First edition The program was created in 1991 and the first edition aired throughout the 1991/1992 season on
Canale 5 starting on 9 September at 12:40, immediately after
Il pranzo è servito, hosted by
Enrica Bonaccorti with the participation of
Antonella Elia and
Yvonne Sciò. The program marked the debut of director Gianni Boncompagni (who had already directed Bonaccorti in
Pronto, chi gioca?) on the television networks of the
Fininvest group. Regarding the title, he denied any polemical intent and stated that he had been inspired by the song
No, non è la BBC from his old radio program
Alto gradimento. The
set design of the variety show represented the four seasons (one for each side of the
studio, with a swimming pool placed on the
summer side) and was enriched by the presence of a large group of girls, initially about eighty, almost all of whom came from the editions of
Domenica in directed by the same director in previous years. At first they were relegated to the role of chorus or at most performed small musical interludes and dance routines between one game and another, such as the contest
More contro Bionde in which two small groups composed of some of them, precisely brunettes and blondes (captained respectively by
Yvonne Sciò and
Antonella Elia), competed in songs and choreographies. During the first phase of the program some girls were highlighted and were given the opportunity to perform by interpreting some songs or
medleys using their own voice, in
playback, namely Elena Moretti,
Sabrina Marinangeli, Valentina Ducros and, occasionally, the trio of twin sisters Desi, Monia and Tania Medda. Finally, the cast was completed by two child assistants: Martina Melli, who remained for the entire season, and Micaela Ilardo, who instead left the program after a few months. Another distinctive element of the studio was the aforementioned swimming pool, where some telephone games took place and where some girls, during the episode, dived and bathed; Other girls were also given speaking roles to assist Bonaccorti in some telephone games: Giorgia Ghezzi in the game
Il soprannome di Giorgia, and Anne May Montonen in the game linked to the sponsor of a fruit juice brand. Trevisan herself had the opportunity to host the game of
Sette e mezzo in some episodes in which Elia was absent because she was busy with rehearsals for the 1992 edition of the
Telegatti. giving increasing importance to the girls, who thus became the real protagonists of the show to the detriment of the official host, who by the end of the season was relegated to hosting only some games. Bonaccorti herself, after not being confirmed as host for the following edition, announced a temporary retirement from television. In addition, the cast was characterized by the presence of only two men: the fake lifeguard Bob (real name Roberto Tron), who arrived on the program through participation in a televendita advertising a shoe brand and remained until the last season, and
Davide Mengacci, who presented the mail segment. some prime-time specials,, the
New Year's Eve celebrations of Canale 5, and
Bulli e pupe, hosted in prime time by
Paolo Bonolis in the summer of 1992, in which several new girls were introduced (including
Ambra Angiolini,
Lucia Ocone,
Annalisa Mandolini,
Romina Mondello,
Francesca Gollini,
Emanuela Panatta, Daniela Giagheddu, Alessia Gioffi and Roberta Modigliani) who would then participate in the subsequent edition of the parent program; also during the summer of 1992 a "best of" of the just-concluded edition was broadcast, titled
Non è la Rai estate and proposed on
Canale 5 in the same time slot. The theme song of the first edition, also reused for the first part of the second, particularly remained memorable. It had the same title as the program and was written by
Cristiano Minellono and
Gianni Boncompagni with music by
Paolo Ormi.
Second edition On 14 September 1992 the second season began, hosted by
Paolo Bonolis, who replaced Bonaccorti after the summer experience of
Bulli e pupe. In addition to the presenter, the set design was also taken from the summer show and, instead of the four seasons, only summer was represented, characterized by a blue background, light-blue sky, sand, fake palm trees and a new swimming pool, much larger than the one of the previous year. One of the main novelties was the initial participation in the program, in an active role, of the director and creator Boncompagni, who occupied a segment of the episode interacting with an improbable
Cinderella played by a very young
Riccardo Rossi in some comic sketches. On 16 November 1992 the broadcast was struck by a tragic event: one of the young protagonists of the program, Marina Musti, who had joined the cast only a few months earlier, was killed in a car accident while returning from a night at a disco with some friends. The broadcast did not air the following day nor on the day of her funeral as a sign of respect and to allow the girls to attend the funeral of their colleague. On 11 January 1993 the program underwent a drastic change and moved to
Italia 1, increasing its duration and occupying the time slot between 14:15 and 16:00, while before the change of channel the average share had been 17%, with peaks of about 3 million viewers. The presence of Bonolis on screen, which among other things was attracting attention because at that time the host had begun a romantic relationship with Laura Freddi, one of the protagonists of the program, increasingly limited: in the last months of the broadcast Bonolis was effectively confined to hosting only the spaces of some advertisements, and during the season some girls obtained the hosting of entire blocks of the program. Among them the most prominent were: •
Ambra Angiolini, who, seated on a white armchair, hosted
il gioco dello zainetto, in which the viewer who called had to guess ten objects contained in Ambra's backpack, remembering those already guessed by previous players; later she was also entrusted with
il gioco dei cassetti musicali, assisted by
Romina Mondello. •
Francesca Gollini, who presented both
il gioco della metamorfosi, in which contestants had to understand into which character a photograph was transforming through
morphing, and
il gioco delle secchiate (initially linked to the sponsor
Dietorelle) in which viewers had to choose which of four randomly selected girls should pull a handle at the top of which was placed a bucket, expecting either a shower of candies (later replaced by flowers) or, more frequently, icy water. • Roberta Modigliani, who hosted a quiz on
