Drive In (TV program)

Drive In is an Italian television sketch comedy variety show, created by Antonio Ricci. The show's six seasons were broadcast by Italia 1 from 1983 to 1989. It was referred to as the most innovative and popular Italian television show of the 1980s.^[1]

Drive In
Genre	Variety Sketch Comedy
Presented by	Gianfranco D'Angelo Ezio Greggio Enrico Beruschi
Country of origin	Italy
No. of seasons	6
Original release
Network	Italia 1
Release	October 4, 1983 (1983-10-04) – April 17, 1988 (1988-04-17)

History

The show revolutionized Italian TV conventions and languages, presenting a zany, sharp and fast-paced type of humor, partly imported from the model of the Saturday Night Live.^[1] It also proposed a new, different image of the women, more sensual and transgressive.^[2] Due to its high audience ratings, it has a key role in the success of Silvio Berlusconi's Fininvest (now Mediaset).^[1][2]

The show launched the careers of several comedians (such as Ezio Greggio, Giorgio Faletti, Francesco Salvi) as well as of a number of showgirls (including Tinì Cansino and Lory Del Santo). It generated a series of imitation programs, several of them also created by the same Antonio Ricci.^[3]