan Gabriel "Johnny" Gonzales Pachas (Lucho and Reyna's son)
• Areliz Benel as Shirley Anyer Gonzales Pachas (Lucho and Reyna's daughter)
• Aarón Picasso as Jaime "Jaimito" Gonzales Flores (Lucho and Charo's third and last son)

The Maldini Household

• Yvonne Frayssinet as Francesca Vittoria Maldini Di Paolo (matriarch of the Maldini family, Isabella's adoptive mother)
• Karina Calmet as Isabella Fernanda Picasso Maldini de las Casas (Francesca and Bruno's adoptive daughter)
• Sergio Galliani as Miguel Ignacio de las Casas Diez Canseco o "Nacho" (Isabella's first husband)
• Andrés Wiese as Nicolás "Ricolas" de las Casas Picasso (Isabella and Miguel Ignacio's first son)
• Nataniel Sánchez as Fernanda de las Casas Picasso (Isabella and Miguel Ignacio's first daughter)
• Adolfo Chuiman as Rodolfo Rojas a.k.a. "Peter Mackey" (Francesca's butler)
• Melanie Urbina as Maria de Monserrat Chafloque Neciosud (Francesca's maid)
• Luis Ángel Pinasco as Bruno Picasso (Isabella's adoptive father, Francesca's first husband)
• Marco Zunino as Leonardo "Cosito" Zapata a.k.a. Leonardo Rizo Patron (Isabella's husband and Claudia's brother)
• Marcelo Oxenford as Mariano Pendeivis - (Actor Marcelo Oxenford is Yvonne Fraysinnet's husband in real life)

Other characters

• Daniela Sarfaty as Susan "Susú" Ferrand (Isabella's best friend)
• Valeria Bringas as Luciana del Prado Ferrand (Susú and Raúl's daughter)
• Pierina Carcelén as Liliana Morales (Miguel Ignacio's ex-secretary/lover)
• Fernando Bakovic as Padre Manuel (Priest of Las Lomas)
• Junior Silva as Kevin Arturo Manrique o "Gabriel Calvo Pollo Gordo" (Joel's best friend)
• Paola Enrico as María Elena
• Chiara Molina as Mia Wong (Fernanda's old best friend)
• Andrea Barbier as Marilú
• Katia Salazar as Janet'
• Karla Medina as Verónica "Verito" Miranda
• Oscar Ugaz as Roberto Cercado "Robert"
• Christian Thorsen as Raúl del Prado (Susú's ex-husband, Charo's second husband)
• Amparo Brambilla as Vanesa Camacho Morote (Nelly's sister)
• Úrsula Boza as Claudia Zapata (Miguel Ignacio's ex-secretary/lover and most important villain)
• Akinori Sato as Felipe Toshiro Ikeda
• Sergio Gjurinovic as Mateo Wiese (Fernanda's ex-boyfriend)
• Stephanie Jacobs as Chiara Benavides
• Daniela Camaiora as Margarita "Nataniel" Arizmende
• Marisol Ramos as Brenda Ramos
• Carlos Cabrera as Pancho
• Hector Jiménez as El Chamán
• Paco Bazan as Richard Wilkinson (Ex-boyfriend of Teresa and father of Richard Jr.)
• Julián Legaspi as Ángel Gaviria (Leader of the "Familia" mafia and boyfriend of Teresa)
• Marcial Mattews as Jacinto Tinoco
• Manuel Escalante as Carlos de la Cadena
• Haydeé Cáceres as Bertha Domínguez
• Alessandra Denegri as Cayetana Bogani (Ex-girlfriend of Nicolas and Joel)
• Mariano Sabato as Tony Beteta
• Carlos Solano as Felix Panduro (Las Lomas' watchman)
• Joaquín de Orbegoso as Michael "Mike" Miller Villavicencio (Monserrat's boyfriend, Fernada's ex-boyfriend)
• Kukulí Morante as Gladys (Miguel Ignacio's ex-girlfriend, Mother of Otto, Miguel Ignacio's child)
• Cynthia Chanta as Fabiola
• Anita Martínez as María Eugenia Pflücker de Del Prado
• Diego Seminario as Gianfranco "Gianguapo" Bogani
• Natalia Salas as Andrea Aguirre
• Olga Zumaran as Yolanda Arriola
• Tatiana Alfaro as Julieta
• Denisse Dibós as Ana Lucia Villavicencio Graña de Miller/ De las Casas "Anita Miller"
• María Fe Fuentes Valega as Mabel Wilson
• Jhoany Vegas as Martha
• Cesar Ritter as Manolo López (Socorro and Peter's first and only child)
• Paul Vega as Jorge "Koky" Reyes (Husband of Charo Flores)
• Paloma Fevi (Feví) as Salti
• Teddy Guzman as Carmen Torres (Widow of Fernando Llanos and mother of Claudia and Leonardo Llanos - main villain of the 8th season)

Product promotions

• In September 2010, Embotelladora Don Jorge S.A.C. of Lima Peru announced its promotion of Al Fondo Hay Sitio on labels of Perú Cola and Isaac Kola. The labels of Perú Cola featured caricatures of 14 different characters from the telenovela on the front of the 500 ml and 1.5 litre PET bottles. The larger sizes (2.200 litres and 3.300 litres) had groups of characters on the larger size labels. With five flavors of Peru Cola (including Isaac Kola) and 14 characters, there were 70 different labels available to collect. In addition to the labels, there were prizes consisting of 50 different collectible stickers featuring 16 different characters from the show (with similar caricatures used on the face of the labels) available on the inside of the peel-off labels — one each on the 500 ml and 1.5 litre bottles. The 2.200 litre bottles came with two stickers, and the 3.300 litre bottles had three stickers. The promotion officially ended November 15, 2010, but the labels and stickers were available on store shelves after that time. The television commercial for the promotion publicized an interactive website for the promotion.[1]
• In November 2010, Corporación José R. Lindley S.A. of Lima Peru announced its premium promotion of Frugos Kards picturing scenes from Al Fondo Hay Sitio. Customers were instructed to redeem one cap from the 1 litre size carton of Frugos nectar, or three tabs with the Tetra Pak logo from the 235 ml juice boxes, plus 50 centimos (PEN) in exchange for two packs of Frugos Kards at participating retailers across Peru. There were 80 different collectible photo cards, and 40 different cardstock diecut standups. Contest cards were included in packs to win visits by television series characters to the consumer's home, dinner with actors from the series, visits to the set of the show, tickets to live shows, and caps and T-shirts. The offer was available nationwide in Peru and authorized until December 30, 2010 or while supplies lasted. The television commercial for the promotion featured Teresita played by actress Magdyel Ugaz (and included other characters from the show).[2]
• In January 2011, Embotelladora Don Jorge S.A.C. introduced a second promotion for Al Fondo Hay Sitio. It featured a second set of sticker-tattoos (decals, unlike the larger format square stickers from the first series) with new artwork with various caricatures of characters from the television series on 1/2 liter PET bottles of Perú Cola and Isaac Kola. This promotion did not include different collectable labels with different characters as in the first promotion. The label indicated that an album for the stickers could be ordered from a website for the promotion.

References

1. "Al Fondo Hay Sitio con Peru Cola y Isaac Kola". Promogana.net. 22 September 2010. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
2. "Frugos Kards Al fondo hay Sitio Promoción Canje" [In the background is Frugos Kards Exchange Site Promotion]. Promogana.net. 29 November 2010. Archived from the original on 29 December 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2015.