In 1993, all three the principal Italian television companies (
RAI,
Finivest and
Telemontecarlo) have to face hard financial troubles and the consequences of the
Mani Pulite typhoon that upset the political system. Both the talk shows of
Michele Santoro and
Gad Lerner on
RAI 3 and the Fininvest news programs (
TG5 and
TG4) play an important role in gaining the support of the public opinion on the enquiries. However, Fininvest gives a wide space also to
Vittorio Sgarbi, who, in his daily column, defends the politicians investigated and attacks the magistrates with unaudited verbal violence.
RAI
3 February: The
TG1 director
Bruno Vespa, controversial because notoriously bound to the
DC, that himself called "my reference editor", resigns after that the journalists have announced a strike against him. On September 8, also the
TG3 director Sandro Curzi resigns, to protest against the spending cuts decided by the new RAI board of directors.[1]
19 February. The program Un giorno in pretura (A day at the court) gets 7,760 million viewers showing the first Tangentopoli trial, to the Milan council clerk Walter Armanini. Since 28 October, the same program gets an again broader audience airing the process to the
Montedison manager Sergio Cusani, where the Procurator
Antonio Di Pietro harasses important politicians as
Arnaldo Forlani and
Bettino Craxi.
Umberto Eco is among the few to criticize the use of the television as a pillory.[1]
13 July. Installation of the new board of directors, the so-called "Professors" (also if really the professors are only two on five);
Claudio Demattè is elected president, Gianni Locatelli general director. One of the first choices of the new board is to delete the very popular show Saluti e baci, considered vulgar and too expensive. The "professors" have the commission to the settle the RAI budget and to free the estate from the political conditionings, but in both cases, they get limited results.[2]
27-28July: in Milan, five persons die in
via Palestro massacre and, simultaneously, in Rome 2 bombs explode near
San Giovani in Laterano and
San Giorgio in Velabro; all the attacks are of Mafia origin. A dramatic and very long
TG1 extraordinary edition, hosted by Angela Buttiglione, follows live the events of the "night of the bombs", from midnight do dawn.[3]
27 September Birth of Rai Parlamento, the headline caring the institutional communication, directed by Nuccio Fava.[4]
3 November. In a dramatic TV message to the nation the president
Oscar Luigi Scalfaro rejects with indignation the charge to have received illicit funds by the secret services when he was interior minister.[5]
17 November: the match
Italy-Portugal for the qualification to the 1994 FIFA World Cup gets the record audience of the year, with 20, 300 million viewers.[6]
25 November-2 December For the last time,
Beppe Grillo appears in RAI with a two-part show that gets 14,600 million viewers. The performer attacks harshly the TV publicity and moreover the telephonic society STET, accused to host nasty services and erotic hotlines. (The STET president, Biagio Agnes, former RAI general director, had banished Grillo from the little screen for his attacks to the PSI). Later, Grillo will exhibit only in pay-tv.[7]
17 December: the RAI correspondent from New York
Maria Giovanna Maglie is forced to resigns for irregularities in the expenses list.[1]
24 December: for the first time, Rai airs the Christmas Concert from the
Paul VI audience Hall in Vatican, with the presence, among others, of
Lucio Dalla and
Angelo Branduardi;
Elisabetta Gardini presents the show. The event will become a tradition of the Christmas time, aired sometimes by RAI, sometimes by
Canale 5.[8]
·30 December : the
Ciampi cabinet emanates the so-called "save RAI decree" establishing a capital increase of 500 billion liras and a growth of the canon to avoid the failure of the estate.
