The 40 most popular 2000s soap TV shows, ranked. Click any show for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.


Binnelanders
2005 · ZA
A South African Afrikaans soap opera. It is set in and around the fictional private hospital, Binneland Kliniek, in Pretoria, and the storyline follows the trials, trauma and tribulations of the staff and patients of the hospital.


Sturm der Liebe
2005 · DE
These are the stories of relationships taking place in the fictional five-star hotel Fürstenhof, located in Feldkirchen-Westerham near Rosenheim with the plot revolving around members of the family room area, the hotel owners, and employees.


7de Laan
2000 · ZA
7de Laan is an extraordinary microcosm where good and bad, evil and wholesome characters find themselves forming part of a wholesome community where no matter what – everyone counts and everyone cares…


Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi
2000 · IN
A mother-in-law's struggle to put up with her three bahu's. The three bahu's have grown up sons. The bahu's sons start to get involved with having girlfriends and the bahu's try and break their relationships up.


CentoVetrine
2001 · IT
The series tells the stories of some of the characters who work or are related to an imaginary shopping center Centovetrine, located in the center of Turin. There are many stories of love and passion, but also struggles for power and dynastic quarrels in the telefilm.


Strawberries with Sugar
2003 · PT
Across several generations, groups of young Portuguese people navigate school life and summer holidays while dealing with friendships, first loves, rivalries, family conflicts and decisions that shape their future. Each season introduces new protagonists, schools and challenges, exploring themes related to adolescence, identity, responsibility and belonging. Sport, music, dance and other forms of expression accompany their journeys of growing up, marked by dreams, choices and ever-changing relationships.


El cor de la ciutat
2000 · ES
El cor de la ciutat is a TVC television soap opera first broadcast on TV3 on 11 September 2000 and last broadcast on 23 December 2009. The show is the most watched fiction program in Catalonia, Spain, especially among female audiences, drawing around 28-33% of the audience with as much as 40% during season finales. El cor de la ciutat follows the lives of the people who live and work in the neighbourhood of Sants and Sant Andreu in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.


Rote Rosen
2006 · DE
Rote Rosen is a German telenovela produced by Studio Hamburg Serienwerft Lüneburg and broadcast by Das Erste since November 6, 2006. The show is a complex telenovela, who tells one love story every season about women in their forties.


Floribella
2006 · PT
No overview available


Wedding Ring
2008 · RU
No overview available


Best Friends
2007 · NL
Best Friends follows the life of a group of friends at their high school ‘Spangalis College’. Inside and outside of school exciting and challenging experiences take place. Growing up is never easy; every character has its own, unique story of love, friendship, loneliness, sorrow, discovery. There is drama and joy in school, family, teachers, parents, divorce, bullying, and always dreams for the future.


Ulice
2005 · CZ
Ulice is a Czech soap opera produced and broadcast by Nova. In the Czech language Ulice means street. The show describes the lives of the Farský, Jordán, Boháč, Nikl, and Liška families and many other people that live in Prague. Their daily battle against real problems of living in a modern world like divorce, love, betrayal and illness or disease. Ulice often shows crime.


Alles was zählt
2006 · DE
Alles was zählt is a German television soap opera first broadcast on RTL on September 4, 2006. The original plot revolved around Diana Sommer's dream to become a world class ice skater. She fell in love with Julian Herzog, who signed her at the prestigious Steinkamp Sport and Wellness Center, run by the unscrupulous Steinkamp dynasty. Diana and Julian eventually became a couple, but in November 2007, Julian suffered a brain hemorrhage and died during their wedding. Diana remained in Essen until January 2009, when she left to join a skating centre in Halle. The story continues to revolve around the Steinkamp Sport and Wellness Centre and its quest to become a sporting powerhouse, as well as the lives of the characters who work at and around the Centre.


Degrassi
2001 · CA
The life of a group of adolescents going through the trials and tribulations of teendom at Degrassi Community School.


Verliebt in Berlin
2005 · DE
The original season follows the life of the unsophisticated but good-natured Lisa Plenske, and her incongruous job at the ultra-chic Berlin fashion house Kerima Moda; while the second season revolved around Lisa's ham-fisted but sly half-brother Bruno and junior designer Hannah Refrath.


