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American TV viewers getting taste of telenovelas

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Fox TV stations are bringing the popular Latin American serialized soaps known as telenovelas to American viewers next year in the form of a syndicated English-language franchise dubbed "Desire."

The project's syndicator, Twentieth Television, said this is the first time telenovelas will be remade in English specifically for the U.S. market. In essence, the telenovelas will be "Americanized without destroying the integrity of the story," said Bob Cook, president and chief operating officer at Twentieth, a News Corp. sibling of Fox Broadcasting.

"I think it's an exciting endeavor, and we're really jazzed about it," Cook added. "We think there's a real opportunity to basically kick-start a new genre. Syndication is always looking for something new and different, and I think this is going to hit that nail on the head."

A minimum of three telenovelas per year -- each consisting of 65 one-hour episodes that will be screened over the span of 13 weeks -- will be formatted for U.S. distribution by Twentieth under the "Desire" banner, including the Colombian series "Table for Three" and the Cuban program "Fashion House." Twentieth is evaluating other telenovelas for the third installment.

"Table for Three" (originally titled "Mesa Para Tres") chronicles the tragic destruction of a family and the bonds of brotherhood when two siblings become embroiled in a battle over the same woman, while "Fashion House" (originally "Salir de Noche") is centered on the glamour and unscrupulous nature of the fashion industry.

The Fox owned-and-operated station group represents nearly 45% of the country. Twentieth will offer "Desire" to other outlets during the syndication industry's annual NATPE convention in Las Vegas next month.

By Eclipse on Dec 14, 2005, 15:09 in Friendly Talkzone.

Tinto (Moderator) says on Dec 14, 2005, 15:27:

Smells Like Teen Spirit... What is this world coming to? They send us their telenovelas and we send them our AXE* body spray!

;-)

*In Carulla, I was surprised to see the premium space at the end of an aisle (an endcap) completely filled with Axe.

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Monpirri says on Dec 14, 2005, 19:07:

Colombia has at least six magnificient novelas Colombia has at least six great novelas to export and Prime Time would be the ideal schedule to broadcast them.
I can see in the headlines "Colombia has another export" or "Another Colombian Crop Takes Off: Telenovelas"

The life spam of a taste bud is ten days

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Monpirri says on Dec 14, 2005, 21:28:

Top Ten Novelas For Export MY TOP TEN COLOMBIAN NOVELAS FOR EXPORT

CAFE CON AROMA DE MUJER
GUAJIRA
PEDRO EL ESCAMOSO
LA COSTEÑA Y EL CACHACO
LAS JUANAS
AMOR A MIL
ALEJO
LA POTRA ZAINA
ESCALONA
AY COSITA LINDA MAMA

The life spam of a taste bud is ten days

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Monpirri says on Dec 14, 2005, 21:32:

Here we go again... For decades Colombia has been hurt hard, also, with fake sceneries about our country, inappropriate accents from non-Colombian actors, actors using wrong slangs, etc.,and Hollywood producers and theirs movies about Colombia has been the culprit of these gross inaccuracies. In this department, we have being in the Red for a long time also! We could have been making money if we had the right representation.

I hope Fox TV Producers and Research team work together with Colombian TV Producers and Colombian translators in order to catch and show a facsimile of the Colombian culture via the interesting novelas. Unfortunately there is already one novela, “Betty La Fea” that is being prep for American audience by a non-Colombian producer. The new producer is already planning to make changes to the original script of “Betty La Fea”.
We cannot afford to be hit again with more gross inaccuracies and more trash just like the movies from the past! The other country enjoys the benefits when the credit is not given to the author or specifically when Colombia is portrayed as the protagonist of the story and is not given the appropriate credit.

There are at least three or four fine members from PBH that can easily do the job of translating a Colombian novelas script. Just one from the top of my head, I know for example that rapi2000 from PBH would make a great translator, in particular with Colombian slangs, because novelas need to be 200% accurate!!

The life spam of a taste bud is ten days

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LaTraductora says on Dec 15, 2005, 07:30:

They Will never be the same!!!! Colombian actors break with every pattern, we rarely have the town Fortune Witch in our stories, unlike the Venezuelan soaps. I think I am not wrong when i say there is one in every soap.
I think some of the humor will be lost in translation. ¨Pedro el Escamoso¨ How will the song be.... pirulin ping-pong ???? La misma camisa y el mismo pantalon, that was a hit !!!
¨Cafe con Aroma de Mujer¨I see that happening. But Las ¨Juanas¨ Not even the name will make sence ¨The Janes¨
What ever, I think If they want to sell they got start making soaps with less slang, and like monpirri said it has to be 200% acurate!!!! An I doubt it could happen
If the language is Changed then it will stop being Colombian. !!!!

