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


Young Hearts
1995
country: Brazil
Malhação is a Brazilian television series for the teenage audience. The soap started in 1995, and was set in a fictional Gym Club called Malhação on Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro. Through the years the location varied slightly. Although the name of the soap remains the same, it is now set in the Múltipla Escolha High School.


Amigas & Rivais
2007
country: Brazil
Amigas & Rivais is a Brazilian telenovela produced by SBT in association with Televisa and originally broadcast from August 6, 2007, to January 18, 2008. It is a remake of the Mexican telenovela Amigas y rivales (2001), created by Emilio Larrosa. Adapted by Letícia Dornelles, with text supervision by Thereza di Giácomo, the telenovela stars Cacau Melo, Lisandra Cortez, Karla Tenório, Thaís Pacholek, and Talita Castro. The story follows four young women from different social backgrounds: Nicole, Laura, Olívia, and Helena. Although they have different personalities and life experiences, they form a strong friendship while facing the challenges of youth, love, family conflicts, and personal struggles. Their lives become complicated by secrets, betrayals, jealousy, and the schemes of Rosana, Helena's manipulative stepmother, who is willing to do anything to achieve her goals.


Caça Talentos
1996
country: Brazil
No overview available


Walking the Clouds
1999
country: Brazil
The adventures of a man with amnesia who struggles to rediscover his past while learning to live in the present.


Brazil Avenue
2012
country: Brazil
Brazil Avenue is a dynamic, lifelike, and modern telenovela that reveals how unrelenting ambition and inflicted cruelty can change a young girl’s destiny and lead her to seek revenge.


Vidas em Jogo
2011
country: Brazil
No overview available


Rebel Rio
2011
country: Brazil
Elite Way is one of the most renowned educational institutions in the country, where students have access to high quality education and play sports. Despite the rigid schedule, the richest families in Rio de Janeiro want that their children study in the Elite Way. This is the case of Alice, Diego, Roberta, Carla and Tomás, some rebel teenagers and full of fancies that will discover in music a common goal.


Little Missy
1986
country: Brazil
In 1886, in the small town of Araruna, Little Missy rejects the actions of her father—the slave-owning Colonel Ferreira—alongside Rodolfo, an active abolitionist republican with whom she falls in love.


Chiquititas
2013
country: Argentina
Based on the original version of same name created by Cris Morena, the series tells the story of a group of orphans living in a manor, known as Raio de Luz, struggling and being guided by a young woman, Carol, that assumes a maternal figure for them. Their experiences such as discovering first love, deceptions, loneliness and friendship, as well as adventures in fantasy, are depicted throughout the series. The narrative is followed by musical themes and videoclips.


Soul Mate
2005
country: Brazil
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.


The Clone
2001
country: Brazil
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.


Racing Heart
2026
country: Brazil
In childhood, Agrado meets João Raul during a radio contest in the countryside of Goiás. Like her, the boy dreams of becoming a singer, and the two decide to perform together a song composed by Agrado. However, unforeseen events separate them and lead to a misunderstanding that keeps them apart for many years. João Raul, now a major country music star, uses his social media platforms to search for Agrado, “the girl from his past,” who, unlike him, is still struggling to establish herself in the music industry.


Amazônia
1991
country: Brazil
No overview available


A Favorita
2008
country: Brazil
Donatela and Flora, two friends who became rivals. One of them committed a homicide and pretends to be innocent. There are two versions for the same story. Who, after all, is telling the truth? Donatela or Flora?


Genesis
2021
country: Brazil
The story of the first 2,300 years of humanity and recounts events exclusively from that period. The plot begins by giving us a greater understanding of why we exist and how we turned from perfection to imperfection. The origin of all social and racial problems is there at the beginning of everything, when via one decision a human being who only knew good and enjoyed it so much also chose to know evil.


Edge of Desire
2017
country: Brazil
An ambitious woman who, for love, abandons Law School and ends up in the criminal world. A policewoman who dreams about becominga MMA championwhile fighting organized crime. A young dreamer torn between finding true love and her search for freedom. Written by International Emmy Award winner Gloria Perez, "Edge of Desire" presents three strong-willed women that have one thing in common: the tenacity to fight for what they want.


