History
Brazil is considered the pioneer of the telenovela genre. In 1951 Brazil produced '' Sua vida me pertence'' ("Your Life Belongs to Me"), the first telenovela in the world. In 1952 Cuba released ''Senderos de amor'' ("Paths of Love") and Mexico released '' Ángeles de la calle'' ("Angels of the Street"), shown once a week. Between 1957 and 1958 Mexico produced its first drama serial in the modern telenovela format of Monday to Friday slots, '' Senda prohibida'' ("Forbidden Path"), written by Fernanda Villeli. The first global telenovela was '' Los ricos también lloran'' ("The Rich Also Cry", Mexico, 1979), which was exported to Russia, China, the United States and other countries.Genres
Telenovelas tend to fall within these seven categories: *Working-class melodrama, which is the most popular to date, easy to understand and contains less explicit content. This is heavily reliant of the common rags-to-riches plot, typically featuring a poor woman who falls in love with a rich man whose family spurns her, such as the ''Las Tres Marias'' ("Maria Trilogy", 1992, 1994 and 1995). *Historical romance is set in the past, such as the colonial period (''Martín Garatuza'', 1986), the restoration of the Republic (''El carruaje'' "The Carriage", 1972), the late 19th Century (''El vuelo del águila'' "The Flight of The Eagle", 1994) the Mexican Revolution (''Bodas de odio'' "Weddings of Hate", 1982), and the 20th-century military dictatorships (such as '' Anos Rebeldes'' "Rebellious Years", 1992) *Teen drama, which portrays the lives of high school teenagers and their issues with sex, drugs and other coming-of-age topics. This genre started with ''Quinceañera'' in 1987. *Mystery/thriller is a category of telenovela that is more cold-hearted than the other subgenres. It may portray a mysterious death or disappearance, which may tear couples, even families apart, such as ''Cuna de Lobos'' ("Wolves Crib"), ''La Casa al Final de la Calle'' ("The House at the Street End"), ''La Mujer de Judas'' ("The Woman of Judas"), ''¿Dónde está Elisa?'' ("Where's Elisa?"), ''El Rostro de la Venganza'' ("The Face of Revenge") or ''La Casa de al Lado'' ("The House Next Door"). Chile has produced this genre. *Horror is a subgenre of telenovelas that is rarer than the rest, it can deal with anything of the horror genre, but the majority of these telenovelas deal with the themes of the supernatural like demons, witchcraft, ghosts, and the occult. It is one of the few subgenres that use special effects. It always portrays the main protagonist trying to find out the truth while at the same time confronting frightening events and the main antagonist which is always a witch or a warlock, demon, evil or vengeful ghost, or the devil itself such as El maleficio, El Extraño Retorno de Diana Salazar, and La chacala. *Romantic comedy, which portrays love stories with some or much comedy such as ''Las tontas no van al cielo'' "Fools Don't Go to Heaven" or '' Yo soy Betty, la fea'' (the most successful telenovela in history). *Pop band story portrays the lives of aspiring popstars such as in '' Alcanzar una estrella'' ("Reaching a Star", 1990) and its sequel ''Millennial telenovela
In the 2010s, the terms "millennial telenovela" and "modern telenovela" have been coined to describe an emerging genre related to the telenovela. Based in the same culture, the target audience is much younger (the millennials); the typical storylines and melodrama were recreated to better appeal to this demographic. Commenters have written that a millennial telenovela will contain many of the following themes: it fits into contemporary politics and culture; has positive representations of LGBT+ people when present; features themes of female empowerment and the sexualization of the male body; involves use of social media; presents characters of moral ambiguity rather than in black and white, and with more complexity; contains intentionally comedic moments; and is centered on an unconventional family. Though the term "millennial telenovela" was first used in 2016 when BuzzFeed and Telemundo co-produced a short series to cater for the emerging Latin American millennial market, it became more widely used in 2018 after the success of theMajor producers of telenovelas
Some of the world's major producers of telenovelas include the following: *North America **United States *** Telemundo, Univision **Canada *** CBC ( Ici Radio-Canada Télé),Telenovelas by country
