The era of Telenovelas in Ghana came with a huge wave that swept everyone across the country; parents, children, teachers, traders, everyone fell in love with it. As usual, TV3 was the first to set the pace and after that, the rest of the TV stations followed suit.

First there was “Esmeralda”; the poor blind girl who was in love with a rich handsome guy. Then came “La Usurpadora”, “Cursed by the sea”, “Juana La Virgin”, “Lorenzos Wife”, “Cuando Sias Miah”, “The Woman of My Life”. Shortly after, “Maria de Los Angeles”, “Rosalinda”, “Promise”, “The two sides of Anna”, “Second Chance”.

Very recently, we have had “Ruby”, “Rebecca”, “In The Name of Love”, “The One Who Couldn’t Love” etc. Now we have “Maid in Manhathan” and “A shelter for love”.

Like many other girls, I was obsessed with Telenovelas and I remember even forfeiting classes sometimes just to watch some of my favorite Telenovelas of all time like “Hidden Passion” and “Second Chance”.

Aside its entertaining tendencies, I really don’t know any beneficial thing these telenovelas have taught me; except for the fact that I must have any man of my choice even if he is already married. Again, there is only one man for me in this world and no matter what happens; no matter how long it takes I should fight for him (Sarcasm intended here).

One thing that keeps diminishing my love for telenovelas is their never changing story lines. Its either a poor girl is in love with a man from a wealthy family or vice versa. There is always this other woman or man who is also interested in the main characters.

So they battle it out for months on end; beating about the bush and finally crowning it with a white wedding between the main characters. All of the telenovelas I have watched go through this same sequence. The only exception so far to the best of my knowledge is “Second Chance”.

For those who doubt this, according to a quick search around, “couples who kiss each other in the first minutes of the first episode of a telenovela most often than not end up together by the time the story ends”.

These telenovelas have become so predictable that even if you miss some episodes, it shouldn’t really be a bother. You can just jump right back in on the story and you will be just fine. This has been the trend of telenovelas since time immemorial; nothing has changed.

And the sad aspect of this is that, it is all over the place. To the extent that some of the stations are even showing more than one at a time. To me, if they don’t have anything else to show, they should bring back the “Kwasasa Show”, “By the Fire Side”, “Greetings From Abroad” and other Ghanaian oriented programs that taught me as a child the importance of staying in school.

I also entreat those criticizing our local movies to shift their attention and criticisms rather to telenovelas and give Agya Koo and his crew a break!

At least they make us laugh and never have I seen or heard Agya Koo repeating a joke. His jokes are authentic, Lil Win’s looks and dance moves are unbeatable, Nana Ama Mac Browns versatility is remarkable and the list goes on and on.

Finally to our television stations, you need to focus more on quality content and stop with this monotony of Mexican brouhaha everywhere we go! Ah Bah!