Caray, Caray!

Thank you for the recap, Jardinera!

"Then, the pupils of Regi’s eyes turn hard, more attentive, and more disdaining. Like two flashing swords that collide in the air, their stares meet."

Por amor de Dios, someone mute the narrator.
 

LOL, that's melodrama. I did like Regina's dream, though; a lot. I wouldn't mind having that one any night now.

Thank you for the recap, Jardinera! :-)
 

A few days ago I found this video on youtube, it shows Yanez practicing a martial art and God know what else while he was preparing for the role of JDD. The stretch outfit is quite errr... funny, and his JDD hair is awful as usual, but the exercises seem to be interesting. :)

Spoiler alert:
Be careful, the last 20 seconds (from 5:44) contain a short scene from the novela!
 

Acting ability:

Gaviotaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Sofiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Aimeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
 

Wow, love the video, Aribeth; never seen anything quite like that with EY. Thanks so much! :D He looks wonderful and works hard; he's a good athlete.
 

Jardinera, excellent recap; thanks again!
 

Jadinera, your recaps are better written than the novelas are. Thank you.

Very funny, Anon. You forgot:

Haaaaaaa, Haaaaaaa, Haaaaaa, Haaaaaa.

I really love E Y and I hope, someday, he receives a great role where he can demonstrate his acting abilities which I believe are hiding somewhere in all that bulk. In the meantime, I'll enjoy him in these corny roles.

GinCA
 

There's a souvenir video of Dulce Desafío from 1988 that's pretty cheap ($12.99) and only 12 hours, where Lalo does not have to yell even one time, IIRC. His character is a school psychologist and is more the brooding, quiet type. But it is pretty early in his career.
 

jardinera:

A top notch recap, as always. And our novela continues to be over the top.

I wonder shat kind of shoes Aimee wears. I am guessing she must have on Nike running shoes under that gown to be able to get from the town house to the cave in such record time.

Also,I thought evil Leo looked lovely in her lace gown. Was that a tea dress?

Thanks, Aribeth, for the link. Yañez is more athletic than I thought.

The narrator is a total crack-up. At any moment during his narration I expect to see us cut to a scene where we realize that everything we have seen up to this point has been taped for Saturday Night Live.
 

Jardinera ijust love your recaps they are my weekend delight.

Elna June i thought this whole novela was based on a SNL skit.

Jeri Dulce Desafio was the first time i saw big Ed and fell in love with him and the female lead was Adela Noriega i think she was maybe a teenager at the time that was made.Also a very maybe child actor Angelica Rivera, Gaviota to you guys who saw her in DA. Ana Patricia Rojo, Estafania in CCEA as a young teenager around the same age as Adela Noriega was also in it too.

Big Ed wasn't doing any yelling or bellowing at the top of his lungs for his love interest.You can go on youtube and put it in the search engine, quite a lot of young actresses who made a name for themselves was in that novela too.
 

Anon 06:38:00 PM, that is so great you got into Dulce Desafío the same way I did. I even have screen caps of the girls in one album and screen caps of Eduardo in another album from DD. I did them during Destilando. If you want to see, they are at:

Destilando Ladies in Dulce Desafío

and

Eduardo Yáñez in Dulce Desafío

They are a little dark from the DVD; back then I didn't have the program to fix that. But they can still be seen; I should edit them some time.
 

Jardinera...thanks for translating all that wildly purple prose from the narrator. That is the best (funniest) part of the show, although the endless, kiss me you savage, you're mine mineminemine! are also pretty funny.

Thanks for noting Renato's nose squinch. I'll have to be on the lookout for that. Loved "two birds of a feckless feather" and also the vocab "carroña.

And given that this is a Disney movie, I'm going to have to side with your hubby and say there's a genuine attraction twixt our noble Noel and the cheerful little lady of the night. If she has any sense at all she'll be looking for a permanent partner and a way to get out of the game. And of course, given his nobility, he'll forgive her lurid past.

Normally, like the other readers, you're the high point of my Saturday, but with the NCAA on, you've got serious competition. Right now Northern Iowa is ahead of No. 1 Kansas. Let's hear it for the underdog!
 

Jeri i saw Dulce Desafio when it was on tv way back i think it was 1984 or somewhere around that time, big Ed has always been a favorite of mine just not in this novela sorry my imagination can only stretch so far.

I loved Ed and Adela in another of my all time favorites Guadalupe that they did together those two definitely had some chemistry. Yes they were involved with each other for a little while off camera too.

Like to see Ed taking some roles like Cesar Evora he can still be the sexy older man in novelas. I don't know if it's him and his ego that doesn't want to take these roles or not, but he needs to stop prancing around in those adult diapers he's wearing on those beach scenes like you guys described and go after some more mature aged roles for himself.
 

Anon, roles like Cesar Évora are just what I had in mind, too. Like in La Madrastra, for example. He was the star of that show; what's wrong with that?

I don't think it's EY doing the casting, though. I get the feeling he is just rolling with what they want him to do. He is a big star, but I think he is also not temperamental. I really like the guy, and I would like to see some more of the quieter side of him.

Dulce Desafío was made in 1988; Guadalupe was just replayed on Telefutura, I think. Just my luck, I had already bought it from a website online. I thought it would never be shown again.

I recently also bought "Marielena," with EY and Lucía Mendez, from the same website. Now I have to get "Yo Compro Esa Mujer" and "Senda de Gloria." I haven't seen those anywhere, though.

Back to the show: regarding the young lady at the brothel, she made a remark when she first met Noel that made me think she might not be a prostitute.

When Noel was protesting and trying to exit, she said that "not everything in that place was bad." I wondered if maybe she is a good girl and not a prostitute.
 

Aribeth: Thanks for posting the video of EY training. As a person who has studied different forms of yoga and various martial arts I was impressed that he is doing something beyond weight training. All the exercises in the first half are yoga which builds core strength. I thought his form in the jujitsu was pretty good also. He apparently takes very good care of himself and is serious about it. I knew something was up when started carrying that piece of bamboo!
 

