Los simuladores

Los simuladores (The Pretenders) is an Argentine television series created by Damián Szifron for Telefe. Starring Federico D'Elía, Alejandro Fiore, Diego Peretti, and Martín Seefeld, it follows a small team of con artists for hire, who use their skills to solve common people's life problems. The show ran for two seasons, from 2002 to 2004. It was very popular and highly acclaimed, winning a Golden Martín Fierro Award.

Following its original run, the series was occasionally shown in reruns on Telefe. Remakes were produced in Chile, Spain (with D'Elía reprising his role), Russia, and a remake for Mexico.

In March 2022, a feature film and sequel to the series was revealed to be in development in collaboration with Paramount+, with the main cast returning and Szifron serving as the screenwriter and director. Originally scheduled to be released in 2024, it was later delayed for a 2025 release.

Premise
The series centers on a team of four associates who run a "simulation" business, solving the problems and needs of their clients by staging simulacros ("simulations", or confidence tricks) aimed at staging events that help the client come on top of the situation. The price the team charges for its services is exactly twice the cost of the simulation, as well as the client's promise to participate in future simulations. This leads to characters who appeared in previous episodes reappearing in later episodes as secondary actors and helpers for the team, giving the show a degree of continuity. The underlying philosophy used by the team is that sometimes what's legal is not fair, and sometimes what's fair is not legal.

In the second season of the show, a second Simuladores team is introduced. This group, known as the "B-Team" and composed of former clients of the original team (who had appeared on season 1), has been created to take over smaller cases and free the original team for larger and more demanding assignments.

The show is influenced by the literature work Los árboles mueren de pie (1949) by Alejandro Casona. This show shared elements with American 80s series like Stingray, The A-Team, Vengeance Unlimited, and The Equalizer.

Main
The head of the team, responsible for planning, logistics and contacting the clients. He is the most refined member. He is fond of drinking Earl Grey tea, listening to classical music, reading classic French literature, and eating fine, cosmopolitan cuisine. After each successful operation he appears smoking a cigar, often lit by the person that was fooled. He is the only member of the team to be a widower, since his wife died roughly five years before the start of the series. The member in charge of finding the materials and elements needed for the simulations. He has a black mixed-breed dog, "Betún" ("Shoe Polish"), who plays a role in several simulations. He is the most reserved member of the team, being very uncomfortable talking about his feelings or his private life. The team's leading "actor", who does most of the characterizations required for the simulation. He usually takes the name of "Máximo Cozzetti", which he took from a fraudulent lender who ran an illegal lending business. He's a charismatic playboy, shown to be dating multiple women at the same time. The team's investigator, in charge of obtaining information about the team's clients, the intended targets of the simulation and the elements of the problem the team must solve. He is the most sensitive member of the team, appearing to be very tough and stoic in public, but in truth being very openly emotional and kindhearted with his friends and family. He became divorced shortly before the time when the show takes place, something that he copes with throughout the first season.
 * Federico D'Elía as Mario Santos:
 * Alejandro Fiore as Pablo Lamponne:
 * Diego Peretti as Emilio Ravenna:
 * Martín Seefeld as Gabriel Medina:

Recurring

 * Pasta Dioguardi as Martín Vanegas
 * Juan Carlos Ricci as Arturo Gaona
 * Jorge D'Elía as José Feller
 * Fernando Sureda as Lucio Bonelli
 * Claudio Rissi as Bernardo Galván (season 1, guest season 2)
 * Humberto Serrano as Juan Dumas (season 1, guest season 2)
 * Miguel Dedovich as Miguens (season 1, guest season 2)
 * Martín Coria as Roberto Ávalos (season 1, guest season 2)
 * César Vianco as Franco Milazzo (season 2, guest season 1)
 * Daniel Valenzuela as Hugo Maresca
 * Chang Sung Kim as Tamazaki
 * Boy Olmi as José Zarazola
 * Patrick Aduma as Douglas Jones
 * Beatriz Thibaudin as Ravenna's mother (season 2)
 * Alejandro Awada as Marcos Molero (season 2)