Silvio Berlusconi accuses Ciampi to waste the taxpayers' money for a RAI controlled by
PDS.[2]
Fininvest
For
Fininvest, 1993 is a difficult year, with the closure of
La Cinq, a growing indebtment with the banks, the arrest for corruption of the manager
Aldo Brancher and the perspective of a hostile government if the left wins the next elections. The idea of a direct intervention of Silvio Berlusconi in politics, to save the company interests, begins to circulate. However, Canale 5 confirm its public success, and
Enrico Mentana's
TG5 is the most viewed news program, overcoming TG1.[10]
·7 April : at the Maurizio Costanzo Show, the principal TV stars, both RAI and Fininvest, with the slogan "Forbidding is forbidden", take the field and mobilize the public against the projected regulation that forbids the
infomercials inside the TV shows. The initiative is successful and the project is retired. The episode inaugurates the unprejudiced use by Silvio Berlusconi of the television for political purposes.[10]
14 May: in Rome,
Maurizio Costanzo and his wife
Maria De Filippi, leaving the Parioli Theatre after the recording of Maurizio Costanzo Show, escape from a car bomb explosion, thanks to a few seconds delay in the detonation. The bombing, that causes heavy damages and 24 injured, is a reprisal of
Cosa Nostra for Costanzo's strong engagement against the organized crime.[11]
26 November: in a press conference, broadcast on all the news programs, with a 5 million viewers' audience, Silvio Berlusconi declares himself available to enter politics.[12]
Maria De Filippi, the future "queen of trash", debuts on Canale 5, substituting Lella Costa as presenter of the show Amici.
Summer: the pay-tv Tele+2 gets the rights of the
Italian football league system, till then always granted to RAI, and hires the most famous TV sport journalist,
Aldo Biscardi; on 29 August, the first encrypted match (
Lazio-
Foggia) is aired. The passage to the pay-tv revolutionizes the Italian football, with the multiplication of early and late kickoffs.[13]
September: Cinquestelle,
Odeon and Tivuitalia unificates in a single circuit, RTA (Reti Televisive Associate).[14]
Special awards: Linea verde and Forum (for the service TV), Mrs. Carmen Spiezia (reader of Sorrisi e Canzoni),
Dustin Hoffman and
Michael Douglas (for the cinema in TV).
Le storie di Farland (Farland stories) – fantasy series by Giuliana Gamba, with Rodolfo Baldini, inserted in the show for children Solletico.
Variety
Il grande gioco dell'oca (The great
game of the goose) – presented by
Gigi Sabani, directed by Jocelyn; the show is suspended at the second season for production troubles and for the charges of cruelty to animals. The format is successfully exported in the Spanish countries with the title
El gran juego de la hoca.
Mezzogiorno in famiglia (Family noon) – variety and game show, ideated by Michele Guardì, aired by
RAI 2 in the weekend around noon; lasted till 2019
Sport
Quelli che… il calcio (The ones who the football); presented, in turn, by
Fabio Fazio,
Simona Ventura,
Victoria Cabello, Nicola Savino, Luca e Paolo. The show mixes the results of the
Serie A matches with moments of entertainment, trusted to the fans in studio, sometime VIP, sometime ordinary but eccentric people.[16]
News and educational
Ultimo minuto (Last minute) – presented by Simonetta Martone; 5 season. The show tells the dramatic experiences of people who risked their lives and includes docu-fiction realized by the future film director
Gabriele Muccino; it is famous also for the parody done by
Aldo, Giovanni e Giacomo in
Mai dire gol.
Il rosso e il nero (Red and black), political talk show with
Michele Santoro; 2 seasons.
Canzoni spericolate (Reckless songs)- music contest among sport and entertainment personalities, the professional singers excluded; presented by
Enrica Bonaccorti and
Marco Columbro; 2 seasons.
Festival italiano (Italian festival) – unlucky attempt to create a Fininvest version of the
Sanremo festival; hosted by
Mike Bongiorno; 2 seasons.[17]
Perdonami –show, with
Davide Mengacci, from a Dutch format; ordinary people ask for the help of television to reconcile with friends or relatives; 3 seasons.
Target – magazine by Gregorio Paolini about television, presented in turn by Gaia De Laurentis,
Natasha Stefanenko and Tamara Donà; 7 seasons. It is characterized by a sloping rhythm and by stylistic experiments (as the use of a horse as "host") unusual in the Fininvest shows.[18]
Other channels
Tappeto volante – (
Telemontecarlo) talk show, hosted by
Luciano Rispoli and characterized, unlike the
Costanzo's programs, by a friendly and relaxed atmosphere; it lasts until 2009, transmigrating to various channel.
