Mon, Jul 30, 1962
First episode presents sisters Aurora and Ana Alberquerque Bittencourt, "mana Aurora" and "mana Ana", retired civil servants who live in a "poor but honest" house on a typical street in a typical city. Their major pastime is gossip. Aurora has seen a neighbor's husband downtown with a blond, and calls the neighbor to sweetly ask for her sister-in-law's knitting pattern, having seen the husband with his sister... The "peacefulness" of Aurora and Ana's lives and personalities is stressed by the narrator. The sisters have their minor differences - in this episode, Aurora calls Ana's favorite singer, Nelson Goncalves, "indecent". Aurora puts on a record by her favorite singer, Cauby, who Ana calls "sacreligous". That evening, they are in the living room, Aurora reading the paper and Ana knitting. The discuss the news of the day, with an obscure political joke about Jango Goulart, a mention of the play "O Pagador de Promessas" and the film "Assaulto ao Trem Pagador" with Anselmo Duarte. The frequency of strip-tease shows is discussed, and the Elizabeth Taylor is criticized as "scandalous" and Marliyn Monroe as "immodest". They go to bed. Aurora keeps a photo of Anthony Perkins by her bed, and turns his face before changing, then leaves the room just in case he peeks. Ana kisses her bedside picture, of John Gavin. Aurora has stolen Ana's bedtime reading, a "Luluzinha" comic book.
Mon, Aug 6, 1962
Olga, a vicious old gossip, goes to visit Mana Ana and Mana Aurora with the hope of cadging lunch. The sisters criticize her husband in every way imaginable, recalling the time he got drunk and climbed the church's clock tower, under the belief he was a cuckoo. After they get Olga to agree she should leave him, Olga's daughter arrives. The sisters criticize the girl's indecent attire, then tell her of her mother's admission that she wants to leave the girl's father, her husband of thirty years. The mother's protests are drowned out by the sisters' soothing reassurances that she needed to let it out. Mother and daughter finally retreat, defeated and unfed, and the sisters compare Olga's stone heart to their own compassionate natures.
Mon, Aug 13, 1962
Ana and Aurora receive two callers. The Avon lady tells the two spinsters that it's never too late for love, and Aurora buys "the lipstick that Elizabeth Taylor used to conquer Richard Burton" and an eyeliner. After the saleswoman leaves, a young man from the Census Bureau arrives, and after Ana has spoken to him alone for a few minutes, Aurora appears in lipstick and eyeliner. One of his first questions is her age, though, and she sputters and mutters in response. This episode presents us with two mysteries. When alone in the living room, each sister removes a small package from the buffet. And Ana twice excuses herself to "take her medicine".
Mon, Aug 20, 1962
Aurora is sitting up in bed, complaining to her portrait of Rock Hudson about how she is indisposed and alone. A neighbor girl calls out and comes in. She's brought Aurora tea and toast, is now bearing porridge. Aurora's sister Ana is out of town, having gone to Aparecido do Norte, a popular destination for pilgrimages. Ana's motives are not religious, however. A neighbor has not invited the sisters to her daughter's wedding, with the excuse that it will be far away in Aparecida, and Ana has gone because she doesn't believe the wedding will come off. She arrives back for lunch (Aurora, while protesting she doesn't want to be a burden, has gotten the neighbor to kill a chicken to make her broth) and is disappointed that the wedding had in fact occurred, and complains that she would not have spent the bus fare if she knew the girl would actually be married. As Aurora feels ill, Ana calls Dr. Rozendo, whose bachelor status is commented on by both sisters. He finds a slight fever and diagnoses food poisoning. Aurora and Ana both blame the generous neighbor's food: the tea, the toast, the porridge and the chicken broth. When she comes by with a piece of cake, though, Ana wolfs it down.
Mon, Aug 27, 1962
In her rocking chair, Mana Aurora reads to her sister from the paper: the Masked Bandit has struck again. They leave the room, and a man looks though the window, then comes in through the door carrying a heavy sack. He starts to scrape the walls, and on raising a cloud of dust from the old whitewash pulls out a bandanna and ties it over his face. Aurora steps in, sees the man, and sneaks out herself unseen. Ana and Aurora eventually confront the man with Grandpa's rifle, which the masked man recognizes as a theater prop. After a number of confusions - he says he's there to "clean out" the place, and his nickname on his soccer team is "Masked" - the police arrive. Everything is sorted out - the landlord had promised to send someone. Ana tells the policeman that the sisters were in terror that the man would attack them. He responds that if he liked old things he'd visit a museum, and the sisters chase him from the room.
