A poor orphan known as "El Chavo" (meaning "The Kid" or "The Boy"), played by the show's creator, Roberto Gómez Bolaños (Chespirito), is the main character of the series.

It chronicles his adventures and tribulations, and those of his friends, frequently leading to comedic confrontations among the other residents of a fictional low-income housing complex, or "neighborhood," as it is known in Mexico.

El Chavo likes to "hide" in a wooden barrel located in the neighborhood's main courtyard, especially after getting into a disagreement where he ends up getting scolded, and otherwise is usually accompanied by his friends: Quico, Doña Florinda's spoiled, dim-witted and arrogant son, and Chilindrina, Don Ramón's shrewd and mischievous bespectacled daughter.

Non-residents who visit the neighborhood regularly include Señor Barriga and his equally fat son Ñoño, Profesor Jirafales, the tall, cultured, and elegant teacher of a nearby school that the children attend, and Popis, a stuck-up girl who speaks nasally.

The sitcom explores the problems that many homeless children face daily, such as hunger, sadness, loneliness, and a lack of adult supervision and attention, in a comical manner.

Others are set inside Doña Florinda's restaurant, a barber shop (where Don Ramón worked at one point), and the sidewalk located at the entrance of the vecindad.

However, it possibly premiered on June 20, since El Chavo was created to replace the sketch Los Chifladitos, in which Chespirito and Rubén Aguirre played two madmen, Chaparrón Bonaparte and Lucas Tañeda.

It was observed that De Las Nieves, who was the first actor credited after Chespirito, primarily played the female protagonists in the first season's episodes, including those shot in 1972–1973.

Gómez Bolaños denied this request due to his belief that El Chavo was uniquely developed in the vecindad and, therefore, would find it hard to provide a new storyline that would be relevant to what has already been shown in the series.

Luis Felipe Macías was in charge of production, Saltiel Peláez was responsible for the forum where episodes were filmed, and Gabriel Vázquez was the camera director.

[27] Regarding the closing sequence, the credits only feature the production team responsible for the respective episode, with the last scene being of them or a related image, along with the musical theme used in the opening.

[28] In its first moment, music in El Chavo del Ocho was conducted by Ángel Álvarez, Luis A. Diazayas, René Tirado, and later, by Alejandro García.

Among these are "The Second Star to the Right", originally composed for the animated movie Peter Pan, "Funeral March", written by Frédéric Chopin, "Miss Lilly Higgins Sings Shimmy In Mississippi's Spring" by Argentinian band Les Luthiers, "Minnie's Yoo Hoo" from Disney, "Gonna Fly Now" from Rocky, among others.

The main reason for the program's immediate success is the similarity between the social realities and the culture of Brazil and Mexico, adding to the ease of adaptation of the dialogue and jokes between Spanish and Portuguese.

The show was so popular in Latin America and among the Spanish-speaking community of the United States that many of the phrases El Chavo and his friends used have become part of the vernacular of countries like Peru, Uruguay, and Argentina.

However, María Antonieta de las Nieves won a court battle against Gómez Bolaños for the right to appear in Mexico as la Chilindrina.

In 2008, a survey in Ecuador comprising over 1400 parents and children concluded that Don Ramón's blows to the neighborhood kids and Doña Florinda's slaps to him were a bad influence on the younger audience.

[31] In the Spanish journal Sphera Pública, Patricia Ávila Muñoz found that it is distinct from the familiar by presenting "isolated characters, and adults who are frequently made fun of by the kids" and that it involves blank comedy.

She added that the dialogue was "lazy and tasteless" and that the show appeared comparable to The Simpsons, although "presenting one of the possible reflections of society... but minimizing social issues".

[32] In 2010, Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, expressed that El Chavo is "the best TV show" and praised the script, the characters, and the actor's abilities, especially Villagrán as Quico.

[35] Likewise, Joaquín Bode observed in his review on Veintemundos.com that the show's appeal to viewers worldwide stems from its ability to "reflect the way of being and living of Latinos very well; but also the unforgettable and loved characters, where they live, and their moral and religious aspects were part of a common identity [...] it's a loyal reflection of the social reality of Latin America: people of low social class, unemployed, single parents, that despite all the problems, manage to move on with hope, good humor, loyalty, and friendship."

Brendan Koerner from the American online magazine Slate compared the series style, practically staged on one set (the vecindad), with the musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (1967).

[36] Like his opinion, Carolina Sanín, who wrote for Semana opinión (former Revista Arcadia), mentioned that thanks to the "structure and aesthetics of comedy, and its juxtapositions", the show became one of the most memorable to her.

Although "society changes, different from the preceding one where acts such as hitting kids was a disciplinary action" for their mischief, which in the modern era is not seen as appropriate, writer Julia Burg claims that the series' success was such that "episodes can still be seen on various channels across the world and children will keep growing up with El Chavo".

[47] In El Salvador, the same character (Don Ramón) served as an image for a civil campaign in 2010, which promoted Salvadorians not to pay extortion to gang members to guarantee their safety.

[50] In 2012, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of his debut, an homage called América Celebra a Chespirito was held at the Auditorio Nacional, which was attended by almost 10,000 people, among them artists such as Juan Gabriel, Xavier Chabelo López, and Thalía, and was organized by 17 countries, including Mexico.

[68] After Carlos Villagrán left the cast, he produced a new series during the 80s using the character Quico, whose name was changed to Kiko to avoid copyright problems with Chespirito.

Federrico was one of the most notable, having been produced in Venezuela and accused of copying many elements of El Chavo del Ocho, including the participation of Ramón Valdés, who played his character again but changed the name to Don Moncho.

[80][81][82] In December 2020, Roberto Gómez Fernández revealed that Grupo Chespirito is currently considering an El Chavo spin-off centered on one of its secondary characters.

[82] During a visit to Peru in 2008, Roberto Gómez Bolaños told the media that he originally planned to make a proper finale to El Chavo del Ocho.