From Raffaella Carrà to Mike Bongiorno: the TV personalities who made Italy feel close.

There were years in which, for those who lived far from Italy, the television It wasn't just entertainment. It was a bridge, a connection to roots, an antidote to nostalgia. In the 90s, when the internet was still a dream and Italian broadcasters reached abroad only via satellite dishes or VHS tapes sent by relatives, television personalities became a part of our home.

Raffaella, Pippo and Mike: the hosts

The recent death of Pippo Baudo has particularly moved Italians abroad, who recall the evenings spent with the Sicilian host in front of the TV. There was no Italian celebration abroad without at least one cassette of the Sanremo Music Festival. And there, right on time, were... Pippo Baudo e Raffaella CarraThe latter also brought many Italians abroad together with Carràmba! What a surprise.

He, with his institutional elegance and the ability to bring an entire country together in front of the television. She, with her unmistakable smile, capable of turning every appearance into an event. Alongside them, Mike Bongiorno he remained the family friend: not only with his hosting of Sanremo, but also with his famous quizzes, the suspended pauses and that famous “Allegria!” which, seen from thousands of kilometres away, sounded like an invitation to feel part of the Italian community.

Italian comedy and fiction

Laughter traveled in suitcases. A video cassette was enough. Never say Goal to fill a living room in Germany, Australia, or Canada. The Gialappa's Band with its voiceovers, Aldo, Giovanni and Giacomo in the early days and cult characters like the goalkeeper Tarzan Annoni were nuggets of humor that united generations.

Then there were the TV series. La Piovra, starring Michele Placido, brought drama and passion that kept you waiting with bated breath. And for the younger ones, the face of Ambra Angiolini In Non è la Rai, he became the symbol of a fresh, colorful, modern Italy. Those who lived far away say that watching those afternoons on television, even if only on a delayed broadcast, was like "peeking into the lives of their peers in Italy."

Those characters weren't just TV stars. For Italians abroad, they represented the language of home, the songs we sang in the car during vacations in Italy, the jokes that only those who grew up in the Belpaese could understand. Today, in the age of streaming and social media, everything seems just a click away. But in the 90s, when a recorded cassette or a disturbed satellite signal was enough to feel a little closer to Italy, those faces were so much more: they were the family you didn't see every day, the living memory of a country that remained in your heart.