Caray, Caray!

I would like to see a real romance, from start to finish, with some mystery and intrigue thrown in. I'd like "them" to show, if they're going to show different social classes, to show people fall in love and be happy WITHIN their own socio-economic level. None of this rich guy/poor girl (or rich girl/poor guy) mess with the disapproving parental units on either side. There must be some exciting, romantic storylines with a touch of edge-of-your-seat thrills in writers' minds out there, que no? How about a boy meets girl; boy gets girl; boy marries girl - then they open up a husband and wife detective agency or law firm and solve/defend crimes that sometimes involve their friends or family. Or, for some sparks, one can be a prosecutor and the other a defense attorney, both with political aspirations, involved in a monstrous, politically suicidal "trial of the century?"

Or something along those lines.
 

My favorite novela of the moment is Quiero Amarte because the couple is a little older and the female protagonist is married, has a kid, is not a wide eyed virigin waiting for her prince charming. She's leaving her husband because he's a scumbag and is going on interviews and becoming self sufficient.

I'd like to see more of the modern woman in novelas, especially if it's someone we should root for.

Also, ditch the pregnancy trick, it's old and tired and, to me, would only work in a teen soap and as a lesson about the dangerous of unprotected sex very much like in Mentir Para Vivir with Fabiola.
 

Wish there were more novelas de epocha. I've seen bits and pieces of others on You Tube, but besides the 93 version of Corazon Salvaje, I guess I really mean the work of Zaratini, Monica Miguel and Carla Estrada

El Chivo about the Dominican is on UniMas but that's not quite what I'm referring to. It is more "straight history" in line with the Eagle and Serpent series on Mexican history. They do (or Trujillo's life) include romantic or at least carnal entanglements, but I'm thinking more of stuff that would be under historical romance in a book store.

It also bothers me that when they remake and update the stories from the older novelas de epocha, they do so inconsitently.

For example, when someone heads off to Europe for 5 or 10 years, its like we were back in the age of sail, no communication, but once we're into the story, folks are using cell phones, even Skyping. It doesn't exactly ruin the story, lord knows our beanies try to protect us from even larger lacunae of logic, but it doesn't help.

Los Mis seems to be doing a pretty good job of updating the Hugo classic and integrating it into the modern world, to the extent of seeming to convert it into a narco-novela. I'm not well versed enough in the original to be sure, nor am I following the TN closely, but my peeks in seem to suggest they are doing it well enough on its own terms, but I'm not sure they've captured the flavor or tone of the original. Words like obsession, oppression, justice, and relentlessness just don't come to mind, but perhaps they need time to build in the longer format. I certainly got lost in reading the original before the streamlined plot of the musical really even got underway.

So, anyway, I don't begrudge the producers and writers the challenge of transforming older material, but I wish they'd do it "better" and I wish that they'd break out the grand costumes a bit more often rather than move everything into contemporary time.
Chris in FL
 

I haven't been watching for 20 yrs and I started on Rebelde which was a teen show but I have noticed some changes in the few yrs I have been watching
On the one hand I like less censorship in love scenes ( although this isn't cable and that's a good thing) on the other I could do without the rapes and violence against women being so graphic. I just don't need to see that and I worry about the kind of people who do

I too wish they would get rid of the old -galan gets drunk/drugged and wakes up w/ the wrong woman and whoops she's knocked up so he has to marry her - bit cause I'm so over it, in fact I was over it 10 yrs ago.

I just love the ideas of Anon on 10-3@3:33
and I'd watch that in English or Spanish

UA - your talking about Robo aren't you? I had weird cognitive dissonance about that too;)

I think I'd like more realistic stories about single parent/blended families that show the difficulties of breaking up and moving on but don't require the third or fourth or fifth wheels to die off or be 'The Queen Witch of Planet Evil'

 

The lenght nowadays is a problem. Back in the day a good novela could be 65-70 episodes long, now it's 170 if we are lucky.

I also wish some novelas would go back to using instrumental themes for the opening sequences. They made the them look very interesting.

In terms of visual style, the colors used nowadays are too bright for me sometimes, it works for some stories but it can be annoying for others. I liked the darker style of the more tragic and sad novelas from the early 90's.

