Televisa San Angel- The Haunted Studio Where El Chavo Del Ocho Was Filmed

By Aaron Perez

Published 7/4/2025

Image Credit: Televisa and Grupo Chespirito

    Built in 1948, this famous Mexican film studio is an important icon for the country’s film industry. Apart from films, the studio has hosted the production of various iconic Mexican television series, its most famous being El Chavo del Ocho by Roberto Gomez Bolaños, also known as Chespirito. The studio has 16 lots where productions are filmed with an additional five audio studios for recording purposes. Initially owned by a company named TIM, the studio had a merger resulting in the founding of Televisa home entertainment, its current owner. Televisa turned the studio into a leader in television and film production in Mexico and the studio is still in operation to this very day. The area isn’t known for its hauntings, but there have been paranormal investigations there to document if there are spirits in the property. A Mexican talk show called Cuentamelo Ya! investigated the property in 2024 concerning supposed hauntings and interviewed the crew there. The crew gave details of at least one specter of a little girl dubbed “Teresita” being heard giggling and pranking anyone who works alone there. This spirit appears to either be lost or look for something and has been seen walking up and down the stairs in the prop workshop area. She has also moved objects, left her tiny hand marks, and slammed the prop office doors when angered. Other spirits that have been recorded in the area are shadow people in the storage area roaming in the distance when no one is supposed to be there. This isn’t the most famous mystery in the studio, since its most iconic TV series, El Chavo del Ocho, had many unexplained phenomena that happened during its production.

First airing in 1971, El Chavo del Ocho was a slapstick sitcom created, written, and starring Roberto Gomez Bolaños, known by his pen name Chespirito. The show starred El Chavo, a poor orphan who lived in a low income neighborhood and his day to day adventures. In 1973, El Chavo became its own half-hour series, lasting up until 1980 for seven seasons, when it was partially cancelled and again became a skit for the TV series Chespirito. The show was very popular in Latin America and became a national Mexican icon, but it wasn’t without controversy. While entertaining millions with its witty and slapstick comedy, the cast was constantly fighting behind the scenes. This culminated with the departure of Carlos Villagran and later Ramon Valdes from the show, which resulted in its cancellation a year later due to low ratings. New episodes of El Chavo continued on Chespirito until 1992, when Bolaños decided to end the show abruptly. Because of this, there was never a proper finale to bid farewell to the surviving cast members.

Is this Ramon Valdez visiting from beyond the grave?

Image credit: Panamerica TV

    While it was in production, the cast members would often feel like someone was watching them. Apart from feeling a presence in the studio, unexplained evidence of unwanted visitors also made it on film and can be seen in the episodes. Whether it was a ghost, someone who broke in, or crew members is unknown, but creepy nonetheless. In one episode where Don Ramon gets a new suit, a strange figure peaking could be seen in the closing credits. This figure doesn’t seem to be a cast member, and many speculated that it could have just been a crew member or someone who broke in while filming. This encounter isn’t the only instance that was filmed, another episode, titled “Misplaced Hats” has a scene where someone lights a cigarette in the background. This can easily be explained away with a crew member or actress Angelines Fernandez, who portrayed Doña Clotilde, the Witch of 71, taking a smoke break. There are countless other examples of this phantom being spotted in the show’s background while the show was filmed. One major instance can be seen after the main show’s cancellation, when it was filmed as a sketch for Chespirito. In a rehashed episode where Señor Barriga, portrayed by Edgar Vivar, brings his car to the neighborhood, a specter that looks like Ramon Valdes could be seen in the glass window. This episode was filmed after Valdes succumbed to stomach cancer in 1988, so it could be his spirit playing pranks on the cast members from the great beyond. I am sure there are far more mysteries in the show, but these are the most notable ones that I could find. El Chavo was a favorite show in my childhood and still is to this very day, so if I find something paranormal I will update my information of its mysteries.

Sources:

El Chavo del Ocho. Created by Roberto Gómez Bolaños, Televisa, 1973–1980.

Ortiz, Raquel, and Harry Potter. “¿Fantasmas en la vecindad del Chavo? Una teoría tiene toda la evidencia.” Univision, 27 July 2020, https://www.univision.com/entretenimiento/cultura-pop/fantasmas-en-la-vecindad-del-chavo-una-teoria-tiene-toda-la-evidencia. Accessed 14 July 2025.

Terrones, Mariella, performer. “Niña fantasma se aparece en Televisa San Ángel.” 2024. Cuentamelo Ya!, season 2024, Televisa.

Uribe, Miguel. “'El Chavo del 8′: fantasma de 'Don Ramón' habría aparecido en uno de los capítulos del programa.” Semana.com, 19 November 2022, https://www.semana.com/gente/articulo/el-chavo-del-8-fantasma-de-don-ramon-habria-aparecido-en-uno-de-los-capitulos-del-programa/202214/. Accessed 14 July 2025.