Argentina
Argentina's telenovelas generally focus on melodramatic twists of traditional middle class life, with touches of comedy. Many telenovelas are broadcast by the main television networks, Canal 13 and Telefe. Many popular "youth telenovelas", aimed primarily at children and teenagers, are produced in Argentina. Several youth telenovelas have become hits in other countries, where they have been remade or rebroadcast. Some well known youth telenovelas include '' Chiquititas'' ("Tiny Angels"), ''Bolivia
:''See Red ATB, Bolivisión, Unitel Bolivia, Safipro and TeleArte.'' In Bolivia, themes of drama, romance, music, natural landscapes, remote situations and adventure are common. Some are based on novels, historical and factual events. Such melodramas produced in Bolivia include '' Las Tres Perfectas Solteras'', '' Indira'', '' Tierra Adentro'', '' La Virgen de las 7 calles'', '' Luna de Locos'' and '' Tres de Nosotras''. The country has made over 15 telenovelas so far, and most of the productions take place in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. The majority of telenovelas shown on domestic television networks are international productions (imported from Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and Mexico). A lot of Bolivian telenovelas are produced by independent producers, since many producers are more dedicated to the country's film industry.Brazil
:''SeeCanada
:''See Culture of Quebec, Television of Quebec and Television in Canada'' In Canada, telenovelas are known as ''téléromans'' in French and are a part of the Culture of Quebec, culture of the Francophone province of Quebec. Nearly all television stations in the country that broadcast in the French language carry téléromans. The first téléroman was ''La famille Plouffe'' ("The Plouffe Family"), which was broadcast on Ici Radio-Canada Télé, Radio-Canada in the 1950s. The téléroman was created during the earliest days of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's CBC Television, television network, when CBC was the only television network in Canada (as per the 1949 Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences, Massey Commission). Whereas theoretically, CBC's main English-language television network could broadcast English-language shows from American stations (and also was forced to compete with U.S. television networks), CBC's Radio-Canada network had to develop its own programmes for French-Canadian viewers. As a consequence, Francophone television in Canada developed differently from Anglophone television. In 2003, Ontario's provincial French-language Public broadcasting, public television service, TFO, began broadcasting the first Franco-Ontarian téléroman, ''Francoeur''. Beginning with its Degrassi (season 10), tenth season in 2010, ''Degrassi: The Next Generation'' was produced and broadcast in a style similar to the telenovelas format. This lasted until episode 21 of the twelfth season in 2012. ''Degrassi: Next Class'' also adapts this format for its broadcast on Family Channel (Canadian TV network), Family Channel.Chile
Chilean telenovelas typically focus on both traditional drama and middle-class life, with some touches of comedy. Often, these programs show life outside of Santiago, the capital, like with the TVN novela ''Iorana'' (which took place on Easter Island). Telenovelas in the country are usually produced and broadcast by Canal 13 (Chile), Canal 13, and the public broadcaster Televisión Nacional de Chile (TVN), which debut their main telenovelas in March each year with a few days between their premiere dates, which have led marketing to a "telenovela war" of sorts. Lately, other Chilean television networks such as Red Televisiva Megavisión, Mega andColombia
