Really... this novela blog is not dead.

I created this blog ages ago to post thoughts on telenovelas, and subsequently abandoned it – which by no means means that I have abandoned telenovelas – quite the opposite.

So to start: what on earth am I watching these days? I’ve given up on the Televisa offerings on Univision. Either my Spanish has greatly improved, or Televisa’s novelas have gotten worse and worse. I suspect it is a bit of both. Telemundo’s offerings don’t excite me much either, although I confess that I’m still recording Pecados Ajenos, mostly because of the cast, and Victoria, because as an experiment I’m thinking of one day doing a side-by-side viewing of Victoria and Mirada de Mujer. But to be honest, I think Telemundo’s morning rerun of an edited Gitanas is better than any of their current productions.

I still haven’t answered the question! What I’m watching:

Hasta Que La Plata Nos Separe: One of the latest offerings from RCN of Colombia to make it to our screens via Telefutura, this is currently my favorite! It’s a tragi-comedy brought to you by Fernando Gaitan, the writer responsible for the current worldwide Betty-mania. Now I have to confess, as much as I loved the writing of Betty La Fea and was pegada to the novela when I finally did get around to watching some of it, I just found too much of the workplace fashion industry drama as presented depressing, and couldn’t relate to quite a few of the characters. So sue me. But HQLPNS? Marcela Carvajal as Alejandra Maldonado is just wonderful – and so many of the characters are rather peculiar but charming – and supported by extremely strong writing, for which I am truly thankful.

Pecados Capitales – Another Colombian novela – not currently being broadcast, but I’m watching via DVD. Non-traditional and very funny: think RealWorld/BigBrother/Survivor etc., but without the bad music and boring pauses – and more surreal, with much better writing.

La Fiera – I’m finishing my viewing of the novela, thanks to DVDs being provided by a friend, because STUPID DISH NETWORK got rid of TVChile to supposedly make room for more HD channels. I must not be their target demographic, if they don’t get that I’d prefer low-resolution quality programming content to high resolution crappy TV. I just hope I can get Sure West cable hooked up in time for TVChile’s new offering in March – Viuda Alegre.

Pura Sangre – This one’s also on Telefutura, also Colombian. I started watching but got hopeless behind. I still have hopes of catching up….