''Malhação'' (, ''Young Hearts'' in English) is a Brazilian

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that aired on

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from 4 March 1995 to 3 April 2020. The series is targeted at a teenage audience. Each season runs for about a year with cast members changing every season.

History

The soap opera began in 1995, and was initially set in a fictional Gym Club called ''Malhação'' on

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. Through the years the setting varied each season. Although the name of the soap remained the same, it was set in the Múltipla Escolha ()

High School A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

for nine seasons. In the twenty-second season, the location returned to be a gym, the ''Gael's Martial Arts Gym'', placed within the art school ''Ribalta''. The following season brought the high school setting back. From the twenty-fourth season onwards, the setting was changed back to the "Academia Form". During the first fourteen seasons, each episode of ''Malhação'' began with a

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scene, preceded by a recap of the previous episodes, continuing the narrative that follows. This technique was removed at the beginning of the fifteenth season. The series has been broadcast in several countries by Globo Internacional, including

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(between 1995 and 2007, airing with the name "New Wave") in

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and by ABC Spark in

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Cancellation

The series was cancelled after 27 seasons on 28 September 2021. The final season, ''Malhação: Toda Forma de Amar'', finished with 253 episodes, a reduction from the planned 288 episodes that was forced by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The series had been renewed for a twenty-eighth season titled ''Malhação: Transformação'', written by Márcia Prates and Priscila Steinman, which also had its production suspended by the COVID-19 pandemic and postponed to 2021. ''Transformação'' was eventually scrapped and replaced by ''Malhação: Eu Quero é Ser Feliz'' written by Eduardo and Marcos Carvalho, until the series was cancelled altogether.

Plot

''Malhação'' revolves around the everyday life of teenagers, their conflicts, including school, friends, families, and especially their relationships, which occupy the central focus of all the seasons. Every season, a different couple of protagonists occupies the core of the whole storyline.

Cast

Similar to American

soap operas A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originated from radio dramas original ...

and long-running television series, cast and characters change each season, but actors who have stayed for more than one season include Gustavo Goulart, Alexandre Slaviero, and Sérgio Hondjakoff.

Series overview

Theme songs

''Malhação'' had 17 different theme songs:

Spin-off

In November 2018, a spin-off series of ''Malhação: Viva a Diferença'' was announced for 2020, also written by Cao Hamburger and titled ''As Five''. An original production for the Globoplay streaming service, it follows the five main characters at the beginning of their adult lives. The first season premiered on November 12, 2020 and its third season is currently in production.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Malhacao TV Globo original programming 1995 Brazilian television series debuts 2020 Brazilian television series endings Brazilian drama television series Portuguese-language television shows Television series by Estúdios Globo