“Scherzi a parte” reappears from the past and destabilizes the ratings, obtaining a sensational 26% share, equal to 3.6 million viewers. A not too distant past, given that the last edition (the second by Enrico Papi) was staged ‘only’ in 2022.

But this “Scherzi a parte”, entrusted to the newcomer Max Giusti, was able to stand out and move away from that style, abandoning water balloons and pranks in the studio in favor of the story and a light and carefree interaction with the guests.

In short, Giusti eats Papi, bringing to the stage an overall enjoyable show, albeit stuck at times in an aesthetically outdated nineties style.

Just like Teocoli

Max Giusti is a lot like Teo Teocoli, who as a presenter did not give up his parodies and disguises, relying on shoulders or sacrificial victims like Massimo Boldi. The Roman actor, on the contrary, is alone on stage, and the only support is the VIP guests themselves or even Giusti called to talk to his imitation, in a game of calculated times and pauses that do nothing but water down and damage the gag.

In this way, both Aurelio De Laurentiis, a sad photocopy of the one from “GialappaShow”, and Alessandro Borghese and Cristiano Malgioglio (who appeared quickly without leaving substantial traces) were wasted wildcards, put in place mostly to punch the card.

Dull caricatures, ends in themselves, without writing, which do not honor a landlord deprived of the magic touch and that creative side that can only explode thanks to perfect assists.

Bonolis’ intuition

Paolo Bonolis, helmsman of the program in 2015 and 2018, sensed the need to update the product and acted by subtraction, focusing on a minimal studio, with only a bench in the center where he could chat with the victim and a filmic narration of the pranks, complete with voice-over. This detail is maintained by Giusti, who among other things can take advantage of the concomitant interruption of a similar production by “Le Iene”, which for a period became an annoying and penalizing internal competitor.

The protagonists of the debut episode were Gabriel Garko, Isobel Kinnear, Lorella Cuccarini, Paolo Conticini, Francesca Barra and Gilles Rocca. Some jokes were successful, others less so. In this sense, it is worth mentioning the presence among the actors of Alessandro Orgiato, participant in the first edition of “Money Road”. In Conticini’s film he appears in voice, or disguised with glasses and a cap. Conticini doesn’t recognize it and the joke seems authentic, however the risk of making the public perceive everything as fabricated is high. Which has always been the Achilles’ heel of transmission.

We will need to understand whether “Scherzi a parte” will hold up in the next few weeks or whether, once the curiosity effect has passed, it will deflate. For now, Canale 5 is toasting, for numbers that haven’t been totaled on Mondays for centuries.