| Erotas Έρωτας |
|
|---|---|
Gregoris Valtinos and Vasia Panayopoulou (Season 2-3) |
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| Format | Soap opera Drama |
| Created by | Vana Dimitriou Kostas Kostopoulos |
| Starring | Koralia Karanti Gregoris Valtinos Stefanos Kiriakidis Adamantia Kontogiorgi Noni Ιoannidou Dimitri Liakopoulos |
| Narrated by | Koralia Karanti (flashbacks) |
| Opening theme | Pezi o Erotas by Giorgos Perris |
| Ending theme | Pezi o Erotas (instrumental) by Giorgos Perris |
| Country of origin | Greece |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 700 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Ena Productions |
| Location(s) | Athens, Greece Mykonos, Greece London, England Paris, France Rome, Italy |
| Running time | 42 min. approximately |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ANT1 |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV), 720p (HDTV) |
| Original run | September 8, 2005 – May 30, 2008 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Based on The Bold and the Beautiful |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Erotas (Greek: Έρωτας; English translation: Love) is a critically acclaimed and popular Greek television soap opera revolving around the private lives of wealthy Athenian families, that aired on the ANT1 network from September 8, 2005 until May 30, 2008 in Greece and Australia.
The series will continue for a final prequel season, placed before the timeline of the first three seasons on another network in the 2009-2010 television season. This will see the return of many of the original cast members from the first season, and the departure of many newcomers, except for favourite Nadia, who is somehow being written into the flashback storylines. Antigoni, will not be returning, the writers thought it was time to give her character a rest, however she is expected to guest star at some point.
The final five episodes of the series were the highest rating episodes of the series in its history, with over 4,250,000 watching, on average, in Greece. The series was also aired in Cyprus, United Kingdom, United States and Canada.
Many critics commented that many of its plotlines were based loosely on those of The Bold and the Beautiful, however the pace of these storylines was much faster in Erotas than B&B.
The plot itself surrounded the disappearance of Antigoni Douka and the trouble she caused for those around her when she was returned to her family by Vera Douka, committing many crimes, as a result of psychological damage from seeing her father abuse her mother when she was aged four. It also surrounded the highs and lows of Myrto Anagnostou's, Stefanos Doukas's and Ektoras Anagnostou's entended family of children, ex-husbands/wives/girlfriends, long lost friends and other relatives. Their storylines often revolved around topics such as murder, kidnapping, espionage, and fraud and rarely around the central theme of love directly. Many critics commented that the characters were always unhappy and have all entered jail at some point, except the protagonist Myrto Anagnostou. The writers integrated themes of love and passion and dialogue these themes through the trials, tribulations and daily lives of their main characters.
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Uproar among fans arose in early 2007, during the storyline of Mirto's kidnapping when the writers led the fans to believe that she was dead. The writers admitted in early 2008 that were unsure themselves at the time whether or not the character would survive, and therefore "unintentionally" left viewers hanging in the balance while they made their decision. They eventually concluded that the character would have died, however she was not killed due to negative audience reaction expected, similar to that after the death of character Vera Douka in late 2006. Koralia Karanti renewed her contract until the end of the series, on August 25, 2007 and remained on the show for the entire series, appearing in every episode.
| Season | Timeslot (EDT) | Season Premiere | Season Finale | TV Season | Rank | Viewers (in millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monday-Friday 7.00 P.M. | September 8, 2005 | June 24, 2006 | 2005–2006 | #2 | 4.0 |
| 2 | Monday-Friday 7.00 P.M. | September 17, 2006 | July 13, 2007 | 2006–2007 | #10 | 3.2 |
| 3 | Monday-Friday 7.00 P.M. | September 3, 2007 | May 30, 2008 | 2007–2008 | #1 | 4.5 |
It was the highest rating television show in Greece after the cancellation of Vera Sto Dexi. Almost immediately after beginning, the show has proven quite popular, beating all other shows in its timeslot except Vera Sto Dexi, until its end in May, 2007. The show suffered a significant drop in ratings of 15% after Noni Ιoannidou's character Vera left the show in November 2006; the writers have now admitted that they regretting killing her character, as they knew Vera was one of the most popular characters, but did not predict this sharp decline in ratings, however by the end of the second season the ratings had significantly recovered. However, in 2008, the show was cancelled on the ANT1 network, due to low ratings, opposite Mega Channel's UGLY MARIA.
