La Carabina de Ambrosio

La Carabina de Ambrosio was a Mexican television show created and developed by Humberto Navarro, filmed at the Televisa Studios, Chapultepec in Mexico City, from 1978 until 1987. The slogan of the show was "A Magical, Comical, and Musical Variety Show." The show had guest emcees that included César Costa, Gualberto Castro, Fito Girón, and Manolo Muñoz. While the emcees sang a cast member would interrupt rudely and a comedy skit began. The show consisted of numerous skits, jokes and tricks played on the emcees. It is rumored that the reason there were so many emcees during the run of the show was due the numerous tricks played on them.

Since 2007, the show is in re-runs on TV Clásico.

Humberto Navarro, creator and producer, of La Carabina de Ambrosio, was a young up-and-coming talent of Televisa. He developed La Carabina de Ambrosio with the theme of "you don't know what comes next." There were comedy skits, outrageous magic from equally outrageous magicians, music, entertainers, vedettes all presented out of sequence.

Navarro knew what the Mexican television audience wanted, yet were too embarrassed to ask for. Navarro started the show with Brazilian dancer Gina Montes. She was a sultry, dark-haired femme fatale who wore a black French-cut leotard with thigh-high high-heeled black boots. This was a scandalous costume for the era and stunned the television public when Gina bumped and grinded while white smoke was pumped in at her feet. She opened and closed the show with her gyrations while the credits rolled. Navarro knew this was an outrageous presentation for conservative Mexican television, but the public loved it. Gina disappeared suddenly from the TV show and from Mexico. No one knew what had happened to her until recently.

His addition of controversial and often meritorious Mexican vedettes to the show, such as Gina Montes and Wanda Seux, and their scandalous costumes (up to this point vedettes were not shown on Mexican television only in nightclubs and bars) brought in the highest rating in Mexican television during the era. The show hit number one in Mexico, and its success skyrocketed Navarro into fame. Another part of the success formula was adding guest entertainers such as, but not limited to, singers César Costa, Manolo Muñoz, and singer/dancer Laura Zapata.