Editing Soap opera (section)

==Latin America==
{{Unreferenced section|date=August 2021}}
In [[Latin America]], for many years, primetime (as well as part of daytime) programming, for the most part, has been traditionally composed of telenovelas. However, throughout the years, there have been cases where a number of television programs tended to "mix" the concepts of television series and telenovela, such as, for example, a telenovela that lasted several seasons to end. With this "overlap", many people consider that these shows could be more accurately described as "soap operas". With this being said, the two most notable Latin American examples of TV programs that could fit on the definition of a "soap opera" are ''[[Chiquititas]]'' (in both [[Argentina]] and [[Brazil]]) and ''[[Malhação]]'' (only in Brazil).

''[[Chiquititas]]'' was first broadcast in Argentina by [[Telefe]] in 1995 and soon became a national hit, especially among children. In regards to the audience, all eight seasons (the final season ended in 2006) of ''Chiquititas'' guaranteed the first place in the Argentine TV ratings for Telefe. Throughout the years, ''Chiquititas'' had a number of spin-offs not only in Argentina, but also in Brazil, [[Mexico]] and [[Portugal]]. In 1997, [[Silvio Santos]], founder and owner of the Brazilian television network [[Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão|SBT]], seeing the good ratings of ''Chiquititas'' in Argentina, decided to make a partnership with Telefe, and thus, SBT started to broadcast ''[[Chiquititas (1997 Brazilian TV series)|Chiquititas]]'' in Brazil, but in the format of "[[remake]]", with the use of the [[Portuguese language]] instead of [[Spanish language|Spanish]], with the use of dubbing when singing the soundtrack songs (unlike the Argentine version, on which the actors themselves sung the songs), with a Brazilian cast and with slight modifications in regards to its plot (the Brazilian version was set in the city of [[São Paulo]] instead of [[Buenos Aires]], although many scenes of the Brazilian adaptation were actually filmed at the same Telefe studios in Buenos Aires where the Argentine version was also recorded, due to the aforementioned partnership between Telefe and SBT). The Brazilian version of ''Chiquititas'', which lasted five seasons and ended in 2001, was successful in the ratings as well, in a slightly smaller scale compared to the Argentine version, and despite the success of ''Malhação'' (see below), the soap opera was one of the most known TV programs of the late 1990s in Brazil, enough to put ''Chiquititas'' also in the imaginary of many Brazilian children (a proof of this is that the casting process for the third season of ''Chiquititas'' in 1999 reunited about 15,000 children in the city of São Paulo alone, a record number not seen even in any Brazilian telenovela). In 2013, SBT decided to make a second adaptation of ''[[Chiquititas (2013 Brazilian TV series)|Chiquititas]]'', which lasted two seasons (the final season ended in 2015), but unlike the first version, which resembled more like its Argentine counterpart, the second version, produced only by SBT, is different not only because the soundtrack is entirely sung by the actors themselves (as well as on the Argentine version, on which the actors did not dub the songs, but unlike the first Brazilian adaptation). Despite the fact that the ratings of the 2013 version of ''Chiquititas'' were smaller, the soap opera was not considered a failure by the critics. SBT executives evaluated the ratings as being "satisfactory", and some fans consider the 2013 version to be a small "revival" of the 1997 version of ''Chiquititas''.

''[[Malhação]]'' has been transmitted by [[Rede Globo]] on almost every week since 1995 and has become the most successful Brazilian soap opera in the ratings. On each one of the 27 seasons shown as of 2021, the soap opera stayed in the first place on the ratings (like the Argentine version of ''Chiquititas''). Moreover, ''Malhação'' also had a number of spin-offs being produced in Brazil. However, unlike ''Chiquititas'', ''Malhação'' is more focused on teenagers, with more mature issues like [[teenage pregnancy]], [[sexual relationship]]s and the use of illicit [[drug]]s being discussed on its plot. Another interesting topic is that ''Malhação'' is considered by some fans as being the "entrance door" to many rookie actors who obtain the first opportunity of working on Rede Globo, because history has shown that a good acting in ''Malhação'' increases the possibility of being "promoted" to the primetime telenovelas (also broadcast by Rede Globo). In fact, estimates indicate that hundreds of actors participate in the casting process of ''Malhação'' each year, proving that many aspiring actors want to appear in this soap opera to further progress their careers.