This is the story of a soap that evicted another, leading it to a slow and inexorable decline, but which ended up worse. In fact, on 8 January 2001 “Centovetrine” debuted, in the prized time slot between “Beautiful” and “Uomini e donne”. A move that caused the move of “Vivere” to 12.30, or at least that’s how all the fans understood it, who for weeks protested against Mediaset for the treatment reserved for a production that in less than two years had been capable of exceeding 5 million spectators and repeatedly breaking through the 30% share barrier. An exploit that convinced the company to take a gamble, that is, to move “Vivere” to 12.30 to drive a Tg5 that complained about the absence of “Forum” – at the time broadcast on Rete 4 – and the excessive power of the newly created “Prova del cuoco”.

“Centovetrine” therefore started with the aversion one feels towards Cinderella’s stepsisters, also thanks to a more glam style and greater attention paid to power intrigues.

It all started from Porta Susa Station

It all started from Porta Susa Station. A shy and lost Elena Novelli (Serena Bonanno) arrived in Turin to open a new chapter in her life. In addition to her, the public had the opportunity to immediately meet Giuliano Corsini (Roberto Farnesi), the Bettini family, the Montis and, above all, the Ferri, at the helm of the shopping center that gave its name to the telenovela.

The undisputed beacon was Ettore Ferri, masterfully played by Roberto Alpi. Ruthless and loving in alternating phases, in over fourteen years he boasted a disappearance at sea after a boat accident, an (apparent) death from cancer and a miraculous resurrection.

His figure alternated with that of Edoardo Della Rocca, played by Luca Biagini, best known for having given the voice – among many – to John Malkovich, Colin Firth and Michael Keaton. He was not the only voice actor to hang out at “Centovetrine”, which was also able to honor itself with the participation, albeit temporary, of Luca Ward and Mario Cordova.

Among the ‘bad guys’ who were later redeemed are Sebastian Castelli (Michele D’Anca), Anna Baldi (Anna Safroncik), Carol Grimani (Marianna De Micheli) and Adriano Riva (Luca Capuano), while in terms of the most resistant characters the record belongs to Laura Beccaria (Elisabetta Coraini) and Commissioner Valerio Bettini (Sergio Troiano), who lasted from the first to the fifteenth season.

The unforgettable moments of “Centovetrine”

Once the mistrust, typical for a television that embraces custom, had passed, “Centovetrine” was able to establish itself in the collective imagination. In 2008 it remained the only Italian soap on the network in activity, thanks to the death of “Vivere”, which in the meantime had been diverted to Rete4.

And if in the case of the ‘Lombard’ soap opera the first death was recorded at the end of the first week, with the exit of Sofia Tian (Cristiana Moglia), a ‘photocopy’ scenario occurred in “Centovetrine” with Paola Novelli (cameo by Mita Medici) who said goodbye to the viewers in the seventh episode. A sort of ‘shock’ element useful to quickly attract fans into the dynamics of the story, which would have undergone a strong shock from that moment on.

The connections with “Vivere” even concerned the actors. From the late Pietro Genuardi to Raffaella Bergé, passing through Luca Bastianello, Melania Maccaferri, Annamaria Malipiero, Gabriele Greco, Brando Giorgi and Cristina Moglia, the leaps from one reality to another were countless.

Daniela Fazzolari even played two characters: Anita Ferri and her sister Diana. Blonde in the first case, she returned to her natural color years later, however maintaining the identical voice. Among the second lines, the practice of multipersonality interested Pascal Persiano, Carlotta Lo Greco and Massimiliano Vado.

Instead, two different actors ended up playing the same character. Federico Bettini, in fact, first had the face of Andrea Bermani (until the 290th episode) and later that of Luca Bastianello (from the 1969th episode).

A farewell without honor

The brilliance of “Centovetrine” began to lose its tone in 2012, when word spread for the first time of a possible suspension due to the economic crisis and high production costs. Petitions and mobilizations managed to avoid the worst, at least for two years. However, at the end of 2014, the final blow came with the move to Rete 4 (as with “Vivere”) and the postponement to dinner time.

The soap closed its doors on March 10, 2015, with 73 episodes still to be broadcast, recovered only in the summer of the following year, in the morning, amid general indifference, with the Albanian channel Top Channel sensationally blowing everyone away.

“An episode cost 70-80 thousand euros,” Fazzolari recently told Fanpage. “If you get a ready-made soap from abroad, which gets you the same ratings and costs you much less, it’s normal to turn to that”. The reference was to “Il Segreto”, which ten years ago invaded Mediaset’s schedules, obtaining exorbitant numbers. Subsequently it would be the Turks’ turn, to the complete detriment of the Italian offers, which disappeared and were reduced to the bare bones.

“And there is a story that cannot find peace”, recited the mythological theme song sung by Gianni Morandi. A sadly prophetic text, with “Centovetrine” which, due to a sort of nemesis, abdicated with less honor than the soap it had exiled. Because if “Vivere” was at least allowed a dignified farewell, in Turin they said goodbye to everyone without an epilogue and with most of the stories left open. The last defeat, the most bitter.