Jardinera, brilliant. I was lol at "Feddy’s worried he’s now going to be the laughing stock [hazmereir] of the town. (Wait! You mean like he’s not already?)." i too find that very hard to believe. ;)
 

Jeri Yo Compro Esa Mujer was the second novela i saw Ed in with Leticia Calderon who played Carlota in ENDA.

Jarocha said that novela is mixed in with the Corazon Salvage story which i don't understand why this producer would do that. As so many have said the 1993 version of CS is a classic why mess with it.

As for Yo Compro Esa Mujer i can't say it was a classic but it was very good and i did love Ed wearing his tight horse riding pants and Leticia in her period gowns.

Youtube has i believe all the episodes of Guadalupe on it if you have the condensed version of the dvd.

As for Ed taking these roles i agree if this is what they are offering him and he needs to make his living i won't knock him for that. I watched Cesar Evora in ENDA he was sexy mature intelligent and he just had us women falling in love with his role on that show.

So i really have to wonder because i have seen Cesar in a lot of novelas like El Odio y Amor with Susana Gonzales, La Madrasta with Victoria Ruffo, and Guapos with Laura Flores. Is it type casting or is it the actor knowing what roles best suit him?

I know from what i have read on esmas the fans have not been kind at all with the producer for offering and Ed himself for takinin this role.
 

anon, also his character in Te Amaré en Silencio did not yell and bluster. Well, I hope he will be a bit more circumspect next time.

I heard that Mejía is casting young actors for young characters in his next show, so maybe something finally got through to him.
 

Hi, y'all. Glad to be able to give you your weekly dose of 180 proof sugar 'n molasses. ; > ) God bless the actors and writers because they've been cursed with the Mejia treatment. Gotta say, though, that despite its flaws, I am enjoying this Disney-vela.
===========
Aribeth/JudyB/Elna June: Hubby read the translation of the narration and laughed his head off.
===========
Jeri: LOL! It is a definite challenge this time around slogging through the overkill in this thing not once but twice on Friday nights! All my snorts and snickers have been frightening the cats.
=========
Anon. 5:05pm/GinCA --LOL! Hubby says he has two words for EY: "Acting lessons." I tell him who needs to act when you look like that? Yowza!
===========
Cielo: I'd say Juan's description of dandy should have given Feddy his first clue.
 

Jardinera~Thanks for that detailed recap. I have to say that the cave sex scenes are very interesting, and that dream of Reggie's was nice, too. Renato is quite a good kisser...slow and focused. I was reading today's paper, and someone was described as ''waiting and wanting.'' That made me think of Reggie. Then, of course being a lover of words, I thought of other two word descriptions for other CS characters : Aimee is lusting and laughing; Renato is pining and pleading; Leo is scheming and screaming; Rosenda is spying and smiling; Juan is growling and grinding; MdeR is crying and creeping; Arcadio is fuming and .......
 

mad bess, you are so tricky! LOL

Jardinera, how are your critters? Besides looking askance at you...

Teresita, thanks for weighing in on the fitness and martial arts.
 

Jardinera LOL at how you're scaring your cats from doing the Friday recap for this comedy.

Jeri any Mejia project should be consider with a lot of caution for any actor no matter the age. Mejia's is working on another classic Cunos de Lobos so far i have heard William Levy, Segio Sendel, Rebecca Jones so far there was a rumor that Maite Perroni might star in it too. It seems the lead female character keeps changing.

Here's a link to how strongly some people feel about Mejia http://foro.telenovela-world.com/n4/read-t.php?f=21&i=113206&t=113206#reply_113206.

When you see the name Mejia associated with a novela you have to compare to the works of the worst director or producers of movies i guess.
 

I uploaded many scenes from Guadalupe to my youtube channel and a lady named vera80vera also uploaded a tons of EY-novelas, including Yo compro esa mujer. Unfortunately it's dubbed to Italian, but it's better than nothing. :)

Yo compro is one of the most beautiful novelas I've ever seen. It could've became a big classic, if Televisa had taken care of it with many replays and had published it on DVD. I'm always complaining about that CS's been repeated 100x times, but YCEM is doomed to oblivion.

"So i really have to wonder because i have seen Cesar in [...] Is it type casting or is it the actor knowing what roles best suit him?"

Imho it rather depends on personal relations. César used to be Mejía's favourite actor (Abrazame muy fuerte: villano, Entre el amor: protagonist, Mariana de la noche: villano, La esposa virgen: short cameo, La madrastra, Mundo de fieras: protagonist), he almost participated in FELS, too, but he chose Guapos instead, and was casted to the role of Rodrigo Montes de Oca, but had to quit because he got sick (the poor man had hernia, I think).
 

Teresita: I'm also a martial arts fan myself (aikido and tai chi), and it was nice to see him practicing jiujitsu and yoga instead of just working out and lifting weight in the gym. :-)
 

Anon, oh yeah...I know how people feel about Mejía; I'm a charter member of telenovela-world.

Been going there since before it was T-W: back two incarnations, in the 1990's when it was called Rincon Latino and owned by Yolette, before Univision bought the old place.
 

Aribeth, thanks for the link to your You Tube channel!

Sorry for the double post; what can I say, it's early...
 

As much as I criticize Yáñez's acting, he really does have a cute personality, which I saw on Cristina after FELS.
 

Great recap Jardinera. I haven't had time to read all the comments yet so more later.

Vivi, if you are out there, I have a message from someone who grew up in Jamaica and she would like me to forward her email to you. Thanks.
 

