Telenovela

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Telenovela is the term used to describe limited-run television serials and is derived from the terms tele, short for television, and novela ("novel"). Telenovelas are essentially soap operas in miniseries format, with an origin in Spanish and Portuguese broadcasting.

While most English-language soap operas can potentially continue indefinitely, almost all telenovelas run for a predetermined duration. They usually feature a fictional romantic melodrama, air five or six days a week, and run for an average of 120 episodes.[1]

Contents 1 Evolution 2 Mexico 3 Latin America 4 Colombia 5 Chile 6 United States 7 Puerto Rico 8 Awards 9 Comparison with soap operas 9.1 The technical difference 9.2 The conceptual difference 9.3 Brazil 10 Famous Latina artists as Telenovela stars 11 See also 12 References

[edit] Evolution

Most well-known telenovelas, which are sometimes called ‘’teleseries’’or ‘’comedias’’, are produced in Spanish-speaking countries and usually air during prime time. Prime time drama serials were first produced in Brazil, Cuba and Mexico with Sua vida me pertence ("Your Life Belongs to Me", Brazil, 1950) showing twice a week, Senderos de amor ("Love paths", Cuba, 1951) and Ángeles de la calle ("Angels from the street", Mexico 1951). which was shown once a week. Mexico produced its first drama serial in the modern telenovela format of Monday through Friday airings between 1957 and 1958. It was called Senda prohibida ("Forbidden path") of Fernanda Villeli.

The first global telenovela was Los Ricos También Lloran ("The Rich Cry too", Mexico, 1979) and was exported to Russia, China, the United States and other countries. Currently, the most famous telenovelas have come from Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Chile and Venezuela. In Spain they are also called culebrón ("long snake"), because of the convoluted plots and large number of episodes, of which the standard is 1800.

One of the most common complaints is that telenovelas are not representative of the actual racial makeup of the country where they are produced. Most telenovelas, no matter where they are from, tend to have white, blond, blue-eyed stars. Whenever an "ethnic" looking person appears, they are usually of lower class origins and hold jobs such as janitors, reserving all the higher-class jobs for the lightest-skinned actors. This criticism is especially remarkable in Brazil whose non-white population is relegated to a few roles in each telenovela.

[edit] Mexico

Mexican telenovelas are often traditional and tend to fall in four sub-genres:

• The 'working class melodrama, which is easy to understand and appropriate family viewing. They typically feature a poor girl who falls in love with a rich man whose family spurns her.
• The historial romance, set in the past, such as the colonial period (Martín Garatuza), the independence (El carruaje), the late 1800s (El vuelo del águila) and the revolution (Bodas de odio).
• The teen drama, which portrays the lives of high-school teenagers and their issues with sex, drugs and other coming-of age topics. It started with (Quinceañera) in the late [[1980s].
• The pop music story, portrays the lives of aspiring musicians such as in Alcanzar una estrella and its sequel Alcanzar una estrella II’’.

In Mexico, Televisa is the largest producer and exporter of telenovelas. TV Azteca, and the independent company Argos Comunicación are their main competition. They were often used as propaganda to distract citizens from the authoritarian PRI regime. [2]

[edit] Latin America

Telenovelas are not only immensely popular in Hispanic America, Brazil, Spain, Portugal, and in Hispanic communities in the United States, but also have a wide following in Russia, Eastern Europe, France, the Philippines, Israel, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, China, South Korea, and Japan.^[1]

In Argentina, they are usually produced by Telefe, Artear, Ideas del Sur and Pol-Ka; in Brazil, usually by TV Globo, TV Record, SBT, or TV Bandeirantes; in Chile by TVN and Canal 13; in Colombia by Caracol TV, RTI Colombia, or RCN TV; in Venezuela by Venevisión or RCTV; and in Puerto Rico, they were produced by WAPA-TV or Telemundo Puerto Rico. In the United States, Telemundo and Univision, mostly importers of Latin American telenovelas, have started producing telenovelas with Latin American casts and, in the case of Telemundo, Mexican producers Argos Comunicación.^{[citation needed]}