Villa Rosa
2004 · ZA
In Bloemfontein there is a guest house where the walls have ears and where there is daily drama, intrigue and also a lot of comedy.


Barwy szczęścia
2007 · PL
No overview available


La rosa de Guadalupe
2008 · MX
Stories about people who get into problems who use the help of Virgin Mary and where a rose appears and their problems are solved.


A Favorita
2008 · BR
Flora and Donatella were two friends bonded by their love of music, but whose passion for the same man separated them forever. Donatella was Marcelo’s wife; Flora, his lover and murderer — a crime which cost her freedom and the custody of her daughter Lara, born out of that relationship and raised by Donatella. Now, history repeats itself, only this time their quarrel is not only over the same man but for Lara’s love. Torn between two mothers, the girl doesn’t know that Flora’s dirty, scheming ambition is not to draw her closer, but to keep her away from her longtime rival – plus snatch the inheritance of her former lover. The theme of rivalry — Flora’s bitter jealousy of the prettier and more talented Donatella permeates this provocative story and makes vengeance a ruleless game.


Doctors
2000 · UK
Set in the fictional Midlands town of Letherbridge, defined as being close to the city of Birmingham, this soap opera follows the staff and families of a doctor's surgery.


Casi Ángeles
2007 · AR
A group of kids is abused and exploited, but everything changes with Cielo and Nico. A story full of music, songs, choreography and competitions.


Desejos de Mulher
2002 · BR
Andréa and Júlia are two estranged sisters. Until one of their lives changes when she discovers she is adopted and that her biological sister is living with her.


América
2005 · BR
Sol and Tião are born to different social backgrounds—she to a poor suburban family in Rio, and him to an even poorer family who raised cattle in West São Paulo State. They eventually meet, due to unlikely circumstances, but part again, as she has set as her ultimate priority to reach the United States or bust. While she comes to the U.S. to live as an illegal immigrant, he remains in Brazil and, despite many trials and tribulations, he becomes a successful rodeo cowboy.


L for Love
2000 · PL
M jak miłość is a Polish soap opera, revolving around the multiple generations of the Mostowiak family. The series premiered on November 4, 2000 on TVP2, primarily as a weekly drama, and after one season shifting into a new timeslot and extending to two episodes per week. For the last few years the show has been the most watched drama on Polish television. Its popularity led to a Russian adaptation, entitled Lyubov kak Lyubov. The series is also broadcast on the international channel TVP Polonia with English subtitles.


Na Wspólnej
2003 · PL
Na Wspólnej is a Polish soap opera. It has been running since 2003 on the TVN channel as its flagship primetime weekday soap opera. It is loosely based on the German production Unter Uns and it follows the lives of the inhabitants of an apartment block in Wspólna Street, Warsaw. Episodes tend to last around 20 minutes. It is a Polish version of the Hungarian "Barátok közt". The series is shot almost entirely in Warsaw and produced by the Polish branch of Freemantle Media. On 9 September 2008 it celebrated its 1000th episode; "Na Wspólnej" was the fourth Polish television series ever to achieve such status. A special episode was broadcast in which characters from some other of TVN's most popular shows visited Wspólna Street.


Rebelde Way
2002 · AR
Four teenagers at an elite school in Buenos Aires are drawn together by their love of music, despite their differing social and economic backgrounds.


Celebrity
2003 · BR
A successful businesswoman in the music industry sees her life fall apart after a young and mysterious woman starts work as her secretary. The scheming girl is totally obsessed by the famous businesswoman and she tries to steal everything from her, including her career.


Flinderella
2004 · AR
Florencia is a singer and orphan, who falls in love with Federico, a businessman. They will be able to overcome all obstacles, but their love will take an unexpected turn.


Pages of Life
2006 · BR
Nanda must rethink her plansof studying in Amsterdam when she discovers she is pregnant. After losing the support of her boyfriend Léo, the young girl decides to return home, where she suffers a serious accident and dies.However, Helena, her doctor, is able to save her new-born twins: Francisco and Clara. Unfortunately, Clara suffers from Downs Syndrome. Helena feels a strong emotional tie to Clara and adopts her.Years later, the twins’father Léo, a young and wealthy businessman, returns to the scene, wanting to gain custody of the children.However, Helena and Alex fight to the end to retain guardianship of the twins, whom they have raised with such love.