Jardinera, thanks for the great recap, another Saturday treat.
Mad Bess, I liked your two-word character descriptions.
Thanks to the narrator of the purple prose. I'm glad to hear that Juan's bellowing mouth is "bathed in the name that is honey for his lips."
I'm very impressed with the Montes de Oca. They can pull together a fancy engagement party with no previous planning, no prior food preparation, and no advance notice to the guests. Didn't anyone in town have other plans for the evening? Or when the MdOs call, just drop everything, put on your party clothes, and boogie on over?
La Paloma
 

Aribeth: Amiga, forgive me, but your last post regarding EY's antics is a no-no, kiddo. If I didn't do it, Melanama would have. We can discuss professional techniques and former roles till the cows come home, but we cannot discuss their personal lives here as it has a tendency to sour the rest of the current production for some viewers.
 

Okay!
First I thought blogspot absorbed my comment. :)
 

Variopinta Ed has a good personality but he can be fresh and outrageous too, i don't understand why they made his yelling and bellowing his trademark because he can act.

Aribeth really they consider Yo Compro Esa Mujer a classic? I thought it was very good when i saw it i would love to see it again because it was a long time ago.

Interesting that Cesar was cast in CS because they were making so much fun of Ed on esmas about taking this role, they were comparing him to Cesar for taking roles that are age appropriate for him.

Loved Cesar in ENDA he was just so awesome in that role, i don't know about his Guapos role some others i have seen him on that.

He's supposed to be working on another novela and it won't be produced by Mejia.

As for typecasting i think it's a combination of the producer being comfortable with certain actors and their work, and not being comfortable with the young up coming actors.

Once again i also believe it's laziness on the producers part too, it seems like Mejia doesn't care about the overacting and over the top directing of his novelas but he should.

Take for instance when Sortilegio was being announced as a remake of Tu O' Nadie. Carla came right out and said she wanted William as the male lead and Anahi as the female lead.

When Carla gave them both a screen test she found out two things Anahi could not pull off looking like MJ and most importantly the woman can't act period.

Now do you really think Mejia would have done the same thing?
 

Anon:
Now do you really think Mejia would have done the same thing?"

Well, in the good old times even Mejía was open to cast relatively fresh faces and therefore he gave them a chance to play the lead of a prime time novela for the first time.
He chose Aracely for Abrazame muy fuerte, Susana González for Entre el amor y el odio, and gave opportunity to two Venezuelan actresses: Gabriela Spanic (La usurpadora) and Gaby Espino (Mundo de fieras).

Since then he rather chooses the safety game and hires his favourite famous actors, no matter how old they are.
 

Ay, sorry for the double post (again :)), but I forgot to add this:

"really they consider Yo Compro Esa Mujer a classic"

Well, YCEM was produced by the legendary Ernesto Alonso, it was successful in Mexico and in foreign countries, too, it was well directed and acted, finally, Yanez and Rocha won TVyNovelas awards for their performances. In Hungary we consider it a classic, I don't know much about the opinion of the Mexican folks, but imho it should've became a classic. :)

(Yes, it's my favourite novela in tie with El manantial, Kachorra, Terra nostra, and La otra - btw, another Alonso gem. :))
 

Great recap, Jardinera, thank you.

Here are some names (I think) of some of the minor characters.

Brunette "hooker" (maybe not), I think her name is Lulu.

Doctorcito: I think he's Pablo.

Other rich guy (who was Camila's father in Pasion): Raul
 

Jardinera:
This whole paragraph is perfection, itself.

Regina (still wearing her novice duds despite the fact the abbess and the priest stamped “REJECT” on her deluded backside)

Brilliant, amiga!
 

Great recap Jardinera. I had to laugh at the image you painted with the word REJECT in the back side of Regina’s novice duds.

Jeri I can barely remember Dulce Desafio, but I do remember that creepy mom that thought her daughter’s acne was a symbol of her sins or something.

Aribeth you are right. One thing about Mejia is that he did help Gaby Spanic’s career to take off internationally and he helped Susana Gonzalez to get out of the femme fatale side roles that she had been stuck on for almost a decade.

Aracely Arambula was already very popular when he casted her on Abrazame Muy Fuerte though. She was already about to become a lead weather it’d be with him or another producer. Her early choices were very smart. She went for small roles in excellent productions instead of going for bigger roles on teen novelas. Her role as young Leonarda in "Pueblo Chico, Infierno Grande" earned her alot of attention from producers as she was basically the lead of that novela for the first weeks until the time changed and Veronica Castro took charge of the role. Then when she finally chose a teen role it was "Soñadoras" a novela that turned out to be a HUGE success even among adults and even though it was an ensamble, her role was the most popular. From there, lead roles were offered and she took Mejia’s offer because of the success he had with Esmeralda and La Usurpadora. Turned out that Abrazame Muy Fuerte became very popular so I guess that’s why she accepted this double role in CS.

As for Yañez, his type was popular in the 80’s (big and dark)and Ernesto Alonso sort of took him under his wing so that helped his career alot. After Guadalupe he sort of fell from the radar for a while until he was casted in La Verdad Oculta in 2006. Maybe because he tried to make it in the US. Most people didn’t keep up with him during that time. I think he had some years left with young roles in the 90’s so he is now taking all the roles he can while he is still getting those offers.

Jarocha
 

Jarocha: I find Aracely easy on the eyes as Regina (without Aimee's ugly red wig). She has to be applauded for her efforts in trying to make Aimee the more mischievous and malevolent of the twin sisters. She's done very well in making me believe I'm seeing two very different characters and personalities. From your calculations we have another 20 or so episodios before the change in directors and the improvement in the overall acceptance in Mexico's ratings. I've enjoyed the story so far and believe if we wait it out and separate ourselves from the earlier version of CS that we will be pleasantly surprised for our efforts at sticking with this for the long haul.

I remember EY from a few things up here, but I never saw his earlier novelas. A pity, but there it is. Anyway, Te Amaré en Silencio made me laugh and I turned it off, but he grabbed my eye then. I had doubts in the initial couple of weeks of Destilando, but he won me over there. He has talent when he's in his own realm of Latin production. The ridiculous treatment Mejia gives his novelas makes me think he should steer clear of Sr. Mejia's productions in future. The bellowing and overdone rage he's been required to show since DA has risked him becoming a caricature of himself in his roles and that's a shame. Even I laugh at all those, but deep down, aside from those I enjoy him as a gálan.
 

