Telenovelas are the next big thing!

July 20, 2006 2:30 PM

What are your favorite shows on Spanish TV?

I live near LA, and there is an abundance of Spanish TV. I hear that telenovela-style TV is moving to the english language, so there must be some funny and/or engrossing shows, no matter how sappy. What are they? (Needn't be just telenovelas...)

posted by sLevi to media & arts (11 answers total)

I just watched Epitaphios on HBO Latino, and it was great. It's a gritty serial killer miniseries. Sort of Silence of the Lambs meets CSI. The graphicness kind of bothered me, but the acting was great and the storyline pulled me in. Set in Argentina.
posted by croutonsupafreak at 2:40 PM on July 20, 2006

I like Rebelde.

(Teaching myself Spanish via the tube, but even when I don't know what's happening it's fun.)
posted by konolia at 2:40 PM on July 20, 2006

SABADOOO GI-GAAAANTE!

If, like me, you don't speak spanish, that's the most absurd show that you'll ever see-- hot girls; comedy skits with a heavy emphasis on drag, violence and screaming; a karaoke game where audience members sing to a guy in a lion costume, a medieval executioner with a bugle, and the executioner's bikini-clad friend. It's just so bizarre that it's compelling.
posted by Mayor Curley at 3:05 PM on July 20, 2006

Sabado Gigante is the bomb. I recommend alcohol when watching.

The game show Llevatelo is also pretty cool, in a whack-ass Sabado Gigante vein. Not sure if it's still around.
posted by frogan at 3:10 PM on July 20, 2006

Thirding Sabado Gigante.
posted by necessitas at 3:14 PM on July 20, 2006

Sabado Gigante!!!!
posted by DieHipsterDie at 8:06 PM on July 20, 2006

Fifth here for Sabado Gigante...not a telenovela which is why I didn't mention it at first. But if you watch nothing else, this should be it.
posted by konolia at 8:11 PM on July 20, 2006

"Inocente de ti". I have no idea what it's about, or anything, but I loved it.

I used to watch Mexican TV all the time, actually. There's something about watching a show you can't understand that's relaxing. Anyway, Sabado Gigante is pretty awesome, as mentioned, and led me to come up with this bit of wisdom: While the men on Spanish TV are all overweight, greasy and have gross mustaches, the WOMEN are either REALLY REALLY good-looking or overweight, greasy and have gross mustaches. American TV attempts to duplicate this, but even the people who are considered good looking have a way to go to catch up with the sheer audaciousness of the casting on Mexican TV.
posted by hoborg at 9:03 PM on July 20, 2006

I don't understand Spanish, but I like Rebelde.
posted by stavrogin at 9:45 PM on July 20, 2006

Posting this should be an embarrassment, but what the hell.

It's not new, and I didn't understand any Spanish at the time, but the room-mate and I got a kick out of watching Chiquilladas back in the mid-80s, on SIN.
posted by Rash at 8:51 AM on July 21, 2006

I really like watching "Cien Mexicanos Dijeron", which is essentially Mexican Family Feud. It is excellent for practicing Spanish vocabulary because it essentially gives you a category then lists items in that category. The host (Marco Antonio Regil) is very fun and energetic, and when he kisses the ladies it's not creepy like Bob Barker.
posted by nekton at 1:32 PM on July 21, 2006