A telenovela is the term used to describe limited-run television serials and is derived from the terms tele short for television and novela ("novel"). In spite of their many differences, telenovelas are in ways, soap operas in mini-series format with an origin in Spanish and Portuguese broadcasting. While most English-language soap operas can potentially continue indefinitely - often only concluding when the show had been cancelled by its producers for business reasons such as declining ratings - most telenovelas run for a pre-determined duration, but there are some long-running exceptions.

One of the most common complaints are that telenovelas are not representative of the actual racial makeup of the country where they are produced. Most telenovelas, no matter where they are from, tend to have white, blond, blue-eyed stars. Whenever an "ethnic" looking person appears, usually they are of lower class and hold jobs such as janitors, reserving all the higher-class jobs for the lightest-skinned actors.

The stereotypical telenovela aimed at the working class, which explains their worldwide popularity—they are easy to understand and appropriate family viewing. The plots are often based on stories about a poor girl who falls in love with a rich man whose family spurns her.

A popular plot is that of a poor, beautiful girl that meets a rich and handsome guy. He breaks up with his rich, evil and frivolous girlfriend to be with the heroine, at first to simply annoy his rich and callous relatives, but eventually falling in love because of her kind, caring heart and beautiful soul. The evil ex-girlfriend (usually accompanied by the rich guy's mother, sister or other close relative) stands in their way to happiness. Sometimes the struggle is ethnic (such as in Gitanas and Yesenia with Gypsies, or in María Isabel with people of indigenous origin). A popular plot twist is also the discovery of the real father or mother of the poor heroine, who almost always turns out to be incredibly wealthy. The story usually ends with the villains meeting spectacularly violent, gruesome, painful and gory end and the two heroes end up getting married and with a child, sometimes, even twins.