User reviews

Morangos com Açucar was a Portuguese series for teenagers and childreen that gave from Monday to Friday in the evenings on TVI. This series followed a group of teenagers and their love, school, or parenting problems. In each season there was always the season of school grade that passed during the school year and the summer vacation series, which gave during the summer.

This series marked my childhood and adolescence, I saw from season 2 to 8, that is, from my 8 to 15 and always thought it was fantastic and best series ever. Now almost 10 years after it was over, as I watched the replays that go on at Panda Biggs (it's now the 6th summer season), my opinion couldn't be more different and completely contrary to what it was when I was little.

The series is very cringe and most of the young actors didn't know how to perform, it all seemed very forced and unnatural (although here I even give them a discount because it was the first experience of many in the performance and some of them later succeeded in the world of representation). Everyone was very melodramatic and thought she was the owner of the breed, especially with her parents, because they are all poor things and they have the worst parents. At that time I thought it was an injustice for parents not to let them out or something, now I feel like giving a couple of pops to the annoying kids, who deep down are too much spoiled.

This series marked a generation, that is true, but it was certainly made for the younger layers because now as an adult I see how the series was not good, not even at close range.

I used to watch this show back when I was quite younger, I was eleven years old when it started and when it finished I was already twenty years old, but in any case, the only season I remember watching pretty much from its entirety until its end was the third season, the one with Tiago and Matilde, the Popstars and all that, and, realistically speaking, it's the only one that it's really worth watching from the beginning to the end. Sure it may be highly formulaic, some of the acting from some of its actors might not be the best and some of the stories there, the best one for me was the Tordocai virus which was so influential that it actually caused a mass hysteria moment in some schools in Portugal, might be highly bizarre but you can't help but enjoy that specific season of the show. Other than that one the show in general is highly formulaic, the main stories in general are quite basic and, for the most part, this show hasn't managed to age that much well.

In general, I give this show a 3/10 because the third season was good enough to raise the show's quality but other than that specific season the show never really showed much signs of evolution and it has been quite a stale show since then, I mean, seasons one, two and seven also had their moments but still quite far from the peak of this show which was and will always be season three.

As for the new show, I've seen some of the trailers for it and I definitely have zero interest in watching it, I think it might work when it comes to the first episode but after that it's going to be a massive flop because it's trying too hard to appeal to both "new" and "old" viewers and it's going to be a complete mess, in my very honest opinion.

I've seen Morangos com Açucar. It depicts the life of Portuguese teenagers in a really twisted wonderful way, where everything is sunny and happy all the time. Of course it has its downs, but it's always some ridiculous cliché situation like "He stole my girlfriend", or... no actually that's it. there are these "cool" delinquents who skate and make graffiti; again, so cliché (I actually know one of th actors...I still can't figure how I manage not to laugh when I see him). All the young actors are there just cuz they're young and good-looking, but they suck. Amongst the adults, there are some good references in Portuguese acting, but u wouldn't know by watching this show, because the argument (or script, or whatever) won't allow any actor to show his talent, even Anthony Hopkins would look like an amateur saying those lines. It's just plain ridiculous, it's all the adolescence clichés and mere stupidity and merchandising all compiled into... that. Even so, it wins in 2 fronts, and by a landslide: hot chicks and comedic value. As I said, th actors (specially th ones who play youth) are there to look good. I'm a man, so I find th women attractive. What I call comedic value is the fact that u can sit there, and laugh at the show during it's entirety (and that's a long time, coz they give you 2 episodes at a time, 1 from th day b4, and th new one... of course u stop laughing when u realize th commercial break's been going for 15min...) Anyway I watch the show regularly now, so I can laugh at it, and then cry at the misery that Portuguese TV has become, and u should do so too. It's a great show

"Morangos Com Açucar" only functions with cliché lines and cliché situations. Season after season, the storyline remains the same only with new actors, replacing the previous ones with identical characters.

The basic plot suits the basic actors and the even more basic audience.

Every ten minutes, some political/social message is said without having a direct relation to the situation. Two characters may be having a discussion and out of thin air, the subject of recycling is brought up. Once there was a dialog between a main character and an extra, solely for the purpose of indicating to the young audience that smoking is harmful to our health.

The editing is beyond any doubts, the worst I've seen. Part of the problem is the fact that certain scenes were written and shot without the writer and director applying something called "logic". I've seen a boat chase in which they've actually shot the scene alternating between a static and a moving boat.

Another poor thing which is a result of a poor script and editing, is the fact that characters speak in a specific order, without overlaying the others:

A - "Did you know that he stole the money?"

B - "Really?"

C - "Is that so?"

D - "This is bad..."

E - "Are you serious?"

F - "That can't be..."

And every time a character speaks, there's a close up paired with an annoying post production sound. How annoying...

In four seasons, there is only one good thing I've seen in this show: at some point we could relate to the female antagonists and protagonists.