Mon, Sep 3, 1962
The sisters debate whether to hire a maid. The cost is high, but others pay, so why can't they? The first candidate to respond to their ad is a young man. He seems to have extensive problems with the law, both civil and criminal. His responses are full of plays on words. He says he can do miracles in the kitchen, and describes on: candied pumpkin can be made into candied watermelon by just adding a few drops of Mercurochrome. His responses are interspersed with questions of his own: whether they keep money at home or in a bank; if they live on a pension or from their investments; if they keep a checkbook at home; it they have a safe. He asks to see the rest of the house, and offers his reason as "esthetic interest, to see if the whole house has this style of semi-destroyed poor man's Colonial." They usher him out, and Aurora then regrets that he seemed to want to rob them, as she found him a heartthrob. The next candidate asks if her room would have an entrance of its own; she goes out dating every night. Aurora asks if that doesn't get tiring, and she responds that no, as she has a different boyfriend for every night of the week. She insists on the going rate, which is two and a half times what the sisters had hoped to pay. She'll take advantage of this night's date to bring her things. He drives a steam roller for the town, and will give her a lift. Aurora asks if the steamroller won't be a problem if they run into someone from the town; the girl replies that her boyfriend switches the license plate from an official to an ordinary one, so that the vehicle looks like a private car.
Mon, Sep 10, 1962
The sisters have arrived at TV Cultura, as Aurora has decided to seek work as an advertising "spokesgirl". They meet Ribeiro Filho, who is playing the role of a TV Cultura Director. The episode's humor revolves around the sisters' insistence that they are "senhoritas" and not "senhoras"; the Director begins by asking Aurora if she's seeking the role for her granddaughter. Aurora has a misunderstanding with an actor who thinks she's there for the soap opera, and says, "But you're in costume." While memorizing her ad text, jungle scenery is set up around her, and she thinks she's lost in the forest, and a young actor jokes that he's there to rescue her from the wildcats. When Aurora is unable to deliver an ad for "shameless" lingerie, she's given a pair of men's pants and told to improvise. She's called to see the Director, while Ana ruminates on how her sister will certainly be given a job, and how nice it will be to hang out at the TV station and gather gossip. Aurora returns. She's been offered a job as an actress, but turned it down. Ana asks why, and the role was Little Red Riding Hood's Grandmother. The Director had assured her she would be ideal, and that no makeup would be needed: the grandmother is supposed to look very old.
Mon, Sep 17, 1962
Cousin Margarido comes to visit bringing Frilança, whom he married yesterday afternoon. They speak with strong country accents. They've been traveling all night, and a hotel wouldn't let them stay because they forgot their marriage certificate. The sisters distrust their story, and insist on phoning Uncle Anemico. The operator says she can put the call through in eight hours. The sisters take turns turns sitting between the honeymooners, to prevent any immorality. When Cousin Margarido goes to wash his face, they ask Frilança why they married. Love it seems was not involved on either side: it was just that in Parlamentopolis, there was nothing else to do to pass the time. Finally after eight hours the call goes through, and Uncle Anemico says that yes they are married. Everyone is relieved and ready to go to bed, when Frilança comments that Margarido was right when he said that his cousins were two nice little old ladies. Aurora and Ana each repeat "little old ladies" and expel the newlyweds into the street.
