ABSTRACT
The American TV series The Wonder Years (Black and Marlens 1988–1993) was first released in Spain in 1990 and reached great success among Spanish viewers with ratings of approximately 30%. The recounting of Kevin Arnold’s teenage years in the early 70s narrated by himself as an adult portrayed a very turbulent time in America’s international position. This American television show shaped the Spanish TV series Cuéntame cómo pasó (Bernardeau 2001–2022), wherein a young boy, Carlos Alcántara, plays a similar role as the one played by Kevin. Following its American matrix, Cuéntame cómo pasó has established itself as the leading Spanish television series of the 21st century and as a model to mimetically export to other countries such as Italy, Argentina, Greece, and Portugal a set of values that meet a neo-liberal agenda. Cuéntame cómo pasó teaches its viewers a specific gaze through which to remember and understand historical facts and the role of citizens in their society that conform to US capitalism and cultural hegemony. In this sense, Spain acts as a succursal of the main power spreading its ideas to countries that have been culturally more similar to it. It is surprising that critics and viewers recognize a strong feeling of Spanishness in Cuéntame cómo pasó when it is actually spreading American capitalist values, disguised by its specific territorial form.
