History Main / AddictiveForeignSoapOpera

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'': In "[[Recap/TheAmazingWorldOfGumballS2E1TheRemote The Remote]]", Richard wants the TV remote so he can see the GrandFinale of ''La Casa de las Lagrimas''. He even camped out in front of the TV all night to make sure he'd keep it.

[[folder: Live Action Television ]]
* An early episode of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' shows the Scoobies raptly watching a Hindi soap opera and braiding Willow's hair, utterly unable to understand it. Well, [[TheSmartGuy Willow]] understands it and explains.

* ''Series/NorthernExposure''. In the first episode of the {{flanderized}} second season, Shelly receives a satellite dish from her husband and becomes addicted to a ''telenovela'', which is both {{Played for Laughs}} and used to help set up her realization that she has become disconnected from reality and the things she cares about.
* ''Series/RedDwarf'': Kryten is addicted to the soap opera Androids, which is a clear parody of what was then cult Australian import soap Neighbours.
* ''{{Series/Supernatural}}'' (7/3). Dean is shown raptly watching an unidentified ''telenovela'' as the episode opens.
* In ''{{Series/Will and Grace}}'' (8/13) Jack alludes to the fact that he watches "Spanish soap operas."
* An episode of ''Series/{{Psych}}'' shows a ''telenovela'' that's watched by pretty much everyone in Santa Barbara, even characters who do not speak Spanish (and it isn't shown with subtitles). Shawn even gets a role.
* A variant crops up in ''Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder'' that doubles as a fourth wall joke when the three primary Rangers discover a dubbed version of ''Series/BakuryuuSentaiAbaranger'', the Sentai this series adapted. They're confused, Conner borderline offended by the much wackier shenanigans, but eventually even he gets into it.

[[folder: Literature ]]
* Durring the events leading up to ''Literature/CaptainVorpatrilsAlliance'', Rish gets hooked on several Komarrian Holo Dramas while in hiding in her apartment.
* Creator/BillBryson had this reaction to British soap operas, particularly ''Series/CoronationStreet'', when he immigrated to the UK as a young man in the Seventies. It ended up helping him assimilate into his new home once he'd got the hang of [[OopNorth the accents and unique slang]], because British soaps trend more SliceOfLife than was common in his homeland.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' episode "The Remote", Richard wants the TV remote so he can see the GrandFinale of ''La Casa de las Lagrimas''. He even camped out in front of the TV all night to make sure he'd keep it.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode [[Recap/FamilyGuyS14E10CandyQuahogMarshmallow "Candy, Quahog, Marshmallow"]], Quagmire shows Peter, Cleveland and Joe episodes of the Korean soap ''Winter Summer'', in which he played the character American Johnny when he was younger. The others become completely addicted, and when they find out that Quagmire doesn't have a tape of the series finale, they travel to South Korea to find one.

* Happens in ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' episode "No Show With the Casagrandes", where Ronnie Anne and her family get hooked on a ''telenovela'', but [[TheLadette Ronnie Anne]] is too proud to admit she likes such melodramatic stuff and tries to watch it in secret. It's a bit justified since the Casagrandes are a family of Mexican immigrants, so the work is culturally geared to them, but most people in the city seem to be into it anyway.

* ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'', Really Really Big Man is watching a telenovela when he gets a call that a monster is terrorizing the city (really just a 300-foot-tall Rocko). Before he leaves, Big Man laments, "This always happens when the good shows are on."

* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': In "Bam Ui Pati!", Pony Head drowns her sorrows over [[spoiler: losing her horn in a fight with Miss Heinous/Meteora]] by binge-watching ''Bam Ui Pati'' ("Party of the Night"), a Korean soap opera about a pop singer and her vampire lover. Unlike most examples, the show does include subtitles.

You've seen this somewhere before in an American sitcom: A character is portrayed raptly watching an undubbed and unsubtitled foreign-language SoapOpera with a box of tissues and some popcorn even though they don't understand the plot. Then, cue the canned laughs. ''Telenovelas'' are most often used, but this trope definition covers any foreign-language melodramatic series. Invariably, these soap operas are excessively caricatured, with scenes of fights between jealous lovers and adulterous couples.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': More of an Interspecies Soap Opera, Anne manages to get the entire Plantar family hooked on her favorite show, ''Suspicion Island''. This is despite them being frogs in a medieval society who [[HumansAreUgly see humans as bizarre monsters]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' episode "The Great Indoors", Dr. Doofenshmirtz attempts to rain out a soccer game that is scheduled to preempt his favorite ''telenovela''.

* ''Series/HabeBeenPayingAttention'' introduced a new one-on-one round in 2020 called "Binge This!". In it, contestants are shown an untranslated clip from a foreign language show currently streaming on Netflix, and asks to guess what happens next. The show has included soap operas and dramas from South Korea, India, the Philippines, Mexico and South America. What happens next is usually fascinating and almost never what the contestant has guessed. Events have included a massacre by bandits, ghostly possession, and multiple characters being hit with foodstuffs (usually on a Korean soap opera).

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* ''Series/NorthernExposure''. In the first episode of the {{flanderized}} second season, Shelly receives a satellite dish from her husband and becomes addicted to a ''telenovela'', which is both {{Played for Laughs}} and used to help set up her realization that she has become disconnected from reality and the things she cares about.

