Amor en Custodia (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Amor en Custodia is a Mexican television drama, inspired by the popular Argentine telenovela
Telenovela
A telenovela is a limited-run serial dramatic programming popular in Latin American, Portuguese, and Spanish television programming. The word combines tele, short for televisión or televisão , and novela, a Spanish or Portuguese word for "novel"...

 of the same name, and developed and produced by Emilia Lamothe. Amor en Custodia focuses on and satirizes the lives of socialite teens and young adults growing up in Mexico city
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

. It deals with sexuality, drugs, money, jealousy and other issues.

It first aired on June 19, 2005 in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

, on Canal 7
Canal 7
Canal 7 may refer to::*Canal 7 of Buenos Aires, Argentina*Canal 7 of Lima, Peru*Canal 7 of Mendoza, Argentina*Canal 7 of Mexico City, Guadalajara y Jalisco, Mexico*Canal 7 of Mexico City, Mexico...

, and was broadcast nationally a day later by TV Azteca
TV Azteca
Azteca, is the second largest Mexican television entertainment. It was established in 1983 as the state-owned Instituto Mexicano de la Televisión , a holding of the national TV networks channel 13 and 7 and was privatized under its current name in 1993 and now is part of Grupo Salinas...

. The pilot episode was also made available as a free download on the series' official website.

The series was first shown in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 by Azteca America
Azteca América
Azteca América is a broadcast television network marketed toward Spanish-speaking families residing in the United States. As a rapidly-growing Spanish language network, Azteca América now reaches 89% of the Hispanic households in the U.S., operating in sixty-two markets nationwide. Wholly owned by...

 on July 18, 2005, and the final episode of the final season was broadcast in Mexico on September 12, 2008 and in the USA on October 3.

Amor en Custodia holds the record for longest TV series in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, with eleven seasons and 280 episodes.

It has been shown in more than 13 countries, including the USA, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

, and Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

, and has been translated into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

, Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...

, and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

.

Conception

The project was originally intended as a film, to be made by Zeta Films, with La Mujer de Mi Hermano
La mujer de mi hermano
La mujer de mi hermano is a 2005 Mexican film directed by Ricardo de Montreuil, based on the novel of the same name by the Peruvian writer, journalist and TV host Jaime Bayly...

's
creator Jaime Bayly
Jaime Bayly
Jaime Bayly Letts is a Peruvian writer, journalist and television personality. He is the third of 10 children and is known as "el niño terrible" .-Early life:...

 set to write the screenplay, actress Angélica Aragón
Angélica Aragón
Angélica Aragón is a Mexican actress of telenovelas and such films as Dune, A Walk in the Clouds, Bella, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, Vivir un poco, Mirada de mujer, Novia que te vea, and the blockbuster film Sexo, pudor y lágrimas.-Early life:Aragón was born Angélica Espinoza Stransky in Mexico...

 to star as Paz Achával Urién, and Bárbara Mori
Bárbara Mori
Bárbara Mori Ochoa is a Mexican actress and model. She became famous for being the female lead in the Bollywood film, Kites....

 to portray Paz's daughter Barbara. The film never went into production and was ultimately canceled.

The project was later redesigned as a TV-movie, for Televisa
Televisa
Televisa is a Mexican multimedia conglomerate, the largest mass media company in Latin America and in the Spanish-speaking world. It is a major international entertainment business, with much of its programming airing in the United States on Univision, with which it has an exclusive contract...

, but again the production was canceled.

Development of the show, this time as a TV series to be shown on TV Azteca
TV Azteca
Azteca, is the second largest Mexican television entertainment. It was established in 1983 as the state-owned Instituto Mexicano de la Televisión , a holding of the national TV networks channel 13 and 7 and was privatized under its current name in 1993 and now is part of Grupo Salinas...

, finally began on January 5, 2005, when TV Azteca gave it a put pilot commitment, with Emilia Lamothe as writer and executive producer. In February 2005, the network confirmed the pilot order, and Mario O. Garcés was named as co-writer.

Music

Pop singer Alexandre Pires
Alexandre Pires
Alexandre Pires do Nascimento is a Brazilian singer. Pires was previously the singer of group Só Pra Contrariar which he joined in the late 80s....

 was credited with the music selection used on Amor en Custodia, though the cast played a part in the choice, and even recorded some of their own songs for inclusion.

In contrast to his usual style of Spanish independent music and alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 artists, Pires largely used pop songs for the Mexican
Mexican people
Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....

 version, and current Top 40 hits for the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 version. He explained, "Since the show is based on high class profiled families, I'm going for more pop-ish sounds, for the USA version. I want to attract new viewers, so I will be using some top 40 English songs from the best artists today and from great artists internationally."

The opening theme chosen was Abre tu Corazón, performed by Olga Tañón
Olga Tañón
Olga Tañón is a two-time Grammy Award and three-time Latin Grammy-winning Merengue and Latin Pop artist. Tañón has earned 5 Latin Grammy Awards and 19 Premios Lo Nuestro awards during her career.-Early years:...

