Valentina Barbieri is Giulia De Lellis, but her characters weaken on TV: rating 5

It’s sad to fail because she is a very good comedian and we know it. Her parodies on social media, from which the Gialappi have drawn her since the first edition, are truly hilarious. Translated from the very small screen of the smartphone to the slightly larger screen of the TV, however, they lose their luster. And, unfortunately, they are much less fun. This time Barbieri becomes the influencer Giulia De Lellis for the column ‘Giulia on Earth’. In this episode, he tries to sell products for the ‘beauty routine of this planet that pundits call Te(r)ra’. In short, for her the real global problem would not be the ozone hole, wars and so on but simply a question of the aging of the earth’s ‘skin’ which could be managed better. For example, paying for his ‘skincare’ concoctions. After all, volcanoes for Barbieri-De Lellis are ‘scientifically little more than pimples. Just think that a few years ago we played Pompeii for adolescent acne!”. We are not faced with a poorly executed sketch, a smile here and there even tears it up. However, in a context of extremely high quality like that of the ‘GialappaShow’ in which the level of comedians (and comedians) often borders on excellence, Valentina Barbieri has not yet found a role with which to truly be remembered. Too bad. For the fifth edition in a row. It’s starting to become a little so much…

Belen stings De Martino: ‘Do you remember when you were less remade than me?’ (vote 9)

She doesn’t know English and so ‘podcast’, said by her, immediately becomes ‘podcazz’. Belen Rodriguez, after the much talked about interview with ‘Belve’ last week, returns to TV to co-host the GialappaShow alongside the Magician Forest and give, perhaps, the most wickedly hilarious moment of the entire episode. Accomplice Gigi of Gigi and Ross who, in the role of his formidable Stefano De Martino, in addition to shooting very poisonous darts against competitor Gerry Scotti, tries his hand at launching a new format, conceived – he claims – ‘dinner with Mel Brooks’. It’s called ‘Between ex-wife and ex-husband’ and what better occasion for a vitriolic face-to-face between the bastard clone of the host of ‘Affari Tuoi’ and Belen herself, but the real one? The two sit on stools that are very reminiscent of the uncomfortable seat of ‘Belve’ – although the broadcast was recorded before the broadcast of Fagnani’s programme. Gigi-De Martino immediately says: “There’s no problem, we’ve maintained a great relationship” while he has the typical look of a rabbit faced with a truck at full speed on the motorway. In fact, the confrontation between exes soon takes on the contours of a crash, or rather a ‘Celebrity Death Match’: Gigi-Stefano breaks the ice with great arrogance: “Do you remember when you were richer than me?”. And she replies: “Yes. And do you remember when you were less made up than me?”. To stop things, De Martino invites her to ‘Affari Tuoi’ as a guest of honour, but Rodriguez is no longer enchanted: “No thanks, no more packages!”. And again: “You say that your hardcore video has had more views than mine? Of course! Because you always train so much, so much, so much…!”. The corrosive curtain ends with the final KO: Belen thinks every night… about Gerry Scotti! And so the bruised ex can only leave the studio with his horns between his legs. In every sense.

Toni Bonji is a public defender. Perhaps he has finally nailed down a character but… rating 6-

Sad demotivator par excellence, he has the role of opening each episode of this fifth edition of the show. Toni Bonji is a very talented comedian who, for some reason, decides to keep it almost all to himself at ‘GialappaShow’, since the first season. His characters, outside of memes, have never been particularly incisive or memorable, ours takes home his homework without being remembered. This time, we see him in the role of ‘public defender’, the show’s new fictional sketch. He therefore impersonates an obvious, disastrous lawyer who opens his mouth only to get his client into (even more) trouble: “I’m not defending him because I believe he’s innocent but only because of the fee he has to pay me. I also wonder how it’s possible to accuse him of international drug trafficking, given that he can barely speak Italian.” The humiliation of the criminal brings some sneers, yes. At the same time, we are at the third episode and the gag is already starting to feel repetitive, tiredly predictable. Maybe even more than the Demotivator himself. For Toni Bonji, yet another participation promises to be without infamy or praise, literally in black and white.

Giulia Vecchio is Elettra Lamborghini in ‘Boss incognita’, always a bastard: rating 8

But how is it possible that Rai 2 put the very rich heiress Elettra Lamborghini at the helm of ‘Boss in Incognito’? We must all have wondered this a bit, fortunately including Giulia Vecchio who immediately prepared a tasty parody of it. The format, for those unfamiliar with it, involves its presenter dressing up to pretend to be a company employee, working a day like and with ordinary mortals and then reporting to the boss of the company, indicating the most deserving workers. Well, Vecchio-Lamborghini pretends (badly, as per the format) to be a worker, with the sole aid of makeup that makes her more recognizable than a beauty influencer’s mirror. However, once she has overcome the difficulty of even pronouncing the word ‘workers’, she shows off an unlikely Neapolitan dialect and begins to groom her new colleagues for a day: “Of course you can’t find a boyfriend, look at how you dress, not even a cleavage!”. She doesn’t pay, she falls asleep while one of them tells her her life story: “I get 800 euros a month, I’m pregnant, ultrasounds cost 90 euros, my parents are dead and I don’t know how to go on.” Despite the restful nap in the face of such dramatic testimony, Vecchio-Lamborghini will choose this very woman to bring to the boss’s attention and grant her a pardon, sorry, a ‘prize’. Which? “For now, I’m not firing you!”. Hurray! Giulia-Elettra, celebrating the good news, however, never misses an opportunity to scold her: “Be careful, next time use a condom as the boss can’t always cover you!”. And finally, since the girl had told her that she had never traveled outside Molise, she gave her a plane ticket to Molise. So you can fly over the territory without going beyond its borders, are you happy?”. Yes! One certainty: the original format, ‘Boss in Incognito’, should be broadcast precisely like this, like this parody. It would be more realistic, not to mention sincere. Does work ennoble man? Certainly not Elettra Lamborghini…

‘Big Brother Rip’ is back to wake up the dead: rating 8.5

A terrible and, at the same time, irresistible sketch. While the father of all reality shows has been objectively ‘dying’ for several editions due to a (deserved) haemorrhage of ratings, the Gialappis are bringing back this ‘Big Brother Rip’ in which, like last season, the poor souls of famous people who have passed away are competing. We then find Gigi Sabani (Ubaldo Pantani) immediately in the confessional imitating Raimondo Vianello. Then again Luciano Pavarotti (Alessandro Betti) who circumvents the rule according to which it would be forbidden to participate in the reality show for two seasons in a row, boasting of being Bud Spencer (which he pronounces ‘Bad Spenser’). Troisi (Gigi from Gigi and Ross) engages in a dialogue, sorry monologue, with Ozzy Osbourne in the kitchen of the House, while Mike Bongiorno and Hulk Hogan appear. What are we looking at? Probably a masterpiece of fetid, wonderful, terrible taste. Next week, the public is called to ‘televote’ to choose who can enter the game between two contenders: Elvis who, in this way, will be able to definitively demonstrate that he really died, or Beethoven ‘because his films were so funny’. Yes exactly, the messy dog. Not that other guy who is rather famous for having a passion for classical music. It’s all wrong, it’s all perfect. We can even forgive Antonio ‘Er Mutanda’ Zequila’s cameo.