Doctor Ricci, first the pleasantries: shall we speak informally?
“Come on, come on.”
You didn’t bother doing anything Strip?
«No, because I’m curious. Strip it allows me to satisfy my curiosity on a daily basis, to let off steam and make a mess. It’s a good way to not get bored.”
…And to massacre this and that if necessary. She sued anyone.
“We are at 400 complaints, more or less.”
In face. How many did she lose?
“None. Actually, one. I was convicted due to an off-air episode by Vattimo, but then I appealed to the European Court of Human Rights and won. The beautiful thing was the writing on the deed: “Antonio Ricci against the Italian State”, what a satisfaction».
It takes courage.
“I call it recklessness.”
But aren’t you ever afraid of “ending badly” with one of these causes? I would be terrified.
«I have never been afraid. I face fears. Do you know what I was afraid of as a child?”
Tell me.
«Of the void. It was something that scared me tremendously. And then I started climbing over the ledges and jumping here and there.”
Practically like parkour.
“It didn’t exist yet at the time.”
You made that up too.
“I hope not. A few years ago I had a problem with Emilio Fede. One day I see him in Milan 2, he was in the square. I was on the top floor of an attic residence. To impress him I went out onto the attic windowsill and stared at him from the roof. Then I realized that the tiles were slimy and I thought that dying for Emilio Fede would have been unforgivable. I came back”.
Have you ever been “inside” Gabibbo?
«Are you crazy? It is a receptacle for mites, ugly life forms, diseases, illnesses, horrible things.”
But you love him.
“No, I hate it, I detest it, it disgusts me.”
Even d’Urso didn’t want to accept your invitation to come in and surprise the first episode.
“He could not. He told me that he must resolve his issues with the company.”
You never have problems with the company, you do whatever you want.
«I always have problems with the company. I made a pact with Silvio Berlusconi who also resists with Pier Silvio: I’m free on broadcast, but the damages are my responsibility. In any case, I don’t have exclusives with anyone, never have.”
It’s a good deal actually. Have you always gotten along with Berlusca?
“But come on, we really had a fight.”
Type?
«There was this programme, Matrioska, it had to be something innovative, I had a Moroccan salesman from those who sell carpets present it. In my mind he had to represent Pippo Baudo. He was a very smart guy. Then there were Moana Pozzi, Silvio Orlando, Sabina Guzzanti… I had invented this thing about choirs, among others that of a group of young people from Comunione e Liberazione. I get them there and they think they’re taking part in an, well, ethnic programme.”
Big mistake!
«I don’t know why but I imagined this group of boys coming on the bus from Rimini and singing church songs all together with a priest…».
…And instead?
«And instead they were all sons of powerful people, lawyers, notaries… The head of the press office at the time was one of Cielle, I informed them that mine is a program with naked Moana and other things and they send an Article 700, a warning to block the broadcast.”
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When does the Knight enter the scene?
«He calls me into his office and asks me if I have the choir release, otherwise I have to remove it. I obviously tell him no. And then he tells me “Then I’ll block your broadcast, if you’re a thief I can’t hold the bag for you.” I’m leaving”.
Azz… And then?
«The newspapers are having fun. Republic, instead of Cielle’s pimples, puts Moana and Scrondo on the front page, who aren’t stupid, and make it clear that the show isn’t on air because of them. Dance. I then decide to block the Drive In, but first I broadcast an abridged edition in which D’Angelo in the Sandra Milo version beats the Little Fans of Formigoni and Berlusconi. In short, a mess explodes. And Berlusconi, after listening to a delegation made up of D’Angelo, Greggio and the director Recchia, understands that without me we cannot move forward and is forced to reconvene me.”
The showdown…
«I go in and sit in his study. He reaches me, takes an iron door stopper, a very heavy one. He tells me “now I’ll break your head because I want to see what’s inside”. So I grab a letter opener and tell him “and I’ll dress you up as a priest!” which in criminal jargon means “I’ll open you from your navel to your throat!”. We look at each other darkly and… We explode in laughter. In the end I did the Arabian Phoenix… And I put on the choir of Communion and Liberation!”.
In the end you always win.
«But secretly, I put it in the theme song played backwards like satanic music».
Well come on, you may have given up on something. Tell me a host you would like to bring to Striscia but haven’t been able to.
«Fiorello, he is number one, he has an edge».
Ever tried the approach?
«Yes, in fact he even told me yes except that Confalonieri blew it all up».
In what sense.
«I secretly made an agreement with Fiorello who at the time had his own program on Sky. We had already prepared the script, Staffelli would be the other presenter and we agree on everything, he tells me that once his commitment with Sky is over he will come to me.”
And then?
«It happens that the Sky program doesn’t have great ratings, but it was logical that this was the case, it was impossible to exceed the number of subscribers. The good Confalonieri, like Pier Silvio, didn’t know about my pact with Fiorello and one day he made a joke about his ratings that Fiore couldn’t stomach.”
And many greetings…
«His Sicilian soul came out: “…If I’m not welcome…”. Sooner or later I will bring him here, if he comes at 80 it will mean that they will pay him in diapers…”.