:''See Caracol TV, RTI Colombia, and RCN TV'' Colombian telenovelas such as ''Betty la fea'' ("Betty, the ugly one") often focus on comedic storylines. However, some are of a more realistic vein or are adaptations of novels. The first Colombian telenovela was ''El 0597 está ocupado'', produced in 1959 by the ''programadora'' Producciones PUNCH. From then until the late 1990s arrival of private television in the country, a variety of ''programadoras'' produced and aired their own telenovelas, such as those from Colombiana de Televisión, TeVecine, Cenpro Televisión (the producer of ''Perro amor (Colombian TV series), Perro amor'', which was popular in the late 1990s). Telenovelas produced by RTI Colombia and Telemundo are usually shown and produced on Caracol, while Televideo and Fox Telecolombia produce some of RCN's telenovelas. Caracol and RCN also produce and broadcast their own shows. Currently, four or five Colombian telenovelas are usually broadcast from 6:00 to around 11:00 p.m. on those networks. It is notable that many novelas designed and written by Colombians sell outside the country well, as a prime export. Other countries then localize them by creating novelas based on the same story, barely changing names, settings and, more often than not, mixing the cast with Colombian actors to respect ownership/property agreements and copyright laws. One fine example is ''Betty, la fea'' (adapted by American Broadcasting Company, ABC in the United States as ''Ugly Betty'') in which the franchise for the storyline was translated and adapted by over 30 networks around the world.Croatia
The first Croatian telenovela was ''Villa Maria (TV series), Villa Maria'', made in 2004 by AVA Production. After Villa Maria, AVA made ''Ljubav u zaleđu'' (2005–2006), ''Obični ljudi'' (2006–2007), ''Ponos Ratkajevih'' (2007–2008) and ''Zakon ljubavi'' (2008). Telenovelas made by AVA were aired in more than 25 countries. With Serbian FOX Televizija, RTL Televizija made Serbo-Croatian version of '' Yo soy Betty, la fea'' called ''Ne daj se, Nina'' (2007). After that RTL made ''Ruža vjetrova'' (2011–2013), ''Tajne'' (2013–2014), ''Vatre ivanjske'' (2014-2015) and ''Prava žena'' (2016–2017). Ring Multimedia production made ''Sve će biti dobro'' (2008–2009), ''Dolina sunca'' (2009–2010) and ''Pod sretnom zvijezdom'' (2011) for Nova TV. Nova TV itself made some telenovelas too: ''Najbolje godine'' (2009–2011), ''Larin izbor'' (2011–2013), ''Zora dubrovačka'' (2013–2014), ''Kud puklo da puklo (TV series), Kud puklo da puklo'' (2014–2016), ''Zlatni dvori'' (2016–2017) and ''Čista ljubav'' (2017–2018). Croatian telenovelas by AVA Production are very popular in Serbia too, so AVA created a branch office, AVA Film, in Serbia. AVA Film's first project is a Serbian telenovela called ''Zaustavi vreme''.Dominican Republic
Television networks in the Dominican Republic have started to produce their own novelas through Venevision International, Iguana Productions and Antena Latina Productions. The first Dominican telenovela, ''María José, oficios del hogar'' ("María José, Housewife"), was produced by Venevision and television station Color Visión, which formed the first Dominican telenovela company (now inactive) in 1986. Comedy-drama series such as ''Catalino el Dichoso'' and sequel ''En La Boca de los Tiburones'' were also considered telenovelas during the early 1990s. The telenovela ''Tropico (telenovela), Tropico'' was produced by Venevision International, Iguana Productions, and Antena Latina Productions, in 2007 with mostly Dominican actors and a few from Venezuela and Peru. It aired domestically on Antena Latina 7 and in United States on Univision. There are currently plans for more telenovelas to be filmed and produced in the Dominican Republic.Germany
:''See Bavaria Film Studios, Studio Hamburg Serienwerft and Grundy UFA'' In 2004, Germany began producing its own telenovelas. All German telenovelas are formatted as melodramatic love stories. With the exception of ''Storm of Love'' ("Sturm der Liebe"), which is produced by Bavaria Film Studios, and ''Rote Rosen'' which is produced by Studio Hamburg Serienwerft, every German telenovela is produced by Grundy UFA. The most successful ones, ''Bianca – Wege zum Glück'' ("Bianca: Paths to Happiness"), ''Wege zum Glück'' ("Paths to Happiness"), ''Verliebt in Berlin'' ("In Love in Berlin"/"In Love with Berlin"), ''Storm of Love'' and ''Rote Rosen'', were also syndicated in Italy, France and other European countries; ''Verliebt in Berlin'' was also syndicated in Canada. German television channels ARD, ZDF, Sat. 1 and ProSieben all include telenovelas on their programme schedules.India
Indonesia