OK, I just wanted to say that I have never seen a soap opera as bad as this one, I've seen the first episode and I got sick, all I wanted to do was to turn off the TV and throw up! Here's the story of the first season, just for you to know how bad are these screenwriters... A girl that finds her boyfriend making out with another girl. She goes to the beach and, although she doesn't know how to swim (I'm taking a guess, because how the hell does anybody drowns when the level of the water is almost by its knee?) she goes into the water and starts to drown (all of this because of her boyfriend... Sweet love...). She is rescued by a surfer who is nude and, by chance, is in the same school as her and, by chance, is in the same class as her!! What are the odds?!BAD BAD BAD!!! And attention, that was just the first episode! After that, obviously, they fall in love, star to date, get mad at each other, the boy apologises to the girl, they date again, and the circle repeats itself like 20 to 30 times, just enough to keep the Portuguese youth glued to their TV sets(I only know all of this because my friends kept telling me the story every single day. After the first episode, I just refused to see any more of that). Meanwhile, something happens and the girl goes to Brazil, and the boy goes after her, and at that point the soap opera just turns a complete chaos, almost apocalyptic. They break up 30.000 times in two episodes (or so it seems), and then they're about to get married, but afterwards it's not quite like that I don't know why. If you want to know the end of this wonderful story, ask someone who is over 5 years-old and lives in Portugal, because I missed the "grand finale" and, honestly, I don't wanna know! End this, please, and I'll rest my case.

I saw the first season of Morangos com Açucar when I was quite young. And I'm not gonna lie, I did end up watching it throughout. You had decent actors and a great soundtrack.

However, I stopped there. If you look at this show now, you will see a bunch on untalented (but attractive) actors and producers working hard to reenact everyday situations of real students, so that they can relate with the show. Is that really entertainment? This is aimed at teenagers, they say, but anyone with half-a-brain will notice all the clichés, all the mistakes and all the amateurs in this "show". So, in the end, people watching this show are the twelve and thirteen-year-olds of Portugal and even younger kids.

I am truly hoping that this trend will end soon so that teens can get back to their real life rather than wasting their time with this junk.

There is little talent nowadays on the Portuguese TV industry, I believe, and this show is another proof of it, from the news shows that last 2 hours to soap operas and soap operas in a row to this kind of teenager soap operas you can't really watch public television in Portugal and hope to not drop some IQ points in the process. Once now and then there are some movies and documentaries and that's about it as far as quality goes around here. This show in an attempt to imitate Brazilian teen soap operas that were popular a little before the show started, the acting is terrible, the plot is terrible, or random, it would be watchable if the actors, conscious of how bad the show is, turned it a little more satiric and fun, but alas, no - they genuinely try to make it as terrible as it is. I watched the first season, sporadically, it was launched on Summer vacation and by that time I was stuck with nothing to do but read and watch TV, needless to say I finished some giant books before being forced to poison myself with those strawberries. After I don't know how many seasons it hasn't changed much, they try to approach a new general topic such as abortion or homosexuality or racism now and then but overall the show puts up a very poor attempt. I do believe there is some talent in this industry, it's not employed by SIC or TVI though, that's for sure

The people have problems with successful. The serie is very good.

This series, strongly aimed at teenagers, was created by TVI Channel, airing in prime time on weekdays. I think they were very inspired by "Malhação", a similar series from Globo that was shown in Portugal through the TVI's rival channel SIC. The final formats of the series already have a certain influence of "High School Musical" and "Glee". In any case, the series was a sure bet for the Queluz de Baixo TV channel: it acquired extraordinary popularity and guaranteed TVI the beginning of an audience supremacy that lasted for years. It also became a huge source of income for the channel, at the expense of advertising and massive merchandising.

The series appeared in 2003 and followed the lives of a group of school-aged teenagers from an elitist particular high school, Colégio da Barra. Each season ended with the end of the school year and gave way to a mini summer season. Each season there was a renewal of the cast and sometimes also a renewal of the environments: in the fifth season, the particular high school gives way to a public high school full of problems, which turns into a performing arts school in season 7 and disappears in season 9, to make way for another elite high school. In addition to the beach, flirting, extreme sports and teenage problems, the series dealt with deeper themes, from anorexia and bulimia, bullying or social prejudice. It also invested a lot in music, even giving rise to two teen bands. D'ZRT will be the most remembered: this boy's band was influenced by similar projects, such as Excesso and Backstreet Boys, and was very active until 2009.

Unsurprisingly, TVI bet on colossal and very mediatic castings to choose the actors for the various seasons. In the overwhelming majority, they had zero experience and were learning to act right there, in front of the cameras, so the quality level of the cast was extremely poor and those young people couldn't sound more forced and clumsy. Nevertheless, the series was a factory of young actors from which an entire generation of talents emerged, and which included João Catarré, Benedita Pereira, Cláudia Vieira, Pedro Teixeira, Joana Duarte, Luís Lourenço, Isaac Alfaiate, Mafalda Matos , Ângelo Rodrigues, Laura Galvão, Sara Matos, Lourenço Ortigão, David Carreira or Rui Andrade. Actors, models, TV hosts and musicians that often date and marry each other... after all, life often imitates art.