Jequitibá
1993
country: Brazil
Jose Inocencio had innocence only as part of his name, but only those who new him well could notice this. But nobody knew him. He was a storyteller, and he was always the main character in the stories he told. He managed not only to create stories about himself, he managed to create a legend. The story of this powerful cacao farmer; Maria Santa, the beloved wife who died; and their four children is the main theme of 'Renascer'.


Tropical Paradise
2007
country: Brazil
The search for a successor provokes the beginning of a clash between two young and talented executives of his group: Daniel Bastos, a lad of simple origins and excellent character, who is not only handsome and charming, but also intelligent and skilled, and Olavo Novaes, an ambitious and unscrupulous man who is ready to fight for the position, at any cost. To fight against Olavo‘s treacherous plans, Daniel will have the help of the sweet and sensitive Paula, a young lady raised as an only child who founds, on the eve of her mother‘s death, that she is adopted and has a family. What Paula does not know is that she has an identical twin sister, the wicked Taís, who is as ambitious and unscrupulous as the man who becomes her main ally, Olavo Novaes. Antenor, for his part, decides on having an heir when he meets the headstrong and honest Lúcia, a woman who will make this cold businessman find true love is and a real reason to live.


Cara & Coroa
1995
country: Brazil
Fernanda and Vivi are identical, but from different worlds. A cruel plan swaps their identities and transforms their lives into a game of lies and ambition.


Pantanal
1990
country: Brazil
No overview available


Os Imigrantes
1981
country: Brazil
No overview available


Her Own Destiny
2004
country: Brazil
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.


Roque Santeiro
1985
country: Brazil
In the tiny poor town of Asa Branca, in the middle of Brazilian Northeast, Roque Santeiro is worshiped as a saint. He was supposedly killed by a bandit, 18 years ago, trying to save the local church. After his disappearance, local leaderships such as landowner Sinhozinho Malta and mayor Florindo, took profit on that to control the humble population. They even make up a widow, Porcina, who should have married Roque secretly before his death. What they don't expect is that Roque is alive, and he's back to, allegedly, "save his people". Now Malta, Florindo, Porcina, and others must hold him down and explain the "truth" to their commoners, in a desperate attempt to save their own bottoms. Meanwhile, mysterious facts surround Asa Branca, such as a Werewolf, a film crew who are trying to shoot a movie about Roque's story, and violent murderers.
Nino, o Italianinho
Nino, o Italianinho
1969
country: Brazil
No overview available


Chiquititas
1997
country: Argentina
Chiquititas is a Brazilian children's musical telenovela co-produced by SBT and Telefe and originally broadcast on SBT from July 28, 1997, to January 19, 2001. Based on the original Argentine telenovela created by Cris Morena, it was adapted for Brazilian television by Ecila Pedroso for the first season and Caio de Andrade for the subsequent seasons. Starring Flávia Monteiro, Fernanda Souza, and a large ensemble cast, the series ran for five seasons and became one of the most successful children's productions in Brazilian television history. The story follows a group of orphaned children living at the Raio de Luz orphanage, where they find love, friendship, and hope under the care of the kind-hearted Carolina "Carol" Correia. As the children face abandonment, family conflicts, first love, and personal challenges, they rely on music, imagination, and friendship to overcome adversity while dreaming of finding a family and a brighter future.


Gypsy Heart
1995
country: Brazil
Dara is a young Gypsy woman torn between her family’s traditions and her desire to choose her own path. Promised in marriage to Igor, her life changes when she meets Júlio Falcão online. Caught between love, the customs of her people and family conflicts, Dara must face choices that could transform her future.


Pantanal
2022
country: Brazil
After the mysterious disappearance of his father, Joventino, the cowboy José Leôncio becomes a wealthy farm owner in Pantanal. Over twenty years have passed and, bitter-hearted because of his father vanishing and the escape of his wife to Rio de Janeiro with his baby, José Leôncio has the chance to make amends with the boy, now a young man raised in the big city with very different values and habits than his own.