I think televisa needs to find better younger actors. Especially males. They have been hiring pretty but bland boys for a while and I don't see anyone that could take the place of the ones from the now older generation. Even Sebastián Rulli is almost 40 now.

Jarocha

 

Thanks for mentioning the music. I hate when they use modern pop bubblegum stuff in novelas de epocas. That so doesn't fit and it wrecks the mood.

Some of the bright color schemes are a bit ridiculous. During PSMA I wondered whether most of the sets were ice cream shops because of all the sherbet colors in some of the actors' wardrobes.
 

I too would love to see more novelas de epoca. I'm watching Telemundo's "La Traicion" and it has been done really well; and is based on a historical novel.

I wish Telemundo would go back to producing an alternative to Televisa's boring novelas with the same old actors and same old plots and get away from narco novelas. I mean the world isn't surrounded 95% by cartels and drugs. or is it?

I would like them to forget the girl gets pregnant and traps boy and someone always seems to kidnap the child/baby of the protagonists.

The bright colors also bother me especially the purple lipsticks like Linda wears on MCET. I wish the producers would use more realistic sets or shots done on location and stay away from the "posed" / fake sets they build for scenes.

I would love to see a novela, as mentioned previously, that forgot the boring plotlines of 90% of all novelas and maybe told a really good mystery story or murder mystery, something like "La Madrasta" or a good Agatha Christie book.

And for heaven forbid, if they are going to produce an historical novela like "El Chivo; GET THE STORY HALFWAY RIGHT! My Dominican family who lived through the Trujillo and revolution years laughed out loud during the first three episodes, and almost wet their pants when they saw that the set designers had flown the Dominican flag upside down. We quit watching after three episodes.

Monica Miguel is a pro at scene consistency; I agree we need more Novelas with her, Zaratini, and Estrada at the helm.

Maybe women are portrayed so pitifully in Novelas nowadays because most are produced by men. It's sort of like trying to explain the pain of your cycle or childbirth to a male gynecologist.

Look for Carla Estrada's new novela with none other than Sebastian Rulli in 2015, "La Luz del Angel" (I think is the name) , see Wiki - Carla Estrada.

Wouldn't it be great to see a novela where the guy actually believes his love and not nasty rumors? Or a novela where the protagonists get together before the very LAST EPISODE, or one where there are no antagonists?

 

I know you said not to talk about series length because it's been "done to death" but almost every discussion about current problems with novelas can be traced directly back to bloated episode counts. Fewer episodes means tighter writing and leads to more consistency. When writers are trying to expand a plot we get fake pregnancies, drunk galans and a plethora of clichés.

I agree with Jarocha that instrumental music needs to be brought back. I'm watching Cuna de Lobos and several older novelas right now and it's so nice not to be beat over the head with pop tunes every 5 minutes. I do enjoy the music with lyrics, but it can be distracting. Instrumental music definitely sets a mood better than anything else.
 

I equate bright colors to a kid with a new toy. HD is relatively new and folks are still experimenting and figuring out what works and what doesn't.

It works for shows like Amorcito Corazón and MCET, but not La Malquerida.
 

The thing about Maria Zarattini is that I always feel like her novelas are more about the male protagonist than the heroine. My favorite Carla Estrada novela de época is Alondra, which was adapted by Martha Carrillo and Roberto Hernández.
 

Anon 12:55

I guess I politely disagree about "Alondra" because the male lead actor was quite unattractive and very very selfish. I never thought his love for Ana Colchero(sp?) was true love but rather one-sided whereas Ernesto Laguardia played a more sympathetic character that seemed truly in love with her. I just found this to be one of the weaker Estrada Novelas.

I would think watching a novela should be like reading a mesmerizing book engrossing oneself completely in the plot and the characters to such a point that one doesn't want to put the book down or for the episode to end.

I wish I had the opportunity to watch some of the older novelas in order to intellectually form an opinion on how far off track the producers have gone.

One thing I have noticed is that even in the more serious novelas, there always seems to be a comedic person or pair making for a nonsensical and rather irritating storyline.

And instrumental music must have been wonderful to have as background and even "entrada" music, verses the repetitious pop music heard over and over again--beginning, at intro to commercials, at resumption of program, and at the ending credits of the episode.

Does anyone remember when instrumental music use to win the Oscar for best movie score?
 