Its popularity has been reflected by airing it internationally on the ANT1 Pacific network in Australia, where it has a huge fanbase, broadcast at 7pm, on the ANT1 network, in synchronisation with Greece.
It is also seen in over 15 other countries, including across Canada via the Odyssey Network and the United States via ANT1 Satellite network. Replacing reruns of Lampsi and Kalimera Zoi, the show has attracted quite a lot of fans outside Greece as it is aired at the 7 p.m. timeslot (like in Greece).
Almost every cast member has been framed for a crime, and many sent to jail, which has sparked criticism against the show as the characters are setting a bad example for the community. Other criticisms of the show are that in the second season, many characters in Stefanos' family were killed. The list includes, Vera, Olga, and his half-sister, sister and father.
Central character Aphrodite's husband was also killed along with Hector's secretary, along with various other minor characters that were killed only weeks after being introduced. The writers have promised to lower the amount of death on the show next season, as in only 2 seasons of the show over 15 characters have died, this is more than Lost in its first two seasons. Furthermore, at the start of the third season, many new characters were introduced and roles of current characters re-cast. Many fans feel that they are not watching the same show anymore as hardly any original cast members remain after only two completed seasons.
Additionally, fans were disappointed that the storyline involving Angelle's death was told by the actor before the end of the second season. This ultimately spoiled the cliffhanger.
Erotas Season 1 premiered on September 8, 2005 and ended on June 24, 2006 with a total of 225 episodes. A successful heart surgeon and a dynamic business woman enjoy personal and family completion with their daughter. All seems wonderful in their life until the moment that the woman's ex-husband sets it as his objective to destroy her life.
Erotas Season 2 premiered on September 17, 2006 and ended on July 13, 2007 with a total 225 episodes. At the start of the second season months have passed since the tragic explosion at Martha's farewell party and everybody struggles to move on.
Erotas Season 3 premiered on September 3, 2007 and ended on May 30, 2008 with a total of 250 episodes. This season would have had 100 episodes, however this was extended to 250 episodes on October 10, 2007 due to outstanding ratings performance. This lead many to believe it would be the last season, since it was being given an increasingly extended run. These people were proven corrected, as the series was cancelled on May 26, 2008. The start of the third season begins where Season 2 left off. Everybody has boarded Myrto's cruise, and Angello is murdered. A wedding occurs, and some beloved faces from Mirto's past return.
On April 26, 2008, the series was officially cancelled. The producers stated, that this was always the plan, and talk of future seasons was a ploy to avoid determining the end point of the series to the audience. The final episode aired on May 30, 2008 in Greece. The producers say they wanted to end the series at the height of its popularity, and therefore decided to not renew for an additional season, however, it is becoming increasingly clear that this is untrue, and the real reason being a financial dispute. The creator of Erotas has said she would be more than willing to continue to the show on another network, should any of the major networks express interest.
The ANT1 network begin to run Erotas episodes in syndication in a late-night timeslot from the fall of 2008.
Two specials have aired, recapping Season 1 on May 19, 2006, and Season 2 on June 20, 2007, with spoilers for next season, and the respective seasons' final episodes. A recap special highlighting future season 3 events/cast interviews, aired on September 2, 2007.
A greatest moments of the series special is planned, if it is not picked up by the MEGA network.
Below is a list of all main characters, that have appeared in Erotas, in order of prominence.
The show has skipped forward, at least one and half years over the first two seasons, however the date is still referred to as being 2007.
A greatest hits DVD covering the most memorable moments from the first two seasons will be released before the beginning of the third season in Greece and Australia.
The MEGA network has not confirmed when it will run the final season of Erotas.