El Chapulín Colorado

El Chapulín Colorado (transl. The Red Grasshopper) is a Mexican superhero television comedy series that aired from 1973 to 1979 and parodied superhero shows. It was created by actor and comedian Chespirito, who also played the main character. It was first aired by Televisa in 1973 in Mexico, and then was aired across Latin America and Spain until 1981, alongside El Chavo del Ocho, which shared the same cast of actors. Both shows have endured in re-runs and have won back some of their popularity in several countries such as Brazil, Colombia, and Peru. Although the series has a regular cast, all actors but Gómez Bolaños play different characters each episode, and it is therefore described as an anthology series.

"Chapulín Colorado" translates literally in English as "The Red Grasshopper" or "The Cherry Cricket" (the word chapulín is of Nahuatl origin and applies to a Mexican species of grasshopper, while colorado means "red"). The show embodies many aspects of Mexican culture while making a critique on the unrealistic image of superheroes. In each episode, people recognized Chapulín wherever he appeared (one episode took place on the planet Venus), believing him to be a great superhero. Recognition caused him to boast, only to stumble and fall right away, proving himself to be puny and timid, and disappointing his fans. Despite this, Chapulín tried his best to help, and all his adventures ended well (though sometimes by sheer good luck or outside help).

In Chapulin's universe, Chapulin is summoned to his "victims" when they are involved in a tough predicament or a challenging situation (whereas other superhero film/show were the hero is summoned to save someone from a life-threatening situation or an emergency). Such examples of this include:

- A mad scientist whose co-workers refused to cooperate with him on an experiment - A woman who is annoyed about her uncle playing pranks towards her and her husband - A woman who refuses to be married to a man that was set up by her uncle

Parodying Superman's "Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive" introduction, Chapulín was introduced as follows in the show's opening, reinforcing the idea of a barely powered hero:

According to Chespirito, the difference between Chapulín and standard heroes:

They are not heroes. El Chapulín Colorado is a hero, and I'm being serious. Heroism does not consist in being fearless, but in overcoming fear. Those heroes are not afraid, Batman, Superman, they are all powerful, they cannot be afraid. El Chapulín Colorado is terrified. He is clumsy, weak, foolish, etc., and aware of these deficiencies, he faces the problem, he is a hero, and loses; another characteristic of heroes is that they lose many times, their ideas succeed later.

With Chapulín, Chespirito and along his production team made extensive use of the chroma key device and bluescreen to produce visual effects which made the adventures of this superhero more interesting. Though somewhat unrefined by modern standards, the show achieved surprising effects like floating in the air or flying, performing impossible acrobatics, fighting against Martians, strange creatures, witches and various monsters, and, most often, to get the physical reduction effect thanks to his famous "pastillas de chiquitolina", which Chapulín frequently used to pass under doors, reach dangerous areas without attracting attention, or solve problems.