Victoria Gómez:

"the male lead actor was quite unattractive and very very selfish. I never thought his love for Ana Colchero(sp?) was true love but rather one-sided whereas Ernesto Laguardia played a more sympathetic character that seemed truly in love with her. I just found this to be one of the weaker Estrada Novelas."

Spoiler:

And that's why Alondra ended up with Carlos. Bruno's love was selfish and their relationship was wrong and hurtful to many people. The novela never shied away from that. Bruno was not a villain but he was not a hero either. I consider Alondra the true lead, while Bruno and Carlos are important in terms of her story. Since Bruno was her first love and she loved him so deeply, he was very important, but they weren't the classic "meant to be" pair from telenovelas. It always seemed clear to me that Carlos was the right choice, even at the begining.

Speaking of music, I think instrumental music gives telenovelas a longer life. When they were showing Abismo de Pasión I kept going back to Cañaveral de Pasiones and the scenes did not seem that dated to me, whereas, going back to other novelas that used pop tunes is like a full blast from the past.

Producer Lucy Orozco always used instrumental music and I saw earlier this week that her opening sequences are still all intriguing to me. Too bad she hasn't made one since Ramona.

Instrumental music also helps to make the novela sound like it has better production values: One of the first, if not the first, telenovela de época from tv azteca was Azul Tequila and they didn't have much money to produce it, so they used locations instead of building sets and their leads were then the very new (and cheap) Bárbara Mori and Mauricio Ochman but I think adding instrumental music made it look good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z60YiTG3Ats

I think sometimes the lack of money helps producers to be creative while new resources and technology can be ultimately hindering to the final product. I hate computer based special effects in telenovelas, they are so obvious and unnecessary most of the time.

By the way, I was the anon at 12:55:00, I was just using my phone so I forgot to sign.

Jarocha
 

"...whereas, going back to other novelas that used pop tunes is like a full blast from the past.

My husband was saying something very similar on our walk today. I had told him about this topic and we started talking about US television and music. He also said that pop music can make a show seem very dated.

As for the experience being like an engrossing book that you don't want to end-- Yes, I have seen novelas that I don't want to end and I've read books that I don't want to end. The important thing for the author/producer needs to do is end it...before the reader/viewer grows tired of the plot.

Ultimately TNs are about ratings. We can kvetch and moan all we want about the degrading quality or epic episode counts but if you look at the ratings, it is precisely the circos and epic shows that seem to get big numbers.

CI was rife with stupidity and it maintained its ratings almost the entire run of the show.

Robó was too long and also went berserk. And it maintained high ratings.

I don't watch MCET or HEFDM, but every time I take a peek they look cartoonish and ridiculous. Therefore I don't watch them, but they are the two top rated TNs in Mexico and here.

The main reason I watch La Gata is because it is on early. I still need to practice my Spanish after all and I do find it a little more palatable than MCET. I don't think Reina de Corazones takes itself very seriously and it makes that ridiculousness easier to swallow.

Until Viewerville supports a relatively serious story with quality sets/locations/music told in a relatively short period of time, we are in for what we get and there is no point in sounding off about the estupideces if we aren't going to follow up with our remote controls. Viewerville may be complaining (loudly) but they are still watching...which the producers hear loud and clear.
 

One correction to my earlier post: Alondra was adapted by Yolanda Vargas Dulché, the original writer of the story. Martha Carrillo and Roberto Hernández were part of her writing team and worked on the literary edition.

Jarocha



 

I'm watching a novela called Yo No Creo En los Hombres right now, an adaptation of a version made in 1991 but I believe it is the best of Televisa's line up right now. Unfortunately, the ratings aren't that great but I've learned that the reason is that Televisa doesn't really make novelas for me because I can't watch them everyday at the hour they are being aired. I'd be able to follow it on a daily basis if they gave it the 9 pm timeslot but instead of taking a chance with an almost new producer (before she had only co-produced) they keep the same producers at 9 pm. I don't think 6 pm is the right timeslot for that novela.

Jarocha
 

I remember you saying you were looking forward to that one, Jarocha. I have seen that the ratings for that one have been inconsistent.

I find myself less and less interested in the Televisa productions, but I enjoy watching with others so I tend to prioritize watching them over the Chilean and Azteca America options available to me.
 