With so many mutations each season, it is understandable how the series maintained its strong ascendancy among young people until the end, in 2012. It was a huge success, making unconditional fans and also tireless detractors, who came to coin the terms "Morangos Generation" to refer to those who were teenagers between 2005 and 2010, and "morango-mania", a derogatory allusion to the passionate way in which fans followed the series and consumed everything that related to it. Personally, I was never interested in the series. As I was one generation ahead of the so-called "Morangos Generation", the series appeared when I was already a teenager, but even so, my interests never put me in the target audience. In fact, I was one of the biggest detractors of this series and "morango-mania" inside and outside my school! By forces superior to mine, I got to see a handful of loose episodes, from different seasons, and that's enough to give my opinions all the solidity: I was then able to verify that it was a sterile series with uninteresting stories, incapable of captivating the attention of more demanding audiences and populated by actors inexperienced to the point of bordering on amateurism. Even considering that it was TV material and that TVI was slow to throw money at the production, they were tiresome episodes, carelessly filmed and with sometimes ugly graphics, in addition to insisting on the most obvious clichés about what teenagers are or should be: beach, sports, flirtations and illusions. Everything has an end, this series has met its end, but it has not ceased to be noteworthy... and I believe it is still making some appearances on some cable channels.

That is all true. I agree that the series is most of the times too sugary and simple and yes, there is not too much place for real acting. You have to remember, however, that the show is being created for teenagers and not for refined connoisseurs of the ambitious cinema. The concept is to have a catchy pastime that will brighten up people's lives. It shows colourful and fine lives of young people striking with idealization but also does not avoid teaching what is right and wrong to do. Emotions, of course, play the leading role and the spectator is given a feeling of amusement, though empty, still enjoyable. In my opinion the idea of Morangos Com Acucar is a really successful one because it gives a fresh setting to classical soap operas that became trite long ago. The "factory" of actors and musicians also does not have to be reprehensible. After all not everyone gets the first role in a blockbuster and here many beginners are at least given a chance. I am not a teenager but I enjoyed watching the series and I am sure, not only being influenced by the popularity of the show in Portugal, that many people do as well.

God, let me just say that reading this it's just hilarious... People, if you don't like it just don't bother to watch - that simple...yeah. Remember, it's made for young teenagers, they just want some entertainment, stories that reflect today's problems with some flair, some fantasy, some 'happily ever after'. Just let them be, let the models/actors have fun, develop a new skill and make money. Yeah they're not the best actors in the world, at least it's a chance for someone to have a break into the acting world. Or at least they gain money, always good. The stories? Kinda in a loop, yeah. It's on season VI and it's kind of the same story, but the problems of today are there, just like the problems of last year were there. Jesus... it's a soap opera.. Me? i'm 20 and i still watch it, because it's addictive and really funny for me (yeah, i like to make fun of the silly situations, that's my prerogative).

It was a great show when I was young and it's kinda awkward but in my opinion it's a great show.

MCA (Morangos com Açúcar) , has 9 seasons , and all of them have different stories and characters. And of course the main characters are always different as well. The only thing common between the seasons is that it's spent in a school, with students, and then there are things happening, some things are related with sports , like downhill , motocross , parkour , skating, surfing , dance , exists as well graffiti , on season 7 and 8 the theme is a School of arts , when you can learn how to act , dance , sing etc etc. In the 9 season is more about fashion . All of the seasons have a summer season , some new characters appear etc etc. In my country this is made in soap opera format. There was one episode a day, every day. Sometimes even on Saturday. And my generation was religious! It couldn't be recorded.

What is special of this show , is that the young actors who are performing , made all a huge open casting from young people from all of all country. If you are between the limits of age you could do the casting. Then you do a workshop for 3 months , and then you start shooting the show. I consider myself a morangomaníaca , ( I was addicted with show, I knew everything about everyone back then. Now , they are starting shooting a brand new series with TVI( portuguese Channel) and Prime video is like a Reboot of MCA ( Morangos Com Açúcar) and I can't be more thrilled for what it's coming! The first season was released in 2002 . In a small country like Portugal 🇵🇹, The target audience was not supposed to be adults at the time. They were Supposed to be children / teenagers. But now these children are adults and their children have already seen the Morangos seasons! 🍓

I simply love this show! the IV season is about to start and i can't wait!!! Although i'm gonna miss the III season and it's actors i'm sure that i'm gonna love this one too. Please don't believe that the show is bad cause IT'S NOT, is really awesome and for someone who doesn't like the show, you know the story of the I season very well (not very well, you couldn't understand it even if you wanted)! This show is THE MOST POPULAR in Portugal! it was made specially for teens but at the moment there are people of all ages that watch it and love it. If you've never seen it, please try 'cause it's really great and it's really connected to music and our everyday problems. hope my comment is useful... be OK bye**** PS: Morangos 4ever!

I really love the show it rocks...it is almost as good as mundou meu, deite quas tudo and fala me de amor (also Portuguese soaps) its shows how Portuguese families live and the real problems they have. for example they teach kids about pregnancy and and the problems that follow with it, also they show kids how completely silly they can be..like Manuel (a rebel in the show)..and shows them a way that they can try and change and become better. Anyway dude u said u know someone from morangos com accucar who? hook me up. I too have needs....girls there are really cute guys on the show...what i cant help myself (kiko is really cute)