Os Trapalhões was a Brazilian comedy group and a television series of the same name created by Wilton Franco. Its members Dedé Santana, Zacarias, Mussum and their leader Didi Mocó (Renato Aragão). The name Os Trapalhões (which can be translated as The Bumbling Ones or The Clumsy Ones) is derived from the Portuguese verb atrapalhar, which means the opposite of helping, to do something the wrong way or to Those that confuse. The name is translated "Tramps" in English DVD subtitles. It originally aired on Rede Tupi from 1974 to 1977 and the show later moved to Rede Globo and remained there from 1977 to 1995. On March 18, 1990, Zacarias died due to respiratory failure, but the group and the series didn't come to an end until July 29, 1994, when Mussum died due to an unsuccessful heart transplant.

Premise

The series consisted of several different sketches featuring comic adventures and situations of the four protagonists. The sketches would sometimes feature only one of them (mostly Didi), two, three or all four of them. In those, they would often try to outsmart each other or a common foe, by making pranks or working together to achieve a common goal. Some of these sketches also parodied comics' superheroes, such as Superman (mostly played by Didi because of his leader role), Batman (played mostly by Dedé), Spider-Man, Hulk, He-Man, The Phantom, etc.

Cast

Main characters

Supporting characters

Comics

A comic book series based on Trapalhões were published in during the 1980s and 1990s by "Bloch Editores" and Editora Abril respectively, usually in digest size.