In Indonesia, a similar format exists called the ''sinetron'' (a portmanteau of ''sine'', short for cinema and ''tron'', from "elec''tron''ic"), which are essentially soap operas in a miniseries-style format. While most English-language soap operas can continue indefinitely, almost all Sinetrons have a predetermined duration, usually running for only five-, six- or seven days a week and in total for more than five months. Sinetrons are usually made by production companies such as SinemArt and MD Entertainment. These programmes are usually broadcast on national television networks during the country's designated primetime period (6.00 to 11.00 pm), often a priority since these programme earn significant ratings, attracting advertisers.Malaysia
In Malaysia, the equivalent of telenovela for a local language drama is '. The drama may last for 13 episodes for a weekly drama and more than 15 episodes if broadcast by a daily basis, usually three to five days a week. However, since almost all television broadcasters that air domestically produced dramas also air foreign dramas, Malaysian television dramas are less prolific compared to Indonesian, Philippine, South Korean or Turkish dramas.Mexico
Mexico was one of the first countries in the world to become known for producing telenovelas aimed at shaping social behavior – one issue of which is family planning during the 1970s. The Mexican model of telenovelas – quick to be replicated by other telenovela-producing countries in Latin America and Asia for most of the 1990s – usually involves a romantic couple that encounters many problems throughout the show's run including a villain. One common ending archetype consists of a wedding and the villain dying, going to jail, becoming permanently injured or disabled, or Insanity, losing their mind. The use of sexually themed episodes starring the leading couple of the story has been a common element through most Mexican (and Latin American) telenovelas. Televisa and TV Azteca are the largest producers and exporters of Mexican telenovelas. Their main competitor is independent company Argos Comunicación. Telenovelas produced by U.S.-based network Telemundo tend to follow the Mexican model. Previously, telenovelas were often thought to be used as a government tool to distract citizens from national issues, a reason cited for temporary decrease in their credibility and popular appeal. Nowadays, Mexican television has managed to counteract government influence in its telenovelas. In particular, around 1990, Televisa found an enormous market for its telenovelas in regions such as Brazil and parts of Latin America, post-Cold War Eastern Europe and Asia. This precipitated the so-called 'Telenovela Craze'. Credited by media experts to Televisa's move in the early 1990s of exporting its telenovelas, it rivalled the wave of Television in the United States, American sitcoms that were broadcast worldwide in the same period. During the peak of the global success of Latin American telenovelas in the 1990s and 2000s, several prominent Mexican actors and actresses gained huge following for the telenovelas that they starred in. For example, Verónica Castro's international fame grew when the novela she had starred in many years earlier, ''Los Ricos Tambien Lloran'' in 1979, became a major hit in Russia. In the same period, Thalía earned the title as the "Queen of Soap Operas" after starring in the so-called ''Las Tres Marias'' or the "Maria Trilogy" telenovelas – ''María Mercedes (telenovela), Maria Mercedes'', ''Marimar (Mexican telenovela), Marimar'' and ''Maria la del Barrio'' – and ''Rosalinda (telenovela), Rosalinda'', converting her into one of the world's foremost television icons, as her telenovelas were broadcast in Mexico and more than 180 other countries to almost 2 billion viewers worldwide, earning the all-time highest television ratings both in Mexico and other regions. Due to the international success of the telenovelas broadcast in and out of Mexico, by the late 1990s, it was claimed that telenovelas were Mexico's leading export product. Many consider the period from 1958 to 2004 to be Televisa's Golden Age (metaphor), Golden Age of telenovelas. At the same time the Mexican government loosened its control over television. Telenovelas, primarily those produced by Argos Comunicación, consequently addressed new themes, including poverty, political corruption, immigration and Illegal drug trade, drug smuggling. However, with American drama and comedy series becoming increasingly popular among Mexican audiences through