Pasión Prohibida ran for 107 episodes on Telemundo, but it is one season that carries a whole second life. The telenovela premiered on January 22, 2013, and its last episode aired on March 27, 2015. Jencarlos Canela and Mónica Spear played the leads, Bruno Hurtado and Bianca Santillana de Piamonte. The show is a remake, and the reason it stops where it does is not a ratings call.
A Turkish Novel, Moved to Miami
Pasión Prohibida comes from the Turkish telenovela Aşk-ı Memnu, written by Ece Yörenç and Melek Gençoğlu. That series was itself adapted from Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil’s novel Aşk-ı Memnu, published in 1900. The Telemundo version keeps the story and moves it. The book sits in late 19th-century Istanbul. Pasión Prohibida sits in modern-day Miami.
The Cast Around Canela and Spear
Roberto Vander played Ariel Piamonte. Rebecca Jones played Flavia de Santillana. Mercedes Molto played Deniz Lefevre, called “Mademoiselle.” Carmen Aub played Nina Piamonte, Pepe Gámez played Yair Duarte, and Sharlene Taulé played Camila Barrera. Rubén Morales, Beatriz Monroy, Liannet Borrego and Sabrina Seara filled out the rest.
A Second Season That Never Came
Telemundo announced a second season. Mónica Spear was murdered in 2014, and production ended there. That fact sits over the whole run. A network order means nothing against it, and the show becomes a record of a lead actress at the center of a genre built on her.
The Hard Numbers
- Network: Telemundo
- Premiere: January 22, 2013
- Finale: March 27, 2015
- Episodes: 107
- Seasons: 1
- Genre: Drama
- Audience score: 7.9 out of 10, from 479 votes on TMDB
- Source novel: Aşk-ı Memnu, 1900
Two Versions of the Same Story
| Version | Setting | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Aşk-ı Memnu (novel) | Late 19th-century Istanbul | Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil, 1900 |
| Aşk-ı Memnu (Turkish series) | Turkey | Ece Yörenç and Melek Gençoğlu |
| Pasión Prohibida (Telemundo) | Modern-day Miami | Remake of the Turkish series |
What the Score Actually Measures
The 7.9 out of 10 comes from 479 votes on TMDB. That is a small sample, and it measures the people who sought the show out, not the size of its audience on Telemundo.
The Miami move is the smartest choice here. It gives the 1900 novel a reason to exist again, and Canela and Spear carry the central pair without the period dressing doing the work for them.
The number to watch is not the 7.9. It is the 107 episodes and the missing season. Pasión Prohibida is a complete story that was meant to continue, and that gap is the part worth remembering.
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