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Monpirri says on Dec 15, 2005, 13:56:

Let's be optimistic You are right, some humor is going to be lost, but as long as the comedy soap opera turns out to be hilarious as the original novela script, then the goal is accomplished.
I am pretty sure many books that have been translated into another language or turned into movies have lost some meaning in the way, but as long as the original concept is kept, as long as the original image is protected, and as long as many slangs are preserved then we have successful project.
Let’s look for example at Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude (Cien años de soledad) and at Il Postino, (The Postman) a movie based on Pablo Neruda’s novel both have been very successful translations. Ok, maybe we won’t achieve 200% accuracy in translation, but as long as the translator knows how to translate Colombian slangs.
What happens if the translator is not familiar with the culture although he or she speaks Spanish fluently and the person is hired as an expert translator and he runs into an episode from “Pedro El Escamoso” when Pedro or somebody said, “A calzón quitaó" which means, open and frankly, but the translator does not know nor he wants to invest time to research, so he translates, “A calzón quitaó” as “Without pants” or how about the Colombian slang, “Estoy en la Olla!”

How would you translate? “Pedro el Escamoso” or how about this phrase; Pedro el Escamoso es mi llavesita, pero le gusta hechar más carreta que su mejor mompirri. Bueno, no me pares bolas me voy porque tengo mucho filo… “Pirulin ping-pong… La misma camisa y el mismo pantaloon”

The life spam of a taste bud is ten days

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LaTraductora says on Dec 16, 2005, 07:52:

OYE VEO.... Que no te perdias la novela.... JAJJAAAJAJ

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Monpirri says on Dec 16, 2005, 15:04:

No, no, no me la pierdo por nada de mundo Despues de un largo dia laboral y estresado, nada mejor que una auto-terapia con la novela tan chistosa como "Pedro El Escamoso"

The life spam of a taste bud is ten days

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Monpirri says on Dec 16, 2005, 15:28:

More pertaining info. Here is an article from several years ago when Colombian soap operas were gaining ground and popularity in the US, and initially the telenovelas were broadcasted during primetime hours on the Hispanic network.

"Pedro El Escamoso" Another Colombian Hit in the U.S.
January 14, 2002
Celeste Rodas, EFE
MIAMI -- The hit Colombian soap opera "Betty la Fea" (Ugly Betty) could not have asked for a better successor atop the telenovela rankings than "Pedro el Escamoso" (Scaly Pete).

The latest Nielsen Hispanic Media ratings show that the new Colombian hit, which airs on Telemundo, registered a record number of viewers, 4.1 percent among 18-49 year-olds, in the network's evening schedule.

"It's the third time in two years that our network has obtained these ratings," a spokesman for Telemundo's Public Relations Department said. "Betty la Fea" and the Brazilian telenovela "Xica" have also reached similar levels.

The telenovela's viewers increased 41 percent, from 2.9 percent in the show's debut in October, to 4.1 percent at the end of 2001.

"Pedro" narrates the adventures of Pedro la Playa, a young man who is a dreadful dresser, sports an eminently unstylish haircut and, as if that were not enough, is also is a liar, a charlatan and a loudmouth. In other words, he is "escamoso," which can mean anything from slimy to flaky to wannabe.

Last week The Washington Post ran an 800-word story entitled "Pedro el Escamoso: Beloved Latin Loser" analyzing the factors that have led this sex-symbol-gone-awry to cause such commotion in Washington last week.

Pedro, "the wannabe Don Juan, the dork with the disastrous dance moves," caused enough of a commotion, 3,000-fans' worth, to shut down the Westfield Shoppingtown Wheaton Plaza and warrant a call to police and firefighters.

Wheaton had never seen the likes of this, neither had local Telemundo executives who said they were expecting only about 500 fans.

But Miguel Varoni, the star of the popular telenovela, knew. Late last year he caused a similar reaction in Los Angeles, Colombia and Ecuador, among other places.

For Varoni, an Argentine who has lived in Colombia since childhood, it was not enough to simply substitute for "Betty la Fea." Building a saucy and amusing style of dancing into the character, Varoni is giving even Ricky Martin a run for his money.

But the key to the telenovela's success goes beyond the dancing.

"I think it is very entertaining and that's why I like it," Patricia Martin, one of the soap's most ardent fans, said.

"I got tired of watching telenovelas that make you cry and have the typical story line of the poor girl who falls in love with the rich young man; for heaven's sake, that's pretty worn out," Martin said.

http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/news/newsbyid.asp?id=6063

The life spam of a taste bud is ten days

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vladimiro says on Dec 16, 2005, 18:27:

Colombian Soaps "Colombian actors break with every pattern, we rarely have the town Fortune Witch in our stories, unlike the Venezuelan soaps."

I am not sure that's true. That popular soap on RCN last year that took place on an island (with everyone in beach clothes) had a fortune teller/voodoo witch lady:)

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