Elna June: I was thinking that Regi is wearing those robes as a security blanket but I cannot put the psychology into words. She's hiding from the world, and in the dream, she wears it, as if it's her saving grace from dis-grace. She wears it to the party as her shield against the sin of envy, but also as a boast to the world that she's pure compared to her mischievous twin.
 

Hombre:
"Here are some names (I think) of some of the minor characters"

Yes, Doctorcito's name is Pablo Miranda. The prostitutes are:
1. brunette - Lulu
2. blonde no. 1., charismatic, Fed's girl - Fifi
3. blonde no. 2., I usually fastforward her scenes (no offense :)) - Brigitte
+1 Madame Marlene's funny feminine sidekick - Filiberto, I think

The other rich guy's name's Raul indeed, he's played by Raymundo Capetillo. He had a great role in El manantial, since then I like him very much. :)

Jarocha, thank you yery much for the informations about Aracely! You're a true doldmine of valuable telenovela facts. :) I didn't know much about her early career, before Abrazame I first saw her in Sonadoras and I thought she was just one of the dozen obscure young actresses. Unfortunately after Abrazame she participated in the disastrous Las vias del amor.

"so I guess that’s why she accepted this double role in CS"

I heard it was Aracely who insisted on playing double roles. Oh, and after FELS aired Mejía tried to give her a minor role in the novela, but she rejected it - the role later landed at Sofia Vergara.

Btw, I forgot to add Alejandra Barros (Mariana de la noche) to the list.

Yanez's a very fortunate man because over 46, after a rather unsuccessful Hollywood career he got a once-in-a-lifetime chance of restarting his career and popularity in Mexico, he won two awards and the producers constantly offer him lead roles. I was worried about that this CS miscast/fiasco would seriously hurt his new career, but it seems he will get off with it. Nevertheless, after CS he has to accustom himself to the more age-appropriate roles.
 

Jardinera I think the change in directors happens between episodes 70 and 80. There will be a little more scenary chewing before getting there but it seems you are ready to stick with this novela until the end so I hope you enjoy it even through all that.

Aribeth the double role was thought before in the 1993 version, Edith Gonzalez wanted to play both characteres but the creators of that novela decided they did not have the appropiate technical tools to make it work and it would be a hassle to shoot scenes with both sisters. Instead they casted Ana Colchero to play Aimée and she was great in the role.

From what I understand Mejia already had the idea of having both roles played by the same actress since he knew that was the first intention for the creators of the 1993 version and when he went to convince Aracely to sign for CS he offered her to play both roles. Aracely had stopped acting for a while and took her time to have children, she was living in USA and she had rejected several offerts already so Mejia offered everything he could to get her to accept the novela, including playing both roles. I know there has been gossip saying she wanted both roles but I belive Mejia already had expressed his desire of the sisters being twins before he even started looking for the actors.

Jarocha
 

Jarocha:
Yes, a few months ago I read a short note about Edith's wish of playing both roles, but I didn't know if it was true.

"but I belive Mejia already had expressed his desire of the sisters being twins before he even started looking for the actors"

You may be right, Mejía loves messing with twin characters (La usurpadora, Abrazame, Mundo de fieras).
 

jardinera:

Your analysis of Reginas use of the novices role/robes is dead on, IMHO. You put it into words, beautifully. Regina is a bit more complicated than she would appear at first glance, isn't she? She is a good person, but she is not really a saint, as we see in her dreams of Juan.

Right now she is a bit of a prig but I expect to like her much better as time goes on. The Aimee character is just OTT. In real life, as we have already said here, she would be pregnant soon, if not already, and her behavior would have been considered disgraceful in her own time.

I don't like her because she is hateful to her sister and to the "help".

EJ
 

Wow, I totally forgot about Aracely being in "Pueblo Chico..." That was probably another reason why I liked that nutjob of a novela.

It was a crazy, crazy show -- every perversion one could think of was touched on; but it was so surreal they got away with it, and it was interesting.

Thanks for the reminder...
 

Oh, I meant to say: Eduardo Yáñez won an Emmy while he was in the US.

EY appeared in US-made telenovelas here in the U.S. while he was trying to break into Hollywood, and was the first (or only?) Latin star to win an Emmy award. I think it was for Guadalupe.
 

"Pueblo Chico, Infierno Grande" was so disturbing but you could never take your eyes off the screen. Pretty much everybody ended up miserable or dead. I think that the prostitutes of CS would cry if they got every to see the brothel of PCIG.

Enrique Rocha played Aracely Arambula’s father in that one too, remember?

He forced her to marry to an old ugly fat rich guy to save the family from economic ruin and she was about to escape with her first love but the old guy sent some thugs to kill the boy, the thugs were unsuccesful but she got scared for him and married the ugly old guy.

The wedding night was forever burned in my retinas. It was so awful and Rocha’s character got drunk and wandered in the rain asking god for forgiveness for selling his daughter, they edited the scenes to intercalate the rape and the father’s anguish in the rain.

The next week she found her first love recovered in church and since he was made believe she had prefered money to him he told her he was going to travel the world and become rich and then he would come back and "buy her".

Rocha’s character got pneumonia and in his death bed he asked her to forgive him, that was his last wish but she didn’t and he died in anguish for that. She didn’t even cry for him.

Heh, I still remember so much from that novela and it was made 13 years ago. But aside from the misery it was just so good and I loved the way they depicted the 20’s and 40’s in a small town in Mexico.

Jarocha
 

I think Aracely was in a novela also with Eduardo Santamarina too.
 

Jarocha there was a novela made i can't remember maybe the late 90's but the main female lead was raped by the male lead's i think it was his father. I tried watching it but the storyline was repugnant i stopped watching it.

Do you remember the name of this novela?
 