Il processo di Biscardi – (
Tele+2) sport show, created by
Aldo Biscardi as an answer to Rai's Il processo del lunedì; after having transmigrated, in the years, to Telemontecarlo and various minor channels, it's actually aired by Italia 7.[19]
Vizi privati, pubbliche visioni (Private vices, public visions) – (Lombardia 7); erotic show where the transsexual Maurizia Paradiso presents amateurish porn videos; 2 seasons.
Un uomo di rispetto (A man of respect) by
Damiano Damiani, with
Michele Placido; in 2 episodes. A little Mafioso turns into a detective to avenge his boss.
Kamillo Kromo – short animated film by
Enzo D'Alò, from the
Altan's book about the adventures of a little chameleon.
Ci sarà un giorno - Il giovane Pertini (A day will come –
Pertini as a young man) by
Franco Rossi, with
Maurizio Crozza in the title role. The movie, that shows a juvenile affair of Sandro Pertini with a married woman, is disliked by the President's widow
Carla Voltolina and, for this, it is aired only in 2003.[23]
L'ispettore anticrimine (The anti-crime inspector) – by Paolo Fondato, with
Maurizio Donadoni; 6 episodes. A police inspector fights against
Sacra Corona Unita.
La ragnatela 2 (The web 2) – by Alessandro Cane, with
Andrea Occhipinti; in 3 episodes.
Maddecheaò! Come secernere agli esami (Hot to secrete in graduation) – satirical variety with
Corrado Guzzanti playing Lorenzo Scarz, a foul-mouthed high school student.
Tocca a noi (It is our turn) - magazine by
Enzo Biagi.
Il pianeta dei dinosauri (The
dinosaurs' planet) – program of popular science, by
Piero Angela.
Totò, un altro pianeta (
Totò, another planet) – documentary in 15 episodes by Giancarlo Governi, analyzing the life and the career of the Neapolitan comic actor in every respect.[26]
La donna che lavora (The working woman) – by Raffaella Spaccarelli; presented by
Tina Anselmi; updating of the historical
1959 reportage.[27]
Fininvest
TV-movies
Due vite un destino (Two life a destiny) – by
Romolo Guerrieri, with
Michael Nouri,
Fabio Testi and
Rod Steiger, from the Alan Altieri's novel; in two parts. The Sicilian Mafia manages a Vietnam veteran to use it as hitman.
In fuga per la vita (Runaway for the life) – by Gianfranco Albano, with
Gianni Morandi; 3 episodi. An Italian singer in Germany, faultlessly involved in a drug traffic, must protect himself and the son by the criminals who have already killed his wife.
Missione d'amore (Love mission) – by
Dino Risi, with
Carol Alt; in three episodes; story (with strong soap-opera elements) of a combative nun fighting for the
Brazilian natives.
Quelli della speciale (The task force's ones) by
Bruno Corbucci; sequel of
Classe di ferro, whose characters are now cops in Rome. The serial is interrupted in the middle of the first season, for the low audience.
Sarà vero (Will it be true) – quiz with
Alberto Castagna, debuting in Fininvest; the contenders have to guess if the unbelievable stories told in studio by the guests are true or false.
Seratissima – tribute show with
Enrica Bonaccorti; suspended after two evenings for low ratings.
Other channels
Variety
Corpo a corpo (Clinch) - (Telemontecarlo) talk show about the personal fears, with
Alba Parietti.
News and educational
Rock notes, La storia del rock (History of rock) – (Telemontecarlo) documentary in 12 episodes by Dario Salvatori.
Sit-com
Il polpo (The octopus, parody of
La piovra), and Teledurazzo (set in an imaginary television aimed to the Albanian immigrants) – (Telenorba) uncouth sit-coms of Apulian setting, by
Gennnaro Nunziante and played by
Emilio Solfrizzi in multiple roles.
Il pranzo è servito (a young
Matteo Salvini takes part, as contender, to one of the last episodes, defining himself "a professional do-nothing").[29]
Deaths
15 September: Edmondo Bernacca, 69, colonel of the
Italian Air Force, for decades official weatherman of RAI.[30]
4 November:
Nerina Montagnani, 96, actress, famous to have played Natalina, the chambermaid of
Nino Manfredi in a long series of
Lavazza's commercials.