* ''{{Series/Supernatural}}'' (7/3). Dean is shown raptly watching an unidentified ''telenovela'' as the episode opens.
* In ''{{Series/Will and Grace}}'' (8/13) Jack alludes to the fact that he watches "Spanish soap operas."

* An early episode of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' shows the Scoobies raptly watching a Hindi soap opera and braiding Willow's hair, utterly unable to understand it. Well, [[TheSmartGuy Willow]] understands it and explains.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' throughout its history has shown the characters watching Bumblebee Man in particularly over-the-top, Spanish-language television shows. There are examples of him in ''telenovela'' parodies that appear as shows within a show that are viewed by other characters in-universe.
* In ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'', there is a recurring Spanish-language ShowWithinAShow, "Los Dias y las noches de monsignor Martinez," which is sometimes watched by the central characters.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' episode "The Great Indoors", Dr. Doofenshmirtz attempts to rain out a soccer game that is scheduled to preempt his favorite ''telenovela''.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/AsToldByGinger'', Hoodsie and Carl clean a house. Hoodsie is shown watching a ''telenovela'', which Carla turns off.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': In "Log Date 7 15 2", Peridot is introduced to a Canadian soap opera called ''Camp Pining Hearts'', which she quickly dismisses as drivel. She then spends 78 hours straight re-watching and over-analyzing the same episode. Later episodes show that she has since seen the entire series, and even gotten [[spoiler:Lapis Lazuli]] hooked on it, too.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': More of an Interspecies Soap Opera, Anne manages to get the entire Plantar family hooked on her favorite show, ''Suspicion Island''. This is despite them being frogs in a medieval society who [[HumansAreUgly see humans as bizarre monsters]].
* Happens in ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' episode "No Show With the Casagrandes", where Ronnie Anne and her family get hooked on a ''telenovela'', but [[TheLadette Ronnie Anne]] is too proud to admit she likes such melodramatic stuff and tries to watch it in secret. It's a bit justified since the Casagrandes are a family of Mexican immigrants, so the work is culturally geared to them, but most people in the city seem to be into it anyway.

* ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'', Really Really Big Man is watching a telenovela when he gets a call that a monster is terrorizing the city (really just a 300 foot tall Rocko). Before he leaves, Big Man laments, "This always happens when the good shows are on."

* Happens in ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' episode "No Show With the Casagrandes", where Ronnie Anne and her family get hooked to a ''telenovela'', but [[TheLadette Ronnie Anne]] is too proud to admit she likes such melodramatic stuff and tries to watch it in secret. It's a bit justified since the Casagrandes are a family of Mexican immigrants, so the work is culturally geared to them, but most people in the city seem to be into it anyway.

* Happens in ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' episode "No Show With the Casagrandes", where Ronnie Anne and her family get hooked to a ''telenovela'', but [[TheLadette Ronnie Anne]] is too proud to admit she likes such melodramatic stuff and tries to watch it in secret. It's a bit justified since the Casagrandes are a family of Mexican immigrants, but most people in the city seem to be into it.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': More of an Interspecies Soap Opera, Anne manages to get the entire Plantar family hooked on her favorite show, Suspicion Island. This is despite them being frogs in a medieval society who see humans as bizarre monsters.

* ''WesternAnimation/Amphibia'': More of an Interspecies Soap Opera, Anne manages to get the entire Plantar family hooked on her favorite show, Suspicion Island. This is despite them being frogs in a medieval society who see humans as bizarre monsters.

You've seen this somewhere before in an American sitcom: A character is portrayed raptly watching an undubbed and unsubtitled foreign-language SoapOpera with a box of tissues and some popcorn even though s/he doesn't understand the plot. Then, queue the canned laughs. ''Telenovelas'' are most often used, but this trope definition covers any foreign-language melodramatic series. Invariably, these soap operas are excessively caricatured, with scenes of fights between jealous lovers and adulterous couples.

* In a ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' episode (3/1), Dr. Doofenshmirtz attempts to rain out a soccer game that is scheduled to preempt his favorite ''telenovela''.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' episode "The Remote", Richard wants the TV remote so he can see the season finale of ''La Casa de las Lagrimas''. He even camped out in front of the TV all night to make sure he'd keep it.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'', Cecil Turtle, who works at the cable company, tampers with Bugs Bunny's cable plan, so he's only able to get a Spanish speaking network. Speedy Gonzales, initially scoffs at how ridiculous the telenovelas are, but he ends up getting caught up in it. It helps that he can actually speak Spanish so he understands what's going on.

* A variant crops up in ''PowerRangersDinoThunder'' that doubles as a fourth wall joke when the three primary Rangers discover a dubbed version of ''BakuryuuSentaiAbaranger'', the Sentai this series adapted. They're confused, Conner borderline offended by the much wackier shenanigans, but eventually even he gets into it.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': In "Bam Ui Pati!", Pony Head drowns her sorrows over [[spoiler: losing her horn in a fight with Miss Heinous/Meteora]] by binge-watching ''Bam Ui Pati'' ("Party of the Night"), a Korean soap opera about a pop singer and her vampire lover.

* On ''Series/ModernFamily'', Jay and Gloria watch a Colombian ''telenovela'' called ''Fuego y hielo'' ("Fire and Ice"; or according to Jay, "Big Hair and Loud Yelling"). While Gloria does speak Spanish, Jay does not; she is making him watch.