Anon: It sounds like "El Manantial" with Adela Noriega and Mauricio Islas.

Jarocha
 

Jeri:
I wish it was true, but I checked the Emmys (every single category, many times) and I didn't find any proof of Eduardo winning this award. :( It's a big mess, first of all, which Emmy did he recieve? Daytime Emmys? International? Did the latter even exist in 1995-1996?

Jarocha:
This Pueblo chico seems to be a very depressing novela, but since Juan Soler and Kuno Becker participated in it, I'll check it later. *yep, fangirl mode ON :)*

Anon:
Wasn't it Leonela? It's a Peruvian novela from 1997, Mariana Levy and Diego Bertie were its protagonists. I'm not sure about this, but this is the first tip that came in my mind.
It's based on a Delia Fiallo script. Delia unfortunately liked the rape/intented rape storylines very much, if you saw Esmeralda, Rosalinda, Guadalupe, Cuidado con el angel, Mar de amor, you know what I'm talking about.
 

Oops, I missed this information:
"i think it was his father"

Yes, it's El manantial from 2001.
 

"El Manantial" was made between 2001 and 2002 and was produced by Carla Estrada. I have an automatic response of "won’t watch" if Adela Noriega is in it. "El Privilegio de Amar" was the last novela I saw with her in it. But many people seemed to like "El Manantial".

The only novela I was disgusted by was called "Leonela" and it was from Venezuela. The main character was raped by the male lead because she was rich and wouldn’t look at him and she got pregnant and gave the baby up for adoption but she regretted doing it later. The male lead was sent to jail but when he got out he made money and adopted his daughter and he kept her from Leonela to make her suffer for giving her up but in the end they fall in love and become a family. Seriously, WTH?????

Jarocha
 

Aribeth you and I were thinking along the same lines with Leonela, but the father thing made me remember "El Manantial". I thought Leonela was from Venezuela, thank you for mentioning it was from Perú.

Jarocha
 

Jarocha, imho El manantial is a gem, one of the best telenovelas of Estrada and of the decade, and Adela shined in it. :) Alas after EM her career went on downhill - yes, Amor Real was a huge success and critically acclaimed, but her character made me sick, and the next two Mejías (La esposa virgen and FELS) actually ruined her. I'm waiting for her returning in a new, stronger role.

I've never seen Leonela, but when I read it's synopsis, at first I thought it was a joke. Then my brain exploded. Awful.
 

Jarocha LOL at what you said concerning Adela Noriega come to think of it i believe that Adela Noriega was in it that was one of the reason why i was going to watch it. Like i said the storyline did really turn me off so i skipped it after watching some of the beginning episodes.

Aribeth i don't know i couldn't remember the name but i was sure she was raped by the male lead's father.

I saw Guadalupe which is one of my all time favorites, even love CCEA despite it's many flaws. The so-called rape in CCEA was extremely vague some of us thought he had raped MC and others didn't then he gave his confession to the Padre and only said he grabbed her roughly and forced some kisses on her.

I just don't like how rape it used in these novelas.
 

Jarocha:
Yes, we responded almost in the same time. :) Venezuelans also made their own version of Leonela.
Here's a summary of the Delia Fiallo telenovelas: link

Anon:
I also like Guadalupe, mainly for the young and beautiful Adela, the also young Eduardo and the location - I've never seen a Miami novela before, it seems to be an interesting mix of the Mexican telenovelas and the American soap operas. But those rapes... ehh.
Yes, fortunately in CCEA the male lead didn't hurt the girl, but I remember she had to escape from a creepy guy in every ten episodes. :)

"I just don't like how rape it used in these novelas."

Neither do I, the only novela in which I can tolerate this is El manantial.
The good thing it's an original novela which was written by Cuaohtémoc Blanco and María del Carmen Pena, who are experts of the rural, scheming novelas and the complex characters. They wrote Canaveral de pasiones, Cadenas de amargura, Laberintos de pasion, En nombre del amor and Mi pecado. I like these writers, their novelas are very complex and usually tasteful.
Ehh, back to the main topic: the rape storyline of EM is shocking, but it's tastefully developed, and if you manage to overstep it, the well-written, enchanting story will reward your efforts. :)
 

Aribeth i love Adela in El Privilegio de Amar with Rene Strickler, i didn't like La Eposa Virgen i don't know if it was the story or them trying to make Sergio Sendel a good guy i was so used to seeing him be the villain.
 

The next time telefutura shows El Manatial i think i will give it a try then since they are only showing reruns now on it except for the El Capo at 7pm but i'm watching Mi Pecado.

I would love to see Univision and Telemundo both start using some original storys too me it comes off as they are being too lazy to take the time.
 

Anon: I'm an Adela fan, too. :) However, I wasn't able to watch La esposa virgen, it irritated me.
It's a strange novela. I've heard many theories/rumors about it:
a) In 2005 there was a big gap in the prime time novelas time slot (9.00), and Mejía undertook to make a shorter novela until Estrada finishes the preparation of Alborada. That's why it lasted only 60-something episodes.
b) Jorge Salinas was the lead, but the chemistry didn't work between him and Adela, that's why Sendel became the good guy.

I dunno. :)

Sendel is a very talented guy, but yes, he's rather a villano-type. Nevertheless, I want to watch Amarte es mi pecado (produced by Ernesto Alonso), in which he plays the male lead and the lover of Yadhira Carrillo's character.
 

Aribeth: My mom always has the TV on some novela while she cooks, during this time they always show foreign novelas and at the time I watched a little bit of Leonela but that story was just sick, eww.

Anon. I have seen Adela in Quinceañera, Dulce Desafio, Guadalupe, Maria Isabel and El Privilegio de Amar. I saw bits and pieces of Amor Real but her character annoys me and I actually saw part of Bodas de Odio and I remember how Cristian Bach was excellent and didn’t cry as much. I guess for me it is one of those instances where you simply can’t connect with the actor at all.

