I realised that this year it's been 20 years since MyNetworkTv tried to launch with a schedule of American versions of telenovelas, the popular Latin American format of limited serialized shows that would have complete stories in approx 60-65 episodes each. It launched with little fanfare with a line up of Desire (a version of Colombian telenovela Mara Para Tres) and Fashion House (a version of Cuban telenovela Salir De Noche), the latter having the "star" castings of Bo Derek and Morgan Fairchild. Little to say, they didn't do too well but MyNetworkTV - already having shot several telenovelas, continued on with Wicked Wicked Games (a version of Venezuelan telenovela Aunque me Cuesta la Vida; starring Tatum O'Neal as the "star" casting) and Watch Over Me (version of Argentine telenovela Resistré). With all four telenovelas being rating bombs, they cut the orders of American Heiress (adaptation of Mexican telenovela La Heredera) and Saints & Sinners (version of Mexican telenovela Calle de las Novias), airing them in two hour blocks once a week before quietly pulling them off the schedule.

All shows are now available on Tubi and with two decades (!!) gone since the experiment I thought it was time for a retrospective I guess. Was it before or its time and would've been more successful in the streaming era, or was it always destined to bomb as Americans can't successfully translate what makes telenovelas so alluring to their audience? What was your favourite if you watched them?

When the shows first aired, I followed them. The production looked decent compared to daytime, but I know a lot of people have knocked the look. I thought action novelas were a bit better than the campier ones though I do wish all of them were available for viewing as I would like to watch Wicked Wicked Games again even though I preferred Watch Over Me at the time.

The early novelas (Fashion House and Desire) featured too many flashbacks and character episodes to bring people in. I liked the wedding event they promoted for Fashion House, but overall I thought Fashion House fell flat. I enjoyed Desire a bit more, but there were so many stories featured that it probably wasn't the easiest thing to follow for a casual viewer.

I watched Saints and Sinners in its entirety this summer as I had never seen the ending episodes because the show was cut off. I enjoyed it in a cheesy, plot heavy way. I thought the main romance between Roman and Julie was silly, but I really liked the secondary romance between psuedo priest Father Marcus and the devout Catholic Pilar. I thought the hotel stuff was interesting enough with Sylvia and Diandra. I thought a lot of the scheming worked. A lot of overacting (Robin Givens, Maria Conchita Alonso) and a lot of underacting (Tyler Cain and Scott Bailey).

I tried to start rewatching Watch Over Me as I thought it was fun at the time, but I didn´t get past the first few episodes. I might revisit it later in the year if it remains up.

There were a lot of actors who popped up there that I thought were good and got some more work later on (Robert Buckley, Natalie Martinez, Jaime Alexander) and others who popped up later on daytime (Jon Prescott, Scott Elrod) and others who I thought deserved more recognition (Jessie Ward, Kelly Albanese).

I think this must be the best example of someone who is a soap pro and someone who is a bit slow on the uptake:

Judging from that video, FH could work today as a vertical drama.

28 minutes ago, Khan said:

Judging from that video, FH could work today as a vertical drama.

I'd watch a vertical drama where Bo Derek is a bad actress. Justice for Linda Evans!

36 minutes ago, Khan said:

Judging from that video, FH could work today as a vertical drama.

@Khan I do to this day remember your snarky response back in 2006 when actress Dana Sparks (yes, the Dana Sparks of Falcon Crest and Passions infamy lol) in an interview openly criticized how low brow the MyNet shows were to daytime soaps🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

@te. Thank you for informing me that all the shows are on Tubi. Down the rabbit hole I go.

The MyNetwork TV experiment was interesting but turned into a disaster quickly. I think Fox was supposed to air some other programs but they never materialized. After the 07-08 writers strike the network was effectively dead and has been ever since.

The only shows I actually mildly enjoyed on there were Fashion House and Wicked Wicked Games. Fashion House started off so rough until MF finally showed up then it became pure camp.

@dc11786 I recall there was another show that actually already lined up to replace Saints and Sinners (or was it that very trashy American Heiress?) starring Sean Young as the lead, but ultimately cancelled once they pulled the shows off.

I uploaded all of the MyNetwork soaps to my archive page a few weeks ago in case anyone wants downloadable versions (plus you never know how long they'll last on Tubi):

https://archive.org/details/@jay_gojira?sort=-addeddate

On 3/8/2026 at 10:31 AM, soapfan770 said:

@Khan I do to this day remember your snarky response back in 2006 when actress Dana Sparks (yes, the Dana Sparks of Falcon Crest and Passions infamy lol) in an interview openly criticized how low brow the MyNet shows were to daytime soaps🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Well, I'm glad you do, 'cuz I sure-as-heck don't, lol.

(Seriously, what did I say?)

7 hours ago, Khan said:

Well, I'm glad you do, 'cuz I sure-as-heck don't, lol.

(Seriously, what did I say?)