Mon, Sep 24, 1962
Aurora and Ana, in their living room, discuss the new system of assigning a number to candidates for Congress, and turn on the radio. It's time for the call-in program "Dial Love for the heart" with Madame Interplanetaria. Madame urges the caller to open her heart, and eventually tells her to wait, that her fiancé will come back as a candidate for her heart. Madame gives her address - behind the cemetery - and her rates. After the commercial, the sisters are in her consulting room, where they hand over cash to the boy. Madame suddenly appears and startles the sisters, who are already uneasy because of the pet owl and vulture. After greeting her birds, she asks which of the customers is first. Aurora is finally pushed ahead. They fail to be impressed by the atmosphere: when a card sticks to her hand, Madame thinks it's fate, and Aurora thinks it's greasy; mystic words like "ababa" and "vóbabá" are taken literally ("vóbabá" sounds like "I'm going to drool."). The cards show woman, woman, woman, Madame keeps dealing till she gets a man who will appear in Aurora's life. The sisters decide that it's Dr. Rozendo. The press Madame for when he will appear, and she declares that very evening. They hurry home, and the camera shows the clock: 10:00, then 12:00, then 2:00 and the clock strikes. They awaken, realize the doctor won't appear. Aurora says she's lost 2,000 cruzeiros, she's going to bed, and "I'm going to drool".
Mon, Oct 8, 1962
The entire episode takes place at the local polling place. Aurora and Ana are in a line of voters. They complain about the time other voters are taking and feud with those before and after them in line. One woman announces that she will save the State; on leaving the voting both she says she voted for every candidate on the ballot. Once it's time for the sisters to vote, the poll watcher asks Aurora for her voter registration, or "electoral title". Aurora responds that the titles she's been elected to include Miss Biriguí 1931, Miss Springtime in Ibitinga in 1931, etc. He reads her name, and she interrupts him before he can read her birth date. Aurora leaves the booth to ask if she can instead of an x, mark a cross, because she's very religious. They then play odds-and-evens to pick candidates. Aurora warns Ana that the voting booth has fleas, and then advises the poll watcher that he should wear "less horrible suits." Those in line behind the sisters complain of the delay they're causing and the poll watcher threatens to take measures. One man says he's a marshmallow for not having done something already, saying the two old ladies are doing whatever they please. Aurora asks him to repeat that, and when Ana comes out of the booth tells him that the "gorilla" has called them old ladies. He says old women, and crazy old women at that. The sisters attack the man.
Mon, Oct 15, 1962
The sisters have decided to visit a nightclub. Aurora feels it's a shame they've never engaged in this "modern" activity, while Ana hesitates, feeling that as young ladies of good moral principles they should avoid such shameless places. When Ana leaves the room, Aurora mimics in front of the mirror being asked to dance, at first refusing to dance without an introduction, then ceding. Ana appears with a dress and a hat, saying the dress is new, new: she had it made for the 7th Day Mass when Grandpa Chico died. She leaves again, and Aurora muses that this will be her second great night, the first having been her débutante ball in 1907. They enter the nightclub with the doorman in tow, protesting that unaccompanied woman are not allowed. A half-drunk man appears, apparently the manager, who says to let them in: perhaps they're trying to satisfy their last wish. A waiter says they have no lemonade, but suggests whiskey, and the sisters feel the first brand suggested, Old Dad, is a slight on their ages. The only Scotch the sisters have ever heard of is Tape. The manager comes over, mentions how he rarely sees grandmothers there, and the sisters assume he's speaking of someone else. Their Scotch arrives, and the sisters find the first sip awful, but it gets better on the second, and keeps improving. For dinner they try the house special, "Eight Cylinder Fillet", so named because it's the size of a truck motor. Music beings to play, and the waiter starts to dance the Twist. The sisters imitate him. When the manager appears, he orders the music stopped. He's concerned the old ladies will have a heart attack. Aurora says, "Sister, he called us old ladies." "Old ladies, we'll show him old ladies. Maestro, play the Twist." The sisters attack the manager with taps and purses, to the rhythm of the Twist.
Mon, Oct 22, 1962
The episode opens with Aurora doing gymnastics in the living room. Ana enters and cautions of the dangers of too much activity, but Aurora speaks of how exercise rejuvenates. They both discuss the aches and pains of their outing to the nightclub where they danced the Twist. Ana confesses she enjoyed the experience, but that in accordance with the habits of their family, they should avoid these modern fashions. Aurora says they must live the moment, and announces that she has already made an appointment with Mr. Guido to get back in shape at his Institute. In what will become a weekly ritual, Ana calls Aurora stubborn, and Aurora responds that she takes after Grandpa, citing something crazy he did - this time, that when he decided he was a frog, he spent a whole month squatting in a corner, croaking. At the academy, Guido tells Ana she needs to shake her bones, and with a hand on her shoulder, does so. He says they'll spend some time on the apparatus, then he'll return to give them a massage. He goes out and sends in his assistant, who seems to be a lady drill sergeant who speaks with a heavy German accent. She begins by saying that Aurora must lose ten kilos, and Ana must gain five, and when questioned immediately responds that she is the one who understands the subject. Ana gets on a rowing machine, backwards at first, and Aurora is placed on a machine with a vibrating belt. Ana's back freezes up in the rowing machine, but the vibrator and a massage from the assistant loosen her up. The assistant keeps referring to Aurora as the fatty, and she finally objects. The next piece of equipment is an electric bicycle. The assistant goes to call Guido. (The last two to three pages of the script are missing).