I like the work of Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Maricarmen Peña though, they definitely create a very interesting portrayal of the interlinked lives of the small towns. Cañaveral de Pasiones is my absolutely favorite novela EVER. Mi Pecado just had a scene as a sort of homage to Cañaveral and I was squealing with joy watching it and remembering, Cañaveral was just stunning. ENDA was a remake of Cadenas de Amargura but Cuauhtemoc and Maricarmen didn’t work in the adaptation, it was good but they made it a little too long and that affected the intelligence of the main young couple and also affected the character of the housekeeper who kept quiet about all in those 100 episodes added to the story, she was tortured in the original but she wasn’t so useless for so long.

Jarocha
 

I agree the chemistry was off between Adela and Jorge Salinas but has Mejia ever heard of a screen test before, or does he just does not care at does whatever the heck he wants?

I was in and out with that novela anyway sometimes i would watch it if i was bored and nothing else was on tv that night other times i would rather read a book. I was so surprised it did seem like it was on for five months or less.
 

Jarocha you have spoken of Canaveral de Pasiones is that the one with Francisco Gattorno and Cynthia Klitbo in it?

Now that you mentioned it i do believe i did see Adela in Quincenera wasn't Eduardo Laguardia in that too?
 

Aribeth, I assume since Guadalupe is a soap, that it is Daytime Emmys.

Here is what it says at Alma Latina:

"Other facts: first latin actor the winner of Emmy Award for Guadalupe: Best actor Individual Acheivment (sic)"
 

Wow...I am enjoying the discussion between Aribeth, Jarocha, and Anonymous. You three have had a lot of experience watching novelas. I just started a few years ago . I discovered Alborada at about the halfway mark while channel surfing one night. My fate was sealed. Fernando's dark good looks made me search for more info about the novela, and I discovered Melinama's translation of Alborada. I am a fan of Adela Noriego. I watched some episodes of Guadlupe on Youtube, and I loved her chemistry with Big Ed...many episodes were lovely, long kiss-fests . Didn't Big Ed play pro football in the U.S. for awhile ?
 

I may be in a minority but I am totally loving CS- the acting, the costumes, the plot...all of it. I'm lucky my demands (I guess) are not too high which enables me to enjoy most of these novelas---as long as the male and female leads are serious eye candy and we sure as heck have that in spades with CS. And... as long as a lead role does not get ridiculously annoying, e.g. sofia in FELS.

HOWEVER, one thing that has bothered me: At times, when he is with Regina or Aimee, Juan lets out this raucous, loud phoney laugh. It makes him so much less sexy and masculine--It totally takes away from his image.
 

I always found this interesting: a professor at Temple University puts EY the Preface to her book, "Emotions and Multilingualism."

She says: Real friends and colleagues were not the only people who helped me in the writing process – so did my imaginary friends. It so happened that December 15, 2003, the day I began to write this book, was also the day of the world premiere of the first Spanish-language telenovela produced and filmed in the United States, Te amaré en silencio. From then on, every weekday at nine the incomparable Eduardo Yañez and Ana Carolina da Fonseca accompanied me on my journey to the world of emotions in a language not my own. Watching the show through the lenses of the emerging book was a fascinating experience. It made me wonder time and again about emotions that might cross linguistic and cultural boundaries, about trials and tribulations of bilingual couples, about similarities and differences between emotional expression in natural communication and conventionalized expressions of emotions that make shows like this so easy to watch and so comprehensible to speakers of other languages.
 

mad bess, EY never played in the NFL, but he considered going for it as a career move before he got into acting in high school.

EY had a pretty terrible upbringing, and there was a fellow in Mexico who kind of took him aside as a teen and got him interested in playing American football on a club team down there -- which was unusual, of course, since they play soccer.
 

Anon. The one with Francisco Gattorno and Cynthia Klitbo must have been "La Dueña", Klitbo was the villain and Angélica Rivera played the lead.

"Cañaveral de Pasiones" had Gattorno in a very important role but the main couple was played by Daniela Castro and Juan Soler. Paty Navidad also had a significant role and the villains were Azela Robinson, Roberto Ballesteros and Angélica Aragón. Aracely Arámbula had a small role there too.

Jeri, American Football (as it is known here) is popular although we don’t really have a pro ligue. There is a university league though and that one is a little popular in certain states. Same with basketball, in this case, the university games are very popular in my state.


Jarocha
 

Jeri```Thanks for that link. As an ESL teacher, I think that emotions and language is a fascinating subject. My students and I often have interesting discussions in speaking class , and the other day we talked about when, where, and who was allowed to cry. The Korean doctor of oriental medicine told us that in his country there is saying : ''A man may cry three times in his life : when he is born and when his mother and father die.'' Also, I would be very interested to see Big Ed's performance in a Estrada/Miguel novela. I think that we would see a very different Ed.
 

Jarocha:
"Cañaveral de Pasiones is my absolutely favorite novela EVER."

OMG, I agree, it's an awesome novela! :)

****
Anon:
"has Mejia ever heard of a screen test before, or does he just does not care at does whatever the heck he wants?"

I don't know - I guess he was happy for having Adela, and Jorge was his new favourite "kid" after Mariana de la noche and he wanted to give him the lead.

"Jarocha you have spoken of Canaveral de Pasiones is that the one with Francisco Gattorno and Cynthia Klitbo in it?"

No, that's La duena with Angelica Rivera and Gattorno as leads and Klitbo as the female villain.
On the other hand, Gattorno indeed participated in Canaveral. :)

Jeri:
Thank you for the prof's citation!
As for Daytime Emmys: that's it, I didn't find his name in the prize-list. By this times the only sources of this Emmy are alma-latina and wiki - none of them are totally reliable. :(

***
mad bess:
Thank you! :) I started it when I was seven - it was in 1990, when capitalism, western culture, Dallas and Mexican/Brazilian telenovelas arrived in my country. :) Although I watched them, I wasn't a huge telenovela fan. I admited to myself only in 2002-2003 that actually I like the Televisa novelas very much. A few years later I finally found out how to download telenovelas, I found telenovela-world and an excellent Hungarian TN-blog, and since then I'm a curious and enthusiastic fan. :)

***
cara: Let me join the fan club! :) CS is often silly but it's addictive.
 

Aribeth and Cara, I am a CS fan, too. I watch novelas to relax and umwind, so CS is a great escape from reality. I wonder if the change in directors will be noticeable.
 

mad bess:
"Also, I would be very interested to see Big Ed's performance in a Estrada/Miguel novela."

