Pure Gold

De Oro Puro is a Venezuelan telenovela that was produced by and seen on Venezuela's Radio Caracas Televisión. Julio Cesar Mármol came up with the idea for De Oro Puro. José Antonio Mendez was the general producer, Jhonny Pulido was the executive producer, and Rafael Suarez was the director. De Oro Puro lasted 113 episodes and was distributed internationally by RCTV International. De Oro Puro is better known for having been a notorious flop in the history of Venezuelan television, which was worsened by being broadcast in the same time slot that was previously occupied by the very popular and long lasting Por Estas Calles. Despite the production values and the big names behind the series, the public became confused by the complicated plot and storyline, and the ratings were poor. It has been postulated that De Oro Puro contributed to the downfall of RCTV in late 1990s. RCTV publicised De Oro Puro, in an effort to attract viewers, but these efforts failed. When the plot become more confusing and the ratings further lowered, the channel aired a series of shorts where famous first actress Amalia Pérez Díaz resumed and explained the plot in a didactic way. This effort backfired when people began to perceive De Oro Puro as being difficult to understand to the extent that it had to be explained, and Ms. Pérez Días' apparitions became the subject of mockery.