Mon, Nov 12, 1962
The sisters are deciding where to go on holiday. Aurora wants to go to the beach, to Guarujá or Santos, and announces her plans to buy a modern bathing suit, a bikini. Ana prefers the quiet countryside of Mogi das Cruzes, and is scandalized by the idea of her sister in a two-piece bathing suit. Aurora pays no heed and continues to read classified ads for apartments. Finally she finds one for a sea-front mansion. Ana suggests an old house in Santos must have roaches, and bats. In the next scene they have entered the oceanfront castle, and soon encounter the butler, Ataúde Iodoformio, whose first and most frequent phrase is "Do not disturb the peace that is found in silence." The castle has other denizens. The ghost Thank You appears only as a floating sheet and a voice intoning "Thank You"; as an American ghost, he is worried about the situation in Cuba. The maid Lapide ("Tombstone") says she is once a woman, but is now only fluid. There is also a man who claims he is a suit of armor, and that he is the only living person in the castle, the ghosts leaving him alone because they think he's a ghost, too. The sisters are given successively a can of crackers, and a can containing dominoes. Both turn out to have spring-filled cloth snakes inside. Finally when the three advance on the them in a sinister fashion, the sisters shout "No... sister... sister... sister." We then see Aurora clutching her newspaper as Ana runs in. The castle was a nightmare. Lucia decides she'll to to Mogi das Cruzes with Ana.
Mon, Nov 19, 1962
Ana finds Aurora being titillated by a Jorge Amado book, and prohibits her from reading it. As the older sister, she feels the right to preview and censor he sister's reading material. She also objects to her habit of using foreign words. The doorbell rings, and Aurora thinks it may be the butcher, complaining about his bill, which is only four months overdue. But instead it's a messenger boy with a letter from a film company, summoning Aurora appear at 2:00 PM on the set of "Mud rained on Gravodino's Honor". Aurora feels her hour has arrived, she's been picked from thousands of candidates. Ana says they'll have to choose someone else, for Aurora will have to pass over her dead body to appear in a film. Aurora says she will. Ana storms out, and Aurora enacts a melodramatic scene with an imaginary infant in her arms. After the commercial, the scene has shifted to a film set, with a Director, Francisco Tapiatori, who speaks a sort of mangled Italian; a Leading Man, Celso Mogiano; a Script Girl who speaks half English, some of which is random sentences from a first-year language textbook; and a Vamp, Estela Lunaris, until recently Chica the Popcorn Seller. The sisters arrive, and Ana intercepts the script to insure that there's nothing of "French film" in it, then snubs the Vamp. The Vamp calls her illiterate, and she calls the Vamp a painted monkey. When the whole cast get ready to rehearse the scene, Aurora's role is explained. She is the betrayed wife, interrupting her husband Gravadino with his secretary on his lap. She has some comic lines: Now I understand when you said you couldn't lunch at home because of a weight on your stomach; I was sure you had heartburn and I find you with a heartthrob. However she feels that playing a betrayed wife who easily forgives is unsuited to her dignity. She suggests switching the roles - she'll play the secretary, and the Vamp the wife - but the director points out that if Gravadino had caviar at home, why would he want a baloney sandwich at work? Ana and Aurora perceive that she has been offended, and ask why she was picked for the role. The director, on being assured they really want to know, says it's because she's the only one who would work for free. Aurora confesses, and dramatically tells Ana she felt the need to sacrifice herself for the greatness of national cinema. She says on with the show, hugs the Leading Man, and says Lolobrigida, here I come.