Telenovelas, culebrones, comedias… however you might call them, televised episodic melodrama is an important cultural industry in all of Latin America and among the huge Spanish-speaking and bilingual communities in the United States.

Telenovelas often involve a central story of love filled with obstacles and intrigues. The two main characters usually come from very different socioeconomic origins. All of this is spiced up with romantic triangles and often with secret identities… And of course steamy kisses and slaps, lots of head-turning slaps!

Central to the success of a telenovela are legendary characters that have no shades of gray: they are either too good or the meanest SOBs on Earth. If you love to love or love to hate some of these characters, you will enjoy some of these  movies.