Seconded! :)
 

Cara i don't don't know if my demands are too high like you said but i belive if you're going to take on a classic it should be down right and respect to the original.


Those who have seen CS 1993 are very forgiving of this version os CS and take it for what it is.While i could not be so forgiving of Sortilegio since i saw the original Tu O' Nadie.

It something about watching and seeing a story for the first time that makes you fall in love with it. Be it the actors, the costume, the directing and overall production. That make it a some say a classic critics can sometimes call it a masterpiece.

I remember the first time i saw West Side Story and how i made fun of it and my mother sat me and my two older brothers down to watch it and give it a chance. Guess what i fell it, from the dancing, the acting and singing then when i told my friends in school about seeing this movie. How they made fun of me so i told our music teacher about it.

One day we came into for two straight days we as a class watched West Side Story and those same classmates who were making fun of my movies choices had fell in love with the story. We all learn evidently that it was a loose translation of Romeo and Juliet.

It is something about a movie or novela that evokes a fond memory maybe at the given time when we first saw it that may make us be harsh critics of a remake and especially when it tries to hard to be so different from the original it was supposed to be based on.

Here's one movie i saw when it first came out Clash of the Titans let just say when i saw a preview of this showing my TV when this movie was coming out. I was like they're kidding me right, you actually made a remake of this dreck.
 

Jarocha, yes, I gathered from various sources that American football is played in some places in Mexico. The Dallas Cowboys have recruited fans a lot across the border, and most Mexican fans seem to be Cowboys fans.

Also, IIRC in "Mujeres Engañadas" the kids' private school had a club team -- or that might have been also been shown in "Rebelde." Seems like American football is kind of trendy in some places.

Aribeth, a couple years ago, I also tried to find EY's listing at the Emmy website and could not; but it is also a special award, it looks like -- and might not be listed as the regular categories are. I kind of feel like trying to write someone there to make sure, but it seems like a lot of trouble.

mad bess, I was interested in ESL and took a 400-level ESL class in college for fun. I had already taken four languages besides English, so I figured why not. I was a Journalism major, though, which I loved.
 

I've seen CS'93, and I don't have any trouble liking this version. I just wish they hadn't named this one CS, for those who do have trouble.
 

Anon:

"It is something about a movie or novela that evokes a fond memory maybe at the given time when we first saw it that may make us be harsh critics of a remake and especially when it tries to hard to be so different from the original it was supposed to be based on."

ITA. No doubt that's why we all have different favorites, too. I also agree that if there is a classic it should never be changed. The only problem is who determines what is and isn't a classic. I know they say it is something that withstands the test of time, but I'm sure there's more that goes into the definition. I'm just can't remember and don't have the energy to look it up. ; > )

Very interesting comments from you, Jarocha and Aribeth. Very thought provoking.
 

Cara: we're all in that minority it would seem. ; > )
 

Hombre: Thanks for filling in the names for me. Lulu is for Bridget, but do we have a name yet for the dark haired gal who Noel likes?
 

Black Heart Jardinera, Jeri made a good point in saying they should have never named this novela CS because it's a mixture of two novelas. Also it's nothing wrong in liking something like this novela everyone has their own individual tastes.

To tell you the truth i saw parts of Abrazame Muy Fuerte and i liked the cesar` Evora role from the couple times i tuned in to watch it. I didn't get to see all of it from the start, i just saw bits of it here and there.

I guess it depends what can capture one interest and make them want to turn their tv on every night at a certain time to watch that show.

Jarocha i remembering another favorite of mine that i haven't seen in a long, long time La Fiera with Vitoria Ruffo and Guillermo Capetillo who played Anibal on MEPS.Do you remember that one.
 

Anon: Yep. ITA with Jeri's comment as well. At least when they give us a new name we automatically figure it's been reworked.
 

Connie- Just reading through the comments now, and just got to yours about your friend. Go ahead and forward my e-mail address to her. I think you have it already.

-Vivi (still catching up on episodes and recaps from the week)
 

Ok, just read all the comments. What a great conversation about EY, Mejia, tn classics, and rape as a plot device. I started recording La Esposa Virgen after catching some of it during the snow storms. I was drawn in by the Cesar Evora character and his story (much more so than the love triangle at the center of the tn). I had been watching some of the recordings on and off, when I had time and each time it seemed that one of the villains was raping a woman. He raped one woman twice on separate occassions! I had enough of that and stopped recording the darned thing. If women are the target audience for these shows, I just don't understand how the writers and producers think women want to watch that. Love triangles, pricipes azules, etc. are great fodder for some fun fantasies. Rape, not so much.
 

Vivi ITA with everything you said concerning rape, novelas like you said are targeted towards the women audience just like american soaps are.No guys i'm not saying you men don't have a fondness for soaps and novelas either. It just that when i was growing up we girls would always talk about our favorite soaps. When i came upon novelas my fellow female spanish friends and i would talk about novelas like i used to talk about american soaps.
 

I'm late, I'm late!

Thanks, Jardinera! Missed watching but your version is better.

Elna June re: Aimee wearing sneakers to run to the cave. Ha! Ever notice Regina's high heel boots under her novitiate outfit? QTH?

Mad Bess: love the alliterative descriptions of our hapless cast.

off the to daily grind...
Maggarita
:0}
 

Happy Monday everyone! Great discussions.