20 November: Massimo Inardi, 66, doctor and parapsychologist, very popular champion of TV quiz in the Seventies.
In 1993, all three the principal Italian television companies (
RAI,
Finivest and
Telemontecarlo) have to face hard financial troubles and the consequences of the
Mani Pulite typhoon that upset the political system. Both the talk shows of
Michele Santoro and
Gad Lerner on
RAI 3 and the Fininvest news programs (
TG5 and
TG4) play an important role in gaining the support of the public opinion on the enquiries. However, Fininvest gives a wide space also to
Vittorio Sgarbi, who, in his daily column, defends the politicians investigated and attacks the magistrates with unaudited verbal violence.
RAI
3 February: The
TG1 director
Bruno Vespa, controversial because notoriously bound to the
DC, that himself called "my reference editor", resigns after that the journalists have announced a strike against him. On September 8, also the
TG3 director Sandro Curzi resigns, to protest against the spending cuts decided by the new RAI board of directors.[1]
19 February. The program Un giorno in pretura (A day at the court) gets 7,760 million viewers showing the first Tangentopoli trial, to the Milan council clerk Walter Armanini. Since 28 October, the same program gets an again broader audience airing the process to the
Montedison manager Sergio Cusani, where the Procurator
Antonio Di Pietro harasses important politicians as
Arnaldo Forlani and
Bettino Craxi.
Umberto Eco is among the few to criticize the use of the television as a pillory.[1]
13 July. Installation of the new board of directors, the so-called "Professors" (also if really the professors are only two on five);
Claudio Demattè is elected president, Gianni Locatelli general director. One of the first choices of the new board is to delete the very popular show Saluti e baci, considered vulgar and too expensive. The "professors" have the commission to the settle the RAI budget and to free the estate from the political conditionings, but in both cases, they get limited results.[2]
27-28July: in Milan, five persons die in
via Palestro massacre and, simultaneously, in Rome 2 bombs explode near
San Giovani in Laterano and
San Giorgio in Velabro; all the attacks are of Mafia origin. A dramatic and very long
TG1 extraordinary edition, hosted by Angela Buttiglione, follows live the events of the "night of the bombs", from midnight do dawn.[3]
27 September Birth of Rai Parlamento, the headline caring the institutional communication, directed by Nuccio Fava.[4]
3 November. In a dramatic TV message to the nation the president
Oscar Luigi Scalfaro rejects with indignation the charge to have received illicit funds by the secret services when he was interior minister.[5]
17 November: the match
Italy-Portugal for the qualification to the 1994 FIFA World Cup gets the record audience of the year, with 20, 300 million viewers.[6]
25 November-2 December For the last time,
Beppe Grillo appears in RAI with a two-part show that gets 14,600 million viewers. The performer attacks harshly the TV publicity and moreover the telephonic society STET, accused to host nasty services and erotic hotlines. (The STET president, Biagio Agnes, former RAI general director, had banished Grillo from the little screen for his attacks to the PSI). Later, Grillo will exhibit only in pay-tv.[7]
17 December: the RAI correspondent from New York
Maria Giovanna Maglie is forced to resigns for irregularities in the expenses list.[1]
24 December: for the first time, Rai airs the Christmas Concert from the
Paul VI audience Hall in Vatican, with the presence, among others, of
Lucio Dalla and
Angelo Branduardi;
Elisabetta Gardini presents the show. The event will become a tradition of the Christmas time, aired sometimes by RAI, sometimes by
Canale 5.[8]
·30 December : the
Ciampi cabinet emanates the so-called "save RAI decree" establishing a capital increase of 500 billion liras and a growth of the canon to avoid the failure of the estate.