Student's Heart
2002
country: Brazil
Biology professor Edu is an idealistic man who moves with his son Lipe to the charming, fictional town of Nova Aliança, in Minas Gerais, in search of a better quality of life. Edu is engaged to Amelinha, daughter of the wealthy and greedy rancher João Mourão. But this relationship becomes unstable when Edu falls in love with the dreamy lawyer Clara, daughter of Lígia and the experienced lawyer Raul Gouveia. Edu is a single father and tries to always be present in Lipe's life, attempting to keep him away from his mother, Mariana, whose drug addiction prevented her from raising her son. Edu's future father-in-law, João Mourão, is the biggest businessman in Nova Aliança: he owns a farm, a dairy, a meatpacking plant, and a transportation company. João takes issue with Edu when he discovers that the young man is a strong defender of nature and environmental protection laws, which turns him into a rival in the fight for a stretch of virgin forest.


América
2005
country: Brazil
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.


Trail of Lies
2013
country: Brazil
Paloma is a willful woman whose newborn baby is kidnapped by her own brother, Félix, who plans to become sole heir to the family’s fortune. Bruno is an honest man who, during the same night, loses his wife and son in childbirth and miraculously finds Paloma’s child in a dumpster. Destiny will unite their lives in a plot of secrets, revelations, and disputes, with the unpredictable consequences of lives based on a dangerous and surprising network of lies.


A Viagem
1994
country: Brazil
The soap opera's central theme is life after death, inspired by the philosophy of Allan Kardec, the codifier of Spiritism. The character who drives the plot is Alexandre, a delinquent who kills himself in prison after being convicted of robbery followed by homicide and goes on to torment the lives of all those he considers responsible for his tragic fate.
O Machão
O Machão
1974
country: Brazil
No overview available


Tieta
1989
country: Brazil
Inspired on Jorge Amado's romance "Tieta do Agreste", the plot is set on the fictional city of Santana do Agreste, at Brazil's northwest, and has as main theme Tieta's life turnarounds. Twenty-five years after being chased out of town by her father Zé Esteves, she returns to her home town seeking revenge against everyone who mistreated her and laugh at her face in the past.


Pages of Life
2006
country: Brazil
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.
O Julgamento
O Julgamento
1976
country: Brazil
No overview available


Total Dreamer
2015
country: Brazil
This modern fairy tale tells the story of a homeless girl who dreams of helping out her family and finds her big chance of turning her life around in a fashion modeling contest - but the way to winning it and becoming a star will be a lot harder than she originally envisioned. A captivating romantic comedy about overcoming obstacles, Total Dreamer wins its audience’s heart right from the first episode.


O Dono do Mundo
1991
country: Brazil
Felipe Barreto, a renowned plastic surgeon, makes a wager and gets involved with his employee's fiancée; from that moment on, the lives of those involved were never the same.


Hilda Hurricane
1998
country: Brazil
After breaking off her engagement on her wedding day and going directly to a prostitution house, a young model becomes the city's most famous harlot, known as "Hilda Hurricane", in the 50's Brazil. She could do fine if it wasn't for Malthus, a young novice said to be a saint, for whom she falls in love. However, the boy is kept under the strict, severe doctrine of Father Nelson, a conservative priest intolerant even to every minor sin. Things start getting harder when Roberto, Malthus' old friend and a communist reporter (the actual author of the story), tries to interview Hilda and disclosure the real reasons behind her radical change of mind. In the meantime, the middle-classes are terrified by the "leftist threat" in Brazilian politics.


Terra Nostra
1999
country: Brazil
This top-seller recounts the saga of Italians who immigrated to Brazil during the XIX century, seeking their fortunes in America. The forbidden love between Giulliana and Matteo flowers in the midst of the sweeping changes ushered in by the arrival of these Europeans in Brazilian towns. This great epic has thrilled viewers in more than eighty countries.


Secrets of Sand
1993
country: Brazil
Twin sisters with contrasting personalities, Ruth and Raquel, rival in the fictional Pontal D'Areia, on the coast of Rio de Janeiro.
Brazilian television is built on the telenovela, produced at enormous scale and with a broader social range than the format's reputation suggests.
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.