About

Gil da Esfirra vs. Galerito is a Brazilian meme originated circa 2006/2008 on the police television show Canal Livre, broadcasted for the Amazonas region on the local Rede Bandeirantes station TV Rio Negro (currently known as TV Bandeirantes Manaus), hosted by the now-deceased MP Wallace Souza and his brothers. However, only on early January 2016, the meme reached a high popularity, thanks to the various uploads of this scenes to YouTube, along with related posts on various Brazilian Facebook pages (mainly South America Memes).

History

Canal Livre was a popular news program in Brazil. It was presented by the former police officer and former politician Wallace Souza and was the most popular show in the city of Manaus. Souza's popularity as host of Canal Livre saw him get elected on three occasions to political office. One of the things that more leveraged the success of the program was Gil (full name: Gilson Luiz dos Santos do Carmo), a stage entertainer and sfiha seller (who suffered bullying constantly being called as Rogério) and their fights with the puppet Galerito (portrayed by Iserlohn Castro). The program ended in 2009, due to various controversies envolving the presenter and the production of the program, returning in 2013 under the name Programa Livre on the local SBT station TV Em Tempo.

The fights

A recurring scene on the program was various members of the cast (specially Galerito) commonly bullying Gil, calling various names, including gay, queer and the most common: Rogério, accompanied by the song Viúva de Rogério by Renato Fechine. When Gil gets mad, he starts to fight with who've been bullying him, whit this fights sometimes accompanied by the song Ele é corno, mas é meu amigo by the clown, humorist and MP Tiririca. The most famous fight was during the act of local musician Nunes Filho, being later revealed that the singer was making playback when its microphone failed. In that scene, the catchphrases Matando barata, tuxina no toba, coceira na prega (Killing roaches, pinworm on the ass, itching on the bum), Foi no fogo do amor que o Nunes queimou a rosca (It was on the fire of love that Nunes took on his ass) and Solte o meu cabelo! (Let go my hair!) became extremely popular.

Repercussion

In early January 2016, a YouTube user from the Amazonas region uploaded a video with the best moments of the Gil vs. Galerito fights, originally intended for the Amazonian viewers. However, the video quickly became a success on other Brazilian regions, reaching similar fame to other memes like Faustão and Pai de Família, being a recurring subject on Brazilian comedy pages like Brizola Memes and South America Memes.

The return

In February 15, 2016, due to the large repercussion of the meme, Gil (now living in São Paulo) returned to the program, ending up to fight with the show's new puppet Macaco Lek Lek (which replaced Galerito). A peace deal was tried on the episode of February 24, but falied, followed by Gil's anniversary celebration on March 23 in which Lek Lek offered to Gil a bra and panties set, ending up again in confusion.

Why is this funny?

The bizarrity of the show, along with the soundtracks used during it, were an essential step to this fights now being famous nationwide. Another important factor for its popularity is the catchphrases said by the two main characters like Rogério!, Foi no fogo do amor que o Nunes queimou a rosca (It was on the fire of love that Nunes took on his ass), Eu gostei do bolo, esse bolo é muito gostoso! (I liked the cake, that cake is very tasty) and O Diabo não tem pai! (The Devil hasn't a dad).