.

Broadcasting history

Originally scheduled to air on June 13, 2005, the initial episode of Amor en Custodia was delayed by a week. As a result, the previously planned two-hour season special of La Academia
La Academia
La Academia is a Mexican reality musical talent show shown on TV Azteca, premiering in June 2002 and currently in its ninth installment...

was edited down to one hour to accommodate it. It finally made its television debut on Canal 7
Canal 7
Canal 7 may refer to::*Canal 7 of Buenos Aires, Argentina*Canal 7 of Lima, Peru*Canal 7 of Mendoza, Argentina*Canal 7 of Mexico City, Guadalajara y Jalisco, Mexico*Canal 7 of Mexico City, Mexico...

, in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

, on June 19, 2005 at 10:00 p.m. TV Azteca
TV Azteca
Azteca, is the second largest Mexican television entertainment. It was established in 1983 as the state-owned Instituto Mexicano de la Televisión , a holding of the national TV networks channel 13 and 7 and was privatized under its current name in 1993 and now is part of Grupo Salinas...

 broadcast the first episode nationally the following day, at 9:00 p.m.

In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, Amor en Custodia premiered on Azteca America
Azteca América
Azteca América is a broadcast television network marketed toward Spanish-speaking families residing in the United States. As a rapidly-growing Spanish language network, Azteca América now reaches 89% of the Hispanic households in the U.S., operating in sixty-two markets nationwide. Wholly owned by...

, on July 18, 2005 at 9:00pm, a month after the original Mexican showing.

The first episode
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...

 was provided as a free download at the series' official website on June 30, 2005.

At the end of the first season, TV Azteca canceled the Canal 7
Canal 7
Canal 7 may refer to::*Canal 7 of Buenos Aires, Argentina*Canal 7 of Lima, Peru*Canal 7 of Mendoza, Argentina*Canal 7 of Mexico City, Guadalajara y Jalisco, Mexico*Canal 7 of Mexico City, Mexico...

 showing due to poor reception by the public.

The series was suspended in Argentina between November and January, over a dispute concerning the rights to the story. During the suspension, TV Azteca repeated the first episodes, hoping that the series would later return. However, it did not return to the air in Argentina, except for the last last episodes of the first season.

Cast and characters

Featuring four main character roles, the majority of the cast was assembled from January to March, 2005. Bárbara Mori
Bárbara Mori
Bárbara Mori Ochoa is a Mexican actress and model. She became famous for being the female lead in the Bollywood film, Kites....

 was originally cast as the female lead, Barbara, but due to scheduling problems she was forced to pull out and was replaced by Paola Núñez. Margarita Gralia was then signed to play Paz.

Andrés Palacios auditioned for one of the lead roles, Pacheco, but was made second choice after Sebastián Estevanez. However, before filming began, Estevanez had to pull out for personal reasons and Palacios got the part.

With just a month before the scheduled release of the first episode, Sergio Basañez
Sergio Basañez
Sergio Basañez is a telenovela actor. He started his acting career at an early age. Before he got leading roles in soap operas, he made special appearances in them, while he studied acting at the "Centro de Educación Artística" of Televisa in Mexico...

 was cast to play Paz's love interest, Manuel.

In the 8th season, and some of 11th season, Sebastián Estevanez appeared as Barbara's boyfriend and bodyguard.

The rest of the cast were chosen as the series continued, and by early July 2008 casting stopped as the series was coming to an end.

Cast

Actor Character Main Cast Season Character Notes
Margarita Gralia  Paz Achával Urién 1 - 11 Complete series
Paola Núñez  Bárbara Bazterrica 1 - 11 Complete series
Sergio Basañez
Sergio Basañez
Sergio Basañez is a telenovela actor. He started his acting career at an early age. Before he got leading roles in soap operas, he made special appearances in them, while he studied acting at the "Centro de Educación Artística" of Televisa in Mexico...

 
Juan Manuel Aguirre 1 - 11 Complete series
Andrés Palacios Nicolás Pacheco 1 - 11 Complete series
Veronica Merchant Victoría 3 - 11 (*) Returned from Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

Sebastián Estevanez  Mauro Mendoza 8 - 11 Left before finale
Irene Arcila Inés 1 - 11 Complete series
Carmen Madrid Gabriela 1 - 3, 8 - 11 Died, and twin sister appeared
Lupita Sandoval Nora 1 - 11 Complete series
Martín Hernández
Martín Hernández
Martín Alejandro Hernández Mendez is a Mexican actor and model, known in Latin America and the United Kingdom for his roles as Octavio in Guillermo del Toro's horror film The Devil's Backbone,...

Christian 8 - 11 Kidnapped and killed before finale


(*) Transferred from "guest star" status to main cast mid-season.