Silvio Berlusconi accuses Ciampi to waste the taxpayers' money for a RAI controlled by
PDS.[2]
Fininvest
For
Fininvest, 1993 is a difficult year, with the closure of
La Cinq, a growing indebtment with the banks, the arrest for corruption of the manager
Aldo Brancher and the perspective of a hostile government if the left wins the next elections. The idea of a direct intervention of Silvio Berlusconi in politics, to save the company interests, begins to circulate. However, Canale 5 confirm its public success, and
Enrico Mentana's
TG5 is the most viewed news program, overcoming TG1.[10]
·7 April : at the Maurizio Costanzo Show, the principal TV stars, both RAI and Fininvest, with the slogan "Forbidding is forbidden", take the field and mobilize the public against the projected regulation that forbids the
infomercials inside the TV shows. The initiative is successful and the project is retired. The episode inaugurates the unprejudiced use by Silvio Berlusconi of the television for political purposes.[10]
14 May: in Rome,
Maurizio Costanzo and his wife
Maria De Filippi, leaving the Parioli Theatre after the recording of Maurizio Costanzo Show, escape from a car bomb explosion, thanks to a few seconds delay in the detonation. The bombing, that causes heavy damages and 24 injured, is a reprisal of
Cosa Nostra for Costanzo's strong engagement against the organized crime.[11]
26 November: in a press conference, broadcast on all the news programs, with a 5 million viewers' audience, Silvio Berlusconi declares himself available to enter politics.[12]
Maria De Filippi, the future "queen of trash", debuts on Canale 5, substituting Lella Costa as presenter of the show Amici.
Summer: the pay-tv Tele+2 gets the rights of the
Italian football league system, till then always granted to RAI, and hires the most famous TV sport journalist,
Aldo Biscardi; on 29 August, the first encrypted match (
Lazio-
Foggia) is aired. The passage to the pay-tv revolutionizes the Italian football, with the multiplication of early and late kickoffs.[13]
September: Cinquestelle,
Odeon and Tivuitalia unificates in a single circuit, RTA (Reti Televisive Associate).[14]
Special awards: Linea verde and Forum (for the service TV), Mrs. Carmen Spiezia (reader of Sorrisi e Canzoni),
Dustin Hoffman and
Michael Douglas (for the cinema in TV).
Le storie di Farland (Farland stories) – fantasy series by Giuliana Gamba, with Rodolfo Baldini, inserted in the show for children Solletico.
Variety
Il grande gioco dell'oca (The great
game of the goose) – presented by
Gigi Sabani, directed by Jocelyn; the show is suspended at the second season for production troubles and for the charges of cruelty to animals. The format is successfully exported in the Spanish countries with the title
El gran juego de la hoca.
Mezzogiorno in famiglia (Family noon) – variety and game show, ideated by Michele Guardì, aired by
RAI 2 in the weekend around noon; lasted till 2019
Sport
Quelli che… il calcio (The ones who the football); presented, in turn, by
Fabio Fazio,
Simona Ventura,
Victoria Cabello, Nicola Savino, Luca e Paolo. The show mixes the results of the
Serie A matches with moments of entertainment, trusted to the fans in studio, sometime VIP, sometime ordinary but eccentric people.[16]
News and educational
Ultimo minuto (Last minute) – presented by Simonetta Martone; 5 season. The show tells the dramatic experiences of people who risked their lives and includes docu-fiction realized by the future film director
Gabriele Muccino; it is famous also for the parody done by
Aldo, Giovanni e Giacomo in
Mai dire gol.
Il rosso e il nero (Red and black), political talk show with
Michele Santoro; 2 seasons.
Canzoni spericolate (Reckless songs)- music contest among sport and entertainment personalities, the professional singers excluded; presented by
Enrica Bonaccorti and
Marco Columbro; 2 seasons.
Festival italiano (Italian festival) – unlucky attempt to create a Fininvest version of the
Sanremo festival; hosted by
Mike Bongiorno; 2 seasons.[17]
Perdonami –show, with
Davide Mengacci, from a Dutch format; ordinary people ask for the help of television to reconcile with friends or relatives; 3 seasons.
Target – magazine by Gregorio Paolini about television, presented in turn by Gaia De Laurentis,
Natasha Stefanenko and Tamara Donà; 7 seasons. It is characterized by a sloping rhythm and by stylistic experiments (as the use of a horse as "host") unusual in the Fininvest shows.[18]
Other channels
Tappeto volante – (
Telemontecarlo) talk show, hosted by
Luciano Rispoli and characterized, unlike the
Costanzo's programs, by a friendly and relaxed atmosphere; it lasts until 2009, transmigrating to various channel.