cable or satellite television and unlicensed copying, the television companies opted to adapt stories from Argentina, Colombia and Brazil. These used veteran actors in order to decrease expenses. Currently, the most successful telenovelas are being created by Argos and Telemundo and are rebroadcast (or adapted) by the main companies. The most successful one, ''La Reina del Sur (telenovela), La Reina del Sur'', based on the book by Arturo Perez Reverte, is based on the true story of a female drug trafficker in Sinaloa. Though it was Censorship, censored somewhat due to the Drug war in Mexico, Drug War and was broadcast on a low-rated channel, it achieved higher viewership than other programs in the same timeframe.Pakistan
Peru
Peruvian telenovelas, like other telenovelas, revolve around the character's personal lives. There are usually slight touches of comedy, drama and suspense. ''Al Fondo Hay Sitio'' has become one of the most famous telenovelas of Peru and has been shown around South America in Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay.Philippines
Domestically produced telenovelas first appeared on Television in the Philippines, Philippine television in the 1960s, beginning with the ABS-CBN program ''Hiwaga sa Bahay na Bato''. The format of Philippine telenovelas is almost the same as Spanish and Mexican telenovelas, as they have borrowed many elements including many clichés. However, Philippine telenovelas, which portray the reality of Filipino (as well as much of other Asian) societies, have evolved through decades and feature specific characteristics distinct from most of the world's telenovelas. The late 1980s and 1990s coincided with the end of Martial law in the Philippines, martial law and the resulting expansion of commercial television networks as the Philippine government loosened controls over the press and media. With the help of satellite television, simultaneous nationwide programming across the Philippines and the advent of the "telenovela craze" precipitated by Mexican telenovelas broadcast worldwide, previously dominant Filipino sitcoms had been largely replaced by domestically produced drama series airing on primetime television to encourage more competition among networks and reach out to more audiences across the nation. Examples of such classic telenovelas include ''Flordeluna'', ''Villa Quintana'', ''Mara Clara'', ''Esperanza (Philippine TV series), Esperanza'', ''Valiente (1992), Valiente'', ''Kung Mawawala Ka'', ''Mula Sa Puso'' and ''Sa Dulo Ng Walang Hanggan''. Modern Philippine television dramas are usually termed ''teleserye'', a portmanteau of the Filipino words "''telebisyon''" ("television") and "''serye''" ("series"). The term "teleserye" originated in the 2000s from the ABS-CBN-produced ''Pangako Sa 'Yo'', dubbed by the Philippine media as the first true teleserye as well as the most widely exported and most watched single Philippine television series abroad. In the 21st century, teleseryes may belong to one or several genres such as fantasy, suspense, action, or comedy, but featured several new variations from the previous Philippine telenovelas of the preceding century. In 1997-2004, the International Channel from comcast aired Telenovelas such as ''Pangako Sa 'Yo'', ''Basta't Kasama Kita'', ''Mula Sa Puso'', ''Recuerdo de Amor'', ''Saan Ka Man Naroroon'', and ''Flames'' on its international simulcast. The last series to air on its AZN network were ''Krystala'' and ''Marina''Portugal
The first Portuguese telenovela was ''Vila Faia'', in 1982. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, almost all Portuguese telenovelas were broadcast by RTP. However, since the start of the 21st century, TVI has emerged as the most prolific broadcaster of Portuguese telenovelas. ''Morangos com Açúcar'', one of its most successful telenovelas, lasted for nine seasons.Puerto Rico
The telenovela genre was historically popular in the U.S. territory and there still is some interest to this day. The serials in days past were usually broadcast on domestic television stations three days a week at 6:30pm, with hour-long telenovelas airing at 7:00 and 9:00 p.m. during prime time. Production of telenovelas in Puerto Rico began in the 1950s with "Ante la ley" in 1955. Successful novelas to have come out of Puerto Rico have included La Mujer de aquella Noche, El Hijo de Angela Maria, El Cuarto Mandamiento, ''Tomiko'', Cristina Bazan, El Idolo, ''Yo Se Que Mentia'', ''Vivir Para Ti'', ''Tanairi'', ''Tres Destinos'' and many others. During the 1980's, Sully Diaz, Ivonne Goderich, Millie Aviles, Giselle Blondet and Von Marie Mendez were generally considered as "the five queens" of Puerto Rican telenovelas. (in Spanish)Russia
