31 Minutos

31 minutos is a Chilean television show which takes the form of a mock news broadcast, and is fronted by puppets who present various items. The program was devised by Álvaro Díaz and Pedro Peirano and is produced by their own company, APLAPLAC. It was first aired in March 2003 on the TVN channel in Chile. 31 minutos has achieved considerable success in Chilean television, captivating adult viewers as well as children. The sarcastic and carefree humor along with the producers' reputation in Chile of being the essential part of the extinct cult show Plan Z earned the series immediate acceptance among the public and helped boost its popularity, being considered a spiritual successor of sorts of that earlier show. When the first season had its debut, it occupied the morning time slot on Saturdays. But its orientation toward children was somewhat questioned because of the enthusiastic response from adult audiences; therefore the second season was moved to the time slot after the night time news at 10:00 pm on Fridays. Its almost explosive commercial success is reflected in the range and quantity of products spawned by the show, including an audio CD with the songs from its first season. In 2004, Nickelodeon started airing the first season across Latin America, being particularly popular in Brazil and Argentina, and a second CD was released with music from the second season. In 2005, a third album was released, with the third season's music and some extras.