Mexico and USA ratings

In Mexico the first episode of the series was watched by 4.12 million viewers, ranking as the number 2 most watched show of the night, just behind TV Azteca's "La Academia". In the USA it was viewed by under 2 million, ranking at number 12 overall on the night, and number 1 Spanish language show.

With a first week figure of over 12 million viewers, the show became the most watched show on TV Azteca and Azteca America, and also the highest ranking Spanish language television show for the years 2005 to 2007.

During its fourth season, audiences increased by 20% percent between the months of December 2006 and February 2007. The 8th season was the most critically acclaimed, but lowest rated, season with fewer than 5 million viewers in the USA and Mexico together.

The series finale attracted more than 14 million viewers in Mexico, and around 2.67 million viewers in the USA, making it the most watched series finale for a Spanish language TV series. The show holds the record for the longest running series in Mexico, with eleven seasons and 280 episodes.

Seasonal ratings

Seasonal ratings based on average total viewers per episode in Mexico and the USA:
Season Timeslot (EDT
Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...

)
Season Premiere Season Finale TV Season Rank
(Spanish language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

)
Viewers
(in millions)
1 Sunday 10:00 P.M. (premiere episode)
Monday 9:00 P.M. (June 20, 2005 - May 30, 2008)
June 20, 2005 January 13, 2006 2005-2006
2005-06 United States network television schedule
This was the United States broadcast television schedule on all six commercial television networks for the fall season beginning in September 2005. All times are Eastern and Pacific.This would be the final season of broadcasting for both UPN and The WB...

1 8.9
2 Monday-Friday 9:00 P.M. January 16, 2006 April 6, 2006 2006 1 9.4
3 Monday-Friday 9:00 P.M. April 10, 2006 September 1, 2006 2006 1 9.9
4 Monday-Friday 9:00 P.M. September 4, 2006 January 6, 2007 2006-2007
2006-07 United States network television schedule
The following article details the developing fall prime time schedules for the United States six major English language broadcast networks. Following are lists of what programs have been either renewed or canceled by their networks, the new programs picked up by the networks, and a schedule grid...

2 9.7
5 Monday-Friday 9:00 P.M. January 8, 2007 March 28, 2007 2007 1 10.1
6 Monday-Friday 9:00 P.M. April 2, 2007 August 9, 2007 2007 3 7.9
7 Monday-Friday 9:00 P.M. August 13, 2007 December 10, 2007 2007 2 9.9
8 Monday-Friday 9:00 P.M. December 13, 2007 February 15, 2008 2007-2008 7 5.1
9 Monday-Friday 9:00 P.M. February 18, 2008 May 30, 2008 2008 1 10.4
10 Monday-Friday 10:00 P.M. June 2, 2008 August 29, 2008 2008 1 9.4
11 Monday-Friday 10:00 P.M. September 1, 2008 October 3, 2008 2008 1 15.4


Notes:
  • A year encompasses 3-4 seasons of a series in Mexico
  • American and Mexican viewers are combined for the total average per-season viewers
  • Rank is based only on the Spanish language release - English language releases are not counted

Critical response

Amor en Custodia initially received strong reviews. Due to its pedigree as an adaptation from the Argentine version, it was one of the most anticipated new shows of 2005. The first week showing garnered positive reviews from sources such as Ventaneando
TV Azteca
Azteca, is the second largest Mexican television entertainment. It was established in 1983 as the state-owned Instituto Mexicano de la Televisión , a holding of the national TV networks channel 13 and 7 and was privatized under its current name in 1993 and now is part of Grupo Salinas...

, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

and Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...

.

Controversy

The series became more mature in its content during the eighth season, and critics noted that the story was changing completely, most notably after the character "Christian" (Martín Hernández
Martín Hernández
Martín Alejandro Hernández Mendez is a Mexican actor and model, known in Latin America and the United Kingdom for his roles as Octavio in Guillermo del Toro's horror film The Devil's Backbone,...

) was introduced to the series.

Also during the eight season, a character named "Mauro Mendoza" was introduced as a love interest for Barbara, and some of the scenes from that season were edited for international release because of their sexual content.

In Mexico, the series' was re-rated from A (all ages) to C+ (adolescents 16+) because of scenes of violence, bad language and sex. In the USA it was re-rated from TV-PG to TV-MA for seasons 8 and 9, but was later re-rated to TV-14. The original version was only shown in Mexico, with a cut version being shown in the USA.

DVD release

There was originally no plan to release the series on DVD, but with the success of bootleg
Bootleg recording
A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...

 DVD versions in Mexico, the USA, Europe, and Argentina, and Internet piracy, a 2-disc DVD was released on February 13, 2007.

The DVD only contained the first four seasons, and every episode carried English, French and Spanish subtitles. On its first week of release the DVD sold almost 12,000 copies in the USA, debuting at number one on the "Top Selling Latin DVDs,", but by its second week it dropped off the list.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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