As a half hispanic man, I can agree; El Chavo (as well as other series/characters from its creator, Roberto Gรณmez Bolaรฑos; like El Chapulรญn Colorado, Chespirito, Dr. Chapatรญn and many others) are STILL deeply massive EVERYWHERE ELSE in Latin Amรฉrica, Brazil, and believe it or not, Spain! (where they mostly dislike Latin American mediaโฆ something we share, as it's very difficult for Spain-based media to be liked by Latin American audiences) but Mรฉxico, where apparently, people loathe it.
One of my best friends, is actually from Mรฉxico; and I ask her once why they hate El Chavo so much, so she briefly explained to me that Gรณmez Bolaรฑos' uncle was President of Mรฉxico until 1970, around the time he started showing his series on TV, as well as for portraying an exaggerated/stereotypical vision of poverty** in Mรฉxico in late 1960s-1970s. Also, many people have never forgotten that during his popularity peak, he (silently?) supported some dictatorships and some controversial politicians from that time (again, 1970s)โฆ So, it's not a "love the art, hate the artist", but mostly a "hate the art, abhor the artist", and it's not difficult finding millions of videos on YouTube where everyday Mexican people explain WHY they don't like El Chavo (or whatever created by RBG)
**Some "intellectual/academic" people have said that that's exactly one of the reasons it's still so massively popular, no matter which social status you may have; it shows some scenarios or situations that are (even in almost 2025!) so present in many Latin American cities/towns, and yes; most of its humor nowadays would make the series get cancelled in one season. Despite El Chavo's jokes are considered clean humor for most people, nowadays jokes about body shaming (poor Seรฑor Barriga and รoรฑo!), ageism, or poverty itself would cause a scandal.
Not sure if it's a bit of nostalgia as almost every single Latin American kid, (again, maybe except Mรฉxico) in the 80s and 90s, and 00s, and even 10s! grew up watching Roberto Gรณmez Bolaรฑos' shows every afternoon/night on their national tv stations, and became an ingrained memory from our childhood, or if it's a nostalgia regarding a time long, long goneโฆ Or if it's because even there's indeed a lot of situations portrayed there that are still easily identifiable once you go out there in Latin Amรฉrica's streets, or maybe a mix of everything, but, El Chavo is just a part of our culture, for better or worse.
Believe it or not, there's very few (if any) original merch from those times, and when ANYTHING with El Chavo's face on it comes out, people get crazy! Even McDonald's released in Latin America some years ago a whole line of toys with the Happy Meal. Nowadays are very hard to find, even on eBay. I myself have the only official sticker album that includes Quico and La Chilindrina (if you know the story, you'll know); which was released in 1995, the very same year the series ended. By the way, regarding that albumโฆ Nowadays you get astonished of seeing the absurd amount of copies/fake replicas you can easily find onlineโฆ which get sold in a flash!
In 2020 the series got off the air because of royalty disagreements between Televisa (which, according to Florinda Meza, one of the main actresses, has earned over 2 BILLION dollars since 1970s thanks to El Chavo only, not including other RGB's series), and it was like a public mourning. Finally, some months ago (yep, almost 5 years later), the series went back on air, and don't know how to explain it, but it's good to know there's still the chance of turning to national TV (if you still do that in these age and times!) knowing that, on one of those stations, El Chavo is still on.
So, why is El Chavo/Chapulรญn Colorado/Chespirito/Chapatรญn/etc STILL so freshly popular โฆ As a half hispanic, I have absolutely no idea. As a kid who grew up watching it every single freaking afternoon at 4:00pm, and then Chapulรญn Colorado at 5:00pm, and then Chespiritos on Saturdays afternoonsโฆ WHY NOT to love it? Even if in Mexico don't give a single dime. Even if they haven't built a single museum/gallery about it.
Bizarrely weird? Absolutely.
"ยกY la prรณxima vez, vaya a preguntarle sobre el รฉxito de El Chavo a su abuela! (And next time, go and ask about El Chavo's success to your grandma!)
-Ron Damรณn, ยฟSu abuelita todavรญa ve El Chavo? (Ron Damรณn, does your grandma still watch El Chavo?)"
-(bell sounds, as Don Ramรณn bumps El Chavo's head)!!!!!!
-Pipipipipipi (Chavo crying)
-Pehpehpehpehpehpeh (Don Ramรณn mocking El Chavo)โฆ No te doy otra nomรกs porque mi abuelita vio el primer episodio cuando lo transmitieron por primera vez. (And won't give you another one because my grandma watched the pilot episode when it was first aired!)"
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