Yeah, I was waiting for it with a little bit of excitement and dread (once I heard who had been cast as the male lead) but I liked the final product, in spite of male lead. There's some great acting there from many in the cast.

It's funny to hear everybody complain about the cinderella stories today and wanting more distinctive stories because I think there used to be more distinctive stories in past decades that today. The change has to do with what you said Sara:

The big difference between the 80's and 90's and today's telenovelas is that ratings are now all that matter. Back then it was, I'm watching this novela or I'm turning off the tv, so, unless a telenovela was absolutely unappealing it enjoyed at least decent ratings. While competition did great things for other types of products, it made Televisa fearful of taking a chance of losing viewers and money on less conventional storytelling.

Jarocha

 

I am definitely beginning to think the original story lines were more prevalent in the 80s and 90s... And that's just based on the 5 episodes I've seen of Cuna de Lobos! It's not a Cinderella story at all.

I just finished watching Alejandro complete his seduction of Leonora and it is an excellent example of the past "less is more" convention. I'm sure I sound like a prude, but sometimes we don't need to see a long drawn out sex scene. The close up of Leonora's shoes and the abandoned coffee was so much more powerful than any sex scene would have been.

I know it's doing poorly in Mexico, but right now I think La Malquerida is the best telenovela offering on Univision. I haven't seen a lot of telenovelas so for me it's one of the more original ones I've seen.


 

I definitely agree on the instrumental music! The music in the 1993 Corazon Salvaje was excellent, like musical interludes in opera. Of course, that novela had it all in terms of music, cast, story, production values, etc. They don't make them like that anymore.

I started watching Cuna de Lobos a while back and need to go back to the beginning again. That is a story not quite in the mold and definitely deserves a viewing. I don't think it could be remade successfully today.

The problem now is that we probably have a young audience that doesn't have the attention span for longer scenes or any curiosity about earlier periods of history. I see this in the US with millennials who don't want to watch movies made before they were born. That may be part of the problem today.
 

Hmm... y'know, Lucretia in Quiero Amarte was reminding me of Catalina (THE star, and antagonist of Cuna de Lobos) just the other day, what with the intense preference of one of her kids to all the others. (I haven't seen Cuna de Lobos myself, just clips and commentary.)

I don't know that Lucretia's depravity in promoting her firstborn to the detriment of the others will escalate to Catalina's levels, or whether she will eventually turn on him, but if Caray Carayers are feeling deprived of cray cray "mothers from hell" since Isadora of Amor Bravio and Graciela of LQMVMR, well...

Interestingly, Lucretia is played by Diana Bracho who is on the credits list of Cuna de Lobos, so she had the chance to observe the real deal working with Maria Rubio back in the day.

The connections continue since Maria Rubio played Livia in Imperio de Cristal, of which Quiero Amarte is considered a refrito, and in which Bracho plays the analogous Lucretia.

Victoria:
La Traicion: love triangle with identical twins! Was that the 2008 version or has there already been a remake? In any case thanks for the reminder that it is out there.

Where is it currently available? I don't see it on Telemundo's current lineup, do they have complete episodes hidden somewhere on their site, or is it elsewhere online?

Chris in FL
 

Chris in FL
I'm currently engrossed with and mesmerized by the 2008 version of "La Traicion" wirh Mario Cimarro and Danna Gracia on YouTube; the playlist uploaded by "The Afrodita64" (videos very good quality on my tablet). I haven't slept since about episode 40 early yesterday morning and probably won't sleep until I finish very late tonight. For me, it's that good. Thank goodness it's only 106 episodes long!

There was a 2000 version with Osvaldo Rios. Then the first version in the first part of 1980 with who knows whom, but my husband was addicted to it.
 

Victoria, I take your recommendations seriously, wow if you cant sleep after watching La Traision, sounds like my kinda novela. So you say there are two versions? One w Mario C and another one w Osvaldo? I hope I find it. Thx
 

Novella Lover
I'm watching the version with MC and Danna Gracia on YouTube. It's been uploaded by "The Afrodita64". The 106 episodes are broken down into two separate playlists by "The Afrodita64" whose videos have a higher resolution than anyone else who uploaded this version. I could not find the older versions.
I actually cried during this novela.
This novela was recommended by other Caray, Caray bloggers.
Well worth the watch.