Raymond y sus Amigos

Raymond y sus Amigos (Spanish: Raymond and his Friends) is a Puerto Rican live television sketch comedy, political satire, and variety show created by Raymond Arrieta and developed by Tony Mojena that airs on Telemundo Puerto Rico. The show's recurring sketches often parody Puerto Rican culture and politics and are performed by the show's recurring cast, most of which have remained the same since the show's inception in 2014.

History
Raymond Arrieta rose to prominence as a comedian in Puerto Rican television by presenting El Show de Raymond (Raymond's Show) on Televicentro (WAPA-TV) during the late 90s and early 2000s. In 2006, Televicentro was sold to InterMedia Partners which brought changes to the station, including the cancellation of El Show de Raymond. After his contract with WAPA-TV ended, Arrieta joined Telemundo (WKAQ-TV) in 2007 as the co-host of the daytime variety show Día a Día (Day by Day).

Arrieta was approached by Tony Mojena, who produces Día a Día, with the idea of reviving his sketch comedy show on WKAQ-TV which led to the development of Raymond y sus Amigos. On June 6, 2014, a press conference was held to announce the debut of the new show, on the event it was announced that the show would debut on Tuesday, June 24, 2014, and would air for two hours. The introduction of the show marked the first time WKAQ-TV featured original local programming in eight years.

The format of the show begins with a monologue by Arrieta, joined by a house band, followed by comedic sketches, and featured interview segments, more comedic sketches and a musical guest, although the episodes may not include the latter. The show's premiere episode had interviews with boxers Félix "Tito" Trinidad and Miguel Cotto, with Luis Fonsi served as the musical guest. The premiere episode was a success for the network and managed to trend on Twitter through a game of hashtags, encouraging viewers to participate.

The show takes place from Studio 2 at WKAQ-TV Studios in San Juan where El Show de las 12 originated, with a capacity of 300 guests. During the COVID-19 pandemic the show halted admitting audiences and was performed in front of essential personnel only. In late 2021, the show resumed welcoming audiences in separated clusters and wearing masks and returned admitting full audiences in 2023.

Cast
The show is hosted and led by Raymond Arrieta and veteran comedians René Monclova, Jorge Castro and Miguel Morales. The show also held auditions to find newer talent and landed on Rosko Jaime, Joealis Filippetti, Norwill Fragoso, Mónica Pastrana, and Lirimar Castañeda. Joining them would be Abraham Martí, who had previously worked on sketch-comedy show TV Ilegal on WAPA-TV in the early 2000s, and Yeye Villanueva, who worked with Arrieta on El Show de Raymond on WAPA. On August 11, 2017, Lizmarie Quintana joined the cast. Quintana had previously worked with Martí on TV Ilegal. On August 22, 2023, it was announced during the show that comedian Jasond Calderón would be joining the cast of the show, who previously worked on TeleOnce's late-night talk show Acuestate con Francis and had been off television following the show's cancellation in July 2022.

Current cast

 * Raymond Arrieta
 * Jasond Calderón
 * Jorge Castro
 * Joealis Filippetti
 * Norwill Fragoso
 * Sara Jarque
 * JC Martínez
 * René Monclova
 * Miguel Morales
 * Mónica Pastrana
 * Lizmarie Quintana
 * Abraham Martí
 * Yeye Villanueva

Former cast

 * Rosko Jaime
 * Lirimar Castañeda
 * Nelson del Valle
 * Carlos Ramírez

Rosko Jaime's exit
During the tail-end of 2022, Rosko Jaime began missing episodes of the show. While he would eventually return to the program in early 2023, his exit from the cast became official in June 2023. Jaime portrayed the character of Luiso (nicknamed "Shupi"), a flamboyant gay man, who was often performed with exaggerated mannerisms and in a feminine manner on the show's Sex and the City parody called Men and the City. On June 6, 2023, Jaime expressed through his lawyer that he had been let go from the show because of his disagreement of the way the character was being written and considered the character and its storylines were verging on being offensive towards the LGBTQIA+ community. In Jaime's statement he said he expressed his concerns about the writing to executive producer Tony Mojena and WKAQ management but his complaints were not addressed by the production and instead he was notified he would no longer be appearing on the show. Jaime and Mojena came to an agreement behind closed doors for him to retain ownership of all the characters he portrayed on Raymond y sus Amigos and the two parted ways with Jaime shortly after joining rival network TeleOnce.

Recurring sketches
The show features a variety of recurring sketches based on different characters, some presented in an episodic way with new stories presented weekly for the recurring characters.


 * Gato Encerrado con la Dra. Apolo: A parody of Caso Cerrado where Arrieta impersonates Ana María Polo. Villanueva plays the sergeant-at-arms, who is easily jump-scared and speaks broken English.
 * La Oficina de LUMA: Sketch mocking the customer service of Puerto Rico's energy provider, LUMA Energy.
 * Men and the City: A parody of Sex and the City, following a group of friends, Carlos (a stay-at-home husband, played by Arrieta, with an overbearing wife), Mauricio (a financially-struggling divorcé, played by Monclova), Sammy (a womanizer, played by Castro) and Larry (a single man who enjoys dating older women, played by Morales), who meet weekly at a bar to talk about their relationships. Carlos' overbearing wife Linda (played by Filippetti) is constantly grilling him and talking him down, especially whenever she finds him at the bar with his friends, whom she vocally disapproves of sometimes. The bar is managed by Betty (played by Pastrana), who is often pushed around by the men and always excluded from their inner circle when it comes to discussing their relationships. Prior to his departure from the show, Rosko Jaime was involved in the sketch, playing Luiso (nicknamed "Shupi"), a flamboyant gay man and Betty's best friend and confidant. Salsa singer Víctor Manuelle plays the bar's owner, whom occasionally guest stars on the sketch when he's the musical guest on the show.
 * Guaraguao Security: An original sketch that follows a group of incompetent private security officers.
 * La Cuarteta: An original sketch following the adventures of a food truck owner.
 * Última Pregunta: A parody of the political analysis program Primera Pregunta con Rafael Lenin López, featuring parodies of Puerto Rican political personalities.
 * ¡Es Mi Vida!: An original sketch following the life of a whining, spoiled and often narcissist teenage drama queen named Yelaika (played by Martí), her enabling father (played by Monclova) and their clueless but good-hearted neighbor Piru (played by Arrieta).
 * Los Collazos
 * La Casa De Los Peposos: a parody of La Casa de los Famosos
 * Edna y Dora
 * Los Borrachitos
 * El Show De Los 4P: A parody/homage to the late Spanish clown trio of brothers Gaby, Miliki and Fofó (Los Payasos de la Tele) where the ringmaster Tato (played by Castro) leads the trio of clowns Tito (played by Monclova), Totito (played by Arrieta) and Totitito (played by Martí) to comment and sing about social issues in Puerto Rico, particularly those involving the Government of Puerto Rico. After Jarque joined the show, she joined the sketch as the fourth clown Totitita, and also serving as Martí's replacement when he's absent from the show.