Il processo di Biscardi – (
Tele+2) sport show, created by
Aldo Biscardi as an answer to Rai's Il processo del lunedì; after having transmigrated, in the years, to Telemontecarlo and various minor channels, it's actually aired by Italia 7.[19]
Vizi privati, pubbliche visioni (Private vices, public visions) – (Lombardia 7); erotic show where the transsexual Maurizia Paradiso presents amateurish porn videos; 2 seasons.
Un uomo di rispetto (A man of respect) by
Damiano Damiani, with
Michele Placido; in 2 episodes. A little Mafioso turns into a detective to avenge his boss.
Kamillo Kromo – short animated film by
Enzo D'Alò, from the
Altan's book about the adventures of a little chameleon.
Ci sarà un giorno - Il giovane Pertini (A day will come –
Pertini as a young man) by
Franco Rossi, with
Maurizio Crozza in the title role. The movie, that shows a juvenile affair of Sandro Pertini with a married woman, is disliked by the President's widow
Carla Voltolina and, for this, it is aired only in 2003.[23]
L'ispettore anticrimine (The anti-crime inspector) – by Paolo Fondato, with
Maurizio Donadoni; 6 episodes. A police inspector fights against
Sacra Corona Unita.
La ragnatela 2 (The web 2) – by Alessandro Cane, with
Andrea Occhipinti; in 3 episodes.
Maddecheaò! Come secernere agli esami (Hot to secrete in graduation) – satirical variety with
Corrado Guzzanti playing Lorenzo Scarz, a foul-mouthed high school student.
Tocca a noi (It is our turn) - magazine by
Enzo Biagi.
Il pianeta dei dinosauri (The
dinosaurs' planet) – program of popular science, by
Piero Angela.
Totò, un altro pianeta (
Totò, another planet) – documentary in 15 episodes by Giancarlo Governi, analyzing the life and the career of the Neapolitan comic actor in every respect.[26]
La donna che lavora (The working woman) – by Raffaella Spaccarelli; presented by
Tina Anselmi; updating of the historical
1959 reportage.[27]
Fininvest
TV-movies
Due vite un destino (Two life a destiny) – by
Romolo Guerrieri, with
Michael Nouri,
Fabio Testi and
Rod Steiger, from the Alan Altieri's novel; in two parts. The Sicilian Mafia manages a Vietnam veteran to use it as hitman.
In fuga per la vita (Runaway for the life) – by Gianfranco Albano, with
Gianni Morandi; 3 episodi. An Italian singer in Germany, faultlessly involved in a drug traffic, must protect himself and the son by the criminals who have already killed his wife.
Missione d'amore (Love mission) – by
Dino Risi, with
Carol Alt; in three episodes; story (with strong soap-opera elements) of a combative nun fighting for the
Brazilian natives.
Quelli della speciale (The task force's ones) by
Bruno Corbucci; sequel of
Classe di ferro, whose characters are now cops in Rome. The serial is interrupted in the middle of the first season, for the low audience.
Sarà vero (Will it be true) – quiz with
Alberto Castagna, debuting in Fininvest; the contenders have to guess if the unbelievable stories told in studio by the guests are true or false.
Seratissima – tribute show with
Enrica Bonaccorti; suspended after two evenings for low ratings.
Other channels
Variety
Corpo a corpo (Clinch) - (Telemontecarlo) talk show about the personal fears, with
Alba Parietti.
News and educational
Rock notes, La storia del rock (History of rock) – (Telemontecarlo) documentary in 12 episodes by Dario Salvatori.
Sit-com
Il polpo (The octopus, parody of
La piovra), and Teledurazzo (set in an imaginary television aimed to the Albanian immigrants) – (Telenorba) uncouth sit-coms of Apulian setting, by
Gennnaro Nunziante and played by
Emilio Solfrizzi in multiple roles.
Il pranzo è servito (a young
Matteo Salvini takes part, as contender, to one of the last episodes, defining himself "a professional do-nothing").[29]
Deaths
15 September: Edmondo Bernacca, 69, colonel of the
Italian Air Force, for decades official weatherman of RAI.[30]
4 November:
Nerina Montagnani, 96, actress, famous to have played Natalina, the chambermaid of
Nino Manfredi in a long series of
Lavazza's commercials.
20 November: Massimo Inardi, 66, doctor and parapsychologist, very popular champion of TV quiz in the Seventies.