If you, like me, grew up in the late '80s or early '90s, you are equally guilty of absorbing most of life’s juicy potential through Italian TV. We all remember those awkward moments after dinner when older family members would boot us off to bed under the pretence that the shows on TV would burn our underdeveloped eyes and corrupt our minds.
That only intrigued us more, and we’d find creative solutions such as catching the programmes during Saturday morning re-runs and sitting in the dark at the top of the stairs (which were positioned to give a direct view of the living room) to peer between banisters and absorb snippets of the series. Back then, it was our little secret, but now they’re a widespread source if nostalgia. Here are five amazing yet slightly inappropriate series we couldn’t admit we loved as kids.
1. Beautiful
“Stop hogging the TV and go do your homework – Beautiful is about to start” is a phrase our mothers indoctrinated in our brains. Although officially titled 'The Bold and the Beautiful' it was locally referred to singularly by the adjective beautiful. Even our usually sensible aunts, sisters and on occasion, grandmothers, fell under its spell (this soap opera is still going on today!) The initial disdain for this practise soon morphed into interest, and either consciously or subconsciously we found ourselves drawn into the absolute tornado that was Brooke’s life. And you ask why there’s no emotional stability to be found nowadays?
2. Elisa di Rivombrosa
Italians are master cinematographers in general, but this series provided such an intense mixture of historical action, charming heroes, romance, beautiful gowns, intrigue and drama that it not only infected Malta with fangirl fever but captivated half of Europe’s imagination too. Originally released in 2003, the show provided most youngsters with their initial introduction to the concept of sex. The steamy scenes are what got us banished to bed early, but what also had us daydreaming about one day finding a husband with Ristori for a surname. (And a palazzo. And a title. And a dashing smile).
3. La Figlia di Elisa
After the insane success of Elisa di Rivombrosa, two sequels followed, one of them being La Figlia di Elisa. Set 20 years after the original series, it follows the life of Elisa and Fabrizio’s daughter – Agnese. Sticking to the original formula, the series was again a healthy mix of action, romance, drama and intrigue and albeit less popular, our deep-rooted faithfulness to the series saw us fall into fangirl frenzy all over. Released in 2008, our more mature brains could finally understand better the power of a square nose and a chiselled jaw. Can’t understand what I mean? Google the name Giulio Berruti.
4. Baywatch
All right, this one doesn’t exactly count as sexually explicit in terms of storyline, but after years of being bombarded with images of Pamela Anderson in her iconic red swimsuit, there is no way that Baywatch can escape this list. Although the lifeguard backdrop was an exhilarating bonus, we are all guilty of zoning off and imagining ourselves or our crushes wearing their uniforms, saving lives and capturing hearts.
5. Georgie
The reason we got away with seeing this one is its cartoon format and its sneaky showing time set somewhere between 3pm and 6pm. Popular with generations upon generations of Italians and Maltese, the series follows one girl’s journey into womanhood through an incredible life twist. With her family revealed to be an adoptive one, both her elder brothers turned into love rivals and with the addition of another love interest in the picture, the narrative turned into one exciting, romantic story. Checking it again now, we can definitely detect some innuendos that missed our radar back then!
Which one was your favourite back then?