Brazil's telenovelas are both more racy and apt to broach controversial subjects—many Brazilians can relate, because of the telenovelas' realistic depiction of the middle class, working class and upper class. Brazilian productions are the most expensively produced in Latin America. A teenage telenovela, Malhação ("Working Out") is the longest-running telenovela in Brazil. Novelas usually last eight months at most in Brazil, but Malhação has been on the air since 1995. Four telenovelas are shown on Globo, Brazil's leading channel.

[edit] Colombia

Colombian telenovelas often focus on comedy, such as Betty la fea. Some are in a more realistic vein (sometimes dealing with issues as drug dealing), as well as adaptations of novels. Currently, four or five Colombian telenovelas are usually broadcasted from 6 PM until around 11 PM on those networks. Telenovelas produced by RTI Colombia and Telemundo usually air on Caracol, while Televideo and Telecolombia produce some of RCN's telenovelas. Caracol and RCN also produce and broadcast their own shows.

[edit] Chile

Chilean telenovelas focus both in the more traditional drama proper of old Mexican telenovelas and depictions of middle class more proper of Brazilian ones, with some touches of comedy. Often, they show how is life outside of the capital, like TVN's Iorana (ambientated on Easter Island). They're usually produced and aired by the Canal 13 and TVN channels, but lately other TV channels like Mega and Chilevisión are joining the so-called "telenovela war".

[edit] United States

In the United States, the telenovela concept has been adapted into English. MyNetworkTV, an upstart network being launched by News Corporation, launched two nightly serials on September 5, 2006, but ratings were disastrous and the format is being phased out. On the other hand, Ugly Betty has already proven to be a success story on ABC, although the network dropped the ideas of the show as a telenovela and developed it as a standard weekly series.

Some Spanish-language telenovelas are now translated directly into English for US viewers. Telemundo now close-captions on CC3 all of its novelas in English. Xenon Pictures also adds English subtitles to its DVD versions of Mexican serials, including Amor Real, La Madrastra, and Rubi.

The sudden interest in English telenovelas can be attributed to the appeal and successful ratings of this genre. Producers also see this as a way to attract the fast-growing Hispanic population, most notably the female sector of this demographic. In addition, telenovelas break the traditional United States television format, where a show runs for 20-25 episodes a season, once a week.

[edit] Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico no longer produces telenovelas, although there are negotiations to reopen production there. One of the new productions is going to be called Dueña y señora which will be co-produced with Venevision Internacional and a 90% Puerto Rican cast.

[edit] Awards

The most important Telenovela award show is hosted by the Televisa TVyNovelas magazine in Mexico and the one presented by Contigo in Brasil. TVyNovelas also has editions in Chile, Puerto Rico, United States and Contigo has an edition in Chile.

[edit] Comparison with soap operas

[edit] The technical difference

The standard American, UK, or Australian soap opera is invariably designed to theoretically continue indefinitely, and indeed sometimes do endure for decades, with an ever-rotating cast of players and characters.

However, most Latin American telenovelas have an average run of eight months 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 makers at its inception. Mundo de Juguete is the exception to the rule, with a total of 605 chapters (1974–1977), and a few cast changes within the course of the serial. Some earlier Argentine telenovelas (most of them penned by Alberto Migré) endured a few years.

[edit] The conceptual difference

Telenovelas also have a different type of story from English-language soaps.