Telenovelas were first introduced to Soviet viewers in 1988, when a stripped-down version of ''Escrava Isaura'' (running only 15 episodes) was shown on central television channel. The adaptation of that series was very popular with the Soviet viewers. An even bigger success was ''Los Ricos También Lloran'', shown shortly afterwards. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russian TV channels commenced broadcasting telenovelas (usually those imported from Brazil) on a regular basis. Today, Latin American telenovelas are usually replaced by Russian-made alternatives.Serbia
The first Serbian telenovela was made in 2004 by BK TV and its name is Jelena (TV series), Jelena. After that RTV Pink made Ljubav i mržnja (2007–2008). AVA Film (branch office of Croatian AVA Production) made Zaustavi vreme 2008, but it wasn't aired. A Serbian version of Graduados, Istine i laži, was made by Prva Srpska Televizija and Smart Media Production. It currently airs on Prva Srpska Televizija.South Africa
The first telenovela in South Africa was Inkaba, which was aired on Mzansi Magic. Inkaba was canceled after it flopped to lure in viewers. Isibaya was the first ever successful telenovela on the channel of Mzansi Magic. The most successful South African telenovela is Uzalo. ''Uzalo'' has over 10.25 million viewers in South Africa. ''Uzalo'' tells the story of two families in the township of Kwa-Mashu: the Mdletshe family which plays a significant role in the management of the Kwamashu Kingdom Church and the Xulu family which runs a car theft syndicate. The connection between the families is that their eldest sons were switched at birth during the period when Nelson Mandela was released from prison. Uzalo details the relationships and conflict between members of the two families as part of a complex story. Following the trend, other telenovelas started to flood in, with Mzansi Magic holding the monopoly of the genre with shows like Isithembiso, The Queen (South African TV series), The Queen and The River (South African TV series), The River among others. Other channels, such as e.tv and SABC, launched productions such as Keeping Score, Giyani: Land of Blood, High Rollers, Ashes to Ashes (South African TV series), Ashes To Ashes, Gold Diggers and Broken Vows.South Korea
Korean telenovelas are often similar to a soap opera but without a neverending plot and frank sexual content. These dramas typically involve conflicts around dating and marital relationships, money problems, relationships between family members and in-laws (usually between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law), and often complicated love triangles. The heroine usually falls in love with Protagonist, the main character who may treat her badly for a while unlike the person who always cares for her. Korean telenovelas tend to run for 100+ episodes (rarely exceeding 200) and air from Monday to Friday. The main broadcasters and producers are KBS, MBC and SBS. South Korea became one of the world's largest Asian-based television drama producers at the start of the 21st century. Korean dramas have been exported globally and have contributed to the Korean Wave phenomenon known as ''Hallyu''.Spain
Spanish telenovelas are known in the nation as ''culebrones'' (Spanish of "long snakes") because of their convoluted plots. Broadcasters of telenovelas in the country areThailand
Thailand began producing its own telenovelas, also known in Thai television, Thai as ''Lakorn'', in the 1990s at the same time as the Philippines, Turkey and South Korea began exporting their own television dramas as well in parts of Asia. The first Thai soap opera is ''Dao Pra Sook'' internationally in Cambodia, followed by Singapore with ''Nang Tard'' and ''Love Destiny (TV series), Love Destiny'' and the Philippines with ''You're My Destiny (2017 TV series), You're My Destiny''. Likewise, Thai content have also gained considerable following in the Philippines, with numerous Thai series such as ''2gether: The Series (Thai TV series), 2gether: The Series'' and ''The Gifted (Thai TV series), The Gifted'' regularly topping Twitter trends in the country.Turkey
