An elaborate building, the first non-caricatured homosexuals on television and a frantic work schedule: this is how ‘Nobody Lives Here’ was filmed

“Although I believe that there is always a certain ingredient that is impossible to explain (and therefore duplicate), I see several factors that help its longevity,” the journalist tells EL PERIÓDICO DE ESPAÑA. Javier P. Martin. “It’s a comedy hour filled with scripts for beginners, jokes delivered at a machine-gun pace, and the effectiveness of a handful of great performances. It has something in common with ‘Friends’ for example‘ and ‘The Simpsons’ are two shows that also manage to transcend time.”

The journalist explains that the background helps, as well as the form: “Cabaleros and the other screenwriters of the show were very accurate when it came to: Describing a country from the perspective of a lost working Spaniardthrough many archetypes that we are familiar with and can feel reflected, even if they are caricatures. With a mixture of the Ibáñez caricature and the humor of Mihura magazine.”

Now every monumental success comes with some obstacles. That’s largely what it’s about.There is no one living here. ‘Behind the scenes: the crazy history of this community’ (Plaza and Jane’s)is an oral history written by Father Martín himself, who conducted fifty interviews with most of the crew and cast to delve into the creation, development, production, and outcome of the now-classic series.

The author describes how Juan Botella was responsible for the design of the four-storey building located on Calle Desengaño, 21: “A job he did in record time and installed everything in two small industrial warehouses that Moreno bought on an industrial site. Madrid has about thirty on the outskirts of Moraleja de Enmedio, a municipality kilometers south of the city.Botella claims to have been inspired by a three-story building on Hortaleza Street in his neighbourhood, with symmetrical floors and several penthouses with terraces.

“Another interesting featureThe decorations are that they are built like real houses.with all its walls, windows and balconies,” adds P. Martín. “Also the downs. Each floor occupied an area of ​​the set; There were two stairs that appeared to go up and down, and an elevator shaft in the middle. This structure brought realism to the set, but it also brought with it some technical difficulties.”

According to the co-creator of the legendary series Most of them were written unplanned and against time.he and his colleagues instantly had complete creative freedom and played all the songs they wanted. In the foreword he says: “Almost without any intention, a progressive series emerged, and even today they continue to thank us for making visible issues that had already been conquered (let’s not claim victory for now), but these were not discussed in prime time in those years.”

Spain passed its same-sex marriage law in July 2005. ‘No one lives here’‘ Premiering two years ago, it was not at all common on television to see several gay men living together and having a routine that the public perceived as normal. “The great value of Mauri and Fernando was that entire families sitting in front of the television inevitably consumed scripts starring two gay men, and those scripts that did not ridicule or stigmatize them because of their sexual orientation,” explains P. Martín. The story that helped the Spanish community see the band with different eyes.

Of course, some sensitivities were hurt. Spanish Brain Injury FederationFor example, he sent a letter to producer Miramón Mendi to complain about Paloma appearing to be in a coma and to show his anger at the show’s “pointless and disrespectful” use of a character with brain damage. Screenwriter David Abajo also recalls that they once called from Canal Sur “to say we were giving a derogatory image of Israel.” Andalusiansbecause the Córdoba goalkeeper was lazy. The answer was easy: It would come from Madrid. “We didn’t accept him because he was Andalusian.”

‘No one lives here. The harsh conditions of filming behind the scenes are also openly discussed. Juan Luis Iborra, who served as second unit director, He states that while filming the series he sometimes felt “like he was in World War II.” “Everyone was smoking a lot and we went out to smoke. I remember one night at four or five in the morning I was sitting at the door smoking a cigarette and suddenly I saw a bus arriving full of people. ‘What’s this?’. ‘Now we have extras to shoot in a restaurant full of people, so a wedding.’ “Encounter 100 extras at five in the morning.”

Finally, the immense stress and pressure of shooting at a diabolical pace They ended up harming the mental health of employees in all departments. “The only person who doesn’t suffer the consequences but benefits fully from the outcome is José Luis Moreno“, P. Martín explains about the businessman who was arrested in 2021 and accused of being one of the ringleaders of a fraud and money laundering network related to drug trafficking (at the moment the case is still open and Moreno has not been prosecuted. For justice).

The journalist adds that despite the chaos, the quality of the series did not stop improving for a long time. “I’m sure there were frictions and crises that I wasn’t told about, no matter how hard I tried, but in general, from what I was told, I think that in the end it worked out in the favor of the whole team. Alberto Caballero was a good captain of the ship, because they believed in the project, because he had good benefits (salary, work experience, success and fame) terms) and there was an overall good atmosphere on the set.”

But the actors had no life beyond that. Some, such as Loles LeonThe actress, who played the controlling and fluid Paloma Cuesta, decided to abandon the project. The veteran actor admits: “From the moment my agent said to me, ‘Do this show,’ I told him, ‘But they have to pay me what I earn.’ ” ‘No, but look, do this, then when I grow up, now…’ and it never happened. .It was always like: ‘No, renew because then I’ll give it to you in the next contract.’ ‘Then give it to me, okay?’ ‘Okay, okay, we’re having this party, and then…’ and he never showed up… and finally, because I was so tired, so stressed, and a little fed up with the whole thing, I said, ‘Look, I’m going, ‘I’m leaving, I don’t want it anymore.'”

What no one expected was this Moreno unilaterally decided to take Antena 3’s most successful series and bring it to Telecinco.. “Telecinco, under threat of a lawsuit from Antena 3, who want to stop the series when the first scripts have been written, wants them to throw everything in the trash and think of something very similar but not the same, recycling the actors and actresses. situations and style,” says editor Jaime Sagi-Vela in the book. “It has never been easy. That’s why men can achieve this with little pain by being a little patient.

In ‘La que se cerca’, which was born in April 2007, most of the crew and cast remained, who finished the series on Antena 3. As expected, Antena 3 filed a lawsuit and demanded that the broadcast be stopped. Considering it’s a rip-off of the TV series ‘Nobody Lives Here’. But the truth is that Telecinco had not committed any irregularities, as determined by a 2012 decision. The Commercial Court of Madrid rejected Antena 3’s case. It was concluded that the similarities between both series were not sufficient to be taken into account LQSA The same job.

Still alive almost two decades after its premiere, this new series has become another television phenomenon, but its sharing data has never been as spectacular as that of its predecessor. “I think the key that differentiates ‘ANHQV’ from ‘LQSA’ is‘ Isabel Ordaz explains this well when she says: There is more humanity and vulnerability in the characters of the former, while those of the latter are more dramatic., they are angrier, they have moved from the friendly caricature to the grotesque,” ​​concludes P. Martín. “It blew my mind when you suggested that maybe there was something A reflection of how Spanish society has developed over the last 20 years. “I think he might be right.”