Telenovelas are single season TV Dramas mostly produced in Latin America and here we call it “novelas”. This kind of soap opera is extremely popular in Brazil  and according to a research made by a Brazilian TV Channel more than 91 million Brazilians watch melodramas everyday (this is just a little bit under half of the population!) The thematic of these productions usually goes around contemporary social issues and daily life situations squeezed into short seasons but with incredible complex plots, they rarely lasts more than 8 months.

According to Nilson Xavier, a Brazilian telenovela aficionado and blogger, “Latin American people are more dramatic, they are up to these kinds of stories. In Brazil, the telenovelas were the main entertainment for decades so it is an entertainment that has stretched from each generation and I think it’s so much part of our culture to take it apart. It’s like football—it’s very popular, people love it”. Undoubtedly, novelas are a big part of our culture and it is such a popular thing because they reflect the Brazilian society, feelings and habits. Either teenagers and adults can see their selves on TV and this identification is very important.

In 2012, the soap opera Avenida Brasil is estimated to have earned more than $1 billion in revenue, with dozens of companies paying as much as $400,000 for 30-second advertising slots. More than 80 million Brazilians watched the last episode. This program was designed to “reflect what happen to reflect the lives and concerns of the large middle class that has emerged under the presidencies of Lula Da Silva and Dilma Rousseff” says the Australian Alex McClintock on his article “What Australia’s TV networks can learn from Brazil’s telenovelas”.

The programs has a set of sub-genres that reflect the times that they go to air: novelas das seis (six o’clock novelas) are formulaic and family friendly, while novelas das oito (eight o’clock novelas, which, confusingly, are broadcast at nine o’clock) explore more adult themes. Shot just 15 days in advance of going to air, they react to the public’s mood and concerns. Funny thing is that characters can be dumped or relegated if they fail to connect. Here is a list of the most popular telenovelas of all time.

For those interested in learn Portuguese we recommend you to watch novelas because it is a way to get “immersed” in the language and in the culture! According to the polyglot Susanna Zaraysky ” Melodrama is easy to understand because the facial gestures and hand movements are overly dramatic. Even without knowing all the words, you will be able to “get the gist” of some of the action. The images of the characters will tell you what they are talking about.  Tune into HOW they are speaking and the words they are using to describe the images that are appearing on the screen.”

We encourage everybody to watch our novelas and get to know a little bit more about this form of entertainment. 🙂