anagrams with
living letters formed by about ten girls from the program (a game already proposed in the previous edition with Bonaccorti). • Mary Patti – already
Miss Linea Sprint Roma 1990 at the
Miss Italia finals (as
Maria Patti) – who, perched on a very high stool, played the role of the
femme fatale while hosting
il gioco del nome della nonna (whose answer, after months of attempts, turned out to be the improbable name "Mosqu"). Notebooks and T-shirts featuring the faces of the most popular girls were also sold. Entire blocks of the broadcast featured the cast dancing to ''
Please Don't Go'', As in the previous year, the countdown to 1993 on Canale 5 was entrusted to the afternoon program with a special late-night episode, while from January to April 1993 the early evening slot of
Italia 1 hosted ''
Rock 'n' Roll, hosted by Orietta Berti. Initially conceived as an acrobatic rock-and-roll competition, it later became an evening offshoot of Non è la Rai'' hosted by the girls themselves without Berti. Only in this edition did Valentino Palmentieri participate, a fake policeman particularly skilled at acrobatic dancing. Boncompagni appreciated her spontaneity and ability to quickly rework what was dictated to her during the live broadcast. Much of the attention of the
mass media during this third season focused precisely on the fifteen-year-old Ambra (actually sixteen, but the production declared her a year younger), who, following the director's constant suggestions, played the role of a diva during the broadcast, leading a large group of girls who were also given the opportunity to perform in games, songs and sketches within the ninety-minute broadcast (from 14:30 to 16:00). Alongside Ambra Angiolini, who that television season won the
Telegatto as
breakthrough personality of the year, another notable success was
Pamela Petrarolo, nicknamed
The voice. Petrarolo, present since the first edition (she was one of the girls coming from
Domenica in), after one season singing dubbed by the program's vocalists began recording songs presented on the show with her own voice and also had the opportunity to release a first solo album for the
record label RTI Music,
Io non vivo senza te, published in February 1994. The same opportunity was also given to
Francesca Pettinelli, who at the end of the season released
Dance with Francesca. The edition was rich in humorous moments thanks to the sketches of the debuting comedian
Lucia Ocone, who imitated various characters, and to
Sabrina Impacciatore, who, in addition to reading the program's mail as she had already done in the previous edition, staged comic scenes and moderated
il dibattito, a segment in which the girls discussed various topics, both light and serious. The sketches by Impacciatore also involved Tatiana Donati,
Alessia Barela and
Michela Andreozzi, who at the time was part of the program's editorial staff (as well as one of the vocalists who
lent their voices to the various girls) and would later become a successful comedic actress. This edition, however, also received many criticisms: the first heated controversies arose over the nature of the program and its content, involving even
feminist movements. In response, on 8 March 1994,
International Women's Day, the program aired an episode exceptionally recorded the day before instead of live, in which the protagonists wore wedding dresses. This edition was the last rich in games, which in the following season would be almost completely eliminated. Among the most followed was the springtime
gioco delle secchiate, already present in the previous edition, hosted by
Ambra Angiolini assisted by Gu Shen. Other recurring games included
il diario di Ambra, in which contestants from home had to guess what the host had done on 15 August 1993, and
il gioco dei bambini ("The kid's game"), essentially an opportunity for very young viewers to talk with Ambra (a segment already present in the first edition, hosted by Yvonne Sciò). Only during the first weeks of the edition were other girls also given the opportunity to host some games, both telephone games and those with contestants in the studio, including Roberta Carrano, Marzia Aquilani, Tatiana Donati, Cristina Riccioti and a very young Valentina Abitini. Other girls were entrusted with hosting games linked to sponsors: Miriana Trevisan,
Sabrina Impacciatore,
Lucia Ocone,
Francesca Gollini and the pair composed of
Ilaria Galassi and
Antonella Mosetti.
Pamela Petrarolo hosted the
gara di barzellette (joke contest); she also had the opportunity to replace Angiolini as host for a few episodes broadcast at the end of December 1993 when Angiolini was ill, and she was also the protagonist (in this season and the next) of some comic sketches imitating the singing performances of the other girls. Also memorable was
Batuca Gum, a musical piece to which the girls danced for several minutes just as they had done the previous year with ''Please Don't Go''. Particular scandal was caused by statements made by Ambra (again prompted by Boncompagni) during her daily chats with a virtual little devil (who communicated only through gestures) during the heated climate of the
1994 Italian general election in the spring of 1994, when she stated that according to the devil
Satan supported
Achille Occhetto while
God supported
Silvio Berlusconi. This season also featured many famous guests, including
Pippo Baudo,
Bruno Vespa, The program's ratings during those seasons averaged between 13% and 14% share.
Fourth edition The fourth and final edition of
Non è la Rai aired between 1994 and 1995 and was again hosted by
Ambra Angiolini, who had become the undisputed face of the program. The format underwent significant changes compared with previous years: the number of games was drastically reduced and greater emphasis was placed on musical performances and choreographies by the girls. During this season Ambra Angiolini further consolidated her role as the central figure of the program, often opening and closing episodes with monologues and interacting with the group of girls, who had by then become a sort of permanent ensemble. The girls frequently performed choreographed dance routines and lip-synced songs, many of which were later released in compilation albums associated with the show. The producers eventually decided to conclude the program after four seasons. The final episode aired in 1995, marking the end of a television phenomenon that had strongly influenced Italian popular culture in the early 1990s. == Editions ==