Turkey began producing its own telenovelas, also known in Turkish language, Turkish as ''televizyon dizileri'', in the late 1990s at the same time that as the Philippines and South Korea began exporting their own television dramas as well in parts of the world. The storylines of Turkish dramas are usually based from the country's Turkish literature, classic novels as well as historical settings (mostly during the Ottoman Empire period), and are known to have episodes lasting at least two hours each, much longer than an ordinary telenovela episode. These drama shows, in general, are of miniseries type, typically lasting for less than half a year, and are broadcast either as canned series or simultaneous telecasts in Turkey's key television markets with subtitles in multiple languages depending on the country outside Turkey where it has been aired. Turkish telenovelas have gained wide popularity and appeal among viewers especially in the Arab world as well as the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia, Central-South Asia due in part to the picturesque cinematography. This exportation of dramas has been cited as one of Turkey's foremost strategies in boosting their popularity in these regions by promoting Turkish culture and tourism. As a result, these make up one of its most economically and culturally important international exports. International media experts have cited the 2010s as the biggest turning point of Turkish television production, which shifted to a balance of export of religious shows that were often widely viewed in these predominantly Muslim-majority countries (with Ramadan known to be the most lucrative month of every Arab television drama, television season in most Islamic countries for imported Turkish television shows) and secular shows tackling national issues of Turkey and even of the rest of the Islamic world. Some of the most internationally prominent Turkish television dramas include ''Muhteşem Yüzyıl'', ''Fatmagül'ün Suçu Ne?'', ''Aşk-ı Memnu (2008 TV series), Aşk-ı Memnu'', ''Binbir Gece'', ''Dolunay (TV series), Dolunay'', and ''Erkenci Kuş''. The rise of Turkish television drama on the international market attracted worldwide attention during this decade when it began gaining more viewers in Latin America, which is cited as a difficult market for foreign shows to be broadcast as its own produced telenovelas dominate programming there since the 1990s. Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic conservatives in many Arab countries, however, condemn these Turkish shows as "vulgar" and "heretical" to Islam, as most of the prominent secular Turkish television series often have political undertones as well as a noticeable trend on emphasis of women's empowerment, female empowerment, which contrasts with their patriarchy, patriarchal interpretation of Islam. Nonetheless, Turkish television drama broadcasts reach 1 billion viewers from approximately 100 countries in the world, helping it surpass Latin America by the 2010s as the second largest exporter of television series worldwide after the United States.United States
:''See English language producers Fox Broadcasting Company and The CW'' :''See Spanish language producers Univision and Telemundo'' :''See MyNetworkTV telenovelas'' In the United States, the telenovela concept has been adapted into the English language. The first American telenovela was the soap opera ''Port Charles'', which, although starting off as a traditional soap when it debuted in 1997, adopted a 13-week telenovela-style storyline format beginning in 2000 which continued in use until the show's cancellation in 2003. MyNetworkTV, an upstart network launched by News Corporation (1980–2013), News Corporation (now owned by 21st Century Fox), launched on September 5, 2006, with two nightly serials. The inaugural series ''Desire (TV series), Desire'' and ''Fashion House'' were moderately successful, however, ratings began to decline. The second pair of telenovelas, ''Wicked Wicked Games'' and ''Watch Over Me'' had decent ratings but were not as successful as its two predecessors. By the time the third batch of serials, ''American Heiress'' and ''Saints & Sinners (2007 TV series), Saints and Sinners'' debuted, ratings had declined significantly to where the network scaled back and eventually dropped the novela format in favor of reality-based series and specials by the fall of 2007. In contrast, ABC's adaptation of ''Betty la Fea'', ''Ugly Betty'', proved to be successful; however, the network opted to develop the show as a standard weekly series with elements of the comedic telenovela. An adaptation of the Venezuelan comedic telenovela ''Juana la virgen'', ''Venezuela