In the meantime, 40 years have passed since the birth of Drive In. You’ve seen, they’ve re-evaluated it on the left too!
«I correct you, the left celebrated it right from the start. At the time, celebratory articles were published by people such as the poet Giovanni Raboni, Umberto Eco, Beniamino Placido, Oreste Del Buono, Angelo Guglielmi himself.”
And then?
«And then, after years and years, on 25 April 2009 Berlusconi makes Onna’s speech and on the left they have to find any pretext to attack him and they choose Drive In. Also because it is the only program of the time that can come to mind» .
They said you were the worst of the worst…
«They deliberately confused us with Colpo Grosso. They needed a pretext and demonized us, while the truth is that I was the first to give the floor to the chorus girls. Before me they danced and stopped, I made them talk, the Fast Food Girls recited Ellekappa’s lines!».
They said you undressed women.
«Do you think that Damilano on theEspresso wrote that the Drive In it coincided with Berlusconi’s descent into politics, but he had closed down six years earlier! An eternity in the world of communication. They advertised a documentary entitled The Body of Women to attack us, so I did the same with photos and videos of women published in their weekly magazine and on their website. They were so far gone that YouTube censored it for me. They preached and were the worst of the worst.”
What do you think about the “trash on TV” issue?
«Trash is part of life, but it doesn’t shock me. Well, there was a time when television was worse than the real country. I remember a program by Alda d’Eusanio on Rai 2 which ran in the afternoon and was really bad, it aired stories of messed up families, with the postman who was a perverse polymorph, the wife a drugged out swinger who disguised herself… things chilling and very fake. I noticed my daughters watching it. So I waged war on her a bit and in response she went on air wearing a very interesting t-shirt with the words “Ricci calm down, have a wank”. Today something like this would be unthinkable.”
Well, great reply.
«Ah yes, Alda was a great fighter at the time».
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A program you like?
«Rai 2 Social Club, the morning one on Rai 2 with Luca Barbarossa and Andrea Perroni. They’re good”.
A comedian you like?
«Apart from my parents who are very good, I would tell you Cucciari and Crozza. Cucciari has an explosive joke.”
Fazio and Littizzetto are leaving on Sunday, do you want to say something to them?
«To Fazio? In the sheep’s mouth, the wolf would vomit. However, I would let Littizzetto lead Strip».
Amadeus is a tough opponent…
«There is no competition, it is a totally different programme…».
What if he asked you to go to Sanremo with him?
“He already asked me, I told him no.”
Why don’t you get involved in politics?
“I’m unconscious, but not to this extent.”
Don’t you think there are too many political talk shows on TV?
«The reason is simple: the guests come for free, the programs are cheap and they do the listening they need to do».
Almost everywhere there is a rush to express one’s opinion on the conflict between Palestine and Israel.
«On the other hand, I don’t say anything, I have nothing to say on such a big issue. I hate know-it-alls.”
What relationship do you have with drugs?
“Never try.”
Nothing at all?
«I have a memory of when I was 9 years old. One of my mother’s colleagues, a teacher, smoked eucalyptus cigarettes, I was fascinated. So together with my sister we tear a sheet of paper from a squared notebook, put eucalyptus leaves and seeds inside and light it. She made a blaze and burned my nose, we were scared.”
And there you stopped your adventure with “drugs”.
“Exact. And with cigarettes.”
A little alcohol every now and then?
«A glass of wine, yes, but spirits make my stomach puncture».
Can you tell me the closest you came to going to prison?
«I must have been fifteen. I’m on the Albenga avenue with two friends, a military patrol stops a recruit and insults him for his messy uniform. Let’s take the rookie’s defense. They point their weapons at us and take us to the Carabinieri barracks. They scream continuously until the door opens and the Marshal comes out and says to me “Antonio, what are you doing…”. He was the father of my classmate.”
Speaking of Albenga, is it true that you played football with Beppe Grillo?
«Yes, in the Berretti team of Albenga, we played a few games together».
Were you strong?
«Well, I was a full-back who only played with my right foot. I hit enough. In Savona they gave me someone to look after who seemed good and in fact he was chasing me everywhere. His name was Pierino Prati.”
So lucky…
«…another time we go to play in Asti, there was snow and it was very cold, the goalkeeper gets hurt and I have to replace him like Giroud the other evening. There’s this Tuscan who throws stones from all sides, the ball was a boulder and it hurt terribly. ‘This Tuscan was called Giancarlo Antognoni. On the way back I decided to stop it, I never deserved a Panini sticker, just a fool.”
I don’t ask you anything about Baglioni…
“Speaking of nothing, I hope he shows up at the hearing. He had the book withdrawn The news spreads dedicated to him. I believe it is the only case of a book censored and withdrawn in Italy. What is written inside is all true. But I’ll go through with it and maybe we’ll do another one.”
Antonio, is it Berlusconi who made you rich or you who made him even richer…
«Good question… I would like to know, but I was disappointed, I expected him to leave me at least a door stopper, and instead… But he gave a pearl to everyone: “In the end, good always triumphs over evil. Except in the case of Antonio Ricci.”
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2023-10-13 17:17:00
#Antonio #Ricci #trouble #Cav #badly #Arcore
