Nonno Felice note is an Italian sitcom that aired from 1992 to 1995, starring popular comedian Gino Bramieri. Here, he portrays a fun grandpa and Cool Old Guy who lives with his son's family.
Being an Italian Dom Com focusing on a Cool Old Guy and his relationship with his three beloved grandchildren, the show was meant to be wholesome and family-friendly. However, many of the jokes are not, especially by today's standards.
The show lasted three seasons. It also had one spin-off co-starring Franca Valeri named Norma and Felice, sadly cancelled after just one season due to Bramieri's death.
The show contains examples of:
- Advertised Extra: In the spin-off Norma and Felice, the members of the Malinverni family excluding Federico are still credited as regulars in the opening. However, besides the title characters (now living in a new house), only the twins appear regularly. Franco and Ginevra are completely absent in most episodes.
- Book Dumb: Federico seems a normal kid, just slightly more naive than the twins, but his grades are terrible.
- Bratty Half-Pint: All the children have their bratty moments, though Federico is usually less of a bratty smart-mouth than the twins Eva and Morena. At their worst, the twins can even be Tiny Tyrannical Girls despite their "cuteness"; in "È Primavera Svegliatevi Bambini", even Felice who adores the twins, is horrified by their behavior.
- Butt-Monkey: Franco, whose entire character revolves around being insulted and made fun of by Felice, his own father. He quietly accepts all the insults and never gets offended.
- Catchphrase:
- Felice has "Don't call me Daddy" to Franco. He also frequently says "Well well well" or his motto "Grandpa Felice always does what he says".
- When the doorbell rings, the twins often say in unison "Grandpa, they rang the bell... GRANDPA, THEY RANG THE BELL!"
- Child Prodigy: Eva is revealed to be a math genius in one of the early episodes, but she refuses to go to a prestigious school because she doesn't want to stay away from her family. This is the only episode which shows one of the twins being different from the other, but it's never brought up again.
- Cool Old Guy: Felice is wise, fun-loving, adores his grandchildren, and is extremely close to them.
- Crossdresser: For various reasons, Felice often ends up crossdressing as the over-the-top old lady Felicita.
- Deadpan Snarker: Felice is constantly snarking at everything. The spin-off introduces housekeeper Norma (played by Franca Valeri) who can old her own in a Snark-to-Snark Combat with him.
- Dirty Old Man: Felice doesn't try to hide his attraction to hot younger women, like the bartender or Federico's teacher.
- Everyone Has Standards:
- Felice is often a perverted Dirty Old Man towards hot younger women. While his daughter-in-law Ginevra is gorgeous and Felice acknowledges her beauty, he never shows any sexual attraction to her and only sees her as his son's wife.
- Felice is usually blindly supportive of his grandchildren, no matter how badly they behave. But when he realizes the twins were horribly mistreating an innocent little boy, to the point of treating him like a slave, he sympathizes with the boy and helps him to stand up for himself.
- Felice often makes fun of the appearance of unattractive women. In one episode, he initially has this attitude towards his best friend's new girlfriend, but when he realizes she's a really sweet woman, he becomes very supportive of the couple.
- Friend to All Children: Felice, almost to the point of being One of the Kids. Other than his close relationship with his grandchildren, he also gets along with their friends and has helped problematic kids in some episodes.
- Grandparent Favoritism: Felice is a nice grandparent to Federico, Eva, and Morena and a complete jerk to his son Franco, even outright telling him that he's a disgrace multiple times and that his children are the only good things he has ever done in his life (though he's mostly just joking and can be kind towards him at times). He's also very nice to his daughter-in-law Ginevra, in contrast to the way he treats his son.
- Little Miss Snarker: The twins are quite sassy like their grandpa, and they are only in elementary school.
- Malaproper: The twins tend to mess up words very often, and Felice usually corrects them.
- Meaningful Name: Felice means Happy, and the title Nonno Felice translates to "happy grandpa". Felice is on a good mood most of the time, and has a lot of energy for his age.
- Ms. Fanservice: Ginevra, played by the stunning Paola Onofri, often wears revealing clothes. Then there are all the women lusted after by Felice, like the busty bartender in the early episodes.
- Odd Couple: The title characters in the spin-off Norma and Felice are a Platonic Life-Partners example. Felice is an exuberant Manchild and jokester, while Norma is extremely uptight, rigid, and prudish. In spite of this, both are very sarcastic, and Norma is one of the few characters who can snark at Felice and put him in his place... sort of.
- Put on a Bus: Federico, one of the grandchildren, disappears in the second half of season 3 and the spin-off. His parents occasionally mention him going to school trips to justify his absence, while in the spin-off, it's mentioned that he went to study in England. He comes back in one episode of Norma and Felice, though.
- Racist Grandpa: Felice makes many racist jokes in the third episode of the show. Being part of a Prejudice Aesop plot, when the black doctor turns out to be very competent, Felice gets better and learns to respect him. In one Season 3 episode, Felice was even willing to adopt another black guy in his family.
- Single-Minded Twins: Eva and Morena are identical twins who look and act like the clones of each other, down to wearing always the same clothes and Finishing Each Other's Sentences.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Plain-looking Franco and gorgeous Statuesque Stunner Ginevra. Felice even compares them to Beauty and the Beast more than once. And fittingly for a sitcom, Franco is also a bit of an absent-minded Bumbling Dad (though he's not as bad as Felice makes him out to be) while Ginevra is smart and Closer to Earth.