:''See RCTV, Venevisión andAwards
The most important Telenovela award shows are the Mexican TVyNovelas Award, hosted by the Televisa-owned ''TVyNovelas'' magazine, and the award presented by ''Contigo (magazine), Contigo'' in Brazil. ''TVyNovelas'' also has editions in Colombia, Chile, Puerto Rico, and the United States, while ''Contigo'' has an edition in Chile. In 2008, International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (IATAS) created a new International Emmy Award category for telenovelas produced and initially aired outside of the United States.Comparison with soap operas
The standard American, British or Australian soap opera is of indefinite length, sometimes running for decades, with an ever-rotating Cast member, cast of players and fictional character, characters. However, most Latin American telenovelas have an average run of six months up to a year. The show's duration is pre-planned at the show's inception, with the overall story arc and conclusion also known by the show's creators and producers at its inception. ''Mundo de Juguete'' is one exception to the rule, with a total of 605 episodes (1974–1977), and a few cast changes during the course of the serial. Some earlier Argentine telenovelas (most of them written by Alberto Migré) had also run for a few years. Telenovelas also have a different type of story from English language, English-language soaps, the typical telenovela story being focused on a rivalry between two or more people or families in romance or business. Many of them use stock themes like a Cinderella (who is a rival of the male protagonist's evil girlfriend), two brothers after one woman (or two sisters after one man) or mistaken/unknown parentage. Typically, the hero gets shot (or some form of fate equivalent to that).See also
* Arab television drama * Fantaserye and telefantasya, Fantaserye – a genre of teleserye * Fotonovela – the magazine equivalent, a sort of photo-comic book usually with a romantic theme. * Hong Kong television drama * List of telenovelas *Limited-run series * MyNetworkTV telenovelas * Serial (radio and television) – for a general discussion of the serial format, including soap operas and telenovelas * Taiwanese Drama * Teleserye * Korean drama * Indian soap opera *Japanese television drama **Asadora * Téléroman – the French-Canadian equivalent * Thai television soap opera *Turkish television drama * Webnovela – movement on the Internet, which is equivalent to the simulation of telenovelas.Notes
References
Further reading
*Castellot de Ballin, Laura (1993). ''Historia de la televisión en México. Narrada por sus protagonistas''. México: Alpe. *Covarrubias, Karla; Angélica, Bautista y Ana B. Uribe (1994). ''Cuéntame en qué se quedó. La telenovela como fenómeno social''. México: Trillas. *Blanca de Lizaur, de Lizaur Guerra, María Blanca (2002). ''La telenovela en México 1958–2002: Forma y contenido de un formato narrativo de ficción de alcance mayoritario''. Master's degree dissertation in Mexican Literature. Univ. Nal. Autónoma de México.» *Roura, Assumpta (1993). ''Telenovelas, pasiones de mujer. El sexo en el culebrón''. España: Gedisa. *Trejo Silva, Marcia (2011). ''La telenovela mexicana. Orígenes, características, análisis y perspectivas''. México: Trillas. *Uribe, Ana B. (2009). ''Mi México Imaginado: telenovelas, televisión y migrantes''. México: Porrúa *Varios autores (2007). ''El gran libro de las telenovelas. 50 años de historia''. México: Editorial Televisa. *Eliseo Verón, Verón, Eliseo y Lucrecia Escudero Chauvel (comp.) (1997). ''Telenovela, ficción popular y mutaciones culturales''. España: Gedisa. *Villanueva Solorio, Mario (1997). ''Para una tipología de villanos telenoveleros en México''. Tesis profesional. México: ENEP (FES) Acatlán. Mención Honorífica. {{Authority control Telenovelas, * Television genres Soap operas by genre