Colpo Grosso was an Italian late-night television show that aired from November 16, 1987, to 1991 on Italia 7, hosted by Umberto Smaila, who was replaced in the final edition by Maurizia Paradiso first and Massimo Guelfi with Gabriella Lunghi later; the direction was entrusted to Celeste Laudisio.
The production was managed by GEIT, while ASA Television realized it on behalf of Fininvest, with which the Italia 7 syndication had a contract for the supply of television programs. The episodes were recorded at the ASA Television studios in Cinisello Balsamo. Although it was considered by many critics to be lowbrow and in questionable taste, it achieved remarkable ratings during the time slots in which it was broadcast (around 10:30 PM, reaching 2 million viewers in the second edition), but above all it became a cultural phenomenon in Italy and beyond. The same presenter Umberto Smaila revealed in an interview that the viewing audience that followed the show regularly unequivocally identified itself as middle to upper class.
During the first edition, the studio where the show took place was decorated in a style reminiscent of a casino, and contestants competed in betting and games; the winnings were then used to remove the outfits of the models, who were both men and women. The contestants themselves could strip to raise money to gamble. The goal of the game was to completely undress all the models (the last piece of clothing they removed was the mask over their eyes) and to make the so-called Colpo Grosso, winning the entire jackpot. The contestant with the highest winnings, but not making the Colpo Grosso, had the chance to remain as the reigning champion for the next episode.
Starting from the second season, 7 "vallettes" were introduced, initially called "Portafortuna" and the following year "Ragazze Cin Cin." The "Portafortuna" represented 7 talismans (related to symbols present in some slot machines, such as the ladybug, four-leaf clover, horseshoe, etc.), while the "Cin Cin" represented 7 fruits (pineapple, strawberry, lemon, tangerine, kiwi, cherry, blueberry, etc.), which, in addition to differentiating their costume colors, were present during the segments/strips they performed, in the form of a marker covering one of their nipples. These girls, of different nationalities, quickly became one of the most recognizable features of the show, to the point that the final part of one of their performances was aired every evening during the theme song of Blob.
From the second and even more prominently in the third edition (probably the most successful ones with Smaila hosting alongside Linda Lorenzi, Monique Sluyter, and the curvy Tiziana D'Arcangelo), while maintaining casino-inspired games, the cash prize was replaced by a paid trip abroad from the production and the program's sponsor (the Panto fixtures company, to which a specific game had also been dedicated in some seasons), and the models became exclusively women, each representing a European nation. Finally, references to geography and travel were included in the set design, which changed significantly from that of the first two editions (inspired by an airport in 1989/90 and a cruise ship in 1990/91 and 1991/92). During the second and third editions, the girls were often given original names such as "Esagerata," "Scappatella," "Maria la O," and "Tripla," while in the later editions, in the event of a Colpo Grosso, the final theme song featured the full striptease of one of the girls, called Superstar, sometimes a "Cin Cin" from previous years.
In the German version broadcast by RTL, contrary to the Italian edition, cash prizes were maintained for each girl that the contestant managed to strip with the points acquired.
The last Italian edition was hosted by Maurizia Paradiso (who was already known to the late-night audience for having hosted some erotic shows on various local televisions) and Gabriella Lunghi. The latter, following Paradiso's departure due to disagr
