Telemundo is desperate for ratings after their whole primetime telenovela lineup goes through a ratings crisis. Enter "Avenida Brasil," the smashing Brazilian telenovela that has been a hit in every country it's been shown. The Rede Globo production was being promoted to air in the night-time block at the end of 2013, following a similar decline in ratings, but in a last minute programming change they opted to repeat "La Reina Del Sur." "Avenida" was shoved to the afternoon time slot at the beginning of January in two-hour daily episodes. It was quickly burned off, but at least they aired it entirely. Flash-forward to 2015, "Los Miserables" flopped, "Tierras De Reyes" is flopping and Kate Del Castillo's "Dueños Del Paraíso" was not a ratings bonanza as the network thought it would be.
Who do they call to save the network and cut costs? "Avenida Brasil," of course. A similar strategy was used in México, where Azteca delayed their in-house production of "Las Bravo" in favor in this import to much success. The Joao Emmanuel Carneiro story saw double digit ratings, something that the Televisa rival had not seen in years. The difference now is that "Avenida" has already aired in the U.S. before, will it still catch more eyeballs at night? The Brazilian melodrama centers on Rita and her father played by Tony Ramos. After the death of Rita's mother, her father marries Carminha (Adriana Esteves), a conniving and gold-digging woman who acts like a perfect step mother in front of her husband and changes her personality when he's not around. Rita can see through her and overhears Carminha having a conversation with her accomplice and lover, about fleeing with her husband's money after he sells the house they live in. Rita warns her father and he later confronts his wife.
In a turn of events and while walking down the "Avenida Brasil" he gets run over by Tufão (Murilo Benicio) and tries to tell him that his wife is a bad person. Tufão, a famous soccer player, doesn't understand him well and belives he is trying to tell him to take care of his wife but he soon dies. Tufão looks for Carminha and she lets him believe she is a sad widowed woman. She seduces him and later tells him that she is pregnant. This forces Tufão to break things up with his girlfriend and marry Carminha. Rita, now an orphaned, is abandoned by Carminha in a landfill where she meets a young boy like her who is named Batata. The children fall in love but are soon seperated when an Argentine couple adopt Rita and take her back to their home country. Batata is later adopted by Carminha and Tufão and this adoption was not a coincidence. Rita grows up but with resentment in her heart towards Carminha and all the bad she did in her life. When her adoptive father dies, she masterminds a plan to take Carminha down and unmask her in front of her whole family. "Avenida Brasil" returns on Monday, April 6 at 8pm/7c on Telemundo. Will you be watching/re-watching?
© 2024 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
