Definitions for "Telenovela"
Keywords:  opera, soap, novela, miniseries, spite
Spanish-language soap opera
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 essentially soap operas in miniseries 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 or the network for business reasons, such as declining ratings -- most telenovelas run for a predetermined duration, though there are some long-running exceptions.