Vivi I don't have your email. This lady found me thorugh my blogger page. You can email me at connie@gordonandgordonlaw.com or conniesnails66204@lycos.com.
 

Jardinera: Thank you for the amazing recap. I'm enjoying CS and all of the recappers' great summaries are terrific and greatly adding to the fun.

Diana
 

I'm enjoying it too. I know it is corney but that makes it more fun!
 

Anon I remember La Fiera but I didn't watch it. I wasn't born yet when it was shown (1983). I did watch "Por Un Beso" from the year 2000 with Natalia Esperón (Luz in ENDA) and Victor Noriega although that remake was more based on the first version "La Gata" from 1970 than "La Fiera" and they spent more time in the past with Natalia playing both the mother and daughter though I actually liked that because I enjoyed the 70's setting. From what I understand all three versions had huge successes in their respective times.

I also agree with you about the audiences being more forgiving with CS2009-2010 had Mejía decided to call it differently because this isn’t really Corazón Salvaje anymore, it never really was.

Here is a TV critic who says practically the same things you have said in several of your comments if you don’t mind spoiler images for the ’93 version.

I think the problem here was that Salvador Mejía was trying to capitalize by using the Corazón Salvaje name and that is what offended the audiences.

I honestly can understand someone who has only watched the '93 version being ok with this version.

However someone who has seen the '93 version, who has seen the movie, who has seen the tv specials, who has read about the story and its versions in several tv magazines, who has heard in every conversation concerning novelas someone always bringing up how good Corazón Salvaje was and how great were the 1977 (from their mom and her friends) and 1966 (from their grandma and their friends) versions, well that someone is going to be severely critical and dissappointed with this version. Unfortunately that someone is the mayority of the Mexican audiences. That is why this novela flopped.

Mejia should have thought "If I’m going to make this novela, it has to be the best novela ever, anything less just won’t cut it".

Jarocha
 

I, for one, am glad I never saw the original one. Now I can just watch and enjoy and take it for what it is and not have anything to compare it to.
 

Speaking of Natalia Esperón and Victor Noriega, and in reference to an earlier comment, it was "Rencor Apasionado" that Aracely Arambula and Eduardo Santamarina played in, plus the former two. RA was a short, fun little romp, which I enjoyed.
 

Thanks Jeri i couldn't remember the name for that novela, i liked it too.

Jarocha Quinceanera wasn't Enernesto laguardia in that along with FC too.
 

Watching that critic's video from Jarocha, it kind of dawned on me that Corazón Salvaje is kind of Mexico's "Star Trek." It's a national identity, and people feel proprietary about it.

J.J. Abrams did a great job on the Star Trek remake last summer, made about $400 million worldwide, sold 10 million DVD's, and thrilled 95% of viewers (including me, longtime fan), according to Rotten Tomatoes.

Mejía -- not so much. Not quite as clear on the icon concept as J.J. apparently. He should have just made his own show, and he wouldn't have gotten the critic so angry over being defrauded.
 

Jeri ROFL with your assessment about Mejia it seems he has angered a lot of folks by calling this novela CS, now these same people are up in arms about him doing the remake of Cunos de Lobos.
 

Ladies, rumor says that Mejía wants to make a remake of... wait for it... El privilegio de amar. Oh. My. God.
The Cuna de lobos remake (if it ever comes into existence) will be an American-style series, like Mujeres asesinas. 13 episodes in one season.

Back to CS:
For me it was easier to excuse the faults of this version. I've seen CS93 it many times, read the book and fans' analysises, appreciate it highly, but I didn't fall in love with it, despite the fact that I adore these kind of period dramas.
Completely understand the fans' disappointment, I imagined what would I feel if Michael Bay or Uwe Boll remade one of my favourites, like Lord of the Rings, and I become ill. :-) However, I've been reading the endless crusade againts CS09 since October (because I was curious about the viewers' opinion), and it fatigued me. So I'm glad to read the recaps and comments of those people who mock and firmly criticize the novela's faults, but in the meantime enjoy its silliness. :-)

off
Hey, Jeri, so you're a fellow Star Trek fan. :-) I also love this universe, but was disappointed in the movie. I loved JJ's former projects (Alias, Lost), and the cast of ST was awesome, but the dull story and the whole "hi, this is an alternate universe" thing left a bad taste on my tongue. Nevertheless, I'm looking forward their next film.
 

I mean ladies and gentlemen. Sorry, hombre. :-)
 

OT: Yes, I've been a fan since September, 1966. I saw J.J.'s movie 21 times; 16 in IMAX. It was wonderful.
 

Anon. Yes Ernesto Laguardia played the lead male in Quinceañera. Is FC Fernando Colunga? No he wasn't in it. I think he was just starting playing doubles at that time.

Jeri I do remember "Rencor Apasionado". Natalia Esperón had a creepy wig at the begining when she was locked up in a mental house. Aracely Arámbula played the antagonist.

I don't mind Mejía doing "El Privilegio de Amar", while it was a succesful novela, it is not considered a classic like "Cuna de Lobos" and "Corazón Salvaje".

Jarocha
 

Jarocha:
"it is not considered a classic like"

I know many EPDA-fans who are more combative than ten CS93 fans put together. They would politely disagree with you. :-D
(Btw I do agree with you, it's not a huge classic, but it has a very faithful fanbase. And EPDA was one of the most successful novelas of Estrada, so the comparison of the two producers and the war of their fans will be inevitable.)

Jeri, OT:
Wow, I bow before you. :-) I became a fan 33 years and one month later.
Okay, I finished the offtopic.
 

Aribeth, I didn't fall in love with CS'93 either. Not a particular fan of Palomo; I liked Cesar Evora and Veronica Merchant together as a couple the best.
 

Jeri:
I also preferred César and Veronica in CS.

Jarocha:
*huge epiphany*
I saw both novelas, but I wasn't able to put two and two together - so the nice, pretty lady in Luz Clarita was the same who played Mariana in CS? I have to rewatch LC as soon as possible. :)