Except for Brazilian and Chilean telenovelas, a popular plot is that of a poor, beautiful girl that meets a rich and handsome guy. He breaks up with his rich, evil and frivolous girlfriend to be with the heroine, at first to simply annoy his rich and callous relatives, but eventually falling in love because of her kind, caring heart and beautiful soul. The evil ex-girlfriend (usually accompanied by the rich guy's mother, sister or other close relative) stands in their way to happiness. Sometimes the struggle is ethnic (such as in Gitanas and Yesenia with Roma, or in María Isabel with people of indigenous origin). A popular plot twist is also the discovery of the real father or mother of the poor heroine, who almost always turns out to be incredibly wealthy. The story usually ends with the villains meeting spectacularly violent, gruesome, painful and gory end and the two heroes end up getting married and with a child, sometimes, even twins.

[edit] Brazil

Brazilian telenovelas are a bit more complex, with convoluted subplots involving three or four different settings. Usually there is a rich setting, a poor setting and one or more settings in which the characters of both settings can interact. There is no black-and-white cut between good and evil characters, with the good guys often displaying weaknesses like promiscuity, drinking, stupidity, excessive ambition, etc. or the bad ones showing features or motivations that attract sympathy, like abuses suffered in the past, family problems, poverty, etc. It is not uncommon for a villain to attract the sympathy of the public, or even to end well. In 2006, for instance, the evil Bia Falcão, played by Fernanda Montenegro in Belíssima managed to escape a police siege and flee the country to France, where she resettled with a handsome boyfriend living on a secret bank account in Switzerland, which she had kept over the years. On the other hand, it is not uncommon for a hero to be relegated to a secondary role due to the actor's lack of charisma.

Besides the convoluted plots, Brazilian telenovelas also approach sensitive social issues and try to present a bit of the country's actual culture (in an idealized way, though).

Another important difference is that Brazilian telenovelas rely much less on individual stars than other Latin American works. A Brazilian telenovela may have a permanent cast of more than 40 actors, of which some 7 or 8 are central. The chief reason for this is that telenovelas are not shot in advance (instead chapters are shot only fifteen days before being aired) so that they can respond to public reaction. Under this scheme, the eventual death or bad performance of the actor playing the main character may turn the production into o flop (which happened to Sol de Verão in 1982 after the death of Jardel Filho).

Rede Globo is the main producer of telenovelas in Brazil. Its productions are split into three different categories, according to the airtime :

• at 6PM (novela das seis), stories are romantic, soft and shallow. No violence, sex or bad language (with a few exceptions, like Cabocla or Sinhá Moça) and plenty of historic themes.
• at 7PM (novela das sete) they air comedy plots, filled with action, humour and romance (and a bit of implicit sex). This is the schedule in which new writers are tested (the most recent talent to show up being João Emanuel Carneiro, with his conspiracy plots, filled with intrigue and social critique). Plots tend to be more experimental but thematic is usually formulaic.
• at 9PM (novela das oito) plots tend to be more formulaic, but a wider range of themes are explored. These productions include action, romantism and humour and usually last longer than the others. These are the productions with the highest rates.

Telenovelas comprise the great majority of the dramatic productions by South American TV networks whereas in the US other formats like sitcoms or TV dramas are more popular.

[edit] Famous Latina artists as Telenovela stars

Thalía

• "Pobre Señorita Limantour", 1987
• "Quinceañera", 1988
• "Luz y Sombra", 1989
• "María Mercedes", 1992
• "Marimar", 1994
• "María la del Barrio", 1995
• "Rosalinda", 1999)

Shakira

• "El Oasis", 1996

Paulina Rubio

• "Pasión y Poder", 1988
• "Baila Conmigo""", 1992
• "Pobre Niña Rica", 1995

Salma Hayek

• "Un Nuevo Amanecer", 1988
• "Teresa", 1989
• "El Vuelo del Águila", 1996

[edit] See also

• Teleserye
• Fantaserye
• List of famous telenovelas
• List of telenovela actors
• Téléroman – The French-Canadian equivalent
• Fotonovela – The magazine equivalent, a sort of photo-comic book usually with a romantic theme.
• Soap opera – The English-language counterpart

[edit] References

1. ^ http://www.telenovelas.gr/worldtv/english.htm