They are called novelas, not soap operas

Today I was hanging out with my in-laws and they were watching a novela. Novelas are great because they're so much better than English soap operas and they never drag on for 60-something years or get canceled because they usually end in a wedding in about 6 months. 
The story lines are always recycled and sometimes they should be called "rich guy, poor girl" stories, but not all of them are like that. There are a few gems out there, and I'm here to list a few of my favorites.

PUEBLO CHICO, INFIERNO GRANDE

Set in the early 1900s, Veronica Castro's character is a rich, middle-aged widow who falls in love with a poor, much younger and very handsome (duh) man who works on her land. No one can learn about their love affair, but the people in her small town learn about it anyway. Long story short, he dies at the end of the novela and she cries and that's why I loved it. It didn't have a happy ending, which is rare in Mexican novelas.

LA MENTIRA

 A betrayal leads to a suicide. There's a mistaken identity, and we see some guy try and ruin the life of the woman he loves all because her jealous cousin made him believe some lie. It ends happily ever after when they find out the truth and the guy stops ruining his girlfriend's life. 

DKDA

I was never really sure what this novela was about. There's a group of middle class teenage kids en el DF and their token poor friend who are in a music group called DKDA and they're all coupled off. One of the girls in the group attempted suicide a few times throughout the novela, and one guy took his sister hostage because she was leaving him behind. Real intense stuff to watch at the tender age of 12.

MUCHACHITAS

I was really into gymnastics as a kid. And they were always doing gymnastics, or at least they were in the intro.