LOL obviously it’s been 20 years and I recall this on either the WOST boards and/or the long defunct Snark Weighs In blog (what the heck ever happened to that guy??). Basically you were like “Boy it’s takes a lot nerve when you know your own [!@#$%^&*] show you’re on smells to high heaven to pass judgement like that” or something that. Sparks had made the comments in an interview with the infamous Daniel Coleridge.

1 hour ago, soapfan770 said:

LOL obviously it’s been 20 years and I recall this on either the WOST boards and/or the long defunct Snark Weighs In blog (what the heck ever happened to that guy??). Basically you were like “Boy it’s takes a lot nerve when you know your own [!@#$%^&*] show you’re on smells to high heaven to pass judgement like that” or something that. Sparks had made the comments in an interview with the infamous Daniel Coleridge.

That DOES sound like something I would've said, lol!

It took me many, many, MANY years, but I hope I've matured SOME since those days.

On 3/8/2026 at 11:31 AM, soapfan770 said:

@dc11786 I recall there was another show that actually already lined up to replace Saints and Sinners (or was it that very trashy American Heiress?) starring Sean Young as the lead, but ultimately cancelled once they pulled the shows off.

Sean Young was slated to appear in The Art of Betrayal opposite Gordon Thomson, but they were replaced by Tatum O'Neal and Clive Robertson when they rebranded it Wicked, Wicked Games. There were a couple of recasts from the pilot/vignettes to production. Bo Derek's Maria Gianni was originally played by Riley Forbes. There was a clip of her in the role years ago and I think Maria's original surname was different. Julissa Miro originally had the Juliet role in Saints & Sinners, which was originally titled A Dangerous Love.

There were two more that were in pre-production when the projects were terminated. One was called Rule of Deception and I think it was to be set in Miami. I think followed a woman returning home after many years in prison. The vignette casting had Annaleigh McCord and Dylan Bruce in the roles with an African American female lead, Rachelle Woods. Another show was announced, but had been put off for a version of Crossed Loves. I want to say the scrapped or delayed novela was a version of Como en el Cine. The description I found for it was a woman fakes being a psychiatrist and falls in love with a wealthy man. The name was Friends and Enemies.

In the original press release, American Heiress was called To Love & Die, though the original it was based on was La Heredera.

20 hours ago, Search For Yesterday said:

I uploaded all of the MyNetwork soaps to my archive page a few weeks ago in case anyone wants downloadable versions (plus you never know how long they'll last on Tubi):

https://archive.org/details/@jay_gojira?sort=-addeddate

Thanks! I also noticed you uploaded Carson's Law. Thanks!

Wicked Wicked Games was my fav of these telenovelas... Tatum O'Neal was excellent as the over the top villainess. She was straight up scary.

39 minutes ago, dc11786 said:

One was called Rule of Deception and I think it was to be set in Miami. I think followed a woman returning home after many years in prison.

I'm guessing this one was based on a Chilean telenovela called La Madrastra (The Stepmother) which was remade several times in several countries, sometimes under a different title. It's about a woman who was framed for murder in a foreign country. Her husband abandons her and tells their children she died. 20 years later she's released and blackmails her ex into marrying her again so she can be near her children as their stepmother. All the while trying to solve the murder she went to prison for, certain someone in their circle of friends at the time framed her.

I watched a heck of a lot of telenovelas during the 80s and 90s, so I'm surprised I don't recognize more of these.

I might’ve watched the first night of these back in 2006 and never tuned in again lol it was enough trying to juggle the daytime soaps I was watching at the time. I always thought these shows would have been interesting as Saturday afternoon dramas, but this was a few years after that daypart really ceased to exist.

Here's what I found on Rule of Deception:

Rules of Deception was a telenovela planned for the American television network MyNetworkTV. Twentieth Television was developing this limited-run serial, based on the 1999 Caracol TV series La Guerra de Las Rosas (The War of The Roses). The unproduced series is also known in singular tense, as Rule of Deception. Guy Busick was head writer. This amorous tale involved Mia (Rachelle Woods) and Emily (AnnaLynne McCord), two beautiful best friends who find their relationship shattered by unexpected events. They are each seduced by the same handsome man, named Richard (Dylan Bruce). One tyst was for love, but the other was for money. Richard falls for the poor girl, Mia, yet he dreams of becoming a rich playboy. When the wealthy Emily discovers the duplicity, she frames Mia into signing documents that eventually get her thrown into prison. Once Mia is released, she uncovers the conspiracy and seeks revenge against those ruined her life.

This is how I remember most of the information being from the original press release except for Guy Busick being headwriter.

In the 1990s, when Fox launched some English language novelas, La Madrastra was the source material for Forever, which starred Maria Maynet and Mark Schneider. There were two other novelas, Acapulco Bay (which is preserved online I believe and is a variation on Tu o Nadie) and The Guilt (La Culpa).