I didn't grow up during Silvio Santos' golden age on television, unlike my parents, who lived through many of the events represented in this second season of O Rei da TV. For me, things like running for president, kidnapping, war for audiences and Pedro de Lara (a mythical figure) were incredible stories that my father told when we got home from church, Sunday night, and the long-lived Programa Silvio Santos. However, whenever my father talked about the freshman show and the very long duration of Silvio's program, he always ended with "now Silvio Santos is not the same anymore...".
It is incredible, however, that this series represents many of these spectacular things from the 1980s and 1990s in Brazil, and it represents it with surprising category. As a history fanatic, I recognize the creative and artistic liberties, and also feel that many details are omitted or even suppressed, after all, we are talking about a Brazilian television series for international streaming, not a Martin Scorsese film. Now, speaking as a fan of film, television and Martin Scorsese, I have nothing but praise for the production of O Rei da TV. Silvio Santos is not a tragic figure, he is not a heroic character, nor is he someone who conveys inspiration or has a life story free of commas and omitted details. Silvio Santos was a street vendor who won in life because he knew how to shake the right hands (as the reporter's article says at the very end of this episode). Silvio made mistakes, did nasty things, went over many people (including the law), all for the audience, at the same time that in his program he told people to smile (and he himself followed her advice, with his unmistakable laugh and smile). The choice to represent Silvio Santos in this way, without grimaces, and to transpose this personality into the production as a whole, in my opinion, makes O Rei da TV one of the biggest and best productions of Brazilian audiovisual.