Belíssima
2005 · BR
Júlia and Pedro suffer from the cruelty of their grandmother, Bia Falcão. Júlia runs the luxurious Belíssima factory and falls in love with Nikos, a friend of her sister-in-law Vitória.


Love in Difficult Times
2005 · ES
Amar en tiempos revueltos is a Spanish soap opera set in the times of the Spanish civil war and the early Francoism. The serial has been aired from 2005 and has won prizes in Spain and a Silver Medal in the «New York Festivals». In January 2013 will air on Antena 3 with new name, Amar es para siempre


Her Own Destiny
2004 · BR
A story about people who succeed in life thanks to nothing but their own efforts. Maria do Carmo is the main character of the telenovela; a mother of five who struggle to be successful in life, but whose most important will be recovering the love of her daughter who was kidnapped when she was just months old.


The Clone
2001 · BR
Human cloning. The Islamic world. Two young people, two different cultures, two different beliefs. An impossible love story that not even time could erase. During a trip to Morocco, Lucas has a forbidden romance with Jade. He returns to Brazil after the death of his twin brother Diogo. A close family friend, scientist Albieri uses this situation to produce the first human clone using cells taken from Lucas. Twenty years later, Jade, Lucas and his clone form an odd love triangle.


Los Reyes
2005 · CO
Los Reyes is a telenovela filmed in Colombia and produced by the Colombian network, RCN. It debuted in 2005 and is available via RCN cable TV in the United States.


Soul Mate
2005 · BR
A young woman is fated to relive the love of an earlier life. Separated by time, young Serena and botanist Rafael surmount all obstacles as they live a love that is stronger than fate itself. These challenges include the lovely but ambitious Cristina, who is obsessed by the rich botanist and driven nearly mad by her attempts to shatter their great love. A romantic comedy set in the 1940s, Soul Mate underscores the importance of love, family values and the ties of affection with a light touch and plenty of humor.


La fea más bella
2006 · MX
Leticia Padilla Solís, “Leti”, is an intelligent but unattractive girl, rather ugly. She graduated with honors in economics, speaks several languages, is fluent in computers, and is a financial genius. Only, because of his physique, she can't find work. Desperate to find a job, “Lety” decides to accept being hired below her level and takes a job as a secretary at Conceptos, a famous video production company, where ugliness is taboo. The production company “Conceptos” was founded by two good friends: Don Humberto Mendiola, and Julián Villaroel. Unfortunately, shortly after, the Villaroels die in an accident and Don Humberto and his wife Teresita take care of the Villaroels' orphaned children: Ariel, Marcia and Ana Leticia and the successful company.


The L Word
2004 · US
A group of lesbian friends struggle with romance and careers in Los Angeles.


India: A Love Story
2009 · BR
The daughter of a traditional, rich Indian family falls in love for a Dalit, and "untouchable" man.


A Padroeira
2001 · BR
A Padroeira was a Brazilian soap opera produced and displayed at the time of 18 hours by Rede Globo, between June 18, 2001 and February 23, 2002, and presented in 215 chapters. It was written by Walcyr Carrasco collaboration with Duca Rachid and directed by Walter Avancini, and had Deborah Secco, Luigi Baricelli, Elizabeth Savalla and Maurício Mattar in leading roles.


Doña Bárbara
2008 · US
Doña Bárbara is a Spanish-language telenovela produced by the United States-based television network Telemundo, Sony Pictures Television International and RTI Colombia. Edith González and Christian Meier star in this adaptation of the 1929 novel by Venezuelan author Rómulo Gallegos.
The 2000s were cable television's breakthrough — HBO and its imitators proved that serialized, morally complicated drama could be the most ambitious storytelling around.
Soap opera is television's most enduring form — continuing serials built on relationships, reversals, and an audience that returns for decades. Its storytelling grammar quietly underpins most modern serialized drama.