Hermes & Renato

Hermes & Renato was a sketch comedy television series broadcast by MTV Brasil, starting in 1999. It starred Marco Antônio (as Hermes), Fausto Fanti (as Renato), Adriano Pereira, Bruno Alexandre, Felipe Fagundes, and Gil Brother. The style of humour makes heavy use of curse words, which are often at the core of the punch lines, and mocking of 1970's fashion styles. The troupe has cited the much more children-oriented "Os Trapalhões" group as one of their biggest influences.

Hermes e Renato
Portuguese	Hermes e Renato
Genre	Black comedy Sketch comedy Insult comedy Satire
Starring	Marco Antônio Alves (1999-2015) Fausto Fanti (1999-2014) Adriano Pereira (1999-2015) Bruno Sutter (1999-2009) Felipe Torres (1999-2015) Gil Brother (2004-2008) Franco Fanti (2015)
Country of origin	Brazil
Original language(s)	Portuguese
Production
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	60 minutes
Release
Original network	MTV Brasil
Original release	1999 (1999) - 2009 2013 2015
Chronology
Followed by	Banana Mecânica

Characters

• Gil Brother "Away" de Petrópolis - Once homeless, Jaime Gil da Costa, also known as Gil Brother or Away de Petropolis, was invited to appear in Hermes & Renato as a supporting actor, and took lead roles in later sketches after growing in popularity. He is a tiny man with dreadlocks with a comical face, and his popularity is attributed to the way he curses, and his vernacular. As a dancer, his style is similar to late 1970s break dancing.
• Hermes and Renato - The original sketch that gave name to the show was a parody of pornochanchada (Sexploitation movies made mostly in the 1970s and 1980s in Brazil). They are characters that dress in 70's clothes and live in Rio de Janeiro, and are the main characters of the show, inspired by con artists or pimps. They try to make money in every way, playing cards, winning a poetry contest, opening a butcher shop selling cat meat, as masons, borrowing money from Gil Brother and paying with ham, and so on.
• Joselito - This character is an extreme prankster who will do anything to create fun for himself, but all of his pranks end up in tragedy and hurt those around him both physically and emotionally. His last name is "Sem Noção" (English: clueless). His jokes are always jokes of poor taste.
• Boça - This character is a parody of a geek/nerd personality type. He lives with his grandmother, Vó Lurdes, loves old video games and dresses as if he were a child, although he is 32 years old. He speaks in a heavy São Paulo accent and loves making lame jokes. He is a member and founder of the "Associação dos Mini-gameiros" (English: Mini-Gamers Association).
• Massacration - A parody of heavy metal band stereotypes, the lead vocalist cut off his testicles to be able to sing in a higher pitch, and all other members wear black leather clothes. The comedians of the show really play the instruments, and have also recorded a CD.
• Cláudio Ricardo - A parody of João Kléber, Gugu Liberato and some other well-known presenters, Cláudio Ricardo does anything he can to be famous. He is constantly hosting his Cláudio Ricardo Show and giving interviews after leaving rehab.

Sketches

• Gozo, the clown - A parody of Bozo the Clown. His fictional TV program is full of sexual references and double entendres. Gozo is Brazilian Portuguese for "ejaculation", and European Portuguese for "fun".
• Drop Away News - A news show where the special reporter, "Away" from Petrópolis, played by Gil Brother, comments on subjects from recent events, using bad language and irony.
• Área 51 - A reference to shows like Americas's Amazing Videos with false testimonies and videos.
• Chapa Quente - A parody of the kind of news program presented by Luiz Carlos Alborghetti, or his apprentice Ratinho, where they comment on the news and destroy the situation while doing so. Chapa Quente refers to a difficult situation.
• Romaria - A mix between a Greek tragedy and a Mexican soap opera.
• Jegueass - A parody of Jackass, but with ideas far more stupid, like playing with Sulfuric acid. Jegue literally means "donkey" but in Brazil may also refer to an idiotic person.
• Programa do Mal (Evil Program) - A parody of a show where the presenters are all mythical figures related to evil, plus a parody of the "Bandido da Luz Vermelha" (a Brazilian criminal who, while committing his crimes, cut the electricity to the house, put a handkerchief in the mouth and used a red flashlight).
• Linhares e sua turma (Linhares and his gang) - Linhares, Pereira and Lacerda are lazy and corrupt cops from Rio de Janeiro. Instead of arresting criminals, they end up making pacts with them, and arresting innocent citizens instead. Their best friend is a drug dealer called X9 (slang for "informant"), and their boss, Deputy Falcão, is as corrupt as them, but ends up abusing them due to his superior position.
• Documento Trololó - A parody of shows like 60 Minutes, addressing issues like addiction, sadomasochism, paranormal phenomena, people with extremely large noses, the lives of sex workers, and so on. Trololó is a term used for when someone speaks a lot, but says nothing useful.
• Tolerância Mil - Adopting a comical English accent, the cast parodies programs like The Best Police Pursuits, but instead of being law-abiding officers, they play lazy ones, who seeing a murder in front of them, tell the murderer that if he does so again he may receive a warning.
• Sinhá Boça - A parody of Brazilian soap opera Sinhá Moça. It follows the life of Boça, a student whose grandmother is arrested. Sinhá is a reduction of Senhora (English: mistress), used by slaves in Brazil's past. Several catchphrases from this sketch are used in Brazilian popular culture: Criado a Ovomaltino (English: Raised drinking Ovaltine) and Criado a leite com pêra (English: Raised drinking milk and pears) - a reference to spoiled children.

Later years

As a celebration of the anniversary of the show, the troupe released a retrospective entitled "10 Anos de Hermes e Renato" (Ten Years of Hermes and Renato), featuring the best sketches of their program.

The program returned to the air